Synopsis
He's the captain who controls everything. The other is the striker who turns everything into a spectacle. When a statement goes viral and the public, press, and sponsors start treating them as a couple, faking it seems like the safest play.
Augusto Macedo spent nearly a decade wearing SC Centenário's captain's armband to keep everything in place. At thirty-four, he knows how to read a play, protect the team, and never let anyone get too close. Then Yago Lacerda shows up in an interview, turns the captain into a meme, and makes the rivalry between Porto Alegre and Rio explode on social media.
Yago is twenty-two, wears number 11 for Imperial FC, and has millions of followers waiting for his next video. He thrives on provocation, performance, and controlling his own image. After a match that ends in a draw and a comment no one can unhear, the fallout turns them into the new couple that Brazilian soccer fans start following.
The sponsor wants to turn the mess into a campaign. The clubs want to control the damage. Faking it seems simple: a contract, a few appearances, and a public kiss in front of hundreds of witnesses and dozens of cameras. Except Augusto can't stop looking at Yago when no one's watching, and Yago doesn't know what to do with the man who sees him without demanding a performance in return.
When intimacy stops following the script and a leak exposes the campaign, putting their contracts, images, and positions at the clubs at risk, they need to decide what matters more: the safe version the public bought, or the truth that could cost them control of their own image.
An adult M/M romance about rivals, fake dating, desire under pressure, and the courage to stop performing. A standalone in the Mixed Zone series.
