Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,32

you tell me?” Aiden demands, gently taking my right hand in his two larger ones and analyzing it.

“I don’t know. I figured it would stop hurting after a while. I’ve punched people in the face before—remember at Noah’s Halloween party?”

“I think we all remember Noah’s Halloween party,” Mason says.

“Some spots are a little fuzzy for me, but I know what you mean,” Noah says, rubbing the back of his head where he got stitches. “I hate those damn concussions.”

“Didn’t your hand hurt that time?” Chase asks me. “I’m pretty sure you hit the guy at the party harder than you hit Ryan today, since you knocked him on his ass.”

I try not to seem too proud of that, but come on! I think it was pretty badass if you think about it.

“I guess it did hurt,” I answer. “The guy at Noah’s party was drunk and caught off guard, but I’ve never hit anyone as hard as I hit Ryan today.”

Geez, I’m such a hypocrite. I go around telling Aiden and the Boys not to go off and hit a guy because he pissed them off, and here I am, doing the exact same thing. Not that I regret it.

“Can you open and close your fist for me?” Aiden asks, still gently holding my hand in his.

I try to do as he asks and study his handsome face while he focuses on playing doctor. Even Aiden took the high road today. Ryan was saying really awful things about his family, about his brothers, and he didn’t beat him to a bloody pulp. Mind you, he still did knock him on his ass, but I think it was well deserved. He could’ve kept going—he would’ve won the fight—but he chose to walk away, to acknowledge that Ryan was hurting and lashing out, and to try and bring an end to all the unnecessary hate and drama.

He turns my hand over, and I can’t help but smile as I watch Aiden—who’s normally so tough and intimidating—handle my hand with the utmost delicacy and care.

“You can’t straighten your middle finger?” he asks.

I try and then shake my head no.

“Your finger is swelling too—you might have broken something or dislocated your finger. We’ll have to go for X-rays,” he states with authority.

I try to pull my hand away but he doesn’t let me, not done with feeling around it.

“Aiden, please. My hand is fine. You punch people all the time and have never broken your hand. Your knuckles are usually all bloody!” I exclaim, nodding at my blood-free knuckles.

He pauses from analyzing my hand to raise a smug eyebrow at me. “I know how to throw a punch, though.”

“I do too,” I mutter. “Or at least I thought I did.”

I sulk as he releases my hand and proceeds to google X-ray clinics, clearly having already decided that I am, indeed, in need of medical attention. God. That would be so embarrassing. Ryan didn’t even have to do anything and he still wins if his stupid face broke my stupid hand.

“Aiden, you should go spend time with your brothers. I know they were looking forward to a movie marathon when you got back to Julian’s,” Mason tells him, looking at him from over my head since I’m sitting between them on the couch. “I’ll take Amelia for X-rays after I drop everyone off.”

I stubbornly cross my arms. “If I want to get X-rays—which I don’t, by the way—I’m perfectly capable of driving myself,” I interject, knowing full well that I’m about to be ignored.

“It’s fine,” Aiden answers, locked in a stare-off with Mason. “I want to take her.”

Honestly, I don’t even know why I bother.

“Really, Aiden. I can take her,” Mason asserts, his broad shoulders set in determination.

I’m torn between trying to figure out if Mason looks like he’s squaring off with Aiden, or if he’s just trying to be a good friend. I don’t think Aiden can decide either.

“I’ll take her. I still need to lecture her about starting a fight, putting herself in harm’s way, etcetera, etcetera.” Aiden waves his hand in a noncommittal gesture. “And I just know she’s looking forward to that.”

Shit. I totally thought I was off the hook.

“I’m not a child, Aiden,” I huff, wishing it was socially acceptable to throw a tantrum—you know, to prove my point that I’m not a child.

Aiden takes his eyes off Mason to look at me. “Yeah, but you get in some kind of trouble, I lecture you about always putting yourself in