We decided together to check him out of the hospital so he could spend his remaining time at home. I was trying to prepare myself mentally for it, but no girl can really be ready to lose someone as important as their father. My mother died giving birth to me and Dad was all I had. I was a Daddy’s girl through and through and I dreaded the day when I wouldn’t have him anymore.
I slid into my hoodie and opened the back door to the restaurant and pulled out my cell phone as soon as I stepped outside. I dialed my home phone number and waited for someone to pick up. After three rings, someone finally answered. “Stone residence, Trisha speaking.” Trisha Cramer was my father’s full time nurse and had recently moved into our spare room in order to help me when I wasn’t home. Thank God Dad’s insurance covered it…I don’t know what I would have done without her help.
“Hey, Trish, it’s Everleigh. How’s he doing?”
“The same as when you left this morning. He just woke up from a little nap.”
“Good. Has he eaten anything?”
“He had a bit of toast and I got him to eat half a container of yogurt earlier.”
My heart sank. “Well, that’s better than nothing, I guess. Can you put him on? I want to talk to him while I’m on a break.”
“Sure thing,” she said, and after a few silent moments I heard a soft voice on the phone.
“Hey, Evie girl,” Dad croaked.
My heart instantly tightened and I had to choke back tears. “Hey, Daddy. How are you feeling this morning?”
“So good I could do a cartwheel,” he said, trying to joke. My dad had a horrible sense of humor.
“Well, don’t hurt yourself. Listen, I’m going to stop by the grocery store on my way home. Is there anything you want me to get for you?”
“Oh no, honey. I’m fine.”
“Daddy…” I said, my tone stern.
He sighed. “Okay, get me some soup. Whatever kind you want to get I’m sure is fine.”
“Good. Listen, I have to head back in but I just wanted to check on you. Please try and eat something, okay? A half cup of yogurt is not breakfast, old man,” I scolded.
“Old man? Shit, I’m as spry as I ever was. Smartass,” he said, and I laughed.
“You know it. Love you, Daddy,” I said.
“Love you too, Evie girl. I’ll see you when you get home. Goodbye,” he said.
“Bye,” I said, and I hung up the phone. I fought back tears as a wave of emotion swept over me. I shook my head and took a deep breath. Now was not the time for tears. As I placed the phone in my pocket, the back door swung open. “Hey Everleigh,” Deuce said, “we’re getting pretty swamped in here. Can you come back in and catch us up?”
I smiled at him and smoothed out my apron. “Sure thing, boss man.”
“Thanks. Oh, and there’s a gentleman at table twelve in the back that’s requesting you personally to wait on him.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “But that’s not my table, it’s Danni’s.”
“I know, but he was pretty insistent and all of your tables are either full or haven’t been cleaned yet. I’ll have Danni take over table seven so you can wait on him.”
I sighed. “All right, whatever you say,” I said, and I grinned at him. As soon as I walked in, I took off my jacket and hung it by the door. When I got into the kitchen I heard several people talking in loud whispers in the dining area and a few people were gasping. “What’s all the commotion?” I asked Leslie Anderson, one of the other waitresses. I placed my order pad in my apron pocket and grabbed the dish bucket so I could clear some empty tables.
Her eyes were the size of quarters. Before she could answer, Danni came bursting into the kitchen. “Um, hey, Ev…” she trailed off excitedly.
“What is it?” I said, walking toward the dining room.
Her eyes were wide as well, and I was starting to get worried. “Uh, well…”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “When you figure out what you were going to say, come find me. In the meantime, I have work to do,” I teased, and pushed through the swinging doors.
As I walked out into the dining room toward one of my empty tables, I wondered who could have requested that I be their waitress. Curiosity got the better of me and my eyes flicked to table twelve and when I saw who was sitting there I froze. It was Ryder Matthews.
