I had spent weeks pretending I didn’t care who she was with, pretending it didn’t wreck me every time I saw her touch him, smile at him, laugh at his stupid jokes.

I had spent weeks letting her be with someone else.

I reached the top of the stairs, scanning the dim hallway. Doors were open, people spilling in and out of rooms, voices loud, music blaring from somewhere down the hall. I didn’t even know what room I was looking for until I heard Beverly’s voice.

Panic slammed into my chest like a sledgehammer.

I knew Beverly better than anyone, and there was something off about the way she said Nathan’s name.

“Come on,” Nathan’s slurred voice followed.

“Stop—”

Something cold crawled down my spine.

“Come on, Bev, don’t be like that. I’m just trying to⁠—”

I followed his voice to the last door on the left, which was cracked open just enough to see inside. He was leaning over her, his hands gripping her arms, his body caging hers against the mattress. She was twisting beneath him, trying to shove him off.

“Get off her. Now.”

Nathan looked over his shoulder, blinking as if he couldn’t quite figure out how I’d gotten there. “We’re just talking⁠—”

“You okay, B?” I asked her, but my eyes never left Nathan.

She didn’t answer right away.

“You okay?” I asked again, my voice sharper this time.

“Yeah, I-I’m fine.”

Her voice was off—small and shaky and not like her at all.

“See?” Nathan’s grip on her arm didn’t loosen. “She’s fine.”

I saw red.

I grabbed him by the collar and ripped him away from her. “You wanna put your hands on her?” I snapped. “Try it now.”

He held up his hands, eyes wide. “I wasn’t gonna hurt her⁠—”

“She told you to stop.”

“Yeah?” He scoffed. “Girls act all innocent, but deep down⁠—

God, help me.

The first punch caught him in the jaw.

The second came before he had a chance to react.

“Blake!” Beverly screamed, but I barely heard her.

Nathan staggered backward, clutching his face as he crashed into the nightstand. A lamp toppled over and shattered on the floor with a deafening crash that echoed through the room.

He blinked at me, dazed for half a second, before his face twisted with rage. “This is why no one fucking likes you, man. You’re out of your goddamn mind. You think you can just⁠—”

“You don’t ever lay a hand on her again,” I shot back. “If you so much as think about her again, I swear to God, you’ll regret it.”

“She’s my girlfriend.”

“Not anymore,” Beverly snapped. “You crossed the line.”