I Think They Love You

Denz Carter knows that fake-dating Braylon, the college boyfriend who broke his heart five years ago, is going to complicate his life, but he’s desperate. When his father announces his retirement from the family’s luxury-event-planning business, Denz knows he needs to convince his family he isn’t as commitment-phobic as they think he is in order to score the coveted CEO position. He initially recruits his roommate, but when he can’t make the first fake date, Denz finds himself offering to introduce Braylon to a high-powered connection in exchange for a few months of a fake dates. Sparks soon reignite, and Denz begins to wonder if he’s really meant to carry on the family business after all. The plot is a basic mash-up of fake-dating and a second-chance romance, but well-placed flashbacks and heartfelt discussion of Denz’s identity as a Black, queer man makes this read as more than the sum of its parts.