My mouth fell open in shock and I was about to back up and run into the kitchen when I hit one of the empty tables with my hip and the dish bucket fell to the ground with a loud crash. Heat burned in my cheeks from embarrassment and as I knelt down to pick up my mess, I nudged one of the chairs with my arm and the legs scraped the floor loudly. I looked at the ground, trying to keep my face hidden. I was humiliated in front of the entire restaurant…and in front of Ryder. I immediately was pissed at him. If he hadn’t showed up here this wouldn’t have happened. What the hell was he doing here?
As I placed the dishes (thank God none were broken) back into the bucket, I felt the hair on my arm stand on end as a familiar and sexy voice said, “Here, let me help you with that.”
I instinctively looked up and met Ryder’s cool blue eyes. My whole body felt warm and my heart started beating faster as I took in his handsome, chiseled face. My cheeks had to be flaming red. “N-no, it’s all right. I’ve got it.”
“It’s okay, Everleigh. Let me help you,” he said, placing a few forks in the bucket.
“I said I’ve got it,” I snapped, suddenly aware that the whole restaurant was watching me.
Just then, Deuce came walking over to us. “Everleigh, let me get this so you can take this young man’s order,” he said, leaning down and patting me on the back.
Reluctantly, I stood back up and met Deuce’s gaze. “Deuce, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s all right, honey. Just take care of your customer,” he said, winking at me.
Ryder slowly stood up and held his arm out to the table. “After you, gorgeous,” he said, smiling that damn crooked smile at me.
My face was now burning with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. “Fine,” I said, and I walked to the table with him behind me. He was so close I could feel the heat of his body coming off him. I turned to face him and he stopped in front of me, looking down into my eyes. I felt shivers running down my spine as he winked at me and slid into the booth. He picked up the menu on the table and pretended to look through the choices. After a few quiet moments, I sighed and said, “What do you want, Ryder?”
“Give me a minute. I don’t know what I want. Everything looks delicious,” he said, a smirk on his face. He glanced at me for a moment and his eyes did a quick scan of my body and then they turned back to the menu.
I impatiently tapped my foot. “I don’t mean food. What are you doing in Muncie? Why are you here?”
His eyes left the menu and he looked up at me, a smile still on his handsome face. “Can’t a guy take a road trip and not get questioned? Not that I mind being interrogated by a pretty girl. You can tie me up and question me anytime.”
Pretty girl? Hardly, I thought to myself. Scoffing, I narrowed my eyes at him and said, “This isn’t a joke, Ryder. You can’t just show up at my work and my town and embarrass me like this.”
“Everleigh, the only one embarrassing you is you. You need to relax,” he said. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to smack him, but I before I could react three women, probably college girls, came rushing to the table and practically shoved me out of the way.
“Oh my God, you’re Ryder Matthews, aren’t you?” one of them asked, squealing.
Ryder silently sighed and put his menu down. He reluctantly looked up at them and said as politely as he could, “Last time I checked.” Anyone with a brain could tell he wanted to be left alone, but these girls obviously didn’t care.
They all squealed again, this time louder and more obnoxiously. “I knew it! God, you’re so hot! Can we get your autograph?” another girl said.
Ryder looked up at me again for a moment, and his eyes wer
e almost apologetic. “Sure, why not?” he said, and was starting to pull a pen from his jacket when I stopped him.
I rolled my eyes. “Wait a second, Ryder. Ladies, you are going to have to go back to your table and let my customer order in peace, please,” I said.
One of the women, a snotty brunette, looked at me with contempt. “Um, excuse me. We were talking to him, not you. Go do your job, waitress, and leave us alone.”
My blood was boiling…I wanted to smack the shit out of that girl but I knew I’d get fired and possibly arrested. Before I could say anything else, Ryder shoved out of the booth and stood up next to me. He placed his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close. “Look, I don’t give a fuck who the hell you think you are. Fans or not, no one talks to my girlfriend like that, you got it?” Ryder snapped.
The brunette’s eyes widened and her face flushed red. “Girlfriend?”
“Girlfriend?” I muttered angrily to him. He gave my shoulder a quick squeeze.
