The Marriage Agreement by Ade Akinosho

We agreed no feelings. Just signatures, and a lie we’d both benefit from. But falling for my best friend’s brother? That was never part of the plan. Ayodele I’m about to lose everything—my education, my future, my life in this country—unless I find a solution. Osei offered marriage. Sweet, reckless Osei. But being tied to a man whose loyalty shifts with the wind? That’s a different kind of disaster. Then he steps in. Luke. My best friend’s older brother. The one with a quiet voice, sharp eyes, and a stare that lingers a little too long. The one who’s always stayed just out of reach—like he knew I was off-limits. His proposal is simple: a fake marriage. I get to stay in the country. He escapes the arranged marriage his controlling father is forcing on him. No emotion. No touching. No complications. It should’ve been easy. But it isn’t. Because Luke is fire wrapped in calm. He watches like he sees every part of me I try to hide. And when we move in together, the air shifts. Tension coils in the silence between us. Every accidental touch burns. Every late-night laugh inches us closer to something neither of us is allowed to want. I know I should stop this. Walk away. But when he touches me, I forget everything else. Including the fact that we are not real. Luke I’ve kept my distance and watched Ayodele from the shadows. Thought she was off-limits—my brother’s girl. His future. But she was never his. She’s her own. And now she needs me. Marrying her was supposed to be a solution. A favor. Nothing more. I didn’t expect to crave her smile. I didn’t expect to lose sleep wondering what she sounds like when she whispers my name in the dark. I didn’t expect to fall—hard and fast and hopeless. But I did. Now, I’m holding the one woman I should never touch. And every second I spend pretending we’re married… I’m wishing we actually were. She was never supposed to be mine. But I’ve never wanted anything more.