Rebel (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) (3 page)

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 were 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.

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.

I smiled to myself when I thought of her
surprised reaction at the restaurant. I had definitely hoped that had gone
smoother, but I got the reaction I was hoping for. She was completely and
totally shocked to see me there and I started to get hard when her cheeks
flushed a bright pink. After the mishap with the dish bucket, I was trying to
get my flirt on when I that group of annoying fan girls came up to me, one of
whom I’d seen jerking some nasty old dude off in the parking lot of Deuce’s…classy.

When they shoved Everleigh to the side
and then spoke about her like she didn’t even exist, I saw red. I shot right
back at them and when they couldn’t fathom in their tiny brains that I would
have the hots for a smoking hot girl like Everleigh, I decided to step it up
and planted a kiss on her lips. I thought she’d knee me in the balls but
surprisingly she went with it and let me slide my tongue into her mouth. Thank
God I was wearing black jeans because my dick was straining so hard against my
zipper I thought I would pass out. My toes curled up in my shoes and I gripped
her tighter…I wanted her as close to me as possible.

When the girls finally left, I tried to
apologize to Everleigh because, well, it just seemed to be the right thing to
do even though I wasn’t a damn bit sorry. Kissing her just felt right. She got
all flushed and was obviously upset with me so I decided to leave so I didn’t
mess her day up anymore than I had. However, I made damn sure that I would see
her again, leaving her a thousand dollar tip with my cell phone number tucked
inside the money.

I know that it would piss her off enough
for her to call me and demand to give the money back, not that I would take it.
I wasn’t trying to buy her attention, but seeing how hard she worked made me
want to reach out and help. Hopefully it didn’t piss off this “guy” that she
had to get back home to…my hands gripped the wheel in anger. It couldn’t be
have been too serious if she let me kiss her.

The GPS told me that I was close to my
hotel when my cell phone rang. Excitement shot through me for a moment hoping
it was Everleigh, but I frowned when I saw the caller ID. Beau’s face was
staring at me from the phone display and I sighed and answered it. “Hey man,” I
said.

“’Sup big guy. Did you make it to town
yet?” he asked me.

“Yeah, I’ve been here for about an hour
now.” Beau was the only one that knew I was making this trip before I left, and
I’m pretty sure Jude and Kris knew by now. I don’t think they would care though
and even if they did, I really didn’t give a fuck. We were on a break for the
next few weeks before we had to head into the studio to continue recording our
next album so it didn’t matter where I went. I wasn’t messing up anyone’s
schedule.

“So, did you see her yet?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah, I just left the diner she
works at.”

“How’d that go?”

I chuckled. “Well, let’s see. When she
saw me she dropped a bucket full of dishes, blushed like crazy when I knelt
down to help her pick them up, got snapped at by some random slutty fan girls,
let me kiss her, and then I left her a thousand dollar tip and my phone number
before I left.” When I said it back out loud, it sounded so ridiculous.

Beau laughed out loud. “Jesus Christ,
man. What the hell? You kissed her already?” I proceeded to tell Beau the story,
and he just laughed harder. “Damn, dude, you certainly know how to make an
entrance.”

“Shut up, man. Well, at least after the
tip I left her I know I’ll definitely see her again.”

“Yeah, and you will probably get either
a face slap or a dick punch for your troubles,” he said, and I laughed.

I pulled into the parking lot of the Holiday
Inn (the nicest hotel in this town) and parked the Escalade. “Well, at least
her hand will be on some part of my body, so no complaints there,” I joked. I
got out of my car and grabbed my luggage out of the back seat.

“So, did you see Danni there?” he asked,
not at all trying to be inconspicuous. Since that night in Cincinnati, he and
Danni had struck up a friendship on Facebook after she tagged the pictures of
us that John took. I knew he had a thing for her, but he wasn’t the girlfriend
type so he never really pursued it but I know he wanted to
bad
. I’m glad
that he hadn’t told Danni I was coming to Muncie because that would have ruined
everything for me.

“Yeah, I saw her for a second before
Everleigh came out. She looked pretty cute in her apron, man,” I said.

“Shut up. Don’t put images in my head or
I might just drive there and join you,” he said.

“Well, you know where I’m staying if you
do. Listen, I’m at the hotel so I’m going to get checked in. Call me if you
decide to drag your ass here,” I said. “Tell the guys I said hey.”

“Will do. Good luck with Everleigh, man.
I’m sure you’ll need it,” he said. I hung up with him and walked into the
hotel. When I reached the reception desk, a young brunette inhaled sharply when
she saw me, recognition on her face.

“W-welcome to the Holiday Inn. Are you
checking in today?” she asked, shock and surprise in her voice.

