Mavin Keller has a plan: survive senior year, save for college, and never let anyone close again, until Sonnie Hale walks into his life. *** Mavin spends his days counting down the moments until he can finally leave his town behind, working long shifts and coming home to a house that never feels like home. He's learned to keep his head down and his heart quiet. But then he meets Sonnie - the boy with too much light in his eyes and bruises on his skin. After Mavin steps in to stop a group of bullies, he doesn't expect Sonnie to start showing up everywhere - in the hallways, after class, even online. What begins as awkward avoidance turns into late-night laughter, small rebellions, and a friendship that could bloom into something more. Something Sonnie wants. But Mavin is wary, because his past isn't done with him, especially Jaxx, the boy he once loved, the one who left him shattered. When old wounds resurface and truths come to light, Mavin must choose between staying safe in the dark or reaching for the boy who might finally make him feel seen.

"I always thought I was the ocean, you know? Always reaching for things I can't have. Always crashing into people who don't want me back. The moon pulls. The ocean follows. Even when it hurts." "You don't have to, Noah. Why can't you stay? Why can't the ocean stay with the shore?" *** Noah Reed has spent years trying to outrun the boy he used to be- the one who froze under his father's fists, the one who kissed a stranger under the stars and watched him disappear. When Noah and his mother escape their violent home and move to Novacrest, he's prepared to rebuild quietly: new school, new friends, a job at a café, and maybe-finally-something like peace. Milo, the sweet, steady football player who keeps showing up for him, feels like exactly that. Until Noah sees him. Eli Blake. Quarterback. Golden boy. Untouchable. And the first boy Noah ever kissed. Eli acts like he doesn't remember him at all. But his eyes say something else-fear, anger, longing, something sharp enough to cut. Thrown together for a biology project, their old summer-camp secret forces its way back, tearing open every wound Noah has tried to bury. And just when Noah's heart begins leaning toward Milo, Eli breaks through his defenses... and kisses him again. Now the past is unraveling, the truth is clawing its way out, and Noah has to choose between the boy who makes him feel safe and the boy who makes him feel seen. Because oceans don't choose what pulls them. But Noah has to- before he breaks apart for good. Book One in the Ocean & Moon series.