5. Eliana
FIVE
“It’snice to finally have another girl in the house to balance out all that testosterone,” Maliah says, hugging me as I let out an amused giggle. “These boys can become a bit much.”
Maliah has long straight blond hair, blue siren eyes and ivory skin. Her petite frame disguises how much of a beast she is out in the ocean. Before flying down to Saltwater Springs, I did my fair share of research on each member of the team, and she is by far the most aggressive one in the ocean. But you wouldn’t think that just from looking at her.
“Some more than others,” Kairi mutters, giving Zale a once over.
Kairi is tall, with caramel skin and mid-length curly brown hair; her hazel eyes add to her beauty. She’s an amazing surfer but doesn’t seem to have that competitive drive that Maliah does.
While watching them interact with the others before practice this morning, I realized Kairi is the opposite of Maliah in every way. Maliah is very direct and honest, whereas Kairi prefers a softer approach. She walks around with her nose in a book and prefers to read silently over joining in on conversations.
I can’t help noticing how attractive everyone on this team is, as if it’s a requirement to look good to join them. Feeling self-conscious, I pull my sleeves down and fall silent as I study the others.
“Maliah and Koa,” Gabriel calls, waving them towards him, “get over here.”
“Ugh,” Maliah grumbles, planting her bright pink surfboard in the sand next to me, “why does he always pair me up with Koa? Everyone knows I don’t want anything to do with him.”
I watch as she walks over to Gabriel speedily while Koa, who is avoiding looking in her direction, is already there, eyes never wavering from Gabriel.
“They have a history together, don’t they?” I speculate, watching the awkward body language as they stand side by side with enough space for the rest of the team to fit between them.
Koa’s body is tense, his hands balled up into fists behind his back, legs spread apart. Maliah, on the other hand, stands as far from Koa as she can without making it too obvious, with her arms crossed over her chest. He’s about a foot taller than her and gorgeous with his almost-black hair and grey-ish blue eyes.
“Big time,” Kairi says, nodding slowly. “But don’t ask her about him, she won’t talk about it.”
“How come?” I ask, eyes wandering to Griffin who is deep in conversation with Zale a few feet away.
Griffin’s eyes have held an emptiness ever since Gabriel told him to prove he can handle basic surfing. It must be embarrassing to be told he needs to do that at his level. I watched a few YouTube videos from fans filming him surfing at past competitions and he’s good. Really good. But Gabriel is a coach for a reason and if he wants Griffin to prove himself, it must be for a good reason.
As if sensing my eyes on him, Griffin turns his head in my direction and our eyes lock. His eyes travel to my lips, and I feel my cheeks heat as he zones in on them. I nervously nibble on my bottom lip, his eyes darkening as he watches, before he returns them to mine.
“I think she’s still processing whatever happened between them.” Kairi says, popping her bubble gum again and pulling my attention back to her.
Gabriel blows his whistle and the abruptness of it causes me to jump.
“See you after practice.” Kairi says, throwing her thumb and pinky up and folding the other fingers down as she waves her hand side to side.
Maliah runs over, grabbing her board from the sand with an annoyed expression, before she joins the others as they all jog towards the water with their boards tucked under their arms. I quickly walk over to my cameras, aiming one at them and then using the second one to zoom in on Griffin.
When I don’t see him in the ocean, I pull away from the camera, glancing over the top of it to see him frozen near the shore of the water. His posture is rigid as he stares down at the water that surrounds his ankle. I glance towards Gabriel, who stands beside me, and notice him watching Griffin too with a pinched expression.
When I look back at Griffin, I’m reminded of the articles I read about him. His surf slip-up that tore his MCL forcing him to go through six months of physiotherapy. As annoying as he is, I can only imagine the emotions he’s going through after an accident like that.
Ever since the car accident with my parents, I’ve never felt comfortable in a car. I’ve never pursued getting a driver’s license, instead opting for walking or riding a bicycle. Whenever I have no choice but to get into a car, panic and anxiety return, so I usually force myself to sleep during the drive to avoid the fear. My doctors said it’s a PTSD response, so I guess this must be Griffin’s.
