Page 51 of Beyond The Break

His lips brush against mine as he says those last words and everything around us slows down as he lowers his head and gently kisses me this time.

“Put the shirt on,” he mumbles against my lips before walking out of my room and closing the door behind him.

I fall back onto my bed and stare at the ceiling for the second time today. My stomach in knots as I replay the kiss, the hair tugging, and the moans.

I don’t share.

His words replay in my mind as a let myself smile. But just as quickly, guilt creeps into my head at the reminder that I’m hiding a part of myself from him. It feels…wrong. He opened up to me so why can’t I do the same?

I sit up and quickly throw his T-shirt over my head before walking up to the mirror to check myself out. The shirt is longer than my shorts and makes me look like I’m not wearing anything underneath, so I tuck it in. While tucking the back in, I turn to get a good look in the mirror only to seeJoneswritten on the other side.

My face grows hot as I stare at his last name on my back. Once I walk out there wearing this, there’s no going back. Taking a deep breath, I grab my camera from my desk and make my way downstairs.

The team standsnext to their boards, listening as Gabriel gives them instructions for the practice. Griffin peaks up at me over his shoulder, his eyes traveling all over my body before his eyes connect with mine again and he winks. I bask in the attention he’s giving me; confident he’ll go back to hating me any moment now.

Once Gabriel finishes, they rest their boards on the board rack as they won’t need them for this practice. Griffin, in his black swim shorts, walks over to me with his board tucked under his arm.

“You look good in my shirt,” he says, putting his free hand in his pocket as he smirks.

I raise my chin to meet his eyes. “Did you know your last name is on the back of it?”

A mischievous glint dances in his eyes as he nods. “It suits you,” he says, sucking all the air from my lungs.

He leaves me stunned and blinking as he walks towards the board rack and puts his board away. He joins the others at the end of the shore, a large rock in front of every person.

“Remember,” Gabriel starts, standing in front of them, “this exercise is to help build your endurance in case you ever get pushed down by a wave. If at any point you feel extreme discomfort or pain, drop the rock and swim up.”

He gives them the go ahead and they each bend down and pick up their rock while Gabriel makes his way to stand next to me. I point my camera at them, making sure Griffin is in the shot, and snap some photos of them lined up along the shore.

When Gabriel reaches my side, he blows his whistle and they all start running into the water, amazed as they end up fully submerged and I can’t help but wonder how cool the shots could be if I was under there with them.

“You can go in if you want, just try not to get too close or you might throw off their focus,” Gabriel says handing me a pair of goggles, not taking his eyes off the ocean.

I don’t hesitate, stripping down to my bikini quickly, leaving my clothes in a pile next to him before running into the water while I snap the goggles into place. I dive under water, my camera bumping against my hip as it hangs from my neck strap.

The water is warmer than usual, thanks to the heat of thesun today. I barely notice the temperature cool down as I swim towards the team in deeper waters. They’re running laps underwater, holding their rocks to remain weighed down. I take some shots of them from above before swimming to the surface to get air and diving back down.

This time I get closer, zooming in on each of them and getting really nice shots that I can’t wait to share on socials. Their followers are going to eat these pictures up. Kairi and Zale drop their rocks first, rapidly swimming to the top. Next is Maliah, leaving Koa and Griffin neck in neck.

As I zoom in on them, I notice Griffin begin to struggle. He starts by grabbing his chest, the rock falling to the sandy bottom and prompting him to begin floating upward. I lower my camera and watch as he begins thrashing in the water, time seeming to slow down. Koa drops his rock and begins to swim towards Griffin, grabbing ahold of his arm and dragging him along as he rapidly swims to the surface.

I follow close behind and we all break through to the surface together, Griffin gasping for air as his eyes go round and unfocused.

“Breathe,” I hear Koa repeating calmly.

“I can’t I—I need help.” Griffin rasps.

“Is he okay?” Gabriel calls from the shore.

“He’s fine,” Koa shouts back, lying.

I grab ahold of Griffin’s free arm as he begins whispering incoherently while breathing heavily.

“What is this?” Koa asks, still gripping Griffin’s arm.

“A panic attack.”

A bad one.

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