“For what? There isn’t anything you guys can do to squash this shit. I’ll just call John and have him bring the security team here. Everleigh will need a team of her own at her house too.”
“I can take care of it, man. I still think Beau, Jude, and I should come to Muncie, though. United unit and all that shit.”
“Why do we need to be all together for this? As far as the press knows I came to a city in Indiana to see a new mystery girl,” I said. “What’s the press been saying?”
“So far just stuff wondering who she is and how could a rocker fall for a plain Jane girl like her. Mostly it’s about you ‘dumping your band brothers’ to run off and chase some girl in another city. One reporter even compared her to Yoko Ono,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “Fuck!” I yelled, and Everleigh jumped.
“Yeah, the label called Beau this afternoon freaking out.”
“All right, fine. Go ahead and call John and I’ll keep Everleigh here with me until you all get here. I’ll call the cops and have someone go to her house and keep an eye on it.”
“She’s there with you now? Damn dude, you work fast,” he said, laughing.
“Shut up man. I’ll see you in a few hours. Be careful, the roads are pretty slick.”
“You know it. Later,” he said. I hung up the phone and started search my internet for the number to the police station.
Everleigh’s eyes were still wide. “How bad is it, Ryder? Tell me the truth.”
I sighed. “It’s not terrible, but I think you should stay here with me for a few hours until my security team gets here. I really didn’t think anyone in this town would give a shit who I was.”
“People know who you are even in Muncie, Indiana. We aren’t all a bunch of dumb hicks. Why did you say you were calling the cops to watch my house?”
“I want to be cautious, and since you can’t leave right now I don’t want anyone bothering your father.”
Everleigh’s eyes started to glass over again. “I swear to God, Ryder, if any of those bastards bother my dad in any way…”
“Hey, I won’t let them. Just call your dad and check on him and I’ll make sure someone goes over there, okay?” I asked. She nodded and walked over to the bed, sitting down and taking out her cell phone. As much as I wanted Everleigh, I was quickly realizing that coming here was a huge mistake.
Chapter 4
Everleigh
I sat down on the bed in Ryder’s room and dialed my home number. As I waited for someone to pick up, I watched Ryder on the phone. He was livid…he angrily yelled at whoever was on the other end of the line and I could tell that he really was upset by all of this. I know he hadn’t planned on making my life harder by showing up here, but he did. At least he was trying to make it right. On the third ring, Trish picked up the phone. “Stone residence. Trisha speaking.”
“Hey, Trish. It’s Everleigh.”
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Listen, this is going to sound strange, but has anyone come by the house or called or anything since I left a while ago?”
“No, no one’s come here, but there have been a few people that have called.”
Relief washed through me that no one had showed up but I was still irritated that they got my number. “Who’s called and what have they said?”
“Nothing really, just asked if you lived here and if you were dating someone named Ryder Matthews. I have no idea who that is so I told them no and to stop calling.”
I let out a deep breath. “Thanks, Trish.”
“Who is Ryder Matthews?”
“He’s the lead singer of a famous rock band.” I could have lied and said he was no one, but random people wouldn’t be calling my house asking about someone that wasn’t famous.
“Are you joking with me?” she asked.
“I wish I was joking. I met him when Danni and I went backstage at the concert a few months back and he showed up in town today at the diner.”
I could hear her smile over the phone. “So, you’re telling me the lead singer of a rock band showed up in town for you after you met him a few months back?”
“Thanks for the playback, Trish.”
“You’re dating a rocker? Max is going to be thrilled,” she said. She was probably right…my dad was a rock fan through and through.
“I’m not dating him, and don’t tell my dad, Trish. I want to, okay?”
“You got it. Besides, I won’t be telling him anything anyway because he’s sleeping for the night.”
“Thank God. He doesn’t need this shit right now.”
“Where are you anyway?”
“Uh, I’m kind of at his hotel room.” There was no way to say that where it wouldn’t sound bad.
