Page 49 of Beyond The Break

Griffin slams his fork and knife on either side of his plate and abruptly stands up, cutting off Zale as he balls his hands into tight fists. My stomach drops and any appetite I had is gone as I wait for Zale to tell them what he saw.

“There’s an outdoor shower at the side of the house,” Zale finally says, anticlimactically.

“Wait, is it that wooden shed looking thing?” Maliah asks, mouth full of food.

“Yup, looks pretty damn nice on the inside though,” Zale says, before stuffing his mouth with food.

He returns his mischievous brown eyes to mine, and I narrow mine in response, causing him to burst out into a fit of giggles until he starts to choke on his food.

“Serves you right,” I whisper, watching as he quickly gulps down water.

“Sorry, what did you say?” Maliah asks, leaning into me.

“Oh, I was just saying that I don’t really have an appetite right now,” I reply, standing up and bringing my plate to the compost, emptying it and loading it into the dishwasher.

I start to make my way toward the stairs, but I come to a stop when Gabriel walks through the front door with his clipboard in hand. He’s dressed in all black today, from his black shorts to his black baseball cap.

“Good morning, team,” he says, as he enters the kitchen, “today’s practice is going to be a mixture of onshore and in-water. It’s hot as hell out there so no wetsuits needed.”

“Oh, God,” Maliah groans, standing from her seat with great effort, “the last onshore practice we had, I nearly died.”

The team makes their way upstairs as Gabriel approaches me with a smile.

“Good morning, Eli,” he says, the nickname getting easier for me to hear without getting emotional.

I beam up at him, but a movement on the stairs catches my attention. I glance towards the stairs and spot Griffin standing at the top, watching us with furrowed brows.

Why is he watching us like that?

After ignoring me all morning I figured he was back to treating me like enemy number one. I quickly return my focus to Gabriel before he notices the eavesdropper.

“Good morning,” I reply with a warm smile.

“How is the Griffin Campaign going?”

“Great, actually, I’ve put together a rough draft and would love to get your thoughts on it in the next few days.”

He nods with a pleased smile. “Just let me know when and I’ll be there.”

I give him another smile before I turn and head up the stairs, spotting the end of Griffin’s shirt as he retreats to his bedroom.

I throw on a pair of acid wash shorts over my bikini and then start looking through my closet for a shirt. Everything Ihave either shows off my scar or is way too hot for today. Why the hell have I never invested in a basic T-shirt? My only option is to wear one of my tank tops and risk the rest of the team seeing my scar. The thought terrifies me.

Every time somebody asks about the scar, I get sucked back into the memory of the accident, hearing the sounds, the screams, and feeling the pain – it's all too much.

A knock at my door pulls me out of my thoughts and I quickly walk over and swing it open, only to have Griffin barge in and close the door behind him.

“Uhm, hi?” I say, crossing my arms over my bikini top.

“Here.” He throws a ball of purple fabric into my hand.

I grab onto the fabric and open it up to see that it’s a T-shirt with the Saltwater Springs crest on one of the sleeves. I look up at him and notice how intently he’s watching me, waiting for a reaction.

“Is this yours?” I ask, looking down at it again, noticing it’s not in my size.

“It doesn't fit me anymore and I figured you could wear it out there, if you have nothing else, especially because it's purple.”

Especially because it’s purple? He noticed that it’s my favorite color.

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