Kai Randell is a writer of emotionally rich, character-driven stories that map the beautiful, messy, and unexpected ways we find a home in another person. Their work is a fusion of unflinching honesty and profound tenderness, focusing on the transformative power of emotional and physical intimacy. Across a growing body of work, Randell’s narratives detonate easy categorization, instead dedicating themselves to exploring the quiet revolutions that happen in our own beds and in our own hearts.

Nineteen-year-old Trevor has a secret. While he’s out to his family as gay, the deeper truth is far more complicated: he craves the intoxicating power of feminine beauty and the freedom of being desired in a way he never could be as himself. With his fierce older sister, Lisa, as his mentor, he begins to transform his private, shame-filled hobby into the art of creating "Lily"—a stunning, confident, and completely convincing feminine persona.

To test their creation, they orchestrate the perfect, low-stakes trial: a double date with Jake, a handsome, charming, and completely unsuspecting stranger. The test is too successful. Jake is utterly captivated by Lily, and Trevor finds himself falling for a man who doesn’t know the real him, culminating in a kiss that feels more real than anything in his life.

When the devastating truth comes out, Jake's trust is shattered, his anger and humiliation creating a seemingly unbridgeable chasm. But the memory of the woman who captivated him refuses to die, warring with the reality of the broken, plain boy who deceived him. Haunted by a connection that felt too real to be a lie, Jake is forced to confront the limits of his own desire, returning with an impossible, intimate request: he needs to see the artist create the masterpiece, one last time.

What begins as a lie becomes a raw, sensual, and deeply honest exploration of identity, acceptance, and the terrifying, beautiful truth of being truly seen for who you are.