I re-position the camera on him, zooming out, and hit record before I make my way toward him. As I get closer, I notice how rapidly he’s breathing as his eyes remain focused on the water in front of him. I come to a stop next to him and stare out at the horizon too.
“Hey,” I say, bumping my shoulder against his.
He looks over at me with wide eyes, so I smile at him warmly, pretending not to notice that he’s minutes away from a panic attack.
“So, you were staring at my ass in the kitchen this morning,” I say, grasping at anything to take his mind away from his panic.
“What?” he asks, face turning a dark shade of red.
“I could see your reflection in the toaster oven,” I admit, my smile morphing into a grin as I glance at him from the corner of my eye.
He scoffs but doesn’t deny it and I can’t help the smirk from resting on my lips as a sense of satisfaction courses through me. He’s attracted to me, just as much as I’m attracted to him.
“What’s the issue here?” I ask, gesturing to his stance and the water.
“No issue,” he says grumpily, his eyes still focused on the large expanse of water.
“Okay then,” I say, turning to look at him. “How about you jump on your board and channel your inner surfer so that I can get some pictures and videos of you for the campaign.”
He frowns at me. “I’m not giving you content for the stupid campaign. I’m here to surf, not share my personal life with the world.”
I nod slowly, returning my eyes back to the ocean too. “Okay, I’m sure if we brainstorm together we can figure out something you’re comfortable with.”
“We?” he scoffs. “That’s your job, not mine, sunshine.”
I try to ignore the annoyance I feel at him calling me that stupid nickname. Focusing on my breathing before I answer him.
“If you’re here to surf, Griffin, then surf.” I say stiffly.
I turn around and begin stomping my way back to the camera, but he wraps his warm, calloused, hand around my wrist and tugs me to a stop. I turn and glare at him, causing an amused smile to tug at his lips.
“You’re a bit distracting,” he says, tugging me closer to him again until our chests are almost touching.
I open my mouth to ask him how I could possibly be distracting him from my spot on the beach, but the feeling of his fingers on my skin causes all the thoughts in my head to evaporate. His pupils dilate as his eyes find my lips and I watch as he licks the corner of his mouth, completely mesmerized. My cheeks flush and I find myself biting down on my lip again, warmth building between my legs.
I really need to get laid, and soon. I can’t be feeling this way about someone I’m supposed to be working with. It’s unprofessional. It must just be all the years of suppressed sexual tension rising to the surface.
He releases my wrist and cups my cheek in his palm, his thumb moving to my mouth and pressing down on my bottom lip, dragging it away from my teeth before he releases it with a pop.
“Stop doing that,” he says in a low voice, returning his lust-filled eyes to mine as he drops his hand back to his side and turns away from me.
I watch as he forces himself to walk further into the water, jumping onto his board, and paddling as far out as the others. I turn around and spot Gabriel looking in my direction with an amused smirk.
“Gabriel,” I mumble, returning to the tripod that’s focused on Griffin and readjusting it to where he is in the ocean. “Is there a reason you’re smiling like that?”
He lets out a boyish laugh. “I just think it’s nice to see how well you two are getting along. I was concerned about that, he’s a grumpy bastard.”
I take some pictures of Griffin paddling, muscles rippling with every movement, before switching the camera back to record him.
“Zalea warned me ahead of time, so I came prepared.” I say, turning my eyes to him.
“Woah, when did you two talk?” He narrows his eyes as he tips his head back and takes a sip from his water bottle.
“Oh, just at this funky bar near the hotel,” I say, doing my best to sound casual, “right after she licked me.”
Water sprays out of his mouth like a fountain, and he turns round eyes in my direction, wiping his mouth. I bite down on my lip hard, forcing myself not to laugh.
“What the hell do you mean? Where did she lick you?”
I’m having too much fun watching him fluster over this, his face turning red as he eyes me up and down in horror. I can’t hold it in anymore, a laugh bursting out of me as I watch his face turn crimson.
“Did you two have sex?” He pushes.
“Gabriel!” I shout before I burst into more laughs. “She was showing me how to take a tequila shot.”
“So, she licked you instead of just telling you to lick your own damn hand?” he mutters, his words laced with annoyance.
