Page 102 of Beyond The Break

Maliah releases us, her eyes sparkling as her lips curve into a serene smile. “I did it.” she whispers, more to herself.

“You did,” I laugh. “Now go get that trophy and accept your spot!”

She runs to the stage, throwing her arms around the Australian announcer, earning a few chuckles from the crowd, before she rushes over to the judges and accepts her spot next to Koa. I snap a few pictures before turning and walking back to Griffin who’s smiling with so much happiness and pride that I can’t resist snapping a sneaky photo of him before I wrap my arms around his mid-section.

“So,” he says low enough that only I hear him, “about sliding in whenever I’m ready? Well, I’m ready.”

“Before any of you leave, we have one more announcement.” The familiar voice has us both turning our heads to thestage. Gabriel stands beside the announcer who’s beaming at him with literal heart eyes.

The judges walk up to stand beside him in support. “This year we’re doing The World Championship Tour a little differently.” The crowd starts to murmur in confusion as they listen to him. “We wanted to challenge the surfers joining the tour this year, so a few things have changed.”

He removes the microphone from the stand and walks toward Koa and Maliah, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. With his back turned to us, we have no choice but to look up at the big screen above the stage where he’s being broadcasted live.

“This year, all aspects of the tour will be filmed by the leading surf streaming platform, Surflix. The competitions, the training, all the behind-the-scenes good stuff.” He pauses, winking at them. “And lastly, surfers will be paired together in groups of two.”

The crowd gasps and claps excitedly. I watch as Maliah’s jaw drops open before she whips her head towards Koa who’s frowning at Gabriel.

“This is not good,” I whisper, watching as Maliah turns a deep shade of red before walking off the stage, Koa following close behind.

“Not good at all,” Griffin agrees, pulling me away from the crowd.

“It’s a good thing you drove.” I giggle as we run to the safety of his jeep before Maliah combusts. “Maybe we can hide out in the trunk.”

He opens his trunk, revealing pillows and blankets. “I have a better idea.”

He pulls me towards him, eyebrows wiggling, and plants a gentle kiss on my lips, eliciting a moan from me. He pulls away slightly and rests his forehead on mine.

“Griffin?” He opens his eyes and pulls away slightly. “I love you.”

It’s the first time I’ve said it to him sober, but I meant it when I was drunk too. The way he looks at me sends a shiver down my spine.

“Say it again,” he whispers, eyes desperate.

I giggle. “I love you.”

His eyes soften. “Sunshine, I’m pretty sure I fell in love with you from the minute you ran over my foot with your suitcase.”

The End.

EPILOGUE

ELIANA | ONE MONTH LATER

I snapphotos of Griffin as he cheers on the boys and girls of the youth team he’s coaching. They’re each learning how to ride small waves before letting the white water carry them back to shore. Griffin is in his element here; I’ve never seen him look as happy as he does when he’s coaching.

He loves those kids and communicates with them masterfully. I see how attached he is becoming to the job, and I wonder if he’s going to push Gabriel to bring back the youth program permanently at the end of summer or if he’ll be returning to professional surfing.

I place my camera down, picking up my phone to reply to comments and tags on our Instagram page. Ever since sharing the #StrengthInSetbacks campaign launched, our follower count has tripled. It’s becoming harder to keep up with all the comments on top of everything else, but I wouldn’t trade this for the world.

An hour later, parents begin to pop in and pick up their children. Griffin gives every boy and girl a high five and promises to see them again tomorrow as they leave with wide grins. When the last boy leaves, he walks over to me with a lazygrin, taking a seat on my towel. I admire how his white T-shirt stretches across his muscular body, and how his shorts hang low enough for me to catch sight of his deep v as his shirt rides up his torso slightly. My eyes trail their way back up to his head, where the baseball hat that we thrifted sits. He wears it backwards today and something about a backwards baseball hat causes me to clench my thighs together to relieve the pressure building between them.

“You’re so hot,” I mumble before he brings his lips to mine, kissing me softly.

“Don’t tempt me to rip off your sundress and take you right here, sunshine,” he growls.

“Right here on this public beach?” I ask as I run my hand down his shirt, stopping right above his shorts, “I wouldn’t stop you.”

He pulls away from me, cursing under his breath, as he readjusts his shorts and pins me with a look of warning. I bite my lip in response and watch as his heated gaze drops to my mouth.

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