Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,30
target, aiming lower since he expects it to be little ol’ me, not the tall wall of muscle that is Aiden.
Aiden catches his wrist in his left hand with ease, automatically returning the favor and knocking Ryan straight to the ground, where he curses and moans.
I shrug off whoever is holding me and look back to see that it was Mason. Stay out of trouble, his eyes seem to say. It’s like he doesn’t even know me.
I get that Ryan’s primary emotion is anger, but I also know he must be in pain. I understand that he’s hurting—I really do. I lost a father, too, one that was great to me, even if he had his problems, and one I loved. But now Ryan’s lashing out at the people I care about, and that is not acceptable, even if he’s in pain and thinks it’s all our fault.
Aiden strides over to where Ryan’s laid out, fully conscious but clearly in pain. He crouches down and rests his forearms on his thighs.
“You can talk shit about me or fight me all you want,” he says, his voice low and menacing. “But you leave my friends and family alone. And you especially don’t talk about my brothers or lay a hand on my girl.”
He looks at Dave at that last part, too, as if proving his statement that no one messes with his girl—with me.
They both get to their feet, Ryan spitting blood out as he does. Kaitlyn comes to his side and wraps her arm around his waist but he pushes her off him and wipes his lip with the back of his hand.
“Listen, Ryan,” Aiden says, his arms at his side but still tensed and ready for a fight. “Greg was a shitty person, but he’s still your father, and I’m sorry he’s gone. But I had nothing to do with his death. The truth is, he was the last thing connecting us. With all of this happening, your mom’s no longer my guardian. We can all move on with our lives and drop whatever juvenile rivalry we have. Channel your hate into something productive. We don’t ever have to see each other again.”
My heart swells with pride at Aiden trying to be the bigger person, even if he didn’t say it in the nicest way, and even if he did just try to rearrange Ryan’s face with his fist.
Ryan spits again. “Fuck you, Parker.”
Kaitlyn must not like the scowl on my face, because her icy, blue eyes narrow at me and she says, “Have something to say?”
“It’s funny how obsessed with Aiden you all are. Like, I get it, he’s great. But seriously, this is getting very tiring and I’m done with wasting time on dealing with this stupid bullshit.” I walk over to Aiden and take his hand confidently in mine. “Let’s just go.”
I don’t give anyone time to protest—I drag Aiden with me, hoping that the rest of our friends are behind us. A few seconds later, Charlotte falls into step with me, Noah and Chase right behind her, and Mason just a few steps behind them.
“Amelia’s house,” Aiden says as we all get into our respective cars.
Julian’s truck is gone, so he’s presumably off somewhere consoling his girlfriend, so Charlotte gets in the back of Aiden’s Challenger, while Noah and Chase go with Mason.
“Always have to get right in the middle of a fight, don’t you, Amelia?” Aiden sighs as he pulls out of the parking lot.
I turn on my butt warmer and sigh, looking at my hand, which I’m still cradling. I really hope Ryan’s face didn’t break it.
“If drama didn’t find a way to insert itself into my life, it wouldn’t really be my life,” I answer.
As Sweetie’s recedes in the distance, I watch Ryan’s Mustang pull out and head in the opposite direction. Maybe we’ll be given a break, and this branch of drama can be cut down and out of our lives forever. Maybe we can actually spend the rest of my time here just us friends, completely drama free.
When we get to my house, I get out of the car and pull down the seat to let Charlotte out too. Mason’s SUV stops beside Aiden’s in the driveway and we all meet up on the porch. So far, Aiden hasn’t yelled at me like he normally would for getting in the middle of a fight—or for technically initiating it. Other than that comment in the car, he’s remained pretty quiet.