She nodded and with her hand on her tummy, followed me over to the crowd.

Sebastian and Spider both laughed at something April said, but turned when they saw us approaching. Sebastian leveled his eyes at me and then bounced to Emma, his face getting tense.

“You alright?” he said to her.

She nodded, not meeting anyone’s eyes.

“Need to see you in the lobby,” I said to Sebastian.

Seconds ticked by as he got still, catching on to the vibe I was sending out. My hands clenched, thinking about how this whole scenario might play out.

He was my friend. I didn’t want to ruin that.

Sebastian laughed, but it sounded weird. “Dude, this is way too serious. Do you mean me or Spider?”

My eyes roved around, searching for a way to get Sebastian out of this room and outside without making a big deal out of it. And then I saw it: a pink lace bra draped around Spider’s stool on stage like a decoration.

No, it couldn’t be…

Was that Dovey’s?

Something roared in my ears, and my entire body drew up, my face burning hot from the blood that had rushed to my head.

“Her bra?” I ground out. “What the fuck? That’s real class there.” My eyes found Spider’s.

I was going to kill him.

Spider smirked. “Hey, I earned it. Girls I’ve shagged love to give ‘em to me. Looks good, huh? I bet you like that pink. Let me tell you, that’s the best one of all. She was hard to nail. Best fu—”

I snapped him up by his shirt, my face up in his, my teeth bared. “I want it gone.”

He struggled, pushing at my chest until I shoved him away from me.

I came at him, my hands drawn up tight. “She’s supposed to be your friend and you do this?”

“Me? What about what you did to her?” he roared. Planting his legs wide, he ran at me.

Bring it. I’d been waiting over a year to kick his ass.

Lunging at me, we hit the ground, fists flying, both of us connecting. We grunted and slammed into each other, neither of us holding back. I had more muscle and about three inches on him, but he didn’t give up. Girls screamed as we rolled around, ending up pressed against the stage. Sebastian and a couple of other guys yelled for us to stop, but no one seemed too keen on jumping in and separating us.

Getting on top of him, I landed a punch in his gut, making the air whoosh out. But he was wild, his knees shoving up to get a shot at my groin, but missing. I held him down, knowing this was futile and stupid. Fighting him wasn’t going to make her come back or change the fact that we couldn’t be together, but he would never do this to her.

As if from a distance, more voices yelled for us to stop, probably chaperones and the coaches. One of them sounded like Dovey even though I knew it wasn’t. But it was enough to make me look. And when I turned my head to check, his fist connected with my temple and lights went out. Down, down, down, I fell, and as the ground met my body, Dovey’s face took center stage in my head. I remembered the first time I’d seen her dance, and how my heart had known she was mine. I hadn’t understood it; I hadn’t understood why she called to me; she just did. The lines of her body, the way she held herself, the way she moved. Hell, just the tilt of her head and I’d been lost.

So yeah. That’s the truth. Honestly and forthrightly, I’d never stopped loving her.

How do you let go of a love that made you soar? It’s impossible.

How do you explain a love that will span time, leaving you bereft because you know you won’t grow old together? Because I’d messed up my life, and I suck when it comes to people. Dovey wouldn’t be any different.

If I was a better person. If I hadn’t hurt her so much already. If, if, if.

Her love was gone anyway.

And with that realization, pain seared me. The hit Spider got in, it was nothing compared to the agony of losing her.

I CAME TO on the floor, my eyes blinking up at light from the ceiling. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my head. “What happened?” I muttered as Sebastian sat back on his haunches next to me, a bemused expression on his face.

“You went down like a tank, man. You seem okay though. Pupils look fine. At least they didn’t call an ambulance.” He smirked. “Coach told the teachers he’d seen you take worse hits on the field. Anyway, you’ll have hell to pay at school come Monday morning when the headmaster finds out.” Then he grinned, shaking his head. “At least I got one band set in before you closed us down.”

I grabbed hold of the stage and stood, feeling off-kilter. I checked my reflexes, tentatively touched my temple. I sat back down on the stage, noticing the bra was gone. I also noted chaperones milling around, ushering students out the door. Several of them gave me a concerned look, and I nodded at them.

“Spider?” I winced at the sound of my own voice. Shit. I needed some Aleve.

“Gone. He punched a hole in the wall first though. I guess we won’t be coming back to The Dorchester anytime soon.” He sighed.

“Here’s the bra,” he added, tossing it at me. “I don’t have to guess who it belongs to, huh?”

My heart dipped looking at it, remembering how she’d taken it off for me, how she’d made love to me. And he’d had it. My fists tightened once again.

His words yanked me back. “Emma said to tell you she’s waiting for us in the lobby.”

Oh, yeah. I took a deep breath, getting myself together.

My eyes found Matt who was now lip-locked with the blonde from earlier. I stood gingerly, and went over and tapped his shoulder until he came up for air.