Our Pace

Malachi Reed has always lived with a map in his head: safe streets, safe people, safe dreams. Then one hot June night, he meets Trevon Barnes and his crew on a basketball court that doesn't show up on his map-just cracked asphalt, chain-link shadows, and boys who laugh like they've already survived something.

Kai thinks he's just borrowing their world for the summer.
Until he meets Ria.

Ria Barnes is the kind of girl who turns a sidewalk into a runway and a joke into an invitation. She's all bold eyes, smooth talk, hips that know exactly what they're doing, and a grin that dares you to follow. Kai follows.

But the closer he gets, the more he notices the small things: the way her laugh cuts off too quick, the way her hands shake when she thinks nobody's looking, the way she disappears after midnight like she's scared of who she becomes when she's alone.

Kai falls for the girl everyone sees.
Then he falls harder for the girl she hides.

In a neighborhood where love can look like danger, Kai and Ria have to decide if they're a mistake...
or a way out.