bad religion
"For the last three months, everything that has gone wrong in my life has been because of YOU, Aiden! You can't just fight everyone you don't like-especially not when it's at my place of employment!"
Gianna Lockhart has spent her whole life loving Aiden Jameson in silence. He was her brother's best friend-the golden boy quarterback with a grin that could burn down a room and a trail of broken hearts in his wake. He was the boy she could never have, and the man she should have stayed away from.
Now, years later, they're both back in each other's orbit. She's trying to keep her life together-balancing college classes, bills, and late-night shifts at The Den, the campus bar where she works. He's the ex-player with a bad reputation, a bruised ego, and nowhere left to hide from the mess he's made of himself.
Aiden used to chase victory. Now he's chasing her-and he doesn't even realize it until jealousy drags him into a fight that almost gets him banned from her job.
Gianna's furious. She's done cleaning up after the boy who's been breaking her heart in slow motion since childhood. But when she looks at him that night-bleeding, desperate, unguarded-something inside her breaks too.
Because for the first time, she sees it. The way he looks at her like she's the only thing left worth saving.
Caught between anger and desire, loyalty and fear, Gianna and Aiden are forced to face the truth they've both been avoiding: love isn't always kind, and forgiveness doesn't come easy.
Bad Religion is a dark, slow-burn college romance about obsession, guilt, and the kind of love that hurts before it heals. It's about two people bound by history, undone by jealousy, and tempted by a connection neither of them can walk away from.
Because some loves aren't meant to be worshipped.
Some are meant to burn.