Friends, Benefits, and Problems (Coastal Miami #1)

Chapter 1 – Reece

Reece threw himself on the floor, laying on his back in the middle of his new bedroom. Unpacked boxes were scattered around and he had absolutely no motivation to do anything about it.

“Natalie, don’t leave your dresser in the middle of the hallway!”

“It’s too heavy, Phoebe, what do you want from me?”

“It’s the size of a mini fridge, stop complaining and move it!”

His sisters were running around getting their rooms together without a care in the world, as if this move wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen in the history of their family. Their lives were basically over at this point and somehow he was the only one having a crisis.

“Reece, you haven’t started unpacking yet?” Daphne, the eldest of his older sisters, asked as she popped her head in his door, her long brown hair piled atop her head in a messy bun. She was carrying a small box of her shoes.

Reece didn’t move a muscle, but puffed out his cheeks and stared at her in silent defiance.

“No amount of pouting is going to change the situation so you might as well make the best of it, bro,” Daphne told him with a sympathetic smile, but went on her way to start her new life in her new room in the stupid new house.

When Reece first learned that his family was moving—that he was going to be taken away from the only home and friends he’d ever known—it felt like the end of the world.

Daphne was right though, the best thing he could do was suck it up and try to make the most of it.

He started with his clothes, opening the largest box near his closet.

His new room was admittedly nicer than his previous one and Reece was proud of his dad for the promotion he achieved that led to the move.

Eventually, he stopped sulking and focused on the positives, certain he’d make new friends and probably even like his new school.

He liked his new closet, being able to walk in, to separate and organize all his clothes to his preference.

The top shelf was used for nothing but shoes and he had a small white vanity inside the closet that held his favorite accessories.

All the rest of his things didn’t take too long to unpack.

He had one tall bookshelf which stored all his books, magazines, and games.

Reece also liked—loved, actually—that he had his own bathroom.

He’d been sharing with all three of his older sisters his entire life until now, so that was a blessing he wouldn’t be taking for granted.

His mood had significantly lightened by the time he started unpacking things in his bathroom, humming a happy tune as he organized everything exactly how he wanted it.

Before he knew it, he finished getting settled, took a long shower and even had lunch, yet all three of his sisters could still be heard fussing about as they worked on their own rooms.

With his belly full and several hours of daylight left, Reece told his mom he was going to explore and headed out to see what his new neighborhood in Seaside Palms was all about.

Being only a few blocks from the beach, Reece headed there first. He soon found himself walking down a paved path that parallelled the beach and connected what appeared to be a string of parks.

He passed an outdoor gym bustling with life, two different volleyball games in process.

Reece whistled watching them on his way by, knowing it had to be difficult to play in the sand.

There were plenty of people walking around like Reece, but there were others passing him on bikes and skating by, the energy pulsating and electric.

Reece felt himself smiling as he passed a playground, almost getting ran into by a couple of kids chasing each other.

He laughed it off and kept walking, admiring the strip of shops adjacent to the park, until something came flying right at his face.

Reece closed his eyes and held his arms up to shield himself, but the basketball that had been soaring toward him had been intercepted by someone else, just inches from Reece’s face.

“Whoa!” Reece breathed, wide eyes flicking to his savior. He was taller than Reece but had to be close to his age.

“Watch it!” The boy shouted in Reece’s defense and Reece followed his piercing gaze to the basketball court, where a group of boys stood, one of them shouting out a half-hearted apology.

“That’s okay,” Reece called and smiled, meeting the eyes of his savior directly only to find himself wholly captivated by someone for the first time. He’d never seen a blue so deep—deep enough to have him stammering his gratitude. “Th-thanks for that.”

“No worries,” the boy said, flashing his teeth with a wide grin before running off back to his game.

Reece watched him go, admiring the sheen of sweat coating his deep brown skin. The Miami heat would take some getting used to, but Reece suddenly felt himself looking forward to everything.

* * *

The next morning, Reece woke up to the smell of bacon and pancakes, a delicious aroma he followed downstairs, the sound of his mom’s laughter carrying up to him. He was already rolling his eyes imagining what lame joke his dad might’ve come up with to make her giggle like it was the funniest thing.