“What can I say, I brought out her fun side.” I shrug, returning my attention back to Griffin who is sitting atop his board and watching us.
“Yeah, seems like every woman she encounters lately brings out her fun side.” He crosses his arms over his chest and looks at Griffin. “How’d you get him to go in, anyway?”
“I’ve never seen a more obvious topic change, but I’ll let you have it,” I tease, “he told me he was here to surf, so I told him to surf.”
I shrug, leaving out the rest of the conversation.
“Seems like an awfully long conversation to have had if that’s all you two said,” he smirks. “I thought I saw him touching your face.”
“Shut up.” I feel my face warming again.
He chuckles before a comfortable silence passes between us as I zoom in on Griffin, who’s watching the others perform their aerials.
“Why didn’t you want him to do aerials with the others?” I ask, looking back at Gabriel.
He sighs. “I have a feeling he’s going to be too scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“Falling,” Gabriel answers, nodding in Griffin’s direction.
I turn to watch Griffin and witness him give up three waves in a row right when he’s supposed to stand up on his board. On his fourth wave, he tries to stand again, but his expression morphs into terror as he shakily lowers himself back down to his board at the last second.
Gabriel’s face contorts with disappointment as he watches Griffin struggle and eventually, he stops watching him altogether, returning his eyes back to Koa and Mal who are crushing their aerial maneuvers.
Fifteen minutes of failed attempts have Griffin paddling his way back to shore, and charging straight toward me as soon as his feet touch the sand. My heart begins to race as he nears until he finally stops right in front of me, ripping off his ankle strap and tossing it along with his board to the side. I slowly lower my camera to my waist as I meet his gaze.
His brows are pulled together as he stares down at me, jaw tight. He has a light flush to his cheeks.
“You’re distracting me,” he accuses, frustration clear on his face.
“I’m literally just doing my job.” I counter.
“I could hear you laughing at me over the roar of the waves,” he says, lowering his voice.
“What?” I furrow my brows in confusion. “I wasn’t laughing at you, Griffin. I was having a conversation with Gabriel while recording you.”
“Whatever. Your job is to make sure we look good,” he says in that same dangerously low voice. “Not to take pictures and record us during a horrible practice.”
“I don’t think anyone else was having a horrible practice, Griffin.” His eyes round slightly and I swear I see hurt reflect in his expression before he pastes his cold mask back into place.
“Delete it.”
I raise both of my eyebrows this time, shocked at his demand – especially in front of Gabriel who is standing back silently and watching the interaction play out. I remove the camera that I was using to film Griffin from the tripod and take out the SD card, holding it out for Griffin to take.
“I’m not going to delete it,” I say, waving it in front of him. “You can. Or you can watch it and see where you’re going wrong.”
When he doesn’t reach out to take the SD card, I reach forward and grab his hand. A bolt of electricity vibrates through my whole body, starting from where our hands touch. I drop his hand almost as quickly as I grab it.
He looks down at his hand in confusion, his frown deepening, and I take the opportunity to drop the SD card into his open palm before stuffing my hands into my pockets, not wanting to risk touching him again.
His hands close around the SD card and he returns those pools of gray back to my green eyes before brushing past me and disappearing into the house.
“What the hell was that about?” I mumble, watching his back disappear as he moves further into the house.
“After his accident, someone very close to him started to write personal and hurtful articles in the local paper,” Gabriel says behind me. “I can appreciate that it won’t be easy to get him to trust you, but I think out of everyone here you are most likely to gain his trust since you can understand the feelings he must be feeling.”
He smiles reassuringly at me before returning his blue eyes back to the rest of the team.
“I’m not so sure,” I say quietly to myself, my eyes trailing over his bedroom window which is covered by black curtains.
“Coach,”Maliah calls, running up to us at the end of practice with a towel wrapped around her blonde hair. “The team wants to go out for dinner tonight to celebrate Fin’s return and welcome Eliana to the team.” She winks in my direction as she readjusts her second towel around her shoulders.
“That’s a great idea,” Gabriel says, pulling out his wallet and handing me a black credit card. “Use my card to pay for everyone, but make sure they don’t come back wasted. Practice is still at sunrise, hangover or no hangover.”
