“Nice. See? Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“I guess we are. So, what now?”
“Ask me a question. Anything you want to know. I’m an open book.”
“O-okay. Uh, let me think. Um, what’s your middle name?”
He smiled at me. “Storm.”
I chuckled. “Are you serious? Your name is Ryder Storm Matthews?”
“Yeah, what can I say? I was born in the middle of a really bad thunderstorm and apparently they lost power at the hospital for a minute. I was born literally the minute the generators came on,” he said, grinning. “My dad always said I rode in through the storm.” He looked sad for a moment, but before I could ask anything he said, “So, what’s your middle name?”
“It’s Grace. Common, I know,” I said.
“No, it’s beautiful. Everleigh Grace Stone. How did your parents come up with it?”
“Well, my dad’s the one that named me, actually.”
“He did?”
“Uh, yeah. My mom died in childbirth, so Daddy basically named me after her. Her name was Grace and Everly was her maiden name. He just flipped it and changed the spelling.”
“That’s so sad. You never got to know your mom and now you are losing your dad,” he said, looking so sad for me. “That’s awful, Everleigh. I’m really sorry.”
I felt a lump in my throat. “Thanks. It’s so hard watching him waste away. Part of me just wants him to be at peace because he’s suffering so much, but then I feel terrible for feeling that way.”
He put his arm around me and pulled me into a one armed hug. “It’s not terrible, Everleigh. I know how you feel, believe me. My dad died of lung cancer seven years ago right after we really hit it big. It was the most god awful feeling in the world watching him go through that. My mom was so devastated over losing him that she overdosed on pain killers two years later. It just about destroyed me. I really thought our band was going to fall apart because I was so wrecked,” he admitted.
“Oh God, Ryder…I had no idea.”
“Yeah, well…” he said, trailing off for a moment, my heart constricting tightly in my chest. “I’m lucky that Beau, Kris, and Jude were there to get me through it. They all loved my parents too and it hit them just as hard. They weren’t as lucky as I was to have awesome parents and my mom and dad treated the guys like they were their own.”
“Your parents sound like they were great people.”
“They really were. Dad was so proud of us when we signed our record deal. He kept a scrap book of all of the articles that mentioned us. He was a great guy.”
“He sounds like it.”
He took a deep breath and blew air through his lips. Giving his head a little shake, he said, “So, tell me about your dad. What’s he like?”
I smiled a pained smile. “Well, he’s a Vietnam vet and he and Deuce served together. He met my mom when he came back to the US and they were married for seventeen years before they had me. They tried to have kids for years and never thought they would be able to, but then I came along,” I said, smiling. “Daddy said that he and mom were so ecstatic when they found out they were having me, and that she was sure I would be a girl. They knew there would be risk having a child at such an advanced maternal age but she didn’t care. They felt like it was fate. Everything had gone just fine up until she went into labor, and then things just went south from there. She ended up trying to have me naturally but there were complications and she bled out after I was born. To this day I feel guilty. My mother literally gave up her life to have me and I just feel like I’m the reason Daddy lost the woman he loved,” I said. I had never admitted that out loud before and it hurt to say it.
“Oh, Jesus, Everleigh, that wasn’t your fault. You can’t think like that.”
I shrugged. “I can’t help it. I seriously sit and think sometimes that I shouldn’t be here. My mother died to bring me into the world, my father is dying in front of my eyes, and the first guy I ever fell in love with used me just to get laid and then dumped me the next day when I told him I wanted to slow things down,” I said, and I started to cry again. I don’t know what it was about Ryder that made me feel calm enough to break down in front of him and admit all my lifelong fears and regrets, but he was like a balm to my broken soul.
“God, it’s taking everything in me to not track down this Scott asshole and beat the fuck out of him,” Ryder said. “What all did he say to you?”
I shook my head. “Not now, okay? Maybe later. Can we talk about something else?”
“Everleigh…” he said, half pleading and half angry.
“Ryder, please,” I begged.
He sighed and nodded his head. “Okay. Like what?”
I thought for a moment and then bit my lip. Looking at him, I said, “Will you sing me a song?”
Chapter 5
Ryder
“A song? Really?” I asked, grinning.
“Yeah, why not? I noticed you have your guitar case over there. Sing me a song. Unless you’re scared,” she said, smiling that million dollar smile.
“I’m not scared of a damn thing, baby,” I said, and I got up off the bed and grabbed my guitar out of the case. “Any requests?” I asked, sitting on the chair across from her.
“Surprise me,” she said, and she pulled her legs up and sat on the edge of the bed crisscrossed style.
I tried to think back to the night we met in Cincinnati and I remembered she was wearing a Guns N’ Roses tee shirt. I figured that was a good place to start, so I set my guitar on my lap and began to play the first few chords of “Don’t Cry.” I didn’t look away from her beautiful gaze the whole time I sang the song as the words poured out of me.
