Gus already has a key to Josie's apartment. Pretending he has her heart should be the easy part.

Since their mother died, Josie has built her days around keeping her younger sister safe. She has the school forms, the extra shifts and the folder full of evidence that they belong together. What she cannot produce is certainty about what happens when her temporary guardianship is reviewed.

Then, during a home visit, she says she is engaged. To Gus. Her best friend, her upstairs neighbour, and the man who has been quietly showing up for years.

Gus supplies a wedding date. A ring follows. So does a move downstairs that turns familiar routines into something neither of them knows how to name. Sharing a kitchen is one thing. Wanting him there after everyone stops watching is another.

As their carefully managed story begins to unravel, Josie must risk telling the truth about more than the engagement. Because losing the pretence could cost her the person she has always counted on-and keeping it could cost them the chance to be real.