Drunken_L0ve_
Book 4 in Hearts on Broadway series.
Jackson Ryder Wallen has always known who he is at home.
He is Morgan and Georgie Wallen's oldest son. Rosie and Daisy's protective big brother. The loud, restless, basketball-obsessed kid with ADHD, too much energy, and a heart he pretends is harder than it really is.
But after high school graduation, everything changes.
Jackson is leaving the farmhouse for college basketball - new team, new pressure, new expectations, and a life where his parents are no longer just down the hall when everything gets too loud. He is determined to prove he belongs on the court, in the classroom, and outside the shadow of the famous Wallen name.
At first, he tries to hold onto the life he already knows.
He and Maddie promise they can make long distance work, even with different colleges, different schedules, and different dreams pulling them apart. But first love is not always forever love, and slowly, painfully, Jackson realises that loving someone does not always mean you are meant to stay together.
Then comes the last thing he expects.
A fake relationship.
What starts as a plan to stop rumours, protect reputations, and make college life a little easier quickly becomes more complicated than Jackson is ready for. Because the girl he is pretending to date sees the parts of him he usually hides - the pressure, the fear, the temper, the softness, the boy who misses home but wants so badly to grow.
And somewhere between fake smiles, courtside appearances, late-night talks, and pretending not to care, Jackson starts wondering if the relationship everyone thinks is fake might be the first thing in college that feels real.
Growing up means leaving home.
But Jackson is about to learn that finding himself might be the hardest game he has ever played.