Our eyes were locked the whole time I sang to her. I hated to admit it to myself, but I’d never been more nervous to sing in front of anyone in my life until this moment. I was afraid to look away from her beautiful brown eyes because I thought I might stumble and forget the words. Once the song was over, I put the guitar down and looked back up at her. Her eyes were welling with tears again, and I chuckled. “The song is telling you not to cry, Everleigh,” I joked, trying to play off my nerves.
“Ryder, that was…magic. You have a very beautiful voice,” she said almost breathlessly.
I felt redness rising in my cheeks and I looked down at my guitar and mindlessly strummed a few chords. “Thanks.” I’d been complimented before, but nothing meant more to me than what she just said.
“If you can sing like that, why in the world do you growl in most of your songs?” she asked innocently.
I laughed. “That’s the kind of music I like to sing and that’s what our fans want to hear. Besides, I don’t growl all the time, you know.”
“Well, it sounded like it to me at the show. No offense,” she said, and I smiled. “Apparently I was so out of my element there that I didn’t remember.”
“It’s okay, Everleigh. Our music isn’t everyone’s taste, but we still do okay.”
“Oh, I know. Danni’s been a freak for you guys for a long time, and I’ll admit, she had me banging my head a little bit to that song, oh what was it… ‘Self Destruction’?”
I nodded and smiled. “See? You’re not that out of touch.”
“Well, I liked the beat of it. Your drummer is really talented.”
“Yeah, that’s Kris. He’s a bad ass drummer and a really good guy.”
She smiled. “So tell me more about them. How did you guys all meet?”
Before I could answer, my cell pinged, letting me know I had a text message. I checked it and saw that it was from Jude. The guys were all here with John and our security team. I felt a stab of disappointment because my time with Everleigh here in the hotel room was about to end. I had been having a great time getting to know her and I didn’t want it to be over yet. “That’s Jude. Everyone’s here. They are in the lobby checking in right now.”
“Oh. Well, great. It will be nice seeing them again,” Everleigh said sincerely.
She smiled sweetly at me. “Well, I am anxious to get home to Daddy, but as much as it pains me to admit it, I’ve been having a good time with you this evening, Ryder.”
I smiled. “See? I’m not such a bad guy, right?”
“I guess not,” she said, surprised. I put my guitar back in the case and quickly walked over to the bed. I sat down next to her and moved my face close to hers. “What are you doing?” she asked, surprised.
“Enjoying the last few seconds I have you alone before the wolves descend,” I said, and I leaned in and kissed her, making her gasp loudly. Making the most of our moment together, I traced my tongue along her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to me. We made out like a couple of horny teenagers for about two minutes before I heard a knock on the door of my room. Groaning, I pulled away and shifted around to make my hard on go away. Everleigh fanned her face with her hand, her cheeks a bright pink. “Well, let’s get this over with,” I said.
I got up and walked to the door. After I checked that it was the guys through the peep hole, I opened the door and let them in. “Hey guys,” I said. “You guys don’t think you’re staying in here, do you?” Jude, Kris, Beau, Danni, John, and three bodyguards dressed in black suits walked into my small room. There was a whole lot of man crammed into the hotel room.
“No, we rented out the whole top floor,” Jude said, plopping down on the bed next to Everleigh. He threw his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. “Hey, how are you doing?” he said, winking at her. “We’ve heard about absolutely nothing but you for the past three months.”
She shrugged out of his grasp and stood up. “Nice to see you again, Jude,” she said, walking over to me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and flipped him off.
“So, how bad is it out there?” I asked John.
“Not bad. Most of the reporters seemed to have gotten the pictures they wanted when the rest of the band showed up. Some of them might try and follow Miss Stone back to her house, but we rented a black SUV to take her back home and two of our guys are going stay parked outside until this thing dies down,” he said. “Nice to see you,” he said to Everleigh, and she nodded. “I’m John.”
She offered her hand to him and he took it, giving it a shake. “Yeah, I remember you from the show. It’s nice to see you again.” The smile on her face was so sweet and genuine, and for the first time since I’d known him, I saw John crack a smile. It seemed that I was not the only one to fall for Everleigh’s innocent charms.
“Well, I want us to stay here for a bit until I make sure it’s safe for her to go home and then she needs to get back. Her dad needs her home,” I said, squeezing her into me.
“Well, why don’t we all get dinner then? I’m starving,” Jude said.
“Dude, we just stopped at a Burger King an hour ago,” Kris said.
“Hey, I’m a big boy. I need sustenance,” he replied. “Everleigh, what’s good to eat around here?”
She shrugged. “Mostly fast food places close to here. If it’s past ten most of the good restaurants are closed.”
“I thought I saw a Pizza Hut before we pulled in,” Beau said, and I realized at that moment that he was holding Danni’s hand. I would say the guy worked quickly but I didn’t really have room to talk. I’d been in town one day and had already practically dry humped Everleigh and had gotten my hands up her shirt. I definitely wasn’t complaining…her full breasts felt incredible in my hands.
“Hey, if you want pizza, I have a better place for you guys to try. If you don’t mind,” Everleigh said.
“Oh no, it’s fine. You know the area better than we do,” I said. “What are you thinking?”
