Faking It with the Quarterback
Broke walk-on kicker Eli Wells will do anything to win custody of his little brother—even take paid dates. His newest client is Jace Carter: star quarterback, untouchable heir, and the stranger Eli abandoned after one scorching night. Jace offers a contract: play his boyfriend, fool his family, and “no catching feelings.” Easy—until he snarls, “Touch him again and I’ll end you,” then chooses Eli over his fortune. But with a forced engagement, a forged breakup, and a kidnapping closing in, their fake romance turns dangerously real. Can Jace protect Eli—or will loving him cost them everything?
Story Guide
Episode 1
Eli Wells is a broke walk-on kicker scrubbing tables at a bar when a stranger with a sharp jawline starts watching him work. The man has just sat through two hours of his grandfather planning his entire life—major, team, future wife—and tonight, he wants to pick something for himself. Eli has nothing to lose either. They agree on the rules of a night like this: no names, no numbers, no repeat. It's one very good, very bad decision between strangers, and by morning it's supposed to mean nothing.
Episode 2
Morning hits hard. Eli wakes up still replaying the hotel room, then walks straight into a locker room full of players who call him a charity case and a scholarship boy. They mock him for taking a real player's spot, reminding him he scrubs tables at night. Eli keeps his head down—Charlie's photos are on his phone, and he can't afford to react. His scholarship is the one thing standing between him and losing custody of his little brother, who's in foster placement right now. When the taunts get physical, Jace Carter steps in: this isn't your problem. It's enough.
Episode 3
Eli learns exactly how much is riding on his next move. A caseworker warns that without stable income and housing, the judge will hand custody of Charlie to his mother—the woman who walked out years ago and now wants Charlie only for his survivor checks. Charlie calls, asking when he's coming home, and Eli promises to bring him back. He needs real money, fast: five hundred a night just to stand there and smile. His dad's hospital bills left forty grand of debt. Then his newest paid-date client walks in, and it's the stranger from the hotel—Jace Carter.
Episode 4
Jace books a plus-one to get his grandfather off his back about an engagement he never agreed to, and of all the people in the city, the app sends him Eli. Since Eli keeps running, maybe booking him is the only way to finish a conversation. Jace lays out the deal: be his boyfriend in public at every family event, and he'll pay enough to fix whatever got Eli into a jacket that isn't his. They do it clean, with a contract. In public, they sell it. The money stays between them. It ends when his grandfather backs off. No catching feelings—both ways. And that night never happened.
Episode 5
The performance begins. Jace buys Eli things in front of everyone; Eli insists he doesn't need it, but refusing blows their cover. Jace tells him to smile and consider it a rehearsal—if they can fool his grandfather, they can fool anyone, because the old man misses nothing. At the family table, the grandfather sizes Eli up immediately: good shoulders, nice teeth, and does he want children? The grandson wants four, he just doesn't know it yet. Then someone spots their hands linked under the table. The grandfather's eyes are eighty, but they work. Rule six, rule six.
Episode 6
With Jace away, the teammates corner Eli again. They mock the charity case, sneering about how a guy who scrubs tables landed Jace Carter, and remind him nobody's coming to save him this time. Eli doesn't wait for rescue—he says he earned every yard and stands his ground, and the fight ends with a warning that it isn't over. Later, Jace watches Eli run a drill with someone else and can't explain why it gets under his skin. A throw wasn't clean. It was on purpose. Something is shifting, and Jace doesn't like it.
Episode 7
Word comes down about a donor-funded pro showcase—boosters and scouts will be watching, and a real NIL deal could come out of it. Only one player can go. Jace gives up the spot without hesitation: give it to Wells. Eli can't understand it. Nobody does something like that for free, so he demands to know what Jace actually wants. Jace says he just can't stand watching Eli carry everything alone. Eli warns him not to say things like that—if he starts needing this, losing it will wreck him. Jace just says goodnight.
Episode 8
A scout praises Eli as the sharpest leg out there and hints at an NIL call coming this week. Then the athletics office reports he missed a mandatory practice—grounds for suspension. Eli knows he was there, but they won't pull the footage for a walk-on who doesn't matter. If he's suspended, the scholarship and the custody hearing both disappear. Desperate, he confronts his mother and begs her to drop the claim, but she refuses: Charlie is a check, and she intends to cash it. She promises she'll have the boy by the end of the month.
Episode 9
Eli takes another booking—two grand in one night, most of what's left on the debt. He tells himself he has to. But the app also forces him to set an emergency contact, the one person who gets the alert if he ever hits the panic button. He used to know his mom's number by heart, then his dad's. Now the only number left in his head is Jace's. He tells himself it means nothing. Deep down, he already knows that isn't true.
Episode 10
The booking turns dangerous. Eli insists it's social only—he's there for the photos—but the client says he paid for the whole night and decides what that includes. Eli says no. He fights back, and Jace bursts in with a threat: touch him again and I'll end you in front of every donor in this room. Jace knew because his was the number Eli set as his emergency contact. Jace tells Eli he's done with that app, and when Eli snaps that his money is none of Jace's business, Jace offers something better: the security footage from the practice, to clear the fake report.
Watch how a fake contract turns into the one thing neither of them can afford to lose.
Cast
- Eli Wells — Broke walk-on kicker, paid date, guardian hopeful for his little brother Charlie
- Jace Carter — Star quarterback, untouchable heir, Eli's client and fake boyfriend
- Charlie — Eli's little brother in foster placement
- Jace's grandfather — Family patriarch pressuring Jace into an engagement
- Jace's grandfather — Estranged mother seeking custody of Charlie for his survivor checks
FAQ
Who is Eli Wells in Faking It with the Quarterback?
Eli Wells is a broke walk-on kicker who scrubs tables at a bar at night. He's trying to keep his scholarship and win custody of his little brother Charlie, who is in foster placement. He also takes paid dates for money, which is how he ends up connected to Jace Carter.
Who is Jace Carter?
Jace Carter is the star quarterback and an untouchable heir whose family funds the program. He's being pressured by his grandfather into an engagement he never agreed to, and he hires Eli to be his fake boyfriend at family events.
How do Eli and Jace meet?
They meet as strangers at a hotel for a one-night stand with rules of no names, no numbers, and no repeat. Later, Eli discovers his newest paid-date client is that same stranger—Jace Carter.
What is the deal between Eli and Jace?
Jace lays out a contract: Eli will be his boyfriend in public at every family event, and Jace will pay enough to fix whatever got Eli into a jacket that isn't his. The rules are that it's done clean with a contract, the money stays between them, it ends when his grandfather backs off, there's no catching feelings both ways, and that night never happened.
Why does Eli need money so badly?
Eli needs stable income and housing to win custody of his little brother Charlie. A caseworker warns that without them, the judge will hand custody to his mother, who wants Charlie only for his survivor checks. He also has forty grand of debt from his dad's hospital bills.
What happens when Eli's teammates corner him?
The teammates mock Eli as a charity case and a scholarship boy who scrubs tables, and when the taunts get physical, Jace Carter steps in and says it isn't his problem—it's enough. Later, with Jace away, they corner Eli again, but he stands his ground and says he earned every yard, though the fight ends with a warning that it isn't over.
Is Faking It with the Quarterback worth watching?
The series follows a fake contract that turns into the one thing neither Eli nor Jace can afford to lose, blending a fake relationship, family pressure, and a custody fight. If you like contract romance and enemies-to-lovers stories with sports and billionaire elements, it's built around that hook.
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