“Really?” she said excitedly.
“It’s not like that, Trish. He tipped me way too much today and I was coming to give it back to him. Apparently the press showed up after I got here and I’m barricaded until his security team shows up.”
“Uh huh. Well, everything here is fine right now. Just enjoy your time in lock up,” she said.
“I’ll try. Ryder is on the phone with the police department right now and he’s trying to get some officers out there to watch the house just in case anyone shows up asking questions.”
“That’s nice of him, Everleigh,” she said, sounding sincere.
I sighed. “I know. Just keep an eye on Daddy and call me if anything happens, okay?”
“I will. I’ll see you soon, Everleigh.”
“’Night, Trish,” I said, and hung up the phone. Ryder was still on the phone shouting so I decided to call Danni. I needed my best friend in so many ways right now. I wish I could talk to her about the kiss with Ryder…about how that was the most intense and wonderful kiss I’d ever had in my entire life, but with Ryder right here, I couldn’t. He already made it clear that he wanted me (and I still didn’t get it at all) and I didn’t want to gush about what a good kisser he was to my best friend with him right in the room. Before I could call her, I got a text message. It was from a number I hadn’t see in three years. With a shaking hand, I opened it and it read,
Wow, Ryder Matthews, huh? Enjoy fucking him while you can, baby girl. Remember what I said…
Tears immediately sprang to my eyes and I dropped my phone to the floor with a loud thud. Ryder looked up and I thought I heard him mutter a goodbye to the police. He came rushing over to me and dropped to his knees in front of me. “Everleigh, what is it?” I couldn’t speak…I can’t believe Scott had the nerve to text me after everything he said to me all those years ago. That jerk was the reason I was afraid to let anyone in. His words hurt me so deeply and scared me so badly then that I had built up a wall around myself and refused to let any guy in. Scott told me he would make my life hell and he had kept his word.
I was crying so hard that my vision was blurred. I didn’t even see him pick up my phone. He read the message and angrily asked, “Who the fuck is Scott?”
I shook my head. “N-not now, Ryder. I can’t…”
“Is this asshole the reason you are so afraid?” he asked.
“Please, I can’t talk about this now. This has been one of the most fucked up days I’ve had in a long time and I don’t want to think about it.”
Ryder put my cell phone on the bed next to me and wiped my tears with his thumbs. “Everleigh, listen to me. I don’t know what that dick head said or did to you, but you have to believe me when I say it’s wrong. What can I do to get you to see how beautiful you are?”
I looked up at him and half smiled. “There’s nothing you can do. I trusted him with everything I had and once he got it, it was thrown back in my face like a used tissue. You are sweet to try and help me, but nothing you say is going to change the way I see myself. Being told that you are disappointing and terrible at sex are hard things to forget,” I said, and the tears poured from my eyes again.
Anger was etched in every line of Ryder’s perfect face. “First of all, you are not an u
gly girl, Everleigh. Far from it, actually. I don’t mean this to sound cocky, but I can pretty much have any woman in the world that I want, but I don’t want them. I came here for you. You are the only woman in the world I have ever chased and I want you so God damned bad. Everleigh, you are fucking gorgeous and anyone that can’t see that has some serious brain damage. I also can’t imagine you ever being bad at sex…it’s just not possible. Not to be crude, but I’m having a hard time keeping my dick soft when I’m around you,” he admitted, and surprisingly I laughed.
“Classy,” I said, sniffing. “What you are saying is nice and all, but I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around it. I still don’t get it.”
He smiled at me. “I wish there was something I could do to make you see what I see when I look at you,” he said, and I shrugged my shoulders. I know why I was guarded when it came to men, but I also know that Ryder didn’t deserve to be cast aside because of it. I don’t know if I was ever going to be able to really trust him but seeing how hard he was trying already made me want to try. I know he took a huge gamble coming here to see me after only meeting me once.
