Page 33 of Rise Above

landed. Sure, we were in Dallas, and Dallas was trash. But Texas was Texas. The sky just seemed so much bigger here, and the sunsets just hit differently. The way the oranges and pinks mingled together just didn’t seem to happen in other states, and I travelled to enough of them to know. Texas was known as the friendship state and for good reason. Up north, people were nice but not kind. Here, people were kind but not always nice. A Texan would take their shirt off their back to give it to someone else.

But the most important thing I missed about my

beautiful home—Whataburger. Every state had their little burger joint they argued was the best. Whataburger, however, was the George Strait of burger places. Every time we played in Dallas, I had to grab a Texas favorite. It probably wasn’t the best meal for a top tier athlete, but I just didn’t care. Patty melts were my cheat day, and they rarely happened. Nothing could beat Whataburger Texas toast.

Zeke nudged my shoulder after we got our room

keys. “We headed to Whataburger?”

I’d converted my best friend to a lover, even if he

still pronounced the joint wrong. In Texas, it was more like “water burger.” My stomach growled at the idea of dinner. We had a huge game against the Dallas Orbs tomorrow, and I needed some good, sweet tea and Texas toast in my belly.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Once we had settled in our seats with our respective

meals, I immediately dug into my patty melt. A small moan escaped my lips. I’d been seriously deprived, and it was

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never clearer than when I was back here, in Texas. Plus, Southern sweet tea was incomparable. Chicago had no idea how to make sweet tea correctly.

“So.” Zeke took a bite of his honey BBQ sandwich.

“Davis told me you’ve reached out to the soccer chick. What’s that about?”

My cheeks flared up. Davis didn’t normally gossip,

especially not to Zeke. “I just want to get to know her better.”

“Why?” Zeke quirked an eyebrow at me, digging

into his fries. “I thought after everything with Melody that you were done with women and relationships?”

“It’s not like that.”

“So how is it then?” He took a sip of his drink.

“Explain it to me like I’m stupid.”

Rubbing the back of my neck, I thought about my

answer and rejected calling him stupid. Why had I reached out to Aife? Why had I sought her out at her place of work? She intrigued me in a way only a few people did. So much of me just wanted to know more because there were very few people I let into my life, and I weirdly wanted her to be one of them. Something about her had gotten under my skin.

I sighed and placed my burger down. “Honestly,

Zeke, I have no idea.”

Zeke stared me down for a minute. He took another

sip from his drink. “You want to know her; she does have this pull to her. Davis is worried.”

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