🌴🏐 THE VOLLEYBALL HIT 🏐🌴

A sun-drenched slow burn with a golden retriever boy, his actual golden retriever, and one accidental meet-cute that refuses to stay accidental.

Adrian “Ace” Maddox wasn’t looking for complications—especially not while on a much-needed vacation from Harvard, his tangled maybe-not relationship with his Boston girlfriend, and the suffocating silence that’s taken root between them. But fate had a wicked sense of humor. One rogue volleyball, a shoulder hit that should’ve ended in an awkward apology, and suddenly he keeps seeing her. The girl who didn’t flinch. The girl who didn’t seem interested. The girl who’s quickly unraveling every ounce of control he brought with him to this beach town.

With his chaos-loving friends egging him on and his golden retriever Hunter acting as the ultimate wingman, Adrian finds himself walking a tightrope between loyalty and desire. The more he sees of her, the less he can justify the weight of what’s waiting back in Boston. And the question isn't whether he should talk to her—but whether he can stop once he does.

Author’s Note:
Golden retriever boy energy? Check. Adorably disobedient dog? Also check. Add a high-stakes game of emotional chicken with an ex who might still think they’re together, and you’ve got the perfect cocktail of green flag softness tangled in very real romantic mess. Beach, beer, tension, and heartache—served sun-warmed.

And this good boy right here is Hunter