The big beefy man came walking over to us and nodded. When he reached us, Danni handed him her cell phone and politely said, “It’s already set. You just have to push the button.” Everleigh was still standing off to the side as everyone got into position for the picture. “Come on, Ev, get in the picture,” she said.
She let out a small groan and edged close to me on my right side, obviously trying as hard as she could to not be near me. Instead of being offended, I found it cute. I was obviously affecting her in some way. She finally rested on my right, just close enough so she wasn’t touching me in anyway.
I decided in that moment to have a little fun, and before she could step back I took her hand and pulled her over to my left side. I wrapped my arm around the small of her back and rested my hand on her waist, pulling her body into mine. I heard her gasp, looking up at me with a mixture of anger and nervousness in her eyes. The way I was holding onto her and how close we all were huddled together, she had no choice but to rest her hand against my chest. When her fingers touched my shirt over my heart, it started pounding faster…I’m sure she could feel it. I definitely felt her heartbeat and it was racing. I grinned at her and cocked my head to the side, and she swallowed hard.
“All right, everyone ready?” John called out. “Everyone smile on three.” Our eyes were locked together…I couldn’t look away from her. “One, two, three,” John said, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the flash. We were still staring into each other’s eyes. Everleigh was breathing hard and her cheeks were pink. She was beautiful.
I heard Jude laugh. “Okay, maybe we should take one more picture. This time maybe everyone could actually look at the camera.”
At that moment Everleigh blinked a few times and looked away, her face red with embarrassment. “Sorry,” I said, grinning.
“Let’s do this again,” John said, and he counted down again. “Here we go. One, two, three,” and this time everyone was looking at the camera with big smiles.
As soon as the camera flashed, Everleigh started to pull away from me. The hand that was resting on her waist glided across her ass when she moved and my dick twitched in response. She spun around to face me, an angry glare on her face. I smiled at her. “What is it?” I asked innocently.
“I don’t appreciate being manhandled and groped. I don’t care who the hell you are,” she said angrily.
I barked out a laugh. “Manhandled and groped, huh?”
“Yes. You didn’t need to grab me like that, and you definitely didn’t have the right to grab my ass,” she said, her face flushed.
I stared into her eyes and took a step closer to her. “First of all, I didn’t manhandle you. I simply pulled you into a better position for the picture. Trust me, baby, when I ‘manhandle’ a woman, she’s usually thanking me for the experience,” I said, winking at her. Her eyes flared angrily at me and I continued. “Second, I will admit that my hand did touch your ass but only because you pulled away before I could move my hand. Not that I’m complaining though…you do have a really nice ass,” I said, smirking at her. I knew I sounded like an asshole, but Everleigh’s reaction to me had me shifting around to hide my growing erection. I was making her nervous and I loved it.
“You jerk!” she said, and she raised her hand like she was going to slap me, but never got the chance. Danni came walking over to us with Beau behind her.
“Hey Ev, you okay?” she asked Everleigh, obviously picking up on the tension between us.
Everleigh blinked her eyes a few times and turned her gaze from me to her friend. “Yeah, I’m fine. Are you ready to go?” she asked, her jaw tight.
“Um, well, Beau is having a party at his house and he just asked if we wanted to come and hang out for a bit. What do you say?” Danni asked.
Everleigh shook her head. “Danni, we can’t. I have to work in the morning and we have a long drive ahead of us.”
“You’re not from around here?” I asked Everleigh.
Ignoring me, she looked at Beau and said, “No, we’re from Indiana.”
“And you drove all this way to see us?” Beau said to Danni, looking down to her and running his hand down her arm.
Giggling, she said, “Oh, it’s no big deal. We live in Muncie, so it’s only about a two hour drive from here.”
“Really?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow at Everleigh. That’s not far at all…knock it off, Ryder, I thought to myself. You just want to fuck this girl, not follow to her hometown and make a million babies.
She glared at Danni before turning her frosty gaze back to me. “Really,” she said angrily. “Danni, seriously. We need to go.”