“Yes I am. The reservation is under Dick
Grande,” I said, smiling at the girl. I know it was childish, but all of us
guys in the group had penis inspired nicknames as the fake names we used to
check in at hotels.

Her face was red and she was smiling ear
to ear as she typed some information into the computer. I gave her my credit
card and she swiped it and gave it back to me with shaking hands. “Here is your
key, Mr. Grande,” she said, smiling and sliding a key card across the desk.
After she gave me my room information, she batted her eyelashes at me and said,
“Enjoy your stay.”

She obviously knew who I was but,
thankfully, she didn’t say anything out loud. Bad Blooded Rebel was a hard rock
band and we were pretty famous but luckily I had been able to get into town
relatively unseen. I’m sure after the girls at the restaurant got onto their
social media sites the press would catch wind and swarm down on me, but I hoped
it wouldn’t happen. I came here for Everleigh and I didn’t need another reason
for her to pull away from me.

I walked to the elevators and took it to
the top floor. My room was the one at the end of the hall and when I finally
reached it, I opened the door with the key and walked inside. It definitely
wasn’t what I was used to as far as hotels go, but I wasn’t complaining. I had
more money than I knew what to do with but I didn’t like to go flashing it
around (with the exception of today). As long as I wasn’t sleeping in a roach
motel with crack needles everywhere, I was pretty content. I put my luggage
down and flopped back on my bed, sighing. All I could do now was sit and wait
for Everleigh to call me…the thought of seeing her again gave me an instant
hard on. I groaned and put my arm over my face, thoughts of her lips on mine
flashing in my mind.

I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep until
I heard my cell phone ringing in my pocket. I opened my eyes and blinked a few
times, remembering where I was. It had gotten dark outside so I sat up and
flicked on the lamp. I dug my phone out of my pocket and swiped the screen, not
even looking at the caller ID. “Hello?” I answered sleepily.

“What the hell were you thinking leaving
a thousand dollar tip, Ryder?” Everleigh shouted angrily into the phone.

I ran my hand through my hair and
smiled. “Got you to call me, didn’t it?”

“This isn’t funny. Do you realize how
inappropriate that is?”

“Well you don’t have to keep it, you
know. If you want to give it back all you have to do is come to my hotel,” I
said.

I could practically hear her rolling her
eyes over the phone. “Nice try, rock star. I’m not coming to your hotel room.
We can meet some place public.”

I grabbed the remote and flicked on the
television and I was immediately bombarded with pictures of my visit to Deuce’s
Diner this afternoon.
Shit
, I thought. Those bitches took pictures of me
and Everleigh at the diner and now they were all over the news, including the
tag line
“Who is the new mystery woman in Ryder Matthews’ life?”
under a
picture of me kissing Everleigh.

“Uh, that might be impossible at the
moment. Have you seen the news?”

“No, I’ve been home all afternoon. Why?”
she asked.

“Well, those bitches at the restaurant
put pictures up of me and you at the diner and now it’s all over the news.”

“What?” she shrieked. “Ryder, how the
hell am I supposed to leave my house?”

“I can come to you if you want,” I said.

“Then the press will know where I live!”
she said, sounding panicked.

“Everleigh, they are going to find out
where you live anyway. It’s just a matter of when,” I said.

“Oh no,” she said, sounding like she was
on the verge of tears. “This is the last thing he needs right now.”

“Who?” I asked, feeling jealousy surging
through my veins.

I heard her sniff. “Never mind, I’ll
come to you. Where are you staying?”

I smiled. “The Holiday Inn. I think it’s
on Bethel Aven-”

“I know where it is,” she snapped. “I’ll
be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Ask for Dick Grande,” I said, smiling.

“Really mature, Ryder,” she said, and
hung up the phone. Still smiling, I got up from my bed and stretched out. I got
into my suitcase and grabbed a clean pair of boxers, jeans, and a tee shirt and
jogged into the bathroom. I took a five minute shower and quickly styled my
hair after I got dressed into my signature faux hawk. I quickly brushed my
teeth and slid into my boots just in time because after I laced them up someone
knocked on the door. I took a deep breath and walked to the door, pulling it
open.

“Everleigh,” I said hungrily. My mouth
suddenly went dry at the sight of her. She was wearing a pair of faded dark
wash jeans, a pink cheetah print hoodie jacket, and black flats. Her hair was
pulled up into a messy knot on her head and she was wearing a pair of black
framed glasses. She looked like a naughty school teacher…I moved around to try
and hide my growing erection. “Come in,” I motioned, moving aside to let her
pass. She reluctantly passed by me and stood as close to the door as she could
after I closed it. “You look beautiful.”

“Um, thanks,” she said in disbelief.
“Listen, I can’t stay long. I just wanted to give this back to you. It was
generous but unnecessary,” she said, holding the money I’d given her earlier.