Yours to Begin With

Adrian Salazar has always lived under careful control in the way people see him. Being a varsity swimmer in a university where everyone talks means attention is unavoidable, but lately that attention has become something harder to shake.

When one impulsive decision leads him to claim that the quiet, misunderstood Mateo Castillo is his boyfriend, what was meant to be a quick solution turns into a public rumor neither of them expected to maintain.

Mateo has his own reputation to protect, and Adrian has his image to uphold. What starts as a simple lie to push someone away quickly turns into a fake relationship the entire university believes. Stolen glances become convincing touches. Casual lies turn into daily routines. And the more they pretend, the harder it becomes to ignore the way their hearts react when the acting stops.

When the whole campus is watching and the line between fake and real starts to blur, will they be able to walk away when this was never supposed to be real in the first place?