Noah let out a small scream. She wasn’t the type to scream, so Alec knew it had to be bad for her to indulge in something so frivolous. Why he was focused on Noah and her screaming when someone was kicking him, he didn’t know. Probably because he didn’t care, as long as they weren’t kicking Noah.
“Shut up, you stupid bitch!” Stomping sounded around Alec. He picked his head up to see what was happening, wincing immediately. The strain against his skin, the pain it inflicted against his core was more than he expected and he gingerly brushed his fingers where Aaron had been kicking him before. This wasn’t good. How was he supposed to protect Noah if he could barely protect himself? “This is your fault, you know. If you had just stayed, none of this would have happened.”
Aaron grabbed Noah’s wrist and yanked her away from Alec. Her back scraped the floor. Alec tried to reach for her, but couldn’t. He could barely move his arm, let alone lift it. He hated himself in that moment. There was nothing he could too. He let out a roar of frustration.
“My sentiments exactly,” Aaron said, stepping over Noah so he hovered over her. “You, my dear, are in desperate need of a lesson. And I’m going to give it to you.”
Without warning, he reached across his chest with his opposite hand and slapped her hard with the back of his hand. The momentum of the hit was so hard, Noah’s head snapped back, hitting the hardwood floor with a loud bang. Suddenly, Alec didn’t care if his ribs hurt. He didn’t even care if they were broken. No one was going to do that to Noah. He wouldn’t let it.
Without warning, Alec stood up, grunting as he did so. The side of his torso screamed in protest, but he didn’t care. He ignored the pain, even though such a thing was practically impossible. He clenched his teeth together, narrowing his eyes. Aaron currently knelt over Noah, hand up so he could do the same thing again. This time, Alec reached out and grabbed Aaron’s hand before Aaron could do such a thing, snapping it back.
A loud pop filled the room. Aaron screamed. Alec was sure, at this point, that someone had heard the struggle. There was no way one of the noisy neighbors were oblivious to the scuffle going on. If that was the case, Alec prayed the police were called. He needed all the help he could get, and he had a feeling that Aaron wasn’t the sort of person to go down without a huge fight. He had already left once; Alec didn’t think Aaron had it in him to leave again, especially since he was so insistent on making Noah pay.
Pay for what, Alec didn’t know. Quite frankly he didn’t care. He knew it was bullshit. Noah could be a pain in the ass, but no one deserved this. Not even Alec’s worst enemy deserves this torture.
“You’re a sick bastard, you know that?” Alec snarked, pinching Aaron in the face with his left hand. It didn’t hurt as much to hit Aaron with his southpaw, considering the fact that Aaron kicked his right ribs. “Picking on innocent women, hitting them. That make you feel like a man? You got limp baby dick or something?”
He knew it never boded well, provoking a beast. He also knew he didn’t care. If it meant distracting Aaron from Noah, Alec would keep proving and poking that bear, regardless of what that meant for him. Regardless of the consequences.
Aaron lunged. Maybe Alec breaking Aaron’s wrist was enough to distract Aaron already and being a smartass wasn’t helping anyone.
Aaron moved much faster than Alec anticipated a man with a broken wrist to move. As such, he didn’t have time cushion his fall and prepare for the attack. Which meant Aaron got the upper hand.
Alec was pushed into the coffee table, the edge of the table pressing uncomfortably into Alec’s back. Alec winched, biting down on his bottom lip to keep from screaming. He had already done that once and didn’t want to give Aaron any excuse to think Alec was some sort of bitch. He was a hockey player, goddammit. He would suffer the pain.
The table collapsed underneath him, causing his body to jerk to the ground. Aaron was surprised as well, landing on top of Alec with no way to cushion the fall. Alec’s breath vanished, and his eyes widened. Aaron was on top of him, and thanks to his ribs, he was having difficulty trying to get him off.
If something wasn’t done soon, Alec was going to suffocate. Not that Aaron cared, but Alec sure as shit did.
“Get off of me!” Alec demanded through clenched teeth. He kept moving under Aaron. Each time he tilted his torso to the left, his entire face contorted up into a painful wince. He needed to be careful because if he damaged his body in. a particular way, his career was over.
“Make me,” Aaron retorted. It was probably the most juvenile thing Aaron could say in return, and it called Alec back to his elementary school days of getting into fights on the playground at recess.
The same defiance surged through him, the same desire to do exactly what Aaron taunted inspired him to lift his knee despite the pain and knock it into his stomach. Aaron grunted at the impact and fell to the right, sliding off of Alec.
Noah was suddenly there, reaching out to Alec to help him up. She said nothing, but she was pale, her lips were pressed into a thin line, and she was trembling all over. She was scared. Legitimately scared. Alec hadn’t seen the ashen look on her face ever, and it made him want to do everything he possibly could to protect her. Even if that meant getting his ass kicked in the process. He wasn’t going to let her hurt again.
He took her