“Ev, come on. Just for a little bit?” Danni asked, sticking her lip out in a pout. I heard Beau let out a deep groan…he was a sucker for a pouty face.
Everleigh took a step closer to Danni and spoke softly, “I can’t leave him alone for long, Danni. I need to get back.”
A mix of disappointment and understanding flashed on Danni’s face, and she nodded. “I know. You’re right. I’m sorry Beau, but I will have to take a pass on the party.” Him? Who was she rushing back to? A boyfriend? A husband? The thought of her being with any other man made me instantly burn with jealousy…not a normal feeling for me.
He slanted his head to the side. “Bummer,” he said. “Here’s your phone back sweetie.”
She took the phone from and put it in her back pocket. “Thanks.”
“It was nice meeting you Danni. Everleigh,” he said, nodding at me.
“Nice to meet you too, Beau,” she said, completely ignoring me. I fought the urge to laugh. Everleigh was trying her hardest to be a bitch, but she was just coming off as nervous and uncomfortable. I got a thrill knowing I affected her that way. Jude and Kris came back over to us and bid the girls goodbye as well and when Jude leaned in and kissed Everleigh on the cheek, it took everything in me to not knock his ass to the floor.
After Jude and Kris had went off on their own, Beau turned to Danni and said, “Hey, tag us in these pictures you took, okay? I’d like to see how they turned out,” he said, looking over at me and smiling. I smirked at him.
Danni smiled brightly. “Okay, Beau. Sure.” Before she could say goodbye, he went right for the kill and leaned in and kissed her. She gasped and he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her. I smiled and looked over at Everleigh who was watching Danni and Beau making out with her mouth hanging wide open.
I moved closer to her and whispered into her ear “Some people have no shame, do they?”
She flinched as my breath hit her neck. I inhaled her scent…she smelled like warm vanilla. I wanted to taste her skin. “N-no, they don’t.”
“So, are you going to kiss me goodbye too?” I asked, smiling and cocking my head to the side again.
“When hell freezes over,” she snapped, and I laughed.
“You don’t like me, do you?” I asked, and I smiled widely.
“How could you guess?” she said, narrowing her eyes.
“How can you not like me if you don’t know me?”
She sighed. “I know your type.”
I smiled at her. “My type? And what type would that be?”
“An egotistical, skirt chasing, womanizing, mangina,” she said, and I let out a loud belly laugh.
“Nice. Haven’t heard that before,” I said. “That’s a little judgmental, don’t you think? You sound like half of the gossip magazines out there.”
“And that doesn’t bother you that people think the worst of you?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
She scoffed at me. “Why is that? Do you just think you’re above it all?”
“No, Everleigh. I don’t care what the world thinks of me because I know that none of its true. As long as I know the people that I care about know the real me, then I don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks.” She studied my face for a long moment and she sighed. “What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I can’t tell if you ar
e the world’s biggest asshole or just have the world’s thickest skin,” she said, her tone softer than before. Everleigh’s eyes locked with mine again and my mouth went dry. I couldn’t seem to get my tongue unstuck from the roof of my mouth. This girl was gorgeous…if she batted her big brown eyes at me I bet she could get me to do just about anything. I had slept with a lot of groupies in my time as a musician, but I can’t remember ever wanting anyone as bad as I wanted this girl. She saw through all my bullshit charm and wasn’t impressed by me at all. Nothing had turned me on more. Every girl always wanted something from me, but Everleigh didn’t.
Beau and Danni seemed to have come up for air because I don’t think either of us realized it when she joined us at Everleigh’s side. “Do we really have to head back?” she said, dazed and dreamy-eyed.
“Yes, we do. I have to open in the morning,” Everleigh said.
“Open?” I asked.
“Yeah, Ev and I are waitresses at a diner in town,” Danni said, and Everleigh’s cheeks flushed red. She looked down at her cowboy boots and shuffled her feet. She seemed embarrassed.
