14. Griffin
FOURTEEN
The outdoor showerlooks exactly as I remember it. Wooden panels frame the structure and as I push the oak door open, beautiful white tile floors comes into view. The palm trees gently swaying above the structure create a calming atmosphere.
“I don’t think any of the others know this exists, except maybe Gabriel. I used to sneak out here whenever I had a tough practice,” I say.
“It’s beautiful,” Eliana says, barely audible over the sound of the rustling palm trees.
Her brows lift as she looks around, lips slightly parted.
Sheis beautiful.
The golden sunlight casts a gentle glow along her skin, and I find myself completely entranced. Her brown hair, kissed by the sun, falls around her shoulders in loose waves, framing her face. The brown freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks enhance her beauty.
I watch as her green eyes, with flecks of brown, sparkle with wonder. The simplicity of her beauty leaves me breathless. It’s not just her physical appearance that captivates me, but her outlook on life, and the way she finds beauty in the simplest of things. She is the most beautiful person I’ve ever met.
“Fin!” Zale’s voice comes from the back of the house. “Eliana! Are you guys out here?”
Eliana jumps into a full-blown panic and roughly shoves me into the stall, pressing her body against mine, before she quickly closes the shower door behind us. Her ass rubs against my cock, and I squeeze my eyes shut, thinking of the most disturbing thoughts to keep my dick in check.
I clear my throat and force oxygen back into my airways as I subtly press my back against the wall, creating space between us so that I don’t to something stupid, again.
Something we’ll both regret.
“Oh my God,” she hisses, swinging around to look at me with round eyes, “I should’ve stayed out there, I’m so stupid. If he catches us in here, he’s going to think we’re—” she stops speaking abruptly as a faint flush crawls across her cheeks.
Interesting. She can’t even say it.
“He’s going to think we’re what?” I ask, my voice strained from all the effort it takes to not push her against the wall and strip her down to nothing, “use your words.”
“Doing…stuff,” she struggles to say, the pink on her cheeks deepening to a dark shade of red. The effect I have on her is fascinating, and I wish I could hear what goes on in her mind when she gets like this.
I notice she’s still trembling as she wraps her arms around her body, so I reach for the shower knobs and turn them until warm water starts to spray out. I signal with a tilt of my head for her to step under the water as I turn and pull myself up the side of the wall and peer over the top to see if Zale is still outside. I spot him walking towards the beach, his back facing us.
What could he possibly want so badly that it can”t wait?
I pray to everything that is good in this world that he goes back inside when he can’t find us on the beach. I don”t want the rest of the team to think I”m distracted. I lower myself back down and turn to look at her, my stomach dipping and diving as I watch her shimmy her top half out of her wet suit, revealing her completely naked back, water droplets running down her soft skin.
“Fuck,” I groan, falling back against the ledge, defeated at the sight of her.
She glances at me over her shoulder. “What?”
I don’t say anything as I allow my eyes to roam her body, memorizing every beauty spot on her back.
“Use your words,” she says, throwing my words from earlier back at me.
“I’m trying really hard to stay away from you, sunshine, but you’re not making it easy.”
Her gaze crashes into mine, and the world blurs around us.
God. Those eyes.
Her green eyes remind me of the forest, of fresh leaves blooming in spring, of the emerald ring my father gave to my mother when he proposed. Her eyes are hypnotizing, and I don’t even try to look away.
I watch those eyes dip toward my mouth as her tongue darts out and traces her pink bottom lip.
“It’s nothing you haven’t already seen,” she says, bringing her eyes back up to mine.
I reach out and gently turn her around to face me, tugging her towards me by the waist. My gaze travels across her body, the golden glow of the sun highlighting the edges of her curves and I feel my control slipping.
Those fucking curves.
“I definitely haven’t seen these.” My eyes are focused on her breasts, and I fight with the urge to pop one into my mouth.
“What are we doing?” she whispers breathlessly, as she steps in between my legs, my hands resting on her hips and her hands on my shoulder.
“Something we probably shouldn’t be doing,” I mumble, tracing circles across her bare skin before looking back into her beautiful almond shaped eyes.
Her soft skin is glowing in the sunlight as I admire the freckles scattered across her face and watch as she leans into my touch, her eyes fluttering shut. My thumb traces across her soft bottom lip and I finally allow myself to give in to her temptation.
“Fuck it,” I mumble.
