Traced in the Sand

In Hampton Cove, the summer air is thick enough to swallow you whole, and the stars are the only things that stay still. Amaria Holt has spent her life on the shore, anchored by Oliver Bennett-the boy with the sandy hair and the intelligent green eyes who has always been her "safe place." To the rest of the town, they're a tragedy waiting to happen; to Oliver, they're a promise. Amaria knows she's leading him on, letting him dream of a future where they escape the Cove together, but she's too afraid of the storm that would follow if she ever let him go.

𝒪𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓇𝑒-𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎, 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝑜𝓉𝑒𝒹, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑒𝓍𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑒'𝓈 𝓈𝓊𝓅𝓅𝑜𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉.

Then Julian Cross moves in next door.

With long, jet-black hair and eyes like the deep ocean, Julian is everything Hampton Cove isn't: bold, mesmerizing, and unapologetic. She's a surfer who moves with the tide, and she sees right through the "perfect girl" act Amaria has spent years perfecting. Suddenly, the quiet nights tracing constellations on her palm aren't enough. Amaria is caught in the undertow, entangled with a girl who makes her feel alive even as she risks drowning in the secrets she's keeping from the boy who trusts her most.

The shore is safe, but the sea is calling. And this summer, someone is going to get swept away.