Reckless Redemption: A Bad Blooded Rebel Novel (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) (4 page)

Now,
I watched as she said her hellos to everyone and when she made it over to me my
heart started pounding. “Hey Danni,” I said, leaning into her and kissing her
cheek slightly. “You look beautiful.” So beautiful it hurt me to look at her.

“So
do you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I mean, you clean up
nice. How have you been feeling?”

I
put on my best smile and said, “Taking it one day at a time. That’s all I can
do, right?”

She
nodded sadly at me and said, “You’ll get there, Beau. I have faith in you.” I
know her words were meant to encourage me but if anything they made me feel
more depressed. I had failed her miserably and broke her heart so badly that I
didn’t know if I could ever put the pieces back together again no matter how
hard I tried. As we walked into the restaurant to celebrate Everleigh’s
birthday I had a flashback of the last time I’d held her in my arms…the last
time anything in my life was good.

“Wait, you’re not coming with us?” I asked Danni,
who was sitting on the edge of the bed in my hotel room and fidgeting with her
hands.

“Why would I, Beau? We aren’t a couple or anything.
I’m not your girlfriend so there isn’t any reason for me to follow you to New
York City.”

I tossed a few shirts into my bag and sat down next
to her on the bed. “Uh, Everleigh’s crazy fucking ex boyfriend is a good
reason. The guy is seriously unhinged and when he finds out she’s gone he will
probably try to press you for information about where she is. It’s no safer
here for you than it is for her. Girlfriend or not, Danni, I don’t think it’s
smart for you to stay here.”

She smiled weakly at me. “Beau, my dad is a retired
SEAL and he keeps his own arsenal of weapons at the house. Scott would know
better than to fuck with me. Would it make you feel better if I stayed with my
parents while this thing gets worked out?”

I sighed. “I guess a little bit, but come on. Just
because we aren’t dating or anything doesn’t mean I don’t care about you as a
friend. We always said we’d be friends first above anything else, right?”

She nodded and hesitated before she said, “Right.”

“So why can’t you come with us as my friend that I happen
to have awesome sex with?” I asked, and she laughed.

Sighing, Danni replied, “Beau, I am going to be fine
here, really. I’ll call Dad in the morning and move in with them for a little
bit. He’ll be happy to have me back home anyway.”

I would never, ever admit this to anyone, but in
that moment I was a little heartbroken that she wasn’t coming. Danni had become
one of my best friends in those few months. I had really thought that once we
saw each other again and our relationship became physical it was the start of
something good. Obviously that wasn’t true, at least on her part. She seemed
just fine with staying behind.

Swallowing my hurt pride, I tucked a strand of honey
blonde curls behind her ear and said, “You’re sure this is what you want?”

She half smiled at me and said, “Sure. We will talk
every day like usual anyway, right? It’ll be like nothing’s changed.”

Nothing’s changed…except everything. “Absolutely.
So,” I began, caressing her delicate cheek, “do I at least get to say goodbye
to you properly?”

She smiled and bit her bottom lip, making my
hormones surge. “What kind of goodbye did you have in mind?”

I grinned and pulled her face to mine. Right before I
kissed her full lips, I said, “The kind that takes all night.”

“This
place is so beautiful, Everleigh,” Danni said, as she sat down in the chair I’d
pulled out for her without any hesitation. She didn’t seem to mind that she
would be sitting next to me and I smiled at my small victory. Baby steps…

“Isn’t
it? Ryder brought me here last year for my birthday and we had a great time,” Everleigh
answered, grinning.

Ryder
took her hand and nipped at her fingers with his teeth. “Well, we had a great
time that night but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t at the restaurant,” he said,
grinning at her.

Everleigh
blushed while Jude said, “Too much info, dude. I want to keep my appetite
tonight and I can’t do that if I keep picturing your naked ass.”

Everleigh
giggled and said, “Jude, he meant that he proposed that night when we got
home.”

“Yeah,
after we had some of the hottest sex ever,” Ryder exclaimed and we all laughed.

“Okay,
okay, that’s enough, rock star,” said Everleigh, and I grinned at her as she
placed her hand on his.

Ryder
was one of my best friends in the world but before he met Everleigh he was a
pain in the ass. We were all so happy when she came along because even though
they were both broken individually, together they made each other whole. I
hated to admit it, but I was jealous of their happiness every single day of my
life.

Soon
we had ordered our food and while we all sat laughing and talking, I did my
best not to stare at Danni for too long. She really looked sexy as fuck in her dress,
which was as blue as her ocean colored eyes. It was strapless and showed off
her tanned shoulders which were sprayed with just a few light freckles. Her
hair was swept up off her neck, making her exposed skin look so enticing.

I
quickly turned away and took a long drink of my ice water, which was about the
hardest thing I was drinking these days. Quitting drinking cold turkey was
almost as hard as trying to get over Danni but if it meant I was that much
closer to getting her back I would do it.

Thankfully
our food arrived and it was the perfect distraction for me at that moment.
Sitting so close to Danni and not being able to touch her was pure torture.

As
the waiter set Danni’s plate down, I reached up to take my fork out of my
napkin and when I did, our fingers touched. I gritted my teeth together at the
perfect feel of her fingers grazing mine and I heard her gasp. The shock of our
hands touching made her jump and she almost knocked over her glass of
champagne. I looked over at her and was surprised to find her already staring
at me, her eyes blazing with a mix of emotions.

“I…I’m
sorry about that,” she said softly, her breath increasing.

“It’s
okay, don’t apologize,” I replied, trying to sound calm and cool.

