Page 53 of Beyond The Break

He doesn’t say anything as he begins walking down the long corridor that leads to the meeting room, but I don’t mind. Across from the meeting room is another door and Griffin swings it open, revealing a fully furnished gym.

“Wow, this house just keeps surprising me. Next thing you’ll be showing me is the dungeon,” I joke.

“I just might,” he says absentmindedly as his eyes burn a path down my body.

I clear my throat and approach a squat bar. “What are we starting with first?”

I trail a finger along the bar and check for dust, not surprised that it’s squeaky clean. I’m convinced Gabriel has night cleaners for this place because it’s always clean.

“Let’s start with squats,” he says, grabbing weights off the rack and adding them to the squat bar.

Once he’s finished putting the weights in place, I position myself under the bar, Griffin standing close behind. As I start my first squat, I notice how my ass all but brushes past him on my way down.

It’s only until I feel something begin to harden in that spot that I realize I’ve been rubbing my ass along his cock. I look at him in the mirror across from us, but his eyes are fully focused on my ass.

“You suck at spotting,” I say through clenched teeth as I struggle with the bar.

His eyes quickly snap up and he lifts the bar from my grip, placing it back onto the rack with ease.

“Sorry,” he gives me an apologetic smile in the mirror, “this is what I mean when I say you’re too distracting.”

I turn around to face him and watch as his eyes snag on my breasts before finding my face.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have come.” I say, taking a step toward the door.

“Maybe we should just skip straight to the outdoor shower?”

As much as I want to get in that shower with him, I want to talk about his panic attack more. I want to check in and make sure he’s okay, that he’s not embarrassed or still in pain.

“What happened in the water today?” I ask.

“So direct,” he scoffs, before taking a seat on a nearby bench. “Sometimes I have panic attacks.”

“Sometimes? How often is sometimes?”

He pauses for a moment before picking up a barbell that already has a few weights on each end. “A few times throughout the day.”

My brows furrow as I stare at him, his eyes downcast again.

“Griffin, when do they happen?”

His brows furrow in annoyance but he doesn’t reply, so I push harder.

“Is it whenever you’re in the wat?—”

“Look, I have it under control so you can stop worrying about it. Today was the first time it’s ever happened underwater, and it won’t happen again.”

“But if you had been alone, it could have been so much wor?—”

“Well, I wasn’t alone,” he replies stubbornly, cutting me off again.

“This time.”

He lowers the barbell and rubs his face before standing up. “I think you’re right, maybe this was a mistake. I don’t think I can work out today.”

He walks out of the gym, closing the door behind him. Griffin is always running from confrontation and unfortunately there’s only so much I can do. Instead of returning to my bedroom I decide to stay and finish the workout, taking my frustration out this way.

SIXTEEN

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