Danny Russo was a disaster.

He had accepted this fact a long time ago. It was just part of who he was, like his inability to keep a plant alive or his very healthy reliance on coffee to function.

But fake dating his new friend just to mess with his possibly-jealous best friend?

This was a new low.

And yet.

Here he was.

Leaning against Leo in the campus quad, pretending to laugh at something he had said, very aware that Jake was sitting a few feet away at a picnic table, watching them.

After two days of agonizing over whether or not to actually go through with this, Danny had finally caved.

Leo, being the chaos agent that he was, had way too much fun coming up with a strategy.

“We gotta make it believable,” Leo had said, grinning over FaceTime. “If we half-ass this, he won’t buy it.”

Danny had sighed dramatically because, obviously, this was already ridiculous. But Leo had made some good points, and Danny was in too deep to back out now.

So, they had a plan.

Step One: Danny and Leo would start flirting in public. Nothing too intense—just light touches, whispered jokes, maybe a hand on a thigh for extra effect.

Step Two: Social media. Danny wasn’t the biggest poster, but Leo? Oh, Leo lived for the drama.

Which led to Step Three: The Fake Soft Launch™.

It started with one picture.

Danny hadn’t thought much of it at first. It was a simple photo, taken at the coffee shop, featuring two iced lattes and a caption that read:

Saturday mornings with my favorite troublemaker ☕

Mild. Subtle. Totally normal.

Except, as expected, Leo’s followers immediately lost their minds.

And more importantly?

Jake saw it.

Danny knew because later that night, while they were sitting on the couch, Jake had been scrolling through his phone when he suddenly went completely still.

Like unnaturally still.

Danny had been half-watching a movie, but the change in energy was impossible to miss.

Jake didn’t say anything.

Didn’t even look at him.

But he definitely saw it.

Danny’s stomach twisted.

This was so stupid.

But for some reason, he couldn’t stop.

After that, things ramped up.

Leo, being the little agent of chaos that he was, made sure of it.

First, it was a new Instagram story—just a blurry, candid shot of Danny laughing, captioned:

He’s cute, right? 😘

Then, the next time they met for coffee, Leo posted a Boomerang of their drinks with their hands ‘accidentally’ touching.

The comments?

Unhinged.

And Jake?

Oh, Jake was not okay.

Danny saw it in the little things.

The way Jake started bringing up Leo randomly.

The way he would scoff whenever Danny’s phone buzzed.

The way his mood immediately dropped whenever Danny mentioned going out.

And then came the hoodie incident.

It happened two days later, when Danny and Leo were hanging out in the quad.

It was casual. Chill. Completely normal.

Until Leo—being the absolute menace he was—suddenly said, way too loudly:

“You know, you should just give me one of your hoodies.”

Danny choked on air.

Leo smirked. “What? It’s only fair. You keep stealing my time, I should at least get some boyfriend benefits.”

Danny couldn’t even react because suddenly—

Jake was there.

Danny had no idea where he had come from.

One second, he was sitting with Leo, minding his own business, and the next—Jake was standing right there, arms crossed, staring at them like he was about to throw hands.

Danny’s stomach dropped.

Jake’s eyes flickered to Leo. Then to Danny. Then to Leo again.

Then—

“What hoodie?” Jake asked, voice dangerously calm.

Leo, being Leo, just smirked.

“You know,” Leo said, tapping Danny’s knee, like he wasn’t about to start World War III. “I just think it’d be cute if I had one of his hoodies.”

Danny was going to die.

Right here, right now.

Because Jake’s jaw tensed.

His grip tightened.

And then—

“He doesn’t just give those away.”

Danny’s breath caught.

It was so low, so casual, that for a second, Danny thought he had imagined it.

But Leo?

Leo noticed immediately.

His smirk grew just slightly.

“Oh?” he said, tilting his head. “Is that a rule?”

Jake didn’t answer.

He just stared at Leo.

And in that moment, Danny swore he could feel the entire atmosphere shift.

Oh, shit.

Jake was jealous.

Not just a little jealous.

Full-on, possessive, irrationally mad kind of jealous.

And for the first time ever…

Danny wasn’t sure what to do.

Later that night, Danny was still thinking about it.

He had never seen Jake like that.

Sure, Jake had been moody before. He had acted weird when Danny talked about dating. He had sulked and stolen hoodies and made offhanded comments.

But this?

This was different.

This was blatant.

And Danny?

Danny had no idea how to feel about it.

So, naturally, he did what any reasonable person would do.

He avoided the subject entirely.

(…And maybe texted Leo, because he was going to need some backup for whatever happened next.)

But one thing was clear:

Fake dating had worked.

Now, all Danny had to do…

Was figure out what the hell he was supposed to do about it.