She blows him a kiss before running into the house as I take the card from him. I watch as the rest of the team follows behind her moments later, thanking Gabriel for the good practice.
“You make sure to have fun tonight, you deserve to let loose.” Gabriel says.
“You’re not coming to dinner?”
“Oh, no, not this time. I have a conference call with the World Surf Association tonight,” he says, as we make our way inside. “We’re planning something exciting for the World Championship Tour.”
The house is abuzz as everyone fights to get their turn in the shower while the water is still warm. I make my way up the stairs to my bedroom, noticing Griffin’s room door is closed. Pulling my hoodie off, I stare at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes drift to the scar that runs across my chest, the only physical reminder of what I’ve been through.
Grief starts to overwhelm me, so I decide to take a long shower. Standing under the hot water always helps me clear my thoughts and reset my emotions. I grab a towel and head into the hallway, passing by Griffin’s closed room door before entering the bathroom. I close the door behind me and nearly pass out at what I see when I turn around.
Griffin stands in front of me with only a towel wrapped around his waist, covering his manly bits. His muscular and toned body glistens as beads of water make their way down his long expanse towards his deep V line, a light trail of dark hair disappearing beneath the towel.
“Oh. My. Gosh.” I gasp out, covering my eyes with my towel. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think anyone was in here,” I mumble into my towel, my cheeks scorching hot.
When Griffin doesn’t answer, I slowly lower the towel and my eyes connect with his. His black hair is dripping water at the ends as it falls over his forehead. No man should look this gorgeous.
“I’ll leave,” I say quickly, realizing I’ve been staring.
I turn to run out, but a gust of wind blows past my face as his palm lands on the hard wood, pushing the door closed again.
My heart races as I turn to look at him, and my breath catches in my throat when I realize how much closer he stands now, his arm still pressed against the door beside my face. He leans forward, bringing himself to my height, and gazes into my eyes with his grey ones.
His eyes trail down from my face toward my chest. He reaches forwards and brushes my long wavy hair behind my shoulder, revealing my scar. I feel exposed, as if under a microscope, as he trails his index and middle finger over it, causing me to shiver from the contact. I see the questions sitting at the tip of his tongue, but he doesn’t ask, instead returning his eyes to mine as he places his hand on the other side of the door, trapping me in place.
I lift my towel up to cover the scar. It’s something I try to hide, a reminder of a scary time in my life I don’t want to relive. I keep it hidden most of the time to avoid the questions that come with seeing it. Everyone always wants to know how I got it, but I rarely feel up to telling the story. Today is no exception.
“No,” he says in a low voice. “I’ll leave.”
He stands up straight, his arms falling to his side, as he waits for me to move. I peel my back from the door and shuffle to the side so he can leave, his muscles rippling under his skin with every move.
When he shuts the door behind himself, I lean against it. That wasn’t his over-the-top flirting or extremely annoying self that I’ve had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing so far. No, this was a different quieter version. I wonder if this is the Griffin that Gabriel was telling me about.
The Kooky Coconut,the only bar in Saltwater Springs, is not what I had pictured when Maliah had said we’d be going out for dinner. I had pictured a nice restaurant with shrimp cocktails or maple salmon, which is why I’m extremely overdressed for a beachside bar. While I wear a black mid-length dress that completely covers my arms and neckline, Maliah and Kairi are both wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
I take a deep breath and turn away from them, instead, choosing to look around at the bar, admiring the rustic interior. It’s weathered wooden floors and walls covered in fish nets, buoys, and fish sculptures has a charming aura about it.
Maliah and Kairi are tucked away in one of the small booths, flirting with two overly muscular blonde lifeguards that resemble Ken dolls. Colorful cushions and table lanterns are littered in every booth, inviting small groups. Griffin, Koa and Zale are gathered at the pool table in a far back corner of the bar, the overhead lights illuminating the green felt tabletop. And I sit alone, pretending to be mesmerized by the bartender’s subpar bottle skills.
After looking over the menu, I order myself a water and grilled fish tacos, crossing my fingers and toes that it doesn’t taste horrible. The laid-back music doesn’t do much to calm my discomfort and I find myself glancing in Griffin’s direction. His body stiffens as he stares down at the pool table but a couple seconds later, he slowly drags his gaze to mine, raking it over my body with a heated glare, my cheeks warming in response.
