The Tide Between Us

**Runisa once lived in the water. It was where she felt weightless-strong, seen, free.** But the accident took that away. It carved a scar so deep she hasn't stepped near a pool in over a year. Anxiety fills her lungs now, and the one thing that made her feel alive is the one thing she fears most.

Then she meets Leonard-a fierce swimmer on the verge of greatness, carrying his own wounds behind the perfect strokes. His mother's remarriage left him adrift, grasping for love through expectations he can't seem to meet. And Runisa sees it in him: the same quiet hurt, the kind that doesn't bleed but floods.

Their lives collide at university, pulled together by a coach who hasn't given up on either of them. In the echo of shared trauma, something begins-small, powerful, dangerous. Together, they start to unravel what really happened the night Runisa's world cracked open.

But pain doesn't wait. And neither does the truth.

With Nationals looming and loved ones caught in the undertow of secrets too long buried, Runisa and Leonard must decide if they can outrun the shadows-or if facing them head-on is the only way to heal.

**Not every race ends in gold. Some end in forgiveness. Some in love. Some just in survival.**