“But what?” Jude asked, grunting and starting to lift his weights again.
“Before we left Muncie I was starting to see myself doing the relationship thing with her and it freaked me out. I guess I should be glad that she decided to back out while it was still pretty new but everything feels fucked up now.”
I kept my pace with my weights as I said, “I guess I get what you’re saying. I wanted Everleigh from the moment I met her and it really freaked me out. I tried to fuck some random groupie the night of the concert but I couldn’t keep my dick hard. Ever since that night it’s just been Everleigh. If Danni is that girl for you, grab her and hold on, dude.”
Beau shook his head and picked the bar bells back up. “That’s just it though, man. Danni’s beautiful, funny, sweet, and incredible in bed but I don’t think I’m ready to be a one woman guy yet. This whole thing is just crazy,” he said, lifting the weights again.
“Well, why don’t you do what Ryder tried to do? The only way to know if she’s the one you want is to hook up with a girl.”
I glared at him. “Jude, what the hell? I did that right after I met Everleigh thinking I’d never see her again, not weeks after we’d already slept together. I honestly was just looking to get off to try and shake the feeling Evie gave me but it didn’t work.”
“Exactly. Finding a girl and hooking up might help him see what he really wants. If he can’t go through with it he’ll know for sure that Danni’s the one,” Jude said.
I started to protest, not wanting Danni to be hurt by Beau just going out and fucking some random girl, but before I could Beau opened his mouth and said, “You know, that’s not a bad idea.”
I stopped lifting weights and glared at both of them. “Are you serious? You would really risk something with her just to get laid?”
“It’s not just about getting laid, Ryder. It’s a test to see if he can go through with it. If he can’t then he will know if he’s really in love with Danni,” Jude said.
“But if he does go through with it then he’s not only going to fuck up a good thing with a good girl, it’s going to piss Everleigh off and I’ll have to beat his ass. I told you whose side I’d be on if it came down to this. I love you like a brother, Beau, but Everleigh is my entire world and something that hurts her hurts me too. Are you willing to risk this?” I asked.
Beau put the bar bells down again and sighed. “Look, it’s worth a shot. I’m not going to sleep with anyone, okay? I just need to know if this thing with Danni is lust or…something more. If I feel like hooking up with a girl tonight then I will still stop it, at least until I talk to Danni. I promise, okay?” he said. “Everleigh has become a good friend to me too and I don’t want to do anything to hurt her. I just need to know.”
Shaking my head, I stood up. “Well, you two are on your own because I think that this is going to be a disaster. I’m going to take a shower and head out. Let me know if I need to kill you next time I see you,” I said, picking up my bag and heading to the showers. Damn Jude and his big fucking mouth.
I showered quickly. After I was dressed I checked my phone and saw I had a message from Kris.
So Jess was dying to see Everleigh and Danni so I’m currently going stag, ha. U wanna grab a beer, maybe shoot some pool?
I wasn’t ready to head back to the penthouse yet because I wanted Everleigh to have time with her friends so I sent him a text back.
R: U asking me on a date, big boy?
K: as sexy as you think u are, u really aren’t my type, ha
R: think? Shit, I know I’m hot, bro, haha. Where do u wanna meet?
K: The Rock Steady? I think Eternal Down is in town playing there tonight.
R: sounds good, meet you there in ten.
I grinned as I dialed Everleigh’s number to let her know where I was heading. It would be nice to see Jagger and the guys again and hopefully make me forget about Beau’s dumb ass plan.
Chapter 6
Everleigh
“Okay, Ryder’s gone. Tell me what happened with Beau today,” I said to Danni the minute Ryder walked out of the apartment.
“Geez, can I at least take my coat off?” Danni laughed, shrugging out of her coat and smiling.
“Come on, Danni, don’t keep me waiting. You two haven’t seen each other in three weeks and you have both been miserable since then. Tell me.”
