First published 2020
She never expected the fake relationship to feel so authentic. When she agrees to pretend she's dating the school's star football receiver, the arrangement seems straightforward. They'll convince everyone they're together, play their roles convincingly, and maintain clear boundaries. But their performance proves too successful. The artificial connection they create starts feeling genuine. She watches the lines between pretense and reality fade away completely. The more they act like a couple, the more she believes in what they've constructed together. She falls for the fiction they've built. Then she discovers they weren't playing by the same rules. He never needed to destroy her to come out ahead, but he chooses to do it anyway. Their fake romance crumbles, leaving her to face the truth about love, deception, and the dangerous space where both intersect.
Genres: fiction, drama, romance, contemporary, young-adult, contemporary-romance
Vibes: angsty, bittersweet, emotional, heartbreaking, intense
Tropes: betrayal, emotional-turmoil, fake-dating, friends-to-lovers
380 pages · Paperback · MB Publishing
Content warnings: emotional-abuse