Page 71 of Rise Above

How did you let yourself be vulnerable? Despite being a social worker, I didn’t have the answers. Life required vulnerability, but it could be so hard to give. How did you know who to trust? Placing your trust in the wrong person could be detrimental. The wrong person could betray your vulnerability, your openness. That’s why it was so hard to 156

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open up and trust. Talon was a new person, and I had been through a lot.

“Aife.” His voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Let

me tell you about Melody. You might have heard CJ mention her.” His face deepened into a frown. Talon sighed a little. “She’s a piece of my history I’d desperately like to forget. Unfortunately, we can’t erase our pasts, only learn and grow from them. For some context, I slept around a lot in college. Throughout high school, hockey and school were my focus and I refused to make time for dating. When I got my hockey scholarship, I went a little wild.

“I was still adamantly against dating, and I got it

into my head that a relationship would be a distraction. Then I met Melody.” Talon rubbed his good hand down his face. The frown grew as his shoulders and stomach tightened. “We were in our sophomore year. She ran into me, and I thought she was beautiful. All my promises about not dating went right out the window. Melody and hockey were my world. We met when I was twenty, and we dated for six years. Two years ago, the day I was going to propose, I found her in our bed fucking another guy.” He gulped, avoiding my eyes. Hurt lacerated his voice. “Melody tried to turn it on me; tell me it was my fault. She’d been cheating on me for four years. I let that woman see every piece of me. She went to my dad’s funeral. I really loved her, but she clearly didn’t feel the same.”

Reaching for his hand, I squeeze it gently. What

could I possibly say to him? I’d never been cheated on. There weren’t words I could give him. “I’m sorry, Talon.”

“I’d say it’s okay, but I haven’t been around another

woman openly like that since.” His blue eyes met mine. “At

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least not until you.” His face softened, his entire body finally relaxing.

“I guess I’m honored then.”

Talon smiled softly. It didn’t quite meet his eyes. It

almost seemed like he had more to say, but he didn’t seem quite ready to tell the full story. “You should be.”

I smiled back. I appreciated that he had opened up

to me. Some part of him clearly trusted me; he clearly felt comfortable with me. On the other hand, I was nervous. I’d only opened up to a handful of people. Most of them ran once they knew. Even my own family had left after a while. It always became too much for people. As much as I loved Dre, Nat, and Davis, they did not know the full extent of what I had been through. When my own family had quit on me, it was hard to be vulnerable. Fear ate at my chest and throat, clawing at me from the inside.

Tears welled in my eyes again as I continued to

think about my lot in life. My life hasn’t been perfect or easy, but it led me here. There were for sure aspects I would change. There were years of pain I would erase, but all of it got me here. Serendipity.

“Aife.” I was in Talon’s lap again. He was gently

stroking my hair. “I won’t judge you.”

I sniffed. “I’m more worried you’ll leave.”

“I won’t.” His voice didn’t waver, assured and firm. “You can’t promise that,” I said, burying my head

into his chest. “My own family left because of it.” It was weird to me how much I wanted to trust this man I barely knew, how much I already cared for him.

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“Aife.” Talon sounded like he was ready to beg. His

hand tightened on my waist.