“You all right, gorgeous?” I asked her, touching her arm. Fuck her skin was so soft…like rose petals.
She flinched away from me and lifted her head, a defiant look on her face. “I’m great. It was nice to meet you guys, you put on a good show. Danni, I’ll wait for you in the hall,” she said, turning on her heels and heading toward the exit.
“Hey wait up,” I called, and followed behind her.
She stopped at the door and turned reluctantly. “What do you want, rock star?” she snapped
Feeling brave, I leaned my face close to hers and pulled her against me. I wanted to feel her body against mine one more time. Her curves fit perfectly into my tall frame. Nudging past her long hair with my nose, I leaned into her ear and said, “Until we meet again, Everleigh,” and just as suddenly, I pulled away. She couldn’t hide the goose bumps on her skin as I backed away, smiling like a cocky bastard at her. This definitely wasn’t the last I would see of Everleigh Stone.
Chapter 2
Everleigh
I wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of that meet and greet room but after feeling Ryder Matthews’ breath on my skin, I had suddenly lost the ability to move my legs. I felt goose bumps forming on my arms and no matter how hard I had tried to fight my instant attraction to him, my body gave me away. I hated the effect he had on me…I’ve never felt anything like what Ryder made me feel by just holding me for a few moments. It pissed me off. I wondered what he was playing at. How in the hell could someone as hot as Ryder Matthews be interested in someone like me?
Between me and Danni she was the one that always got the attention with her long blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes. I was the plain one with boring dark hair that I jazzed up somewhat with a streak of color every now and then. I was thicker in the hips than she was and while I did have decent sized breasts, I always felt they were too big for someone my size. I thought they always made me look bigger than actually I was.
I almost laughed aloud to myself at the thought of Ryder Matthews actually wanting me. He was probably just looking to get his rocks off with some random slut. He probably found me interesting because I wasn’t falling for his bullshit. That had to be it…if I can’t have you, I’ll make sure no one will ever want you. Those words had haunted me for the past three years…
With a sexy yet cocky smile on his ridiculously handsome face, Ryder backed away from me and with one final wink he turned and walked away. Even though I knew he wasn’t really into me, my heart was still pounding out of my chest.
Danni came over to me at that moment, her lips still swollen from her make out session with Beau. “H-hey Everleigh,” she said.
I nudged her with my arm. “Are you ready to go?”
She nodded and smiled. “Yeah, let me just get my k-keys…”
I shook my head. “You know what? I’ll drive. Let’s go,” I said, and I looked back around the room one more time, subconsciously searching for Ryder. He was already gone so I shook my head and we walked out together arm in arm. Once we made it out of the venue and into Danni’s car, I started the engine and we began our drive home to Indiana.
After we were finally on the highway, I decided to break the ice since Danni hadn’t said a word since we left the venue. “So, did you have a good time tonight?” I said, barely containing my amusement.
“I just made out with Beau Cavanaugh. I went backstage at a Bad Blooded Rebel concert and made out with Beau Cavanaugh,” she said, still dazed. I giggled at her and I jerked the wheel and almost drove off the highway when she suddenly screamed, “I just made out with Beau fucking Cavanaugh! Ahh!”
I laughed out loud. “Jesus, Danni! You almost made me run off the road!”
“Sorry, Ev…I just can’t believe that happened! I so wish we could have went to his party!”
“Yeah, I know you do. Be glad I made us leave because you probably would have ended up sleeping with him. You might have gotten pregnant or, hell, maybe even an STD with how those rockers sleep around.”
“Hey now, you don’t know that. You don’t know anything about those guys,” Danni said defensively.
“I know enough. Have you picked up a magazine lately?” I said. “I may not like their music, but at least one of those guys is in the news every other week about their drinking and partying. They are complete man whores that don’t take responsibility for their actions.”
I could feel Danni’s eyes on me and she said, “Hey, those ‘man whores’ were perfectly nice to you back there, Everleigh. Why are you being like that?” When I didn’t say anything and stared ahead on the road, I heard her chuckle softly. “Oh, now I get it.”
