Beatings, torture, a hundred hours of pain — I’d take all of it for her. Hell, I’d endure every second just to see her smile once. The way her eyes lit up… it was everything. For me, it was her or no one. The only woman I’d ever marry. Maybe she was The Tommen’s College sunshine and I was just the brooding guy in the back row who played rugby, but there was no universe where we didn’t belong together. She just didn’t know it yet. To her, I was still the idiot best friend. That meant watching her get used and screwed over every few months by some asshole. So yeah, protecting her became my job — one I took seriously. I’d been suspended more times than I could count for fighting guys who talked trash about her. Every punch, every bruise, was worth it if it meant defending her honor. That was enough for me. Being her best friend was the closest I could get.

It also meant being dragged to some random house parties and making sure she didn’t end up passed out somewhere. With pleasure. Watching those assholes stare at her like she was a trophy made my blood boil. They needed to grow up and learn what a real man acted like. Because no matter how short her dress was, it was her smile that mattered most to me. That night, I’d just cracked a joke that made her laugh — jackpot. And then some idiot thought it’d be a good idea to grab her ass.