Read Online Stay With Me by Elyssa Patrick - Free Book Online Page A

already brilliant blue eyes even more striking, like deep blue sapphires, which darken when he glances at Daphne.
    Daphne places her hands on her hips. “ Nothing , Nick.”
    “Doesn’t sound like nothing to me.” Nick crosses his arms, his gaze hard. “You want to do this the easy way or the hard way?”
    “How about the drunk way?” Daphne tosses her hair over her shoulders, grabs my hand, and points her finger at Jamie. “And, you, shut it.”
    Daphne pulls me from the kitchen to the living room, where a keg has been set up.
    “You do realize Jamie’s going to tell Nick, right?” I say.
    “Unfortunately.” Daphne fills up a plastic cup and passes it to me, before filling one for herself. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t do anything stupid—”
    Her sentence is cut off when Nick strides from the kitchen and out the front door.
    “Guess stupid is in order tonight,” I mutter.
    Daphne’s hand clutches around her glass. “Ugh! I’m going to kill him!”
    “I feel bad,” I say. “You told Jamie the story, and it was nothing really. Just some drunken guy being a dick.”
    “It was definitely not nothing , Hailey.” Daphne drinks deeply from her glass. “Guys shouldn’t be able to say shit like that and get away with it. It’s not acceptable at all.”
    Nick comes back in a few minutes later, not a bruise or mark on him. He makes his way toward us, his jaw clenched. “I took care of it.”
    “Oh, thank you, you big, sweet man, for protecting us wee little women,” Daphne coos in an exaggerated manner, putting her hand over her brow. “I just don’t know what we would do without you.”
    But, despite her words, I notice her hand is still holding tight on her drink and that a tremble wracks her body.
    “Thank you,” I say to Nick, meaning it. “It did make me uncomfortable. And I didn’t like it when he called Daphne a bitch.”
    A muscle ticks in Nick’s jaw, and Daphne groans.
    “He said what?” Nick asks in a deadly voice.
    “Um . . .” I falter.
    Nick’s intense gaze zeroes in on Daphne. “He called you a bitch?”
    “Yes, but—” The rest of what Daphne would’ve said falls away when Nick abruptly leaves and storms back outside. “Jesus, Hailey, why did you say that?”
    “Hey! You told Jamie about the other thing.”
    “Yeah, but I purposefully left the ‘bitch’ part out. You’ve seen the guys around me. They are super protective, because of this .” She gestures to the jagged scar on the right side of her face. “And Nick is even worse than my brother at times.”
    “What happened?”
    But before Daphne can answer, Nick comes back in.
    He stops before us, his body angled toward Daphne. “ Now I took care of it. Just be lucky your brother wasn’t around. The guy would be deader than dead.”
    Daphne just glares at Nick.
    “Where is Caleb, by the way?” I haven’t seen him at all tonight. Maybe he’s outside in the backyard.
    “He went up to his room for a bit.”
    I stiffen. “Oh. I see.”
    Nick grins suddenly, his face relaxing. “He’s alone.”
    Relief spreads through my body; I can’t help the reaction. I’m just so glad Caleb’s not up there with another girl.
    Daphne smacks Nick’s arm. “Way to give Hailey a heart attack.”
    “What’s he doing up there?” I ask.
    “Go up there and find out yourself,” Nick says. “I’m sure he won’t mind. His room is at the end of the hallway.”
    “I’ll go up with you,” Daphne offers.
    Nick gently grabs onto her wrist. “No, you’re staying with me.”
    “Nick! I don’t need you to watch over me. I want to have fun, and you’ll just be Mr. Bodyguard all night who reports back to my brother.”
    “I promise I won’t report back to your brother.” Nick leans down to her and whispers something in Daphne’s ear.
    “Oh.” Daphne glances to me. “I’ll stay with Nick.”
    “We really have to work on your subtleness, Daph,” Nick says. “Because that wasn’t obvious or