My hands gripped the wheel. “Get what?”
“Ryder Matthews got to you, didn’t he?”
My head whipped to her for a moment before it returned back to the road. “What? Are you high? No way!”
“I think he did. Anyone with eyes could see he was way into you, Ev.”
I shook my head. “No he wasn’t, Danni. He was just trying to figure out how to get me back to his hotel or whatever so he can add another notch in the bed post.”
Danni sighed. “I think it was more than that, and I think you do too. You both definitely had chemistry.”
I rolled my eyes. “Trust me girl, we didn’t. Besides, even if I was interested, I don’t know what the hell a guy like Ryder Matthews would ever see in someone like me,” I said, and in that moment my chest felt tight. I never understood why any man would look at me with anything other than disgust…especially after hearing what a train wreck you are from someone you thought loved you.
Danni’s expression softened and she sighed. “Everleigh, I wish you could see how beautiful you are. I know how scarred you are by everything that happened with Scott-”
I cringed. “Don’t say his name, Danni. Please,” I said, feeling my eyes burning with unwanted tears.
“Sorry, Ev. It just makes me so sad that the bastard is still getting to you after everything he did. You are gorgeous, girl. Why wouldn’t a guy like Ryder Matthews be into you?”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter anymore, Danni, because I will never, ever see Ryder Matthews again. Can we just drive the rest of the way and not talk about my screwed up life anymore? Besides, we need to make it back home by one because Trish said she couldn’t stay with Dad all night tonight.”
Danni nodded, defeated. “Okay. Let’s talk about what a damn good kisser Beau was!” she squealed, and my mood instantly lifted. All thoughts of that worthless jerk, my terminally ill father, and Ryder Matthews were out of my head as we giggled and talked about Danni’s kiss with Beau the whole way back to Indiana.
December
“Table seven’s order is ready, Everleigh, and table nine wants more coffee,” said Deuce.
“Okay, thanks. I got it,” I replied, walking to the counter and picking up two trays of food. After settlin
g them neatly into the crook of my arm, I picked up a pot of coffee with my free hand and began making my way through the busy restaurant to deliver the food. Friday mornings at Deuce’s Diner were usually extremely busy and today was no exception with Christmas behind us and New Years creeping closer. I was grateful because busy days meant big tips, and I really could use them right now.
Walter “Deuce” Downing opened Deuce’s Diner in the early 1970’s after serving in Vietnam and it was a local favorite of everyone in Muncie. Danni and I began working at the diner when we were both eighteen and now, six years later, most of the people in town knew us just about as well as they knew Deuce. Out of all the staff, we were his best waitresses and naturally this meant we got the biggest tips. I had a nagging suspicion that people tipped me well because they knew I was a full time care giver to my ailing father and they felt sorry for me. I tried not to let it get to me because I was appreciative of any extra money I could get.
I refilled the coffee for the customers at table nine and walked to table seven, placing their food on the table for them. I did a quick scan of the restaurant, and everyone seemed to be eating and chatting away. No one appeared to need anything, so I saw this as my opportunity for a break. I walked into the kitchen and found Deuce. “Hey big guy, do you mind if I take a quick break? I need to call and check on Dad.”
Deuce, a scruffy old man that had more belly than anything else on him, nodded his head full of long gray hair that he kept in a low ponytail and said, “Sure thing, sweetie. I’ll have Danni cover your tables. Take your time,” he said, giving me a sad smile.
Out of everyone I knew Deuce knew what I was going through with Dad better than anyone. He and my dad were best friends growing up and had even served in Vietnam together, so Dad’s illness hit him just as hard as it did me. Two years ago, my dad had been diagnosed with stage two pancreatic cancer and at the time he’d been given a good prognosis. Things just kept getting worse and worse from there no matter how many treatments he did and what medicines he took. Four months ago, Dad’s oncologist had given us the grim news that the cancer was now in stage four and he would only have six months left to live if he was lucky.
Rebel (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) Page 2
