Page 12 of Rise Above

Rise Above

Julia was my work partner, a nurse case manager

who previously had fifteen years of pediatric nursing experience. She was everything I could have asked for in a partner, especially when my partner from Houston was insanely talented. I was so thankful to have her. She was smart, funny, and the type of crazy that I loved.

After inputting one final note, I quickly grabbed my

bag and ran for my car. The only thing I didn’t like about this job was that I had to pay for parking. In Houston, only medical center workers had to pay, so it was a concept I hated. Why should I have to pay to park at work? Those thoughts consumed me until I arrived at the university… which was yet another place I had to pay to park.

Rushing, I slightly jogged to my classroom and

found my seat next to Davis. Davis had quickly become a best friend, just like Dre and Nat had. They reminded me of Southern people. I always thought Northerners were supposed to be assholes, but those three had shattered my illusions. I smiled at my blond friend as I settled into my seat and pulled out my notepad.

“There’s another game on Sunday if you’re down,”

Davis said, bringing a cup of coffee to his mouth.

Davis was probably the most athletic person I knew,

and he looked like it too. He was around six feet with a buzzed blond head. He had muscles, but they were lean instead of bulky. My favorite feature of Davis’s, though, were his dark green eyes. He was a fairly good-looking dude. But I hadn’t moved to Illinois for men; I’d moved for my career. That had to be my sole focus. I couldn’t change the medical world if I allowed myself to get distracted.

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Besides, Davis was like a brother and had a huge thing for Nat.

“I’m down. Playing the undergrads again?” Davis smirked as he set down his coffee. “No.

Jefferson said in order for the game to be fair, it would be student athletes this time.”

Confusion hit me. “Was the last game not fair?”

“The Carter boys take competitive to new heights.

He underestimated our skills, especially yours. Much like his idiotic older brother, Jeff has to win.”

“How do you know them anyway?” I asked on a

chuckle. Davis said everything so matter of factly, it sometimes made me laugh.

He rubbed his chin for a bit. “I met Jefferson

through Zeke. Zeke, TJ, and I all played hockey together at this university weirdly enough. We just clicked at our first practice. I’ve got brothers, but TJ and Zeke would undoubtedly take a bullet for me. To be fair, I would do the same for them. I never told you this?”

“That you played hockey?” That probably shouldn’t

have shocked me as much as it did. He really was a freak of nature, and he had a talent for every sport.

“Remind me how many sports you do,” he teased as

our professor walked in. “To be continued, Gomez.”

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Three hours and four pages of notes later, Davis