The warehouse was loud in that chaotic, familiar way—metal clanging, someone yelling in the distance, the unmistakable sound of something breaking followed by laughter. It should’ve felt normal. It always did.

You sat on a worn couch between Ryan and Steve-O, half-listening to whatever ridiculous idea they were throwing around while your eyes kept drifting.

To him.

Bam was across the warehouse, arguing with Johnny over a camera angle, hands moving as he talked, completely in his element. Confident. Loud. Untouchable. The kind of person people naturally gravitated toward.

The kind of person you still couldn’t fully believe chose you.

“Hey, you even listening?” Ryan nudged your shoulder lightly, pulling you out of it.

“Yeah—yeah, sorry,” you mumbled, offering a small smile, tucking your hands into your sleeves. “Just tired, I guess.”

Steve-O squinted at you like he didn’t quite buy it, but before he could say anything—

The big metal door screeched open.

And just like that, the energy shifted.

She walked in like she already owned the place.

Brittni.

You’d heard about her—everyone had. The new girl. Loud, flirty, always laughing just a little too hard at the guys’ jokes. The kind of girl who knew exactly what she was doing.

Your stomach tightened before you could stop it.

She barely glanced around the room before her eyes locked onto Bam.

And then—like it was automatic—she made a beeline straight for him.

“Baaam!” she called, dragging his name out in a way that made your chest feel weirdly hollow.

You watched as she slipped right into his space, hand brushing his arm like it was nothing, leaning in like she already belonged there. Laughing at something he hadn’t even finished saying yet.

Your fingers curled into the fabric of your sleeve.

You told yourself you weren’t jealous.

You weren’t.

It was something else. Something quieter. Heavier.

Fear.

Because you’d seen this before—not with Bam, but with everyone else. The slow shift. The realization that there was always someone better, louder, prettier, easier to want.

And eventually…

You got left behind.

“You’re doing that thing again,” Ryan said gently beside you.

“What thing?” you asked, too quickly.

“That thing where you pretend you don’t care when you clearly do.”

You swallowed, eyes still stuck across the room.

Bam laughed at something Brittni said, shaking his head, but he didn’t move away. Didn’t pull back. Didn’t look over.

Your chest tightened.

“I’m fine,” you said softly, even though it didn’t sound convincing.

Steve-O leaned forward, elbows on his knees, following your line of sight. “You know he’s obsessed with you, right?”

You let out a quiet, humorless breath. “Yeah… until he’s not.”

The words slipped out before you could stop them.

And they hung there.

Too honest.

Too real.

Across the warehouse, Brittni’s hand landed on Bam’s shoulder, lingering just a second too long.

And for the first time since you’d walked in—

He didn’t immediately shake it off.

Your throat felt tight as you looked away, blinking hard, forcing your attention back to the floor, to anything that wasn’t that.

Because the last thing you wanted—

Was for anyone to see how easy it would be for him to find someone better.

And how terrified you were that one day…

He might realize it too.