Chapter 1
ONE
HAVEN
TWO YEARS LATER
My mom pulls her SUV into the nearly empty lot next to the park, making it easy for her to pull into a spot. In the front seat, the sun beams through the windshield, nearly blinding me, and I flip the mirror down, but it does nothing to help.
“Ugh, the sun’s in my eyes.” I groan. “Give me your sunglasses.”
“Um, no,” my mom says, looking in the rearview and brushing a few strands of hair from her face. “No being whiny today, Have. You either, Noah,” she says to me and my little brother, who’s in the back, stuffing his face with a donut.
“What if he doesn’t like us?” Noah asks, his mouth full of Boston Cream because even at the age of ten, he has no manners.
“Oh, cut it out.” My mom scoffs. “What’s not to like?”
I give her a side-eye. “Well, I heard you and dad talking and, uh … I heard you say that he beat someone up on his first day of school. And he gave his teacher the double middle fingers.” I scrunch my nose up. “Not even one middle finger, Mom. Two.”
“Child,” she utters, throwing her head back, “must you always eavesdrop? This is going to be a nice playdate for you guys.”
“I like to know what’s going on,” I deadpan with a small shrug. “Especially if it involves my parents wanting me to hang out with someone who flips teachers the bird and punches people,” I grumble. “Also, Mom, I’m twelve now. Please don’t say playdate. It’s so cringe.”
“I agree,” Noah chimes in. “That just sounds … creepy.”
Her eyes go from me to my brother, sending us both a warning. My mom doesn’t play around, and I know better than to push her buttons too hard. My dad is a pushover. My mom? She’s a tad scary.
And everyone says I’m just like her.
“This boy—Dallas …” My mom says the three words but stops for a few seconds, almost like she’s processing what she’s about to tell us.
“He’s had a really hard life.” She sighs.
“I hope you two realize how incredibly lucky you are. You have so many people who love you. Dad and I put you above everything else, including ourselves. But not every child is that blessed.” She looks at me and my brother again.
“Memphis and Lane have wanted children of their own for a very long time. And now, they have Dallas. And I know they’re going to give him the life he deserves.
” She flicks a tear away before it rolls down her cheek.
“In a way, he’s been waiting for them, and they’ve been waiting for him too.
But you’re right, he did do the things you said.
But cut him some slack, okay? His life has been anything but easy. ”
I’m silent for a moment as I let her words hit me, leaving me feeling like an absolute jerk. Finally, I give her a small smile. “It’s really cool that the kid they adopted is Dallas since her name is Memphis.”
My mom studies my face before she smiles back at me and brushes her fingers across my cheek. “That’s another reason why they thought it was meant to be. They were considering it, and then … Dallas showed up.”
My parents have always been close with Lane and Memphis—so much so that the four of them, along with another couple, Trent and Cameran Kade, have beach houses in the Hamptons all next to each other.
Her eyes dart behind me, and she draws in a deep breath. “Okay. They’re here. Best behavior, all right?”
“Yes, Mom,” Noah and I say at the same time before, reluctantly, I turn to look out the window, and right away, Aunt Memphis is waving to us.
I’m so happy for her and Lane. And who knows? Maybe this Dallas kid and I can become friends.
DALLAS
I’m not exactly known for being a ray of sunshine. There’s a lot about my life and the world as a whole that I don’t love, but I tolerate it. There is, however, one thing I can’t stand. And that’s when people are being overly nice to me because they feel bad.
Yeah. I hate that.
Like these two spoiled kids that I’m meeting at this random park right now. I know the last thing they want to do with their final day of summer is to be here with me and Memphis. I’m not stupid.
The girl—Haven, her name is—she turns everything anyone says into a joke.
She’s loud and borderline annoying. But her brother, Noah, he’s okay.
His shirt probably costs more than my entire wardrobe, and it’s covered in whatever parts of his donut didn’t make it into his mouth.
He seems completely unfazed by anything his sister says, even when she’s making fun of him.
After running to his mom’s car, Noah sprints back toward us, a football in hand. “You guys want to throw?” he calls to me and his sister, holding the ball up.
“I’m in!” Haven walks toward him, pulling her hair up into a ponytail before she looks at me. “What about you, Dallas?”
“We’re going to walk the loop while you kids play football,” their mom, Anna, says.
“You all good?” Memphis asks me, pushing up from the picnic table.
“Yeah,” I say, giving her my usual one-word response. I’ve been with her and her husband Lane for two weeks. I don’t know them, and I’m not comfortable with them yet either.
My eyes follow the women as they take off walking, no doubt talking about me and how much trouble I’ve been causing. They had a perfect, polished life. And then I came in, bringing nothing but trouble.
Noah lightly hits my shoulder. “You gonna play with us or not? I promise, my sister’s arm isn’t that bad.”
Instantly, Haven punches him in the bicep and takes the ball from his hands.
“I can throw harder than you, a-hole,” she hisses. “I mean, I’d rather throw a softball, but this will do, I guess.” She looks at me, almost like she’s challenging me. “You joining, or are you going to just stand here all day?”
My eyes move from the ball to her bright green eyes before finally, I sigh. “Yeah, I guess.” I shrug and follow behind them into the middle of the field.
Within thirty seconds of throwing the ball to each other, I know two things to be true.
One, I’ve never had a football to throw, but this is actually kind of fun, and I’m not half bad at it.
And two … Haven scares me a little bit. But I’d never say that out loud.