I looked into his blue eyes and they were suddenly full of confliction. “Listen,” he said, “I don’t want to make your life harder by dragging you into my fucked up world. I didn’t know about how sick your dad was and the last thing you need is some cocky celebrity coming into your town and stressing you out. I know how this feels, Everleigh, because I’ve been where you are right now. If you want me to leave, say the word and I will.”
I blinked and looked at him. “You want to go already?”
“My life is crazy like this all the time and I was stupid to think I could do something on my own for once. I was being impulsive and now the burden is falling on you. This was stupid, I don’t know why I came,” he said, standing up. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
To my surprise, I rose off the bed and followed him. “Okay, talk about your one-eighty’s,” I said.
He turned around and looked at me. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“Come on, Ryder. You show up here completely out of the blue, telling me all of these things and saying you are into me and I’m beautiful and all that crap, and now all of a sudden you are ready to bail because you think it will be too hard on me? I don’t get it! What is it you want from me?” I yelled.
He took a step and closed the gap between us. “I want you so fucking bad, Everleigh, and I’m trying to be a nice guy for once and give you an out. I’m telling you that being in any kind of relationship with me is going to be hard with cameras following your every single move and reporters and journalists twisting every word that comes out of your mouth. You are a sweet girl from a small town and I’m a selfish prick to drag you into this life.”
“Well, isn’t up to me to decide if I want to be a part of this life?” I said, raising my voice and feeling a little bit braver. “Don’t I get a say?”
“Fine then, what do you want, Everleigh?” he barked.
I took a step toward him and stared into his blue eyes. “I want to see what you see when you look at me! I want to understand how a man as beautiful as you could want someone as damaged as me! I want you to want me because I’m so tired of being unwanted and alone!” I shouted, and more tears fell from my eyes.
Ryder took my face into his large, warm hands and leaned his face to mine. I thought he was going to kiss me again, but he didn’t. He leaned in and pressed his lips to my eyes that were still wet with tears, causing them to flutter. He pressed feather light kisses on both of my eyelids before moving his lips down to my tear stained cheeks. I gasped loudly when I felt the tip of his tongue on my cheek and it took me a split second to realize that he was licking my tears away. He pulled back and stared into my eyes, still holding my face. “Then give me a chance, Everleigh. Just one chance, that’s all I ask. Let me show you what you do to me…let me in.”
Not able to fight how he made my body feel, I nodded at him and his lips instantly found mine for the third time today. My resolve completely disappeared and I melted into him. My body gave itself over to him and I felt myself starting to fall into his chest. I felt him smile against my lips and he pulled me closer, his tongue twisting with mine. I felt tingles shooting all through me and my skin felt like it was stretched as tight as it could be.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and he let go of my face and wound his strong tattooed arms around my waist. He moved us backwards until my legs hit the edge of the bed and I swayed, grabbing onto him and trying to stay steady. I was unsuccessful and with a giggle, we both toppled onto the bed. My legs fell open and his body nestled between mine. He broke the kiss for a moment and laughed at me. “Clumsy girl,” he said, and his lips claimed me again.
My fingers knotted in his thick dark hair as his hands roamed up my waist. My hoodie had slipped up slightly when we fell, baring my stomach. I shivered when his fingers grazed up my bare skin. He moved his hand up higher until he reached the bottom of my sweater. He pulled away and looked into my eyes for a moment, silently asking my permission. I nodded and pulled his head back to mine as his hand slid under my hoodie and roamed up my body. It had been three years since anyone had touched me like this and while I was scared, my body was on fire.
I was starting to wonder if this was the right thing to do since I’d only known Ryder for all but two seconds, but when his hand found my breast, I was a goner. I whimpered into his mouth and arched my back as his skillful fingers toyed with my hard peak. “God you feel good, Everleigh,” he moaned.
“Ryder,” I breathed, unable to say much more. He twirled my nipple in his fingers through the cotton of my bra and all I felt was an intense burning and clenching in my core from the friction of our bodies rubbing together. He kept up his torturous rhythm with his hands and his hips. I was soaking wet and well past the breaking point. I was about to throw caution to the wind and beg him to take all of me when his phone rang.
