CLAIM THE LIE by Michael K. Eaton

I didn't mean to say it. I meant to say something small — I'm seeing someone — and instead I said his name. Bryant Cole. My best friend since we were nineteen. The one man who's never once looked at me like that. Except now he has to. Because my ex just got engaged to my cousin, my family is hosting the wedding of the century three weeks from now, and I have exactly one way to walk in with my head up: a fiancé of my own. Bryant didn't even blink before he said yes. That should have been my first warning. The second warning was the ring — real gold, sized perfectly, like he'd been carrying it around waiting for a reason. The third was the way he introduces me to strangers now: not my friend, not my date — mine. Low voice. Steady hand at my back. Like the lie is something he intends to keep. We had rules. No feelings. No slipping. Three weeks, then a quiet breakup and back to normal. Bryant Cole has never followed a rule in his life. What starts as a favor between friends turns into a war of nerves — staged jealousy, stolen glances that aren't staged at all, and a man who plays "devoted fiancé" so well I forget where the performance ends. By the time my family's wedding week is over, I'm not sure I want it to end. I'm not sure I ever get him back as just my best friend. And I'm terrified of what happens when he finds out this stopped being fake for me first. This is a high-heat, emotionally intense standalone with a guaranteed HEA. Tropes: Fake Engagement, Best Friends to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Possessive Alpha, Family Drama, Slow-Burn-to-Explosive