Sighing, she placed her coat on the hook by the door and motioned toward the couch. “All right. It was fine,” she said, following me to the couch and sitting beside me.
“Fine? What does that mean?”
“I mean it was just fine. He really didn’t talk to me that much, it was mostly Jude. We went all over the place. They took me to Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Times Square…”
“What do you mean he didn’t really talk to you?” I asked with a frown. “Danni, he’s really been a jerk since we left Indiana. He misses you, I’m telling you.”
Danni shook her head and huffed out a laugh. “He didn’t seem like he did. Honestly he seemed like he would have rather been anywhere than with me and Jude.”
“Maybe he wanted to be alone with you.”
“Ev, I don’t think so. He’s had three weeks to call me. Hell, before we actually hooked up we talked almost every single day on Facebook. He’s gotten what he wanted and now he’s moved on. We both knew it was going to end that way. I just chose not to cry over it, that’s all,” she said.
“Danni, you’re my best friend in the world. I know you’ve cried over him whether you want to admit it or not.”
Before I could continue, she smiled at me and said, “Oh let’s forget about him. Do I get to see your new tattoo or what?”
Sighing, I started to stand to show it to her but my phone rang. “Hold that thought,” I said and I smiled when I pulled out my phone and looked at the caller ID. “Hi Jessie,” I said.
“Hey Everleigh, how have you been?” she said sweetly. “Sorry about earlier. Kris gets a little hornier than normal when we’ve been apart for a little bit.”
“Oh it’s okay, girl, I understand. I’d be the same way if I was away from Ryder for even a day.”
“So, listen, I don’t want to impose or anything but Kris wanted to go check out Eternal Down at The Rock Steady and I really didn’t feel like tagging along…”
“Come over then! I haven’t seen you in three weeks either, girl! How soon can you get here?”
I heard a knock on the door and I smiled. “Pretty quick.”
I ran to the front door and opened it. Jessie was standing at the door with her long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and a smile on her pretty face. I put my phone in my back pocket and I hugged her. “Hey Jessie,” I said, “it’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you too! This wedding is starting to stress me out. I needed to see my girls. Hey Danni,” she said, waving at her.
“Well, get in here and tell me all about how beautiful this wedding will be. We need something to talk about since Danni won’t talk to me about Beau,” I said.
“Ev, don’t,” Danni said, shaking her head. “There’s nothing to talk about, I promise. Besides, I believe you were about to show me your new tattoo.”
Jessie’s face lit up and she smiled. “You got a tattoo? I want to see!”
I rolled my eyes and grinned. “Okay, hang on,” I said as Jessie hung up her coat and quickly joined Danni on the couch. I lifted my shirt slightly and unzipped my jeans.
Jessie giggled and said, “You know Jude’s head is about to explode somewhere right now,” and we all laughed.
I pulled my jeans down slightly and showed them the tattoo that Jake had done the night before. “What do you think?”
They were both silent for a moment before Jessie said, “Everleigh…that is absolutely gorgeous. Did Jake do it?”
I nodded, emotion forming a lump in my throat. “He did a great job, didn’t he?”
“He really did. Jake might be a total horn dog but he’s so ta
lented,” Jessie said. “He did my memorial tattoo for my grandmother.”
I looked at Danni and asked, “Danni? What do you think?”
She looked up at me, tears glistening in her blue eyes. “It’s so beautiful Ev. Max would have loved that you got his guitar,” she said, and I swallowed that emotional lump as best as I could. “What do the words mean?”
Taking a shaking breath, I said, “They were some of the last words he spoke to me and Ryder. Jake really got it right and made this perfect.”
Sensing things were about to get really emotional, Danni sniffed and asked, “So tell me, just how hot is this Jake? Maybe I should have him do some ink on me.”
“Come on, Danni, stop it. This thing with Beau needs to be worked out before you go throwing yourself at someone else in their circle,” I said.
