Hate was supposed to protect me. But it never did. The night August Hayes shattered my brother's skull, he shattered something in me, too. One year later, I'm not the girl I used to be. The girl who was naive enough to ever want him. Now, he's back on campus, clinging to his last chance. Mandatory therapy, or he doesn't graduate. And I'm the unlucky intern assigned to his case. He's violent. Dangerous. A walking reminder of all the damage done to my family. I'm supposed to help him manage his anger. But instead, I keep wanting to see what happens when he loses control. They say healing is supposed to be messy. But they never said it could feel like this. Hate was supposed to be easy. But it never is. Some scars you can't see. And there are some scars that you just can't stop touching. - Updates every Friday! Enemies to lovers Bad boy x good girl Dark sports romance Forced proximity Brother's enemy MMA Tensionnnn Forbidden Started: October 23, 2025 Finished: February 13, 2026

❝"𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞," 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞."❞ ꨄꨄꨄ "You're trouble," I whisper against his mouth. A quiet laugh rumbles out of him. "And you're addicted to trouble." "I am not addicted to you." "Yeah?" he murmurs, eyes dragging slowly over my face. "Then why do you shake every time I touch you?" ꨄꨄꨄ Alec Donovan is the kind of boy you cross the street to avoid. Bruised knuckles, a temper no one can control, and eyes that don't just look at you-they warn you. People don't get close to him. And if they do, they don't leave without damage. I was never supposed to be one of them. My life is planned-perfect grades, a future in design, expectations I can't break. My father calls boys distractions, and Alec Donovan is the worst kind. I called him Angel once. As a joke. Because he showed up when he shouldn't have, ruined my night, saved my life-and looked like he regretted both. The nickname should have died right after that. It didn't. Not when he kisses me just to shut me up. Not when he punches the boy who touched me wrong. Not when he looks at me like I'm something worth keeping. He doesn't ask. He takes-my space, my control, the life I thought I had planned. And the worst part? I don't stop him. Because when everything starts falling apart, he's there. Watching. Waiting. Protecting me in ways he never admits. Alec Donovan isn't a mistake. He's a warning. And the truth is- I'm not scared of him ruining me. I'm scared of how much I want him too. ꨄꨄꨄ "𝘏𝘌 𝘐𝘚 𝘔𝘠 𝘈𝘕𝘎𝘌𝘓... 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭."