Stay With Me Read Online Free

ground, and I start to fall backward when firm hands grab my arms to steady me.
    I didn’t bump into something, but . . . someone .
    I look up, and a gasp escapes me.
    It’s not just any someone.
    It’s Caleb Fox. The guy I met outside last night. The very same guy who consumed my thoughts all night.
    He’s wearing a pair of gym shorts and a white muscle tanks that shows off his really ripped arms. His inky black hair is slightly damp, and he looks just as surprised to see me as I am to see him.
    “Hey,” he says, running his hands up and down my arms to presumably check for bruises. His touch leaves a trail of goose bumps in their wake, and I’m really hoping he doesn’t notice. “Are you okay? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
    “I’m fine.” I kneel down to pick up my bags at the same time as he does. We’re both at the same level, and . . . Wow, his eyes really are such a dark green. “It’s only tea.”
    “Still, I feel really bad.”
    “You shouldn’t. I was the one who bumped into you. Maybe I should be the one asking if you’re hurt.”
    “If I said yes, would you kiss it and make it better?”
    My cheeks heat up, and I quickly look away. I busy myself with putting my purchases back into the bags, with Caleb helping out. I shake the tea off the daisies. I take my time putting stuff into my bags. I study the two packages of fresh blackberries, glad I’d decided to have the man cover the top of them in Saran wrap. Basically, I do everything I think I can until I think my blush has faded.
    “Hey,” he says again, this time more softly. “I’m only teasing you.”
    My gaze shoots up to his.
    “About the kissing,” he adds.
    It feels like someone just dumped hot tea all over me again. I don’t give anything away, though; I just stare at him blankly.
    “It was—” Caleb stops himself from continuing, and he drags his hand through his hair, disheveling the inky strands even more so. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
    “You didn’t upset me,” I say more sharply than I intend to.
    But, wow, talk about jumping to conclusions. Of course he didn’t mean anything. It was just him innocently teasing me. It’s not like he really meant he wanted to kiss me. None of this should matter anyway. I don’t want his kisses. I don’t want to be kissed by him. Not at all.
    “I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine.” I get up, dust off my pants, and start to reach for my bags, but Caleb already has them.
    “I saw fresh blackberries. Those are my fave.” He shoots me a hopeful look.
    “You are not poaching my blackberries.”
    “Not even one?”
    “Not even a nibble.” I try to take my bags from him, but he refuses to let go. I place my hands on my hips. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
    “Working out. I went for a run today. Not my usual thing, but that’s what Nick wanted.”
    “Who’s Nick?”
    “That guy.” Caleb glances behind his shoulder and gestures to a tall, built, dark-haired man who’s talking to the redhead who sold me the daisies. “Obviously he got detained.”
    “Obviously.”
    Caleb’s lips curve into a smile, but it soon disappears when he glances at my t-shirt again. “Hailey, I live just right around the corner. You can come over, and I’ll get you a shirt so you’re not soaked. And then I can give you a ride home so you don’t have to walk back with these bags.”
    “I don’t know,” I hedge.
    “Seriously, it’s right there.” He points to a bright yellow, two-story house with a gleaming black door, just down the street.
    Two huge oak trees guard each side of the house, and a shorter tree with white blossoms is slightly curved forward, like it’s bowing before royalty. A wrought iron gate surrounds the property, and cheery red flowers weave in and out of the posts, almost as if they’re playing peek-a-boo with people who walk by on the sidewalk.
    “In and out,” he promises. “It won’t take more than five minutes.”
    I study him. The shirt is