“Hey, Beau doesn’t want me and I’m not waiting around for him to figure it out. If I want to hook up with another guy I will and he can’t say anything to me. If he wanted me he could’ve had me,” Danni said defiantly.
“Danni, come on,” I said but she shook her head.
“Listen, I don’t want to talk about Beau anymore. Let’s get out of here,” Danni said.
“Danni, you just got here and you were out all day. Why do you want to go back out again?” I asked.
“Because this is my first time in New York City and I want to go out on the town with my ladies,” she said. “Maybe we can crash the boys’ night at that club and have some fun. I love Eternal Down and I thought Jude said they were playing there tonight.”
“Yeah they are. Kris is there right now and he was going to call and see if Ryder wanted to hang out,” Jessie said.
Just as I was about to ask about that, Ryder called me. “Speak of the devil,” I said, smiling. “I have to take this, hang on.” I quickly answered my phone. “Hey rock star,” I said.
“Hey gorgeous. You having fun with Danni and Jess?”
“Yeah, Jessie just told me you might be hanging out with Kris at some club tonight?”
“Uh, yeah, that’s why I was calling. Jake’s cousin’s band is in town and Kris wanted to know if I wanted to go check them out and maybe shoot some pool.”
“That sounds like fun, Ryder. You need a boys’ night.”
“I know but I just didn’t want to leave you alone.”
“Ryder, I’m not alone. I have Danni and Jessie with me. We were actually thinking of going out tonight too.”
I could feel his apprehension over the phone. “Evie, baby, promise me you will take John with you if you go anywhere.”
“I will. In fact, I’ll call him as soon as I hang up with you.”
“Good,” he said, breathing out heavily. “So where are you thinking of going?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I think Danni wants to crash your boys’ night though. She’s looking to move past Beau but I think it’s a bad idea.”
He sighed. “Yeah, Beau is thinking of doing the same thing. Why are they both being such dumbasses?” he asked and I laughed.
“I don’t know but we’ve done all we can do. They need to figure it out for themselves. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Wherever we go I will be sure to let you know, okay?”
“Okay. I love you, baby,” he said.
“I love you too.”
“You know, you could come crash our boys’ night if you wanted to.”
“Well then it wouldn’t be a ‘boys’ night’ now would it?” I laughed.
“Think about it. We could start the whole role playing thing tonight. You can be the sexy bar fly and I can be the broody stranger and we can totally have sex in the back room,” he said and I laughed harder.
“I don’t think so, Ryder. I’m going to let you go and hang out with Kris and listen to some music.”
“All right,” he sighed. “But if you change your mind let me know. I’d love for the guys in Eternal Down to meet you. They aren’t all as bad as Jake, I promise. They won’t be hitting on you because they know I’d rip their dicks off if they tried.”
“My protector, how sexy,” I laughed. “Go have fun with your friends. I love you!”
“Love you too gorgeous,” he said and we both hung up.
“So, how is the rock god?” Danni smiled.
“He’s fine,” I smiled. “He was just telling me that he’s going to that club with Kris. He also told me that we should crash tonight. He wants to show me off to that band that’s playing.”
Danni smiled and stood up. “Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
“Danni, I thought we would just have a girls’ night tonight,” I said. “I want to hang out with you girls without the guys for once.”
“We can still have a girls’ night and be around the guys. I know you ladies are taken and all that, but I am single and I’m in New York City. I want to have a good time tonight,” she said. Before I could protest she grabbed one of her suitcases and took off toward the nearest bathroom. “Give me fifteen minutes!” she called out.
I sighed and shook my head at Jessie. “Well it looks like we are going to The Rock Steady tonight,” I said. “I’d better call John before we get ready.”
“Look, I know we are going to end up there but I’ll be damned if we spend the whole night being arm candy for the guys while they drink and shoot the shit with Jagger and the band,” she said, obviously referring to the guys in the other band. “We are going to go and have dinner first and then we are going to walk around and find some of the sidewalk shops with the ugliest jewelry ever and then we are going to load up on tacky souvenirs to celebrate our night out.”
