Page 57 of Rise Above

my mom had the ability to pull it out of me.

Silence met me on the other line which was slightly

surprising. “Well, tell me about her.”

“Seriously?”

“She must be important if she’s in your bed. But, I

suppose I’ll grant you your privacy. I called for a reason.”

“Which is?” I looked down to make sure Aife was

still asleep. Little snores left her lips as she clung to me. The smile that she pulled from me almost felt silly.

“Your brothers are coming for Thanksgiving.

Should I expect you too?”

“Of course.” I smiled, bigger. My mom was my

world. “I wouldn’t miss it, Mom. You know I love your cooking more than anything in this world.”

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Aife groaned softly. She smacked her lips together

before rolling over, taking the blankets with her. Stifling a laugh, I climbed out of my bed while pressing my phone to my ear. I was going to make Aife and me some breakfast. Mom had taught us all to cook. Really, she had ingrained it in us. She refused to let us be incompetent, to rely on others for basic things.

“So, you really aren’t going to tell me about this

friend?” Mom asked, her voice doing that thing it did when she really wanted to know information. It took all my effort to not roll my eyes.

“Mom.” I opened my fridge and pulled out some

eggs, bacon, and cheese. “Pester your other children.”

“Unfortunately, all my children are man-whores!” Blinking, I pulled my phone away from my ear and

looked at it. “I am not a man-whore.” I put my phone on the counter, engaging the speaker so I could have both hands free to cook. “I was in a relationship for six years, Mom.”

“Ugh, I hated that girl.” She sighed. “My point is,

TJ, you seem to have moved on if you have a friend sleeping over.”

Breaking the eggs into the pan, I shook my head.

“We didn’t do anything.”

“But you like her.” It was a statement, not a

question. “Does she know about Melody?”

“No, I haven’t told her yet. She knows about Dad.”

“Holy crap. You do like her!”