Let’s stop pretending, okay? Because when two people agree to fake date, they’re not avoiding feelings. They’re signing a contract with the universe to catch feelings at warp speed.
And me? I’m sitting front row with popcorn and heart eyes, because fake dating is one of the greatest romance tropes of all time, and I will never shut up about it.
It always starts the same:
“Let’s just pretend.”
“It’s strictly business.”
“There will be no kissing unless necessary.”
LIES. All of it.
Give it a few chapters, and suddenly, they’re practicing hand-holding, exchanging long, lingering stares across dinner tables, and defending each other a little too passionately when someone says the wrong thing.
Oh, and if you think they’ll survive the “we have to share a bed to keep up appearances” moment without catching a serious case of the feels? Please. I’ve read this trope enough times to know: the moment fake love gets a little too real, we are DONE.
And what I really love? The internal spirals. That moment when one of them realizes, “Oh no. I think I actually like them,” and now has to suffer in silence because the deal was no real emotions. But jokes on them and us, and the entire planet: fake dating always leads to real love, and I will keep screaming about it until the end of time.
So yes, bring on the awkward first kisses, the “babe” slipping into everyday speech, and the jealousy that shouldn’t exist but totally does. Fake dating? It’s more like a direct flight to Happily Ever After with turbulence, tension, and one epic first real kiss I will absolutely be rereading 27 times.