I grinned at her. “Thanks, Jessie.”
“Listen, why don’t you go ahead and get ready and I’ll call John for you?” she offered. “I’m already as ready as I am going to be.” She tugged at her tight fitted tee shirt and jeans that hugged her curves. Even in simple clothes Jessie Monroe was stunning.
“Okay, thanks so much. I won’t be long.” I walked down the hall toward our bedroom to pick out an outfit to wear tonight. I shook my head and sighed as I thought of how I was going to have to keep a close eye on Danni tonight.
“Hey, I thought we were going to that bar. Why are we stopped at a Chinese restaurant?” Danni asked.
“Because, Danni,” Jessie said as she opened the back door of the SUV, “before we crash the boy’s night at the bar we are having a little fun, just us girls.”
Danni sighed and smiled. “Okay, okay. Let’s go eat. I am actually starving,” she said, following Jessie out of the back of the car.
As I started to climb out I turned to John. “Are you coming?”
He smiled at me and shook his head. “I’m going to wait out here and let you three have some time to yourselves,” he said as he pulled the SUV into a parking spot.
I frowned. “John, it’s cold out here and you need to eat too. Please come and have dinner with us?” I asked, sticking my lip out and pouting. “My treat?”
“I will come in but you are not paying for me. Understood?” he said, trying to sound tough as he grinned at me.
“Oh all right. At least you are coming out of the cold and eating with us and that’s all that matters. Let’s go,” I said. John shut off the engine and the four of us went inside the restaurant.
We ate, talked, and laughed for the next hour. Even though it was frustrating to have to have a bodyguard everywhere I went, I actually had a great time hanging out with John tonight. I had liked him since I first met him and I was having a blast getting to know the man behind the “bodyguard” image.
I found out while chatting with him that he was thirty seven years old and had been married for three years before he and his wife divorced. He’d worked private security ever since then and had been with Ryder and the boys for the past five years. He never had any kids and like I did, he considered the band his family. John in bodyguard mode made me feel safe and protected but John in a relaxed environment was funny, charming, and a blast to hang
out with.
After we finished dinner, we paid the check (well, I paid for the girls and John used his own debit card) and headed back out onto the New York streets. “So, what do we do now?” Danni asked, shivering.
Jessie looked down the street and when her eyes landed on a couple of sidewalk shops that looked like they had some gaudy jewelry, her eyes twinkled and she smiled. “Let’s go buy some hideous jewelry.”
As we started walking toward a little shop Danni asked, “Why do we want tacky costume jewelry that will more than likely break before we can even put it on?”
“Because the things that people think are the most unattractive are often the most beautiful and mean more than anything,” Jessie said, nudging her as we reached the shop. “Ooh, let’s see what they have.”
My eyes instantly landed on a horrid fake gold chain with a big black mustache charm on it. It was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen…I loved it. “Hey, Jess, look at this thing,” I said, holding it up. “It even has matching earrings.”
She laughed and held it up. “This is hilarious, let’s each get one.”
Danni was holding up a huge owl pendant with matching earrings as well. “Oh god, this thing hurts my eyes,” she said, taking in the bright artificial gold owl with turquoise eyes.
“Aw, those aren’t so bad,” I said. “I like owls, they’re cute.”
Danni rolled her eyes and giggled as she continued to look through the ugly jewelry.
Jessie found a set of rings that were really cheaply made. Each had a word engraved in it, ranging from words like “wisdom” to “love” and everything in between. I was about to move to look at the tee shirts when something caught my eye.
It was a set of key chains. One was a silver heart and the other was a tiny key and when you put them together the key fit into a groove carved into the heart. It was cheesy and cheap but I wanted it. I knew it was corny but I loved the symbolism of it. Ryder owned my heart and I knew I held the key to his…there was a never a question if I would buy them. I picked them up and quickly paid for them, smiling to myself.
Renegade (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) Page 6
