Free FURY: A Rio Games Romance by Alison Ryan

Solomon was to march in the opening ceremonies in Rio or Tokyo, it would be under the sky-blue banner of the Fijian flag.

    * * *
    W eeks later , after spending an afternoon at the gym doing cardio and leg work, Solomon met his friend Elliott, the boy who had painfully introduced him to judo on his first visit to Cincinnati, for an early dinner near his apartment adjacent to the Xavier University campus. Elliott still trained, but Solomon had long ago surpassed him, in both physical stature and kyu-dan rank, achieving a superior belt within two years of his first visit to the dojo.
    Elliott had a test for which to study, but Solomon was itching for something to do, and his legs were too sore to consider spending any more time in the gym. As he walked on the Xavier campus, he noticed a crowd filing into the soccer stadium.
    A bus parked on the street was decorated with Notre Dame Fighting Irish colors and signage. Solomon watched the teams warming up on the field from behind a chain link fence, and he stopped a pair of Xavier students decked out in Musketeers shirts as they walked by.
    “Hey, is Notre Dame any good?”
    “Yeah, dude, they’re ranked like in the top five in the country. One of their girls is on the national team, Tara-something. But we’re undefeated. That’s why the crowd is so big. These games usually just get a couple hundred people. But I heard this might be a sellout!”
    “Cool, thanks,” Solomon replied, and he plunked down seven dollars and bought his first-ever ticket to watch a soccer match.
    Solomon listened closely as the starting lineups were announced, and thankfully Notre Dame had only one “Tara” on the team, number nine, so he knew who the star player to keep his eye on was. She had shoulder length brown hair, tied back in a ponytail, and right away, even as a novice soccer fan, he could see something about her was different. She had a calmness about her with the ball, slow and cool, but ready to explode at any time. Like watching a lion stalking prey, only what she was hunting was goals.
    Xavier’s central defender, however, a girl he confirmed via his program was named Logan Lowery, kept getting in the way. Tara Rourke would receive the ball, spin, cut back and try to create distance to shoot or pass, and Logan just seemed to always be right there with her, no matter what she tried.
    Logan was hard to miss on the field as one of the taller girls with a curly head of bright blonde hair, and Solomon found himself transfixed by her. She never stopped running, breaking up a play on the left side of the field one moment and jumping between two Fighting Irish players to win a head ball seconds later. She was constantly chattering, encouraging and positioning her teammates. Solomon found himself applauding her efforts, clapping and cheering, getting swept up in the energy of the crowd. And especially mesmerized by Logan.
    Long after the match ended, a spirited 0-0 draw, Solomon remained as others filed out of the stadium. He flipped his program over to the back, checking for the date and time of Xavier’s next home game. He knew he’d need another Logan Lowery fix as soon as possible.

Chapter Thirteen

Logan
    L ogan had started off her soccer career with Xavier on a high note, helping to clinch a draw against Notre Dame and the famous Tara Rourke. Ordinarily she would be on top of the world, especially since her parents had been at the game, rooting her on from the stands.
    But life had a lot less color in it these days. It was hard for her to focus on anything that wasn’t soccer. She was angry at the world; her usual sunny disposition and can-do attitude replaced by bitterness and frustration over things she couldn’t control.
    Her father had begun his treatments, the ones Dr. Heflin said would help battle his cancer. Chuck Lowery was usually a man with boundless energy (some would say, that’s where Logan got hers) but he had now become someone who was easily fatigued, and who