Internally
I was anything but calm. I moved my hand off the table and placed it on my leg to
steady myself. Taking a deep breath, I counted to ten. I was about to move my
hand back up to the table when suddenly I felt Danni’s hand cover mine and
squeeze. I looked up and her eyes were afire, like the base of a flame. I
waited for her to say something, anything, because I was completely confused.
She’d fought so hard to distance herself from me and although it was painful, I
was willing to back off-at least temporarily. She’d reached out and helped me
when no one else could get through. The way she was looking at me right now
though was completely confusing…and exciting.

“Danni?”
I asked her. “Are you all right?”

She
opened her mouth to speak but before she could, Ryder tapped his champagne
glass with his fork. My eyes reluctantly left hers and I turned to face him as
he stood up. “Sorry to interrupt but there is something I wanted to say before
we all start eating,” he announced, placing his hand on Everleigh’s shoulder. I
noticed that Danni’s hand still hadn’t left mine. In fact, she was gripping it tightly.
I didn’t know how long she was going to let this go on so I took advantage and
flipped my hand over, lacing her fingers with mine. Surprisingly, she squeezed
my fingers and we looked at each other for a split second before turning back
to Ryder.

“I’ll
make this short and sweet so we can eat our food before it gets cold. I just
want to take a minute to wish my gorgeous wife Evie a happy birthday and to say
again, for the millionth time, how much I love her with my whole heart.”

There
were a lot of “aww’s” coming from Jessie, Sadie, and Danni as he leaned in and
kissed Everleigh’s cheek.

As
he readied himself to sit down, he continued with, “Oh yeah, and one more
thing. We’re having a baby. Everyone eat.”

I
smiled in that moment as all of the girls shrieked and the guys laughed.

Danni’s
delicate hand was still holding mine when she said, “Ev, you’re pregnant?”

Everleigh
smiled brightly and said, “I am.”

“This
is so awesome! When are you due?” asked Sadie.

Everleigh
looked beautiful and was absolutely
glowing
as she said, “November
seventh. It must have happened when we came back from the tour last month.”

Ryder
was beaming with pride as he said, “And it’s a boy.”

“How
do you know that? She’s not that far along man,” Kris said, chuckling. “I mean,
I’m no doctor, but don’t you need to be a little farther along before you know
that?”

“I
know it’s a boy because it just is, and when he’s born we’re naming him Maxwell
Alan,” he said, and this time I squeezed Danni’s hand.

Alan
was Ryder’s father and Max was Everleigh’s. I had never gotten to meet Max but
Alan was an amazing guy and the father that Kris, Jude, and I never had. I
couldn’t think of a better name for their baby. I bet wherever Alan and Max
were now they were both very proud.

I
raised my glass of water. “Well, I’m happy for you both. Ev, happy birthday,
and congratulations! I can already see this little guy coming out with a little
faux hawk.”

Everyone
laughed and Danni squeezed my hand again, looking at me with a smile on her
face.

A
few hours later, we’d all eaten a nice dinner and had a good time catching up. We
walked out to our cars and hugged as we said our goodbyes. I had just said good
night to Kris when Jessie came over and hugged me. “You heading home, Beau?”
she asked me.

I
smiled at my friend, winking at her. “Oh yeah, I have an exciting night of
nothing to get to,” I said, trying to joke.

She
nudged me but her face was concerned. “Seriously, Beau, are you okay? You seem
to be doing a lot better but I still worry.”

I
hugged her and said, “That’s because you are an amazing friend, Jess, and I
would be worried if you didn’t worry about me. I’m all right, I promise.”

I
felt her relax and we broke apart. “So, what about you? Do you have some baby
news you want to share with everyone yet, Mrs. Engle?”

She
laughed and rolled her eyes. “No, not yet. I know I was feeling shitty toward
the end of the tour and I wondered if that was it. Turned out I just had the
stomach flu. No babies yet, I promise. You all will be the first to know
anyway, you know that.”

“I
do. Well, I’ll let you go so your husband can get you home and fuck the shit
out of you,” I said, knowing I’d get a reaction out of her and loving every
minute.

Rolling
her eyes, she said, “Jesus Christ, Beau. Between you and Jude I don’t know
who’s cruder.”

We
both paused and said in unison as we laughed, “Jude.”

“Who
said my name?” Jude asked, walking over to us. “You over here talking about how
my dick’s bigger than yours, Beau?”

“You
wish, asshole.”

My
little sister Sadie left Jude’s side and walked to me. She wrapped her arms
around me in a hug and I asked, “Are you going home, kid?”

“No,
I’m actually heading to the tattoo parlor with Jude,” she said, and my head
snapped back.

“You’re
going where?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah,
I have wanted to get my nipples pierced for a long time and Jude’s coming along
for moral support.”

My
eyes roamed to Jude and I glared at him.

“You
are
not
looking at my sister’s nipples, dude.”

He
held his hands up.

“Hey,
she’s dragging me along. Believe me, man, I don’t want to see it. I’m going to
try to stay out of the room.”

Sadie
shook her head and said, “Oh no, big guy, you are coming in with me. Just shut
your eyes and don’t be a pussy.”

“You
weren’t this bad when you got your magic cross, man,” Ryder said to him.

“Well,
for one thing, I was half buzzed when I got it done so I don’t remember if it
hurt or not and the second thing is…
fuck
dude, you weren’t supposed to
tell anyone about that,” Jude said, his face slightly red.

I
rolled my eyes and answered, “We all knew you had your dick pierced, Jude. It’s
nothing new.”

“Yeah,
but they didn’t know that,” he said, thumbing to the girls.

Sadie’s
eyes were alive with humor. “Oh now you
have
to let me see it.”

“Sadie!”
both Jude and I said at the same time.