“Hey, girly.” I swing my head around and see Kairi approaching the bar, smiling at me.
“Hey.” I turn the stool to face her.
“You’re more than welcome to join us at the booth. We’re just talking with some local lifeguards.” she says as she waves the bartender down and orders a round of tequila shots for her booth, before glancing at me and ordering one for me too.
“Oh, I don’t drink tequila.” I say quickly.
The hangover I woke up to in Hawaii after taking shots with Zalea the night before still haunts me and I refuse to think about how many hours I spent puking into the toilet and falling in and out of sleep on the tiled bathroom floor. Tequila is not for me.
“That explains the water,” she says, scrunching up her face in fake disgust. “So, I see you have your work cut out for you with Griffin.”
She nods in his direction and when I look at him again, he’s leaning against the back wall hands resting on top of his cue stick, watching us.
“Yeah, something like that,” I mumble, watching him for a moment longer. “What’s his deal anyway?”
“He’s a very complicated and layered guy, but I guess what happened to him six months ago doesn’t help,” she sighs.
“What exactly happened? Gabriel mentioned that some personal articles were written about him, but when I tried to search them up, I couldn’t find anything, aside from a very vague article mentioning a pro surfers competition accident ending in an injury.”
“Yup,” she nods. “There’s not much left about it after Coach paid off all the local papers to take down everything about the accident.”
I guess that’s a habit of Gabriel’s then.
“Anyway,” she continues., “Griffin won’t really share much with us about that day but from what I witnessed; he was distracted out in the water. Surfing the worst he’s ever surfed.”
“And then what happened?”
“He tried to catch this massive wave, probably the biggest wave in that beach’s history. He was doing alright at first, until his foot slipped, and the wave crashed on top of him.”
“Ouch,” I say, goosebumps crawling up my arms.
“Oh yeah,” she agrees. “That wave pushed him so deep into the water that he drowned. Took three lifeguards to resuscitate him.”
Goosebumps crawl up my arm as she says those words. Griffin had died. That experience sounds so traumatic, no wonder he’s scared of falling.
“And then,” Kairi continues, “when he was taken to the hospital, they discovered his torn MCL. Took him six months of rehab and physio to get the all clear to come back and join us. He wouldn’t let any one of us visit in that time.”
“Why not?”
She shrugs as she glances at him over my shoulder. “No one really knows. He just needed time, but we think it has something to do with our ex-teammate and his ex-best friend, Colton.”
The bartender brings over the platter of shots and I watch as she plucks up the shot that she ordered for me and drinks it.
“Is that why Colton left the team?”
“That’s what we all think,” she says after she takes the lime wedge out of her mouth.
I make all my mental notes about Griffin and decide to push my luck and see what else I can get from Kairi that might help me understand the team dynamic more.
“What about Maliah and Koa? What were they like before they hated each other?” I take a sip of my water trying to remain nonchalant.
A smirk plays on her lips as she pushes her long curly hair over her shoulder and looks back at them. I follow her gaze and notice Koa glancing over at Maliah every few seconds, his sad eyes watching as she twirls her blonde hair around her finger while talking to one of the lifeguards. Before I look away, I notice her glance in Koa’s direction after he’s looked away.
“They were madly in love. The surf couple of the century,” she says, a pitiful smile on her lips. “But as you know about a year ago, they broke up. No one knows what happened or who made the decision, but with the way Koa looks at her I have a sneaking suspicion that she made the decision. They haven’t spoken since.”
“There seem to be a lot of secrets on this team,” I half-joke. “It’s sad that they haven’t spoken though. It looks like they both want to.”
She shrugs, bringing her eyes back to mine as she picks up the tray of shots.
“I’m a firm believer that if they’re meant to be, they’ll find their way back to each other.” She turns towards the booth where Maliah sits. “Join us later, if you’re up for it,” she says over her shoulder as she walks away.
I nod before looking over at Griffin just as he hits a pool ball. He glances up at me while he’s still bent over and the dark look in his eyes causes a tightness to form in my core. That man is going to drive me crazy in more ways than one.