Without warning, I reached down and gave her ass a hard smack.
"That's for spray painting my car," I said.
Her breath hitched, and she bit her lip, trying to suppress a smile. "You're such a caveman."
"Caveman? How about this?" I said, smacking her...
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ESMERALDA'S POV
The adrenaline had worn off, leaving a heavy, sinking weight in my chest. My hands wouldn't stop shaking. My skin still prickled with the phantom touch of Nathan's grip. No matter how many deep breaths I took, I couldn't steady myself.
Caleb's arm was solid around me as he led me away from that alley, away from him. The warmth of his body was grounding, his presence something I clung to even though I knew I shouldn't. I didn't care. Right now, I needed him.
I didn't want to be alone tonight.
The thought of going back to my dorm—locking the door, staring at the ceiling, replaying everything in my head—made my stomach twist. The shadows in the corners of my room would feel too dark, too full of ghosts. The quiet would be suffocating.
So, before I could talk myself out of it, I blurted out the words that had been clawing at my throat.
"Can I... can I stay with you tonight?"
Caleb stopped walking, his grip on me tightening just slightly. My breath hitched as I met his gaze, bracing myself for rejection. For him to tease me. For him to not understand how much I needed this—needed him.
He didn't say anything at first. Just stared at me, his jaw tightening, his expression unreadable. Then his eyes flickered with something—hesitation? Surprise?
"You sure about that, Cherry?" His voice was low, edged with that ever-present teasing, but there was something else there. Concern. Restraint. A quiet warning. "You know how I am."
A shiver ran through me, but not from fear.
"I don't care," I whispered. "Please, Caleb. I don't want to be alone."
Something in his expression cracked.
He let out a slow, heavy sigh, dragging a hand through his hair before nodding. "Alright, fine. Just for tonight."
Relief crashed over me so fast it nearly made me dizzy.
I followed him inside his apartment, my arms wrapped around myself, trying to shake off the lingering chill of the night. The moment I stepped in, warmth enveloped me, so different from the cold dampness of that alley. So different from the suffocating fear that had been clinging to me since Nathan's hands had been on me.
Caleb locked the door behind us with an audible click, and for the first time in hours, I felt safe.
But the tension between us was thick.
He was still watching me, his dark eyes scanning my face, my body—assessing, calculating. Not in the way Nathan had, but in a way that made my stomach flip for an entirely different reason.
