The Tide Don’t Break by Kennedy Layne

Some loves never wash away.

Ali Presley thought she’d left Magnolia Bluff—and the boy whose heart she shattered—behind for good. A decade later, she’s built a life defined by control: a steady career, loyal friends, and carefully constructed walls around the pain she refuses to face.
Dylan “Mac” McKenzie has spent ten years chasing dreams under stadium lights, but no victory has ever filled the space Ali left behind. She was his first love, his safe place, the one person who saw past the pressure and the fame. And then she pushed him away without a word.
When they’re unexpectedly reunited at their alma mater’s gala, the tide shifts. One glance across the ballroom is all it takes for the past to surge back—raw, powerful, and impossible to ignore.

Ali never stopped loving him. But love wasn’t enough to save her then, and she’s terrified it won’t be now.
Dylan’s willing to fight for their second chance. The question is whether Ali can let the tide pull her back toward the one heart that never stopped waiting.