Renegade (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) (9 page)

“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.

Once
we were finished with our little shopping adventure, we finally caved to
Danni’s playful whining and made our way to The Rock Steady to crash Ryder’s
boys’ night. As soon as John stopped the SUV, Danni hopped out first. After she
fluffed her hair and smoothed her shirt under her coat she turned to me and
said, “Let’s do this!”

Jessie
and I just rolled our eyes and snickered at her as we were led to the door of
the bar by John. We paid our cover and quickly ducked inside.

The
sound of hard rock music quickly filled my ears as my eyes scanned the bar for
Ryder and Kris. The place was crowded with all different kinds of rock fans
ranging from men that looked like bikers to Emo college kids to slutty groupies
looking to be invited into one of the rocker’s beds. I shivered at the thought,
knowing that it had once been Ryder that women lined up to sleep with. Hell,
for all I knew they probably still did but one thing I knew for certain was
that although they may want him, I was the girl he came home to.

“Do
you see them anywhere?” I asked, trying not to cough from the thick layer of
smoke in the air. It smelled like a mixture of smoke from cigarettes and
pyrotechnics of the band on stage.

“No
but if I know Kris he’s probably at the pool table in the back,” Jessie said
and she tugged on mine and Danni’s arms. “Let’s go.”

I
followed closely behind her and Danni was right on my heels as we walked past a
group of college guys who looked like they belonged to a fraternity. One of
them looked at me and I made eye contact, not meaning to. He had a look on his
face that said “I want to devour you” and I picked up my speed. I was always
uncomfortable when men looked at me that way but ever since Scott tried to
assault me that feeling intensified times fifty.

I
felt like all eyes were on me and I was about to bail on the evening and ask
John to take me home but I heard Jessie say, “See? I told you,” and she pointed
toward a large pool table in the back of the bar. My eyes roamed for a moment
before they settled on Kris, who was leaning over the table and lining up his shot,
Jake, who was sitting on a stool by the wall, and Ryder standing next to him.
He was holding his pool cue upright in one hand and taking a drink of his beer
in the other. Seeing him relaxed, laughing, and having a good time with his
friends made me feel happy. It also made me a little sad…ever since he met me
he had devoted almost every waking moment to me and suddenly I felt guilty that
he’d been missing out on ‘boy time’ with his friends.

Looking
up from the game, Ryder’s eyes locked with mine and he winked. “Hey gorgeous!”
he shouted over the music. “Get your sexy ass over here and be my good luck
charm.”

I
smiled and walked over to the pool table As soon as I reached him he pulled me
close, bent me backwards, and planted a deep kiss on my lips. Once we were
upright again, I giggled and said, “Hi there rock star.”

“Hey
Evie,” he answered, kissing me quickly one more time. “Did you have fun with
your girls today?”

“I
did,” I answered. I turned my head toward Jake and said, “Hi Jake. It’s nice to
see you again.”

“You
too, Everleigh. How’s your tat healing?”

“It’s
okay. It stings a little but I’ve been applying my A&D ointment regularly,
I promise.”

He
smiled and his lip ring caught the light. “Awesome.” His eyes roamed around and
when they landed on Danni, his mouth split into a wide, seductive grin. “Who’s
the cute blonde?”

I
felt myself tensing as I watched him undress Danni with his eyes. He was
exactly the kind of trouble she was on the lookout for…the kind I needed to
keep her away from. “That’s my best friend,” I answered in a warning tone.

Ryder
barked out a laugh. “Dude, are you really going to try to get into her pants a
day after you were checking out my girlfriend’s tits while you were doing her
tattoo?”

Jake’s
eyes widened and a look of mock innocence crept across his handsome face.
“What? I know I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell with Everleigh because
she’s taken so why not go for her hot as hell single friend?”

My
eyes narrowed at him. “What makes you think she’s single?”

“The
way she’s looking around the room like she’s looking for trouble,” Jake
answered.

Before
I could reply, Danni came walking over to us. “Hey, Ryder,” she said smiling at
him. Her eyes landed on Jake and she smiled even wider. “Who’s your friend?”

“Danni,”
I protested.

Jake
stood up off his stool and towered over Danni’s tiny frame. He held out his
hand and said, “Jake Riggins. What’s your name, beautiful?”

Danni
placed her hand in his and said, “Danni Sharpe. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice
to meet you too.”

“So,
are you the ‘Jake’ that did Ev’s tattoo last night?” she asked, slightly
cocking her hip and twirling the end of her hair.

“Guilty
as charged,” he said, winking at her.

“She
showed it to me today. It’s beautiful, you are very talented. Maybe you can
tattoo me sometime.”

“Absolutely,”
he said, taking a step closer to her. “Guys, play on without me.” I started to move
toward them but Ryder held onto me as Jake continued talking to Danni. “Do you
want to come with me and check out the band?”

“Sure,
I love Eternal Down,” she said. He placed his large hand on the small of her
back, leading her toward the stage.

When
they were gone I turned to Ryder and poked him in the chest. “Ryder, why the
hell did you do that? I thought we were on the same team here!”

“We
are, Evie, but Danni is a grown woman and can take care of herself. Besides, I
don’t think she’s the kind of girl that will sleep with a guy the first night
she meets him.”