She looked at Danni. “Pizza King?” Danni asked, smiling.
“Pizza King,” Everleigh said.
“I’ll call them. What does everyone like?” Danni asked, walking away from Beau and grabbing the pen and paper from the night stand. Everyone told her what they wanted, and I just mumbled that I didn’t care. Living on the road as long as I have, I would eat just about anything within reason.
After we were all stuffed and full of some of the best pizza I’d eaten in a long time (seriously, that shit was incredible), it was time for John and the guys to take Everleigh and Danni back home. I almost felt like a needy girl because I didn’t want her to go yet. Ever since everyone had shown up, I hadn’t really gotten to talk to her much. She’d spent most of the evening talking to Danni. I’d had a great day with her and I was bummed that it was going to end.
John had just left with the rest of the men in suits to do a security check of the floor when Everleigh stood up from her chair next to Danni. I may not have gotten to have much a conversation with her in the past hour, I would be damned if I didn’t get some kind of goodbye…hopefully with some tongue. “So, this evening turned out to be pretty good, huh?” I asked her, lacing my fingers through hers.
She shivered slightly as our fingers tangled together. “As much as I hate to admit it, I had fun with you guys tonight,” she said. “Your band mates are pretty cool. Even Jude.”
I grinned. “Wow, that’s a compliment. He’s usually a pain in the ass but I love him like a brother.”
“Yeah, he’s really nice.” She sighed and gave my hand a squeeze. “Listen, thanks for taking my mind off of everything for one night.”
“My pleasure, Everleigh. Listen, I am going to be in town for at least a week. Can I see you tomorrow?”
She smiled her beautiful smile at me. “S-sure. I have to work in the morning, and then I’ll need to check in on my dad, but after that I’m free.”
“Great. I thought maybe you could show me around the city.”
“There’s not much to do here but eat and see a movie,” she said, chuckling to herself.
“A movie? Wow, I haven’t been inside a movie theater in forever,” I said.
“Really?” she asked, looking surprised.
“Well, there’s not a lot of opportunity for the lead singer of a famous rock band to sneak away and do something by himself. Today should be proof of that,” I said, and she nodded.
“Well, maybe we can do some kind of ‘cloak and dagger’ thing and sneak away to the movie theater,” she suggested, and I smiled.
“Being with you inside a dark movie theater for two hours? That sounds like fun, but it’s probably going to be just about impossible to do that, what with cameras around.”
“True,” she said, biting on her bottom lip and frowning.
“Listen, I don’t want to push my luck, but what about if I just came and hung out at your place?”
“M-my house?” she asked, nervously.
“What’s the matter? Do you not want me to come?”
“Oh, no, it’s not that. It’s just that my house is kind of small and plain and…”
“Everleigh, you don’t have to be embarrassed about where you live. I’d love to see where you grew up.”
She gave me a small smile, but I could tell she was still nervous. “Well, I guess we can try that. If you like eighties movies, my dad’s actually a movie buff and we have a pretty big collection. If there is a movie you want to see, chances are we have it.”
I smiled at her. “Okay then, it’s a date,” I said, grinning.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I guess it is,” she said. “Just what I’ve always dreamed of.”
“What?” I asked.
“Being on a date at my house with my dad there.”
I chuckled. “I’m sure it will be fine,” I said, feeling confident.
“Hey, don’t let the fact that Daddy’s sick fool you. He’s pretty protective of his little girl.”
“I thought you said he was pushing you to get a life?”
“He is, but he’s also a man and knows that most men want one thing from women.”
“Well, I could lie and say I don’t want that one thing from you but I do. I want al
l of it,” I said, and I felt relief when she smiled.
“Well, you’re not getting it yet, rock star,” Everleigh said bravely, but I knew she was nervous.
“Yet? That means I’ll get it eventually, and I have no problem waiting. I have all the time in the world. Hell, I’ve been in dry dock for the past three months and I’m doing just fine. Well, kind of,” I laughed, and shifted around to make my semi go down.
Everleigh looked at me with wide, surprised eyes. “Y-you have? Really? Wow,” she muttered, looking impressed.
“Well, geez, it’s not like I won an award or anything, relax. It’s just that no one really interested me after I met you. You’ve wrecked me, girl,” I said.
“I just can’t believe you held off that long.”
“Well, porn helps,” I said, and she giggled.
“Ugh, you’re a freak,” she said.
“Oh you have no idea,” I replied, and at that moment John came back into my room giving us the ‘all clear’.
“Well, guess that’s my cue to head home. Thanks again for a good time,” she said. She reached into her pocket and pulled something out. In her hand was the money I gave her earlier.
I shook my head. “I’m not taking it back, Everleigh.”
Her brow furrowed for a moment and she sighed. She moved her hand quickly before I could think she reached her hand into my front pocket and tucked the money inside. I could feel the warmth of her hand on my leg through the thin material of my pocket, and my dick twitched in response. “Yes you are, Ryder.” She pulled her hand out of my pocket and wrapped her arm around my waist in a quick hug. “Thanks again.”
Rebel (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) Page 6