Pretend To Be Mine

Rue Breigh Collins is twenty-one, studying fashion design at Blackwood University, and she's had feelings for Xavius Royce Sanders for as long as she can remember.

Xavius is twenty-seven, works as a freelance model and businessman, and everyone knows his reputation. He never settles, always jumping from one woman to the next, never looking back. To Xavius, Rue's just his best friend Jayden's younger cousin-nothing more.

But everything shifts one night at Jayden's party. Someone finds Rue and Xavius together, and it looks bad. Jayden, caught between protecting Rue and not wanting to lose Xavius as a friend, insists Xavius step up and take responsibility. Xavius agrees, but he's blunt: this thing between them is just for appearances. He tells Rue he won't stop seeing other women, and love isn't on the table. Simple as that.

It hurts, but Rue goes along with it anyway. She hangs onto a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, Xavius will finally see her differently. As they fake their relationship, though, things start to change. The act gets messy, the feelings get real, and suddenly, Xavius has to face why he's so terrified of commitment. Rue, on the other hand, has to decide if risking her heart for him is worth it-or if loving someone who's always kept her at a distance will only break her even more.