I started to sit up but he rested his hard, heavy frame against me. “Ryder, your phone,” I whispered.
“Just ignore it,” he mumbled, running kisses along my jaw line.
I shook my head. “It might be important,” I said, and groaning, he nodded his head and reluctantly climbed off me. I noticed as he stood and answered his phone that he was sporting a very impressive erection. I watched him trying to collect himself enough to carry on a conversation and I felt like I might start drooling. His hair was messy from me grabbing onto it, his lips were still glistening from kissing me, and his tight black tee shirt that showed off his full sleeves of tattoos was wrinkled from rolling around on top of me. Oh shit, was I in big trouble.
I must have been fantasizing about him for too long because before I knew it, I felt the bed dip next to me as he sat down at my side. “Sorry, that was Beau. Everyone should be here in about a half hour.”
“Oh, good.”
“Yeah, I think they are going to stop and pick up your friend Danni on the way over and then we’re going to chill for a minute before we decide what to do.”
“Wait…they are picking up Danni? Why?” I asked.
Ryder looked at me like the answer should be obvious. “Uh, because Beau and Danni are friends and he wanted to see her.”
“They are?” What? Since when have Beau and Danni been friends, and why the hell didn’t she tell me?
“Yeah. After Danni tagged the band in those pictures from Cincinnati, he friend requested her and they talk like every day. Why are you surprised? Didn’t you know?” he asked.
I blew out a breath. “No, I didn’t.” Danni had been messaging and talking to Beau Cavanaugh for the past three months and couldn’t find time to tell me this? It wasn’t a big deal really, but it still hurt me that she didn’t confide in me.
He put his hands on my shoulders and massaged them comfortingly. I instantly felt more relaxed. “At this point they are just Facebook friends. It’s not like they are hooking up or anything. Well, not yet
anyway.”
“I know,” I said, and I turned my face to look at him. Just as he was about to move in and kiss me again, I stopped him. “Listen, can we talk for a second?”
He leaned back and smiled. “Sure,” he said, still massaging my shoulders.
“What just happened…Ryder that was amazing. I’ve never kissed anyone like that and no one has touched me like that in a long time. I’m surprised I let it get that far.”
“Well, I do have that affect on women…or so I’ve been told,” he said, winking.
I rolled my eyes and elbowed him in the ribs. “Shut up,” I said, and he smiled a sexy smile at me.
“Ouch,” he joked, faking pain.
“I’m serious. Kissing you and letting you touch me just now was a huge deal for me, but I don’t want to do anything else until I know you better. We really don’t know much about each other, so if this is going to turn into something we probably should maybe learn a little bit more about each other. Don’t you think?” I asked.
Ryder nodded and gave my shoulders a shake. “Yeah, you’re right. Okay, so let’s start over.” He held his hand out to me. “Hi, I’m Ryder Matthews, and I am the lead singer of Bad Blooded Rebel. I am twenty seven years old and I was born in raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. Football is my favorite sport and I am a diehard Bengals fan. Mexican food is my favorite, I love just about any movie made in the eighties, and I hate cats. Oh, and I think you’re really hot. Okay, now it’s your turn,” he said, smiling a boyish smile.
Despite myself, I grinned so wide my cheeks hurt. I placed my hand in his and let out a chuckle. “Um, okay. Here goes. Uh, hi, I’m Everleigh Stone, and I work as a waitress at Deuce’s Diner. I was born and raised right here in Muncie, Indiana and I just turned twenty four. I love football too and the Colts are my all time favorite team, so we might have problems with that. I love Italian food, old movies from the thirties and forties are my all time faves, and I too do not like cats. Oh yeah, and as much as I hate to admit it, I think you’re really hot too,” I said, and he chuckled.
Rebel (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) Page 5
