Itsgonnahurt.com - Aiden From Boston.mp4 < Best ✔ >

The setup was simple and insane. He’d rigged a heavy-duty pitching machine normally used for baseballs, but he’d modified the feeder to hold taped-up hockey pucks. He was standing twenty feet away, wearing nothing but a vintage Bruins jersey, cargo shorts, and a pair of plastic safety goggles he’d found in his dad's garage.

The final puck was the "money shot." In the video file that would eventually be titled Aiden From Boston.mp4 , this is the part where the comments always exploded. The machine misfired slightly, the puck rising higher than the others. It clipped the bottom of Aiden’s jaw and slammed into his collarbone. The sound was like a dry branch snapping. ItsGonnaHurt.com - Aiden From Boston.mp4

He pulled his face into view. His jaw was swelling fast, and he couldn't quite open his left eye, but he held up a shaky thumbs-up. The setup was simple and insane

"I'm... I'm still here," he wheezed, pointing a defiant finger at the machine. The final puck was the "money shot

"ItsGonnaHurt.com," he whispered, a crimson stain spreading across his teeth. "Upload that."

The machine didn't answer; it just cycled the next round. Thwack. This one caught him in the ribs. Aiden went down to one knee, the wind knocked out of him in a violent rush. He looked at the lens, his face turning a shade of grey-white, sweat beading on his forehead. He forced himself back up, his legs shaking.

The basement air in South Boston smelled like old copper and damp concrete, but to Aiden, it smelled like an opportunity. He adjusted the ring light—a cheap thing that flickered if he breathed too hard—and checked the frame on his DSLR.