She’s not going to stop being a distraction, so I might as well allow myself to get distracted just this once. Standing up, I walk her backwards until her back hits the wall, warm water pouring onto us both, soaking my hair.
I tilt her chin up, forcing those beautiful eyes to meet mine again, as she releases a soft breath. As she looks up at me I lean in for the kiss but a hard bang on the shower door has her abruptly shoving me away just before my lips touch hers.
It was the longest and shortest three second buildup of my life.
“Knock, knock, please put your clothes back on and open the door.” Zale sings from the other side.
I make a mental note to kick his ass for ruining the almost-kiss. I was so close to finally getting her out of my system.
She quickly zips her wetsuit back up and I open the door, careful to keep my hard-on hidden, as I watch Zale’s curious expression morph into a mischievous grin when he spots Eliana over my shoulder.
“Well, well, well, isn’t this just the biggest surprise of the century,” he says, grinning widely as he rubs his hands together.
“You’ve got this all wrong,” she says panicked, rushing forward to stand beside me.
“I don’t think I do,” he responds, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. “I wouldn’t have even thought to check for you two over here if it wasn’t for the steam floating out of what I always thought was a storage shed.” he says, pointing at the shower.
He tries to poke his head inside and look around, but I grab his shirt by the collar and walk out of the stall, shoving him backward.
“Hey, easy now,” he says, holding his hands up in front of him, palms facing me.
“Leave,” I grate through clenched teeth.
“I think I’d rather stay and hear the story of how you both coincidentally found yourselves taking a shower together,” he smirks before his eyes travel downward, “and why your dick is hard.”
I shove him backward again, before turning around and make my way toward the house.
“Hey, I can keep a secret,” he shouts behind me before chuckling to himself.
He most definitely cannot keep a secret.
“Secret?” I hear Eliana squeak.
At three in the morning,I feel the furthest from sleep that I ever have. I stare up at my ceiling, arms folded behind my head as my thoughts run wild. I’m exhausted but I can’t shake off the irritation that I feel toward myself as I replay the almost-kiss with Eliana on a never-ending loop.
I was so close to finding out what her perfect lips felt like, and whether she was really worth all the trouble she’s been causing me. But, to no one’s surprise, Zale had to ruin it, like the prick that he is.
Despite my annoyance with him, I’m also relieved. As tempting as it was to kiss her in that moment, it would have ended up being something we both would regret. I’m not looking for any sort of relationship with her, with anyone, right now. Flirting with her the night before was bad enough on my part, I shouldn’t be leading her on, but it feels like that”s exactly what I”m doing.
With the Qualifiers right around the corner, and my horrible performance in today’s competition, I need to refocus myself. I can’t be lost and dazed over some girl.
Thinking about her pushes me further into a shit mood. She’s a distraction, plain and simple. A tempting one that I need to start avoiding again. Getting my teammates on the Championship Tour is all that matters to me, and I’m not going to let anything, or anyone, get in my way this time.
Especially not a 5’5” brunette girl with green eyes and freckles... I”m so fucked!
After ten more minutes of stewing over her and what almost happened, I decide to do something to take my mind off her. With a sore grunt, I push myself out of bed and take slow strides to my dresser where the SD card that I took from Eliana the other day sits.
I pick it up and quietly make my way downstairs, careful not to make any noise. As I slip into the team meeting room and find Gabriel’s laptop, I boot it up and connect it to the smart TV, his background photo of Zalea displaying on the screen. I push the SD card into the laptop and hit play on the hour-long clip, watching the footage intensely.
I immerse myself in analyzing my disastrous form and performance, noting every single misstep and flaw. It’s painful to watch because I really do look like a rookie out there. The Griffin before my accident would never look this weak or scared, let alone feel it.
By the time the footage finishes playing, I’ve compiled a long mental list of areas that need some serious work. My positioning on the board is all over the place, an evident sign that I’m trying to compensate for the nagging pain that’s been bothering me. If I really do want to improve, I’ll have to book that appointment with the physiotherapist and make an improvement plan together.
After I’ve removed the SD card and disconnected Coach’s laptop, I glance up at the clock hanging over the door and see that there’s still another hour to go before the rest of the house wakes up. Deciding I need another distraction, I head to the kitchen and rummage through the cabinets, gathering ingredients for a team breakfast. The sizzle of bacon fills the silence, but it doesn’t do much to stop the whirlwind of thoughts that swirl through my mind.