Alrick Falls is a small American town where high school football shapes the social landscape. The story follows eighteen-year-old Kalani (Lolli) Embers, who moves to Alrick Falls for her senior year after the deaths of her parents and grandfather two years earlier. Kalani lives next door to her aunt and cousin, Mia, and plans to leave as soon as she graduates. What Kalani hides from everyone is that she is the heir to Embers Elite Exposures, the country’s leading sports photography company, and co-owner of the San Diego Tomahawks NFL team, a legacy inherited from her grandfather, Hall of Fame coach Lee Embers.
Fumbled Futures Series
Book 1: Fumbled Hearts
Book 2: Defenseless Hearts
Main Characters
Kalani (Lolli) Embers: New senior at Alrick High, living with her aunt next door to her cousin Mia after the deaths of her parents and grandfather on her sixteenth birthday.
Nathaniel (Nate) Monroe: Starting quarterback at Alrick High and the most sought-after senior in school.
Supporting Characters
Parker Baylor: Wide receiver on the football team and Kalani’s closest friend at Alrick High.
Mia Edwards: Kalani’s cousin, living next door.
Olivia (Liv) Richmond: Cheer team captain with a history with Nate, who wants him back.
Jarrod Hollins: Running back on the football team who pursues Kalani.
Austin: Nate’s best friend and fellow player.
Kenra Monroe: Nate’s older sister, recently engaged.
Nauni: Kalani’s cat.
Recap Summary
Kalani arrives in Alrick Falls three weeks before the book opens. The night she agrees to go to a party with her cousin Mia, Kalani finds Nate Monroe passed out drunk in his truck in the middle of the street. She climbs in through the sunroof, drives him to her driveway, and leaves him there. The following morning, he shows up at Kalani’s door assuming she had a one night stand; Kalani corrects him and slams the door.
At Alrick High, she ends up in the same chemistry class as him. In PE, she earns quick respect from the football players: Kalani reads plays, knows coverage schemes, and holds her own in drills. Parker gravitates to Kalani almost immediately, and the two become close.
Olivia, who has a history with Nate, resents Kalani on sight and warns her off more than once. Jarrod Hollins shows interest in Kalani, more straightforward than Nate.
Nate confesses to Austin that he slept with another girl once after leaving Kalani’s house and was immediately disgusted with himself. When Jarrod takes Kalani to lunch, Nate intercepts and asks for exclusivity.
Nate’s eighteenth birthday falls in December, on the same night Alrick wins the state championship. Nate brings Kalani to the Monroe family home, a replica of the Forrest Gump house, where Kalani immediately gravitates to the porch swing and spends an afternoon on it with him. His parents and sister, Kenra, take to Kalani. His father, Ian, quietly pieces together who Kalani’s family is.
Kalani makes a quiet arrangement with Parker and asks him to come and work with her after graduation. Nate announces his college commitment but does not tell anyone. The choice was shaped partly by Kalani, whom he deters is headed west.
Spring break falls just before 1 April — Kalani’s birthday and the second anniversary of her family’s deaths. The group flies to Mexico. At the resort, Kalani and Jarrod are civil: she shares a few rounds of drinks at the bar over two separate sittings, dance together one night, and, on the evening before Kalani’s birthday, share an elevator back to her floor. Jarrod kisses Kalani on the jaw at her door and wishes her happy birthday, as Olivia photographs every interaction.
That night, Olivia approaches Nate and plays him a spliced recording that strips the context from a conversation in which Kalani was defending her love for Nate. Nate hears it and believes it.
When Kalani comes to Nate’s room, she finds Olivia naked on his bed. Nate lets Kalani see it and does not stop her from leaving. Kalani walks away, tells the group Nate is occupied, and drinks until she is past functional. It is her birthday. Parker holds Kalani through the night; it is the first time she has cried since her family died. Before sunrise, Kalani leaves Mexico, texts Mia a note, and disappears.
Back in Alrick Falls, Nate begins drinking every night and missing workouts. Mia eventually tells him to Google Kalani’s last name. He does, and for the first time understands exactly who Kalani is — and that what Kalani hid was never about shame, but privacy.
Separately, Ashley, who had been dating Jarrod, reaches out to Nate and Mia. She has pieced together that Jarrod was complicit in the setup and used the chaos in Mexico to cover his own infidelity. Ashley sends Mia the full, unedited recording for Nate to listen to. The conversation is between Kalani and Olivia at the resort bar. Kalani calls out Olivia’s pursuit of Nate’s future NFL contract and says outright that she is in love with Nate and would keep him regardless of football.
Nate goes to Parker, who confirms Kalani is in Oceanside and agrees to drive west with him.
Kalani is working through her grandfather’s player submission files at the Tomahawks facility when Parker texts to say he is in town. Kalani drives to her beach house and finds Parker in the driveway. Under the pergola — where Kalani had planned to hang solar lights — the porch swing from the Monroe house is installed, moving slowly in the ocean breeze, with Nate waiting.
Next in Series
Defenseless Hearts follows Parker’s story. Nate’s decision to attend UCLA is set up as the path that brings the Fumbled Futures and Boys of Avix characters into the same orbit.
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