“Yeah, but I’m an adult.”
Nash huffs. “I’ve been an adult all my life.”
A sharp pang hits my chest. From what I’ve witnessed and what James has told me, what he says is true. “You shouldn’t have had to.”
He shrugs. “Whatshould havehappened doesn’t matter, just what did.”
I sigh. “Yeah, I hear ya. Life is fucked up sometimes.”
He looks at me, surprised, like he hadn’t expected me to agree. “It is.”
“But it can be pretty incredible too. Look at today—everyone coming together for Sadie, me and you playing ball, my friendship with James. Hannah’s been my best friend my whole life. That’s the good stuff, ya know?”
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Nash replies, voice a little sadder now.
Fuck, I hate the lives these kids have lived, and I’m so fucking thankful they have James.
“How’d you and James meet? You don’t seem like you’d have anything in common.”
We have more in common than one would think, but now I have to figure out how in the hell to answer his question. “Through a mutual friend,” I settle on. “We lost contact, and then I ran into him again a while back, and we just started talking. He’s a good person.”
Nash doesn’t say anything, but I choose to believe he knows I’m right.
“There’s the court. Race you there,” he says, surprising me, and starts running. I do the same, pushing hard to catch up with him, which I just about do, before we both skid to a stop beside the court.
“You’re a cheater,” I say, breathing heavily.
“I play to win.” Nash smiles before trying to cover it again.
I toss him the ball, and he starts dribbling. “First one to twenty wins,” I say.
He wins the first game, then talks me into a second. We up the score to thirty, and when I win, he says we have to play a third for a tiebreaker. There’s a small chance I’m going to collapse and die in the middle of this game, but still, I agree. Nash deserves this, and I’m having fun too.
I do collapse when he scores his last basket, winning the game. Nash laughs, then falls to the ground beside me, both of us looking up at the blue sky, big, fluffy clouds moving by.
When I catch my breath, I say, “He’s trying. He loves you both.”
Nash doesn’t answer, but eventually, he pushes to his feet and says, “No one has ever loved me except Sadie, and I don’t think that’ll change anytime soon.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
James
Ican’t helpwondering how things are going with Colton and Nash.
It means a lot to me that he asked Nash to go. I think Nash needs someone in his life, and he’s not ready for that person to be me, and honestly, I’m not sure how good at it I’ll be. The truth is, it had never even crossed my mind to ask if Nash wanted to play basketball with me. I’d just bought the ball and expected him to go.
“Do you need anything?” Hannah sits beside me, holding out another bottle of water.
“This is good. Thank you.” I look over at Sadie, who is smiling and talking to Tasha as she braids her hair.
“It was good of you to bring her here.”
“She looks happy,” I reply, something I’d like to try and make sure happens even more.
“Tash is great with kids, and getting your hair done always makes a person feel good. We’re going to get a little gift bag together with some products and a silk bonnet. She needs to sleep in it every night, all the time.”
I nod, then pull out my phone and go into the Notes app, adding silk bonnet. “Is there anything else I should know?”