“She can’t be your girlfriend, Ryder. If she is how come we’ve never seen you around here before?” one of them asked.
“Yeah, and I mean come on…look at her. You’re like a sexy rock god and she’s just some frumpy waitress with a big ass,” another said, and then laughed.
Normally I would let comments like that go, but I couldn’t lie to myself that what the little bitch said got to me. She just said everything I thought about myself every single day of my life and it bothered me. I was about to shove away from him and go ask Deuce if I could leave early, but he said, “Say one more thing about her and I’ll yell to this entire restaurant how I saw you giving a hand job to some old dude in his car outside the diner,” he said to the brunette.
She looked at him, her face bright red and shocked. “What? I di-”
“Yeah, you thought no one saw that, did you? And you don’t think she could be my girlfriend because you think she’s ‘frumpy’? Trust me, my girl’s a fucking tomcat in bed and hotter than all three of you skanks combined. Right, baby?” he said, looking at me and grinning sexily.
Before I could even wrap my mind around what he just said, I felt him pull me into him tighter and suddenly his lips were on mine. I was too shocked to react like I wanted to, but I knew somewhere in my mind he was just defending me and putting on a show, so I went with it. I opened my mouth slightly and I felt his tongue glide past my lips. When his tongue touched mine, something happened inside me and my knees gave out. He gripped me tighter to keep me from falling. He pulled away first and looked at me, a satisfied look on his face. “You okay, baby?”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” I said quietly.
Ryder looked into my eyes for a long moment before he turned his hard gaze back to the women. “Are you still here?” he snapped, and they all turned and left in a huff. As soon as they were gone, Ryder released me and leaned back against the table. “Sorry about that, Everleigh. I just wanted to help after what those skanky bitches said.”
“And your idea of helping me is by grabbing me and tongue kissing me in the middle of a crowded restaurant while I’m at work?” I said, crossing my arms. “Look, I don’t know why you came here or what you’re expecting from me, but it’s not going to happen. Are you going to order or not? If you aren’t, then just leave. I have work to do,” I said, my face still flushed.
“Everleigh-”
“Everleigh,” I heard Deuce calling behind me, “can I talk to you for a second?”
My scalp tingled with nervousness. Oh no, I thought, he must have seen what happened and now I’m going to get fired. I turned to him and said, “Okay, I’ll be right there.” Deuce nodded. I turned around to face Ryder. “Great, now you’ve probably gotten me in trouble! Thanks a lot, Ryder!” I said loudly.
“Hey, I’m sorry about that, but I’m not apologizing for standing up for you. I’m going to go. Here,” he said, pulling out his wallet and fishing out a few bills. He tossed them on the table and said, “this is for your trouble. See you tonight.” He winked at me one more time.
“Don’t count on it,” I snapped.
He politely smiled at me. “We’ll see,” he said, and he backed up and walked out of the restaurant. I didn’t even look at what kind of tip he left me when I grabbed the money and stuck it in my apron pocket.
I nervously made my way to the back room where Deuce was waiting for me. I found him in the kitchen and he was leaning against the wall. “Hey Deuce, listen, I’m so sorry…” I started, but he cut me off.
“Everleigh, calm down. You’re not in trouble, sweetheart. I just brought you back here to see if you were okay. I heard what those little heifers said.”
Relief washed through me. “I’m fine, Deuce.”
He eyed me suspiciously. “You’re not fine, kiddo. You are working yourself to death in here almost every single day plus taking care of your old man and it’s wearing on you. We can all see it,” he said, nodding at Danni. “Take the rest of the day off.”
“What? No way, I can’t do that. We are busy out there, plus I can’t miss out on the money.”
“Don’t worry about it, Everleigh. I’m giving you a paid day off. Go take some time for yourself. I called in Heather and she’s on her way to cover your shift. Besides, I bet that guy that was just in here gave you a nice enough tip to treat yourself to something special today,” he said, winking.
“Deuce…”
“Go and enjoy yourself today or I will give you tomorrow off too,” he said, grinning.
