NBA star Jalen Knox has it all-talent, fame, and a playboy reputation that won't quit. When bad press threatens his career, his agent turns to a risky fix: fake dating. Enter Renee Porter, a fresh PR rep just starting her dream job. Pretending to be the perfect couple was supposed to clean up his image, but soon staged dates, late-night texts, and stolen glances start to blur the line between business and real feelings. With paparazzi watching, messy exes resurfacing, and careers on the line, one question remains: can love survive when it starts with a lie?

" I don't even like you like that." Her face scrunched up in disgust watching water drip from curls in his hair. " 'Cause you love me. Just like I love you." He retorted with a grin, disregarding the deflecting she was doing. --- They were two sides of the same city-until one move split them down the middle. Elijah and London were inseparable once, bonded by childhood summers, beat-up bikes, and secrets too deep for anyone else to know. Unfortunately, when Elijah's mom packed up and moved her family across Onyx to a rival neighborhood, everything changed. She always thought when she spoke to him again he would've changed like her. She was witty, sarcastic, and had a low tolerance, but he was still the same calm , sweet, cute boy with a heart the size of the sun. Some things haven't changed. Some things never change. The pull between them, the memories that still burn etched marks in their brain, and the words they never said out loud. In a world where loyalty can be life or death, and love isn't always enough to cross old lines, Elijah and London find themselves circling each other again. --- STARTED; MAY 26th, 2025 PUBLISHED JUNE 6th, 2025 FINISHED; SEPTEMBER 27th 2025

❝𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃.❞

"𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭." 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦. "𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭." 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

" ᴛʀᴏᴜʙʟᴇᴅ ꜱᴏᴜʟ " 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚 , 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚

𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻 noun : a state of extreme joy. she was in 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 ever since she met him.

"There's more to life then what they're showing you Dai, just get out and explore"

" 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘪𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡" 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 𝐀𝐑𝐈4𝐕𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐒𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ™

" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐧' 𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐚 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭."