Jace Donovan had never been the sentimental type.

Or at least, he didn’t think he was.

So why the hell was his brain messing with him now?

He leaned against his locker, watching Everleigh Carter storm off down the hallway, her shoulders stiff with anger. Her reaction had been expected. Satisfying, even.

Then why did he feel... off?

Something about the way she looked at him—those brown eyes blazing with fury—unsettled him. It was like she expected something from him. Something he couldn’t give.

Something he had forgotten.

A dull ache throbbed at the back of his skull, and suddenly, his mind wasn’t in the hallway anymore.

Flash.

He was small—maybe nine or ten. Sitting cross-legged under an old oak tree, watching a tiny, stubborn girl in front of him.

Everleigh.

Her messy pigtails bounced as she waved a dandelion in his face, her cheeks puffed out in frustration. "Say it, Jace!" she demanded.

He smirked. “Say what?”

She stomped her foot. “That you’ll marry me when we grow up!”

He laughed, throwing his hands behind his head. “And if I don’t?”

Everleigh gasped like he had just insulted her entire existence. “Then I won’t share my gummy bears with you ever again!”

Jace’s eyes widened. That was serious.

He let out a dramatic sigh, then held out his pinky. “Fine. When we grow up, I’ll marry you. Happy?”

Everleigh beamed, wrapping her pinky around his. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

Flash.

Jace blinked.

His head snapped up, his heartbeat strangely fast.

What the hell was that?

He pressed his fingers to his temple, his jaw clenching.

A memory?

No. That wasn’t possible.

He didn’t remember Everleigh Carter. She was just some random girl, someone he barely noticed—someone completely irrelevant to his life.

So why did that flashback feel so real?

Why did her face—her real face, not the one from the memory—keep replaying in his mind?

Jace exhaled sharply, shoving the feeling away.

It didn’t matter.

Whatever that was, it was just his brain playing tricks on him.

Because one thing was certain—he wasn’t the boy who made silly childhood promises anymore.

And Everleigh Carter?

She was nothing to him.