Page 126 of Rise Above

Rise Above

“I feel like we keep hashing out the same fucking

thing,” I said lowly. “You’re protective of Aife. That’s fine. But you need to watch how you speak to me. We’re best friends, Davis.”

Nodding, Davis looked down at his coffee mug. The

fight in both of us just flickered out. Zeke settled down as well. He wasn’t usually the referee, but he’d done a surprisingly good job. Because we were like brothers, all three of us could move on from the conversation.

“So, you like her?” Davis asked. He was the

romantic out of our group.

“A lot.” A smile broke out on my face. “She makes

me feel like the only man on the planet. She’s an incredible woman and listener. Aife is just truly special.”

“Fuck, you do sound like you’re in love.” Davis

grinned at me. “You’ll be whipped soon enough.”

Shaking my head, I just laughed and changed the

topic. I hated having attention focused solely on me; it was annoying and made me uncomfortable.

“What about you and Nat?”

Zeke caught on to what I was doing. “They’ve gone

on a few dates that always end up with sex.”

Davis’s face flushed pink. Was he embarrassed? “Good for you,” I said, meaning it.

“Not really.” Davis frowned at his cup. “She

seemingly only wants sex. I want more.”

“Like a relationship?” Zeke opened a protein bar.

“You haven’t had one of those in a long time.”

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I listened to the two converse. My body was tired as

was my mind. I just really needed a break from people, even my friends. The only person I actually wanted around me was Aife. It felt weird to admit that, even if it was only to myself. Aife was becoming an addiction. I was okay with that too. She made me happy, and I could only hope that I made her happy too.

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CHAPTER 20: A NEW START

AIFE

Dr. Bowie approached me as I was exiting a