Page 100 of Rise Above

Davis nodded. “Makes sense. I’ll just need to charm

her then.”

I laughed. Davis was cocky but not in an annoying

or arrogant way. His confidence was probably the most appealing trait about him. He knew how to perfectly mix confidence and charm. Nat had no idea what she was in store for. They were going to be a cute couple.

“How was Texas?” Davis asked as we approached

our cars. “TJ said you met his family.”

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“Texas was wonderful. Though, I probably could

have done without my family nonsense. Talon’s family wanted to interrogate me. He freaked when one of his brothers said we were in a relationship.”

“Not surprising.” Davis opened his car, sticking the

key in the ignition to warm it up. “Melody messed him up. You guys need to talk it out, really and truly. I mean, you are definitely more than friends.”

“No!” My face flushed red. “We are just friends,

Davis.”

“Sure. Does he know… you know… about

everything?”

My mouth dried. “I’m not ready to tell him. It’s my

business, Davis. He doesn’t need to know about Dr. Su or Jason yet. When he tells me about Melody, I’ll open up.”

“Have you even mentioned them?” His voice was

hard.

I shook my head. How could I explain my greatest

traumas to Talon? He looked at me like I was normal. No one did that anymore. My family didn’t. Davis, Dre, and Nat didn’t. No one in my life did. I wasn’t ready to let go of the normalcy yet. When Talon learned my truth, he would look at me with pity like everyone else did. I wasn’t prepared to lose him like that. There was only so much pity I could take.

“You want him to not know?”

“Davis, when people find out, I get treated with

kid’s gloves. I’m not broken or fragile.”

“You’re resilient.”

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“You know, I really hate that word sometimes.”

Rubbing a finger over my lips, I sighed. “Talon treats me like I’m normal. Not like I’m just resilient.”