I smiled and hugged him. “You are awesome, you know that? Most bosses would be threatening to send someone home if they got in trouble. You are sending me home and paying me for it,” I said, and he laughed.
“That’s right. Now go on, get out of here,” he said, patting me on the back.
I grabbed my purse and ran into Danni on my way out the back door. “Are you off already?” she asked.
“Yeah, Deuce is sending me home early. Paid day off.”
She frowned. “Is everything okay? Why the hell did Ryder show up here?”
“I don’t know, Danni. I didn’t know he knew where I worked.”
“I don’t know either, but it wouldn’t be hard to find something like that out. He knows we live in Muncie because I told him the night of the concert. All he had to do was make a few calls.”
I shrugged. “I guess so. Look, I’m going to leave here before Deuce throws me out. Call me when you’re off, okay?”
“I will, girl. See you,” she said, and kissed my cheek before she walked out to grab a few plates from the kitchen. I walked out to my car and unlocked it. Once I was in the driver’s seat, I realized I forgot to take my apron off and I twisted in my seat, untying the string then setting it on the passenger seat. When I did, something caught my eye. Some of my tips fell out of one of the pockets and when I got a closer look at them, my eyes bugged out. Surely that wasn’t…I picked up the stack of bills which were mostly ones and fives and stopped when I saw a one hundred dollar bill. God damn it, Ryder! I thumbed the bill back and I gasped loudly when behind it I saw another one hundred dollar bill. I kept counting and by the time I counted the entire tip he left me, I felt like I was going to puke. He left me ten one hundred dollar bills…a one thousand dollar tip. Holy fucking shit! In the middle of the stack of money a slip of paper fell out. It was Ryder’s cell phone number…that son of a bitch! I guess he was getting his way after all because I would be seeing him tonight…and throwing the money back in his face after I kick him in the balls.
Chapter 3
Ryder
As soon as I got into my white Escalade, I punched the address to the hotel in the GPS and began my drive. As I left Deuce’s Diner, I couldn’t help but smile to myself. Seeing Everleigh again hadn’t gone like I’d planned at all, but I wasn’t sorry for how it turned out. I licked my lips…I could still taste her sweet lip gloss on my tongue. She tasted like cherries. I was taking a huge gamble in coming to her hometown and looking her up but I couldn’t help it�
�I had to see her again.
Ever since our last show in Cincinnati I hadn’t been able to get Everleigh out of my head. After she and her friend left, I tried to get her off my mind by grabbing a random groupie that had been staring at me and leading her off to the bathroom. I had never had a girl get in my head like Everleigh had and I needed to see if it was just a fluke.
As soon as the bathroom door closed, this girl started unbuckling my pants and wasted no time taking me into her mouth. It felt good but something was keeping me from getting completely hard and I knew in that moment what it was…this girl wasn’t her. I was a horny bastard most of the time and was down for any kind of sex every night but for the first time I can remember I couldn’t keep my dick hard. A girl was literally in the middle of giving me a blow job and I went soft. Frustrated, I shoved her off and left the bathroom without saying another word. I met up with the guys and told them I was just going to head home and I left the venue. For the first time since me and the guys hit it big, I went to bed that night without having sex.
Every night (and morning) since then I went to sleep and woke up with a raging hard on. The only way I could get it to go away was by either taking a cold shower or just firing one off by thinking of Everleigh. That girl had been in every one of my waking thoughts and had haunted my dreams for the past three months. I know the guys were sick to death of me and my moody behavior from it but I couldn’t help it. Everleigh was hands down the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She had big gorgeous brown eyes, a cute little nose that was lightly sprayed with a few freckles, a full set of pouty lips, and the purest, softest skin I’d ever touched. She was curvy in all the right places and she reminded me of a classic hourglass figured beauty from the fifties. Her long raven hair suited her pale complexion and the pop of teal (which I noticed she’d now colored a bright red) she’d had set off her look perfectly. She was a siren and I was definitely ready to answer her call.
Rebel (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) Page 3
