Page 47 of Rise Above

A smile broke out on his face, and my heart

fluttered again. That smile made him a thousand times more handsome; his smile lit up his entire face. His eyes crinkled at the corners, and I just was amazed at how someone could be so beautiful. TJ was just a delight to look at. I really could look at him all day; he was like a Greek god. I rolled my eyes at my thoughts. It was like I’d never seen a hot person before.

“Hey,” TJ said as he approached us, bag slung over

his shoulder. “Zeke and a few other guys are headed to a bar to celebrate. Y’all want to join us?”

Davis looked over at me. The look he shot me was

almost a challenge to say no. “I’m down.”

“Sure, I can go for a little bit.” I smiled up at TJ. “Awesome. Aife, you wanna ride with me?” A blush came across my cheeks. Why was this man

affecting me so much? I’d spent all day with him sans the butterfly feeling. Why was I feeling it now? I wasn’t even

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willing to be in a relationship right now. Was I? Davis had said TJ wasn’t ready for it. Relationships were tough and required commitment. They required time and energy, and I wasn’t sure I had that to give… not right now. Not deep into my program.

“Aife?” TJ’s deep voice called to me.

“Oh… umm… sure. I’d like that,” I said as I

followed after him. He smiled down at me as he led me to his dark blue truck. Much like him, it was large. Probably to help with his massive size.

“Did you enjoy the game?” He unlocked the vehicle

and threw his bag in the backseat before opening my door. So, he was a gentleman too. My heart needed to stop beating so hard. He was just being nice.

“It was intense!” Climbing into the truck, I pulled

my seatbelt on and waited for him to get in the driver’s side. “The Chaos Coliseum felt totally different tonight. I couldn’t believe the energy.”

He nodded and smiled crookedly. “Yeah, those are

special nights. You should see it during the playoffs.” He tossed his suit jacket in the back before driving to the bar.

“How’s the win feel?”

“Every win feels like my first one, and it always

pumps me up. I’ve got all this pent-up energy and adrenaline I don’t know what to do with,” TJ said and briefly looked over at me, wearing his crooked smile.

I couldn’t help but smile too. “You do seem a little

hyper.”

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“Good thing we’re going to a bar.” He paused for a

second. “Is it okay if we head to my place for a second so I can take my suit off?”

“Sure,” I said, nodding. “The suit looks nice