Two best friends. Ten years of pining. One summer to stop pretending.

Eli Weston survives on chaos and charm. Leo Lazaro survives on Eli.

For a decade they've been almost — almost together, almost honest, almost ruined by everything they refuse to say. Now they're stuck in a Chicago apartment for a three-month drag cabaret residency, and "almost" is starting to feel like a problem they can't outrun.

So they do what any two emotionally repressed idiots would do: they ignore it.

And try to set up their best friend instead.

But every fake meet-cute, every shared bed, every too-long look feels like a rehearsal for something real.

Leo leaves for a European tour in September.

Eli has until then to figure out if ten years of almosts adds up to a future — or just a goodbye.

For fans of Casey McQuiston, Alexis Hall, and Lark Taylor. Last Call — a slow-burn MM friends-to-lovers contemporary romance with mutual pining, forced proximity, meddling matchmakers, found family, and one chaotic Chicago summer. Heat Level: Light stream.

Book Four in the Breakout Sessions Series — standalones, read in any order.