Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,5
us and is barely able to rub his wrists where the handcuffs must have been before I launch myself at him. A feeling deep down takes over, demanding I hold him, to make sure that he’s actually here and okay. He doesn’t hesitate and wraps his strong arms around me, pulling me close. With my head against his muscled chest, listening to the calming sound of his steady heartbeat, I assure myself that he’s actually here.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
He releases me and gently tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. “Of course I am. Why are you guys still here? I told you all to go home and not worry.”
He and Mason do their bro hug. “We couldn’t just leave you here, man,” Mason says. “Everyone else was waiting, too, but in their defense, they were kind of forced to go home.”
“You guys didn’t need to come. No one needs to worry about me.”
This must be weird for Aiden. He’s the one who’s there for everyone else, making sure that they’re okay and taken care of. He’s the strong one, the one who holds everything together; having other people worry about him is something I’m sure he’s not used to.
“We care about you, Aiden. So we stayed.” My cheeks heat up because of the way he looks at me.
“And we never want to see you in handcuffs again,” Brian says, and then he hugs him too. A giant, comforting dad hug.
“Thanks for your help, Brian. You, too, Alan.” Aiden shakes hands with the lawyer, who tells him that it was no problem, and to call him if anything else happens.
“Come on, man.” Mason lightly slaps Aiden’s back while his dad talks to Alan. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Aiden agrees, and we leave the place that almost turned more than one life upside down. As we walk out the exit, I can tell both Mason and I want to ask Aiden about what happened, but we’re too scared to. Despite his exhaustion, Aiden notices, and he knows exactly what we’re thinking.
“I’m too tired to answer your questions right now,” he says. “I’ll tell everyone what happened tomorrow.”
Makes perfect sense. He was interrogated for hours straight; we don’t need to subject him to even more interrogation.
“Need a ride, Aiden?” Brian asks. “Your house is still a crime scene, right?”
Mason’s about to offer his house for Aiden to stay at, but before he has the chance to say anything, I blurt: “You can crash in my guest room.”
I need the chance to sort everything out with Aiden—alone. He just found out literally a few hours ago that my name is Thea and that I’m hiding my real identity from a man trying to hunt me down. We didn’t get to talk about it, even though he said he was all in, that he understood, that he didn’t hate me. But I still remember how betrayed he looked, how betrayed he must have felt. Aiden said that he accepted me, the real me, but it’s only fair to him that I tell him my story—the whole story. He deserves that.
“Plus,” I continue before anyone can object, “your car is already at my house. It’ll make things easier for you.”
“Are you sure?” Brian asks. “If it’s a problem, Amelia, Aiden can stay with us.”
“No problem at all. What time is it? One a.m.? My mom will have just gotten home and will be asleep by the time we get there since she has an early morning flight. She won’t have time to object.” I don’t add that I sent her a text saying we were all out watching a movie and that I’d volunteered to drive, and her only reply was K.
Either Aiden is so tired he really doesn’t care or he’s burning for answers, because it only takes a few moments for him to agree to come to my house.
Up until a few minutes before Aiden got arrested, I’d been avoiding him like a kid who’d received a bad report card dodges their strict, high-standards-holding parents. And now I’m practically begging him to come home with me so we can talk alone. Funny how things change in a matter of hours.
After saying good-bye to Mason, Brian, and Alan, we all head in different directions in the quiet parking lot, which is a stark contrast to the loud craziness of the police station. It’s a calm, cool night, but I feel anything but. Now that I’m alone with Aiden, sneaking