The girls weren’t up yet, all three of them probably staying up later than they needed to.

Reece always ended up in bed by ten and was up early in the mornings.

Since life with his siblings was so chaotic all the time, he loved the peaceful moments—finishing breakfast and getting ready for the day before they started stirring.

In the corner of his bedroom, Reece had a tall mirror he was currently using to admire his blue shorts and oversized white t-shirt.

He only had two different pairs of shoes that he could choose from to complement the outfit, but before he could decide if he wanted all white or white and blue, a faint thump, thump, thump pulled him to his bedroom window.

It was coming from next door, Reece only able to see a portion of the neighbor’s backyard, but it was just enough to see the old basketball goal situated on a slab of concrete and two boys playing against each other.

Reece gasped, pressing his forehead to the window as if to get a closer look, but he was certain that one of the two boys had been the one he ran into the day before—the same boy who saved him from taking a ball to the face.

“This is fate!” Reece bounced on his feet with a big grin, shaking out his hair on his way to his closet to finally pick his shoes. He grabbed the all white ones because they were closest and ran all the way downstairs and to the backdoor to put them on.

“Whoa, what’s the rush?” Reece’s mom, Vivian, was tall, green-eyed like Phoebe and Daphne, and had the same shade of golden hair as Reece and Daphne.

“I’m going to make new friends, Mom, what else?” Reece waved his arms around dramatically, jogging in place, eager to run outside but not daring to leave until his mom dismissed him.

“Okay,” she said, laughing softly. “Don’t go far and have fun.”

“‘Kay, Mom, bye!”

Outside, Reece heard the boys next door still playing basketball, but there was a white lattice fence separating their yards covered with vines of coral honeysuckles, hummingbirds zooming around all over.

Reece’s backyard was neat, having a simple patio and pool but there was no excitement—not like there was next door.

Determined to overcome the lattice barrier, also known as the friend blocker, Reece scoured the backyard, hoping to find some opening in the fence, but there was none.

The thought of walking around from the front left his cheeks burning.

Reece didn’t want to seem desperate, but he didn’t want to waste time when he could be playing with new friends.

“Hey, it’s the new kid!”

He’d been found. Gasping, Reece turned around to face away from the fence in a failed attempt to act nonchalant, pretending he hadn’t seen or heard anything.

“Hey, you,” the boy called to him, not the one with the endless blue eyes, but his friend with the dark brown hair and tanned skin. “Hey! Blondie, I’m talkin’ to you!”

“Me?” Reece turned back to the fence, picking at the tips of his fingers.

“Yeah, you.” Both the boys came up to the fence, peering at Reece through the lattice.

“You,” said the other boy, those deep blue eyes wide. “He’s the guy from the park yesterday.”

“No way,” the brown-haired boy said. “I saw you moving in and have been waiting to meet you. I’m Declan. Declan James. I live here, and this is my best friend, Nicholas Gray.”

“Just Nick,” he corrected quickly and Reece shifted on his feet, heart pounding.

“I’m Reece Keys. You guys are really good at basketball, huh…”

“Eh, a little.” Declan shrugged, a crooked grin on his face.

“You wanna play?” Nick asked, every inch of him exuding confidence.

Reece nodded quickly, stomach fluttering, heart racing.

He couldn’t remember the last time he was so excited.

Without wasting another second, he left through the backgate and went along the side of the house to the front.

Then he jogged up Declan’s driveway and into his backyard where the two boys were waiting.

“Nice to meet you,” Declan said and held out his hand.

“You too, Declan!” Reece shook his hand, smiling so hard his whole face hurt. “And Nick…”

He felt as if he was in slow motion as he took his hand from Declan and offered it to Nick instead. No ocean could compare to his deep blue eyes. He smelled like dark honey, the salty bite cutting through the richness from his sweat felt so warm it kept pulling Reece in.

“Glad at least someone around here can get my name right,” Nick huffed teasingly and Declan just laughed.

Reece laughed too as he and Nick shook hands. Suddenly, he felt at home and wasn’t so disappointed about his move.

“So, have you ever played ball before or is this your first time?” Nick asked, the three of them moving closer to the basketball goal together.