Rogue (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) (4 page)

“You didn’t do anything, gorgeous,” he
said, pulling me into his arms. “None of this is your fault.”

“I just want to sleep and forget about
everything,” I cried.

“Do you want me to have everyone leave?”
he asked softly.

I shrugged. “I can’t ask that. People came
here to pay their respects and I would feel like a bitch for making them all
leave.”

“Well, why don’t you go and get some
rest? You are exhausted, Everleigh. Just get into some comfortable clothes and
take a nap and everyone will be gone by the time you wake up, okay?”

“Are you sure? This isn’t your job, you
know,” I said.

“No, it’s my job to take care of
you
and right now you need to rest. I’ll deal with all of it.”

I felt a mixture of guilt and fear. No
matter what he said this
wasn’t
his job. I was terrified that he was
just fulfilling a promise he made to a dying man. I hoped I was wrong, but I
couldn’t think about that now…I just wanted to shut the world out for a while.
I turned and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Ryder. I won’t lie down long, I
promise.”

He shook his head and traced his fingers
along my neck. “You take all the time you need, okay? I’ll check in on you and
let you know when everyone is gone.”

I nodded. “Okay. Please give everyone my
apologies,” I said, standing.

He stood to meet me and kissed my
forehead. “I will. Get some rest,” he said, and I drudged off toward my
bedroom. I nodded at several people as they gave their condolences to me, and
as soon as I reached my bedroom, I closed the door behind me. I didn’t even
change out of my dress before I collapsed on my bed and fell into a restless
sleep.

Ryder

“Thanks again for everything, man,” I
said to Beau. “Are you heading back to your hotel room?”

Putting on his coat, he said, “No. I was
going to take Danni out for New Years tonight and then we’re going back to the
hotel,” he said, slightly smiling. “You know, ring in the New Year right.”

I shook my head and looked pointedly at
him. “Don’t fuck with her, man. Danni’s a good girl.”

Beau opened his mouth and was about to
reply but Danni came up to us at that moment and hugged me. “That was an
amazing service, Ryder. Thanks for doing this for her. I don’t know how she
could have gotten through this week without you,” she said.

“I just did what anyone else would have
done for someone they lo-, um, care about,” I said, catching myself for the
second time in a week almost about to drop the L word.

She smiled at me. “I know you did. Give
her a hug for me and tell her to call me tomorrow, okay?”

“I will. Good night you two,” I said,
and I watched them walk out into the snow. I heard footsteps behind me and I
turned to see Trish reaching for her coat. “Hey Trish, are you heading out too?
I thought you lived here.”

“I do for now but I am going to stay
with my sister for a week while Everleigh figures things out. I’ll move on to
another patient soon but for now I want to give her some space to deal with
everything.”

“Okay, well, that makes sense I guess.”

“Listen,” she said, “I am so glad
Everleigh found you when she did, Ryder. She’s such a sweet girl and after the
way Scott treated her, her confidence was totally destroyed. She has no idea
just how beautiful she really is and the worst part of it all is she believes
she doesn’t deserve to be loved. In the short time I have known you, I have
seen some wonderful changes in her and I hope I continue to see that.”

“So, is this your motherly way of saying
that she is into me and you want me to stick around?” I asked, smiling at her.

“I absolutely hope you stick around,
Ryder. She may not admit it but she needs you and you are good for her.” She
leaned in and hugged me. “I’ll be in touch. Give her my love and tell her I
said Happy New Year,” she said.

“I will. Good night. Drive safe,” I
said, and as soon as she walked out and was in her car, I closed the door. I
blew out a breath and turned and looked around Everleigh’s house. It was a mess
from all the food that everyone brought. I didn’t want her to have to clean it
up later so I got to work putting food away, throwing out trash, and cleaning
dishes.

After about an hour of speed cleaning, I
had just washed my last dish when I felt someone behind me. “Hey,” I heard
Everleigh say.

“Hey, gorgeous. How was your nap? Are
you feeling any better?” I asked, placing a dish towel on the sink.

“I’m feeling a little better,” she said.
She looked around the kitchen and her mouth fell open. “Did you…clean my
house?”

I grinned. “Well, it was a small
disaster. I wasn’t going to leave it all night,” I said. “Sorry, I’m a bit of a
clean freak.”

“It’s okay. I appreciate it but you
didn’t have to. This isn’t what you signed up for, I’m sure.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, my brows
furrowed.

“You’ve only been in town for one week
and you’ve already watched someone die, planned a funeral, hosted a wake, and
cleaned an entire house. All for a girl that isn’t technically your
girlfriend,” she said, shaking her head.

“I made a promise to your dad that I’d
take care of you, Everleigh, and that’s what I intend to do. I’m not taking
that shit lightly. Besides, why do you think you don’t deserve a break? I know
this is a lot for a first week in any kind of relationship but for the first
time in a long time I feel like I am in the right place at the right time.

“I was a mess when my dad died and I still
wasn’t over it when my mom passed away, so when she was gone I completely
checked out. Sure, the guys were there for me, but I wouldn’t let them help
like they wanted to and I just fell into endless bottles of booze and fucked a
lot of women. I know this is going to sound corny or unbelievable, but I really
feel like I was meant to find you, Evie, and that I am supposed to be here to
help you through this,” I said.

Suddenly, she gasped. “W-what did you
call me?”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“You…you just called me Evie. My dad was
the only one that called me that,” she said, tears clouding her eyes.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I
did,” I said, feeling like an asshole.

She shook her head. “No, it’s…okay. That
actually made me feel a little bit better. I can’t explain it,” she said,
taking a step toward me.

I immediately pulled her into my arms.
“I’ll do whatever you need me to do to make you feel better,” I said, lowering
my lips to her forehead. I kissed her softly a few times before moving to brush
soft kisses across her eyelids, her cheek, the tip of the her nose, and then
finally her lips.

I had backed off, letting her have some
space and even though I still had every intention of doing that I missed
kissing her lips. I just had to do it once, even if she pushed me away.

She started to kiss me back but just as
suddenly as she’d opened her mouth to me, she froze and pulled away. “Ryder,
I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s too soon,” I
said, pulling back.

“It’s not that,” she said quietly,
looking down at the floor.

I knew what this was about. That Scott
asshole had gotten to her again. “Everleigh, what did he say to you?” I asked,
my jaw tightening.

“Nothing, Ryder. He was just a jerk,
like always. Let it go,” she said, her face flushed.

“Everleigh, I am not trying to push you,
but you need to tell me what he said to you.”

“Why?” she snapped. “What difference
does it make? He’s already ruined this whole fucking day. God, is it too much
to ask for me to grieve in peace without everyone bothering me? Strangers
packed in the house all day, everyone asking me every two seconds if I’m fine
like I’m going to collapse, and then Scott showing his face here just to plunge
the knife deeper!” she shouted. “Why can’t the world give me a break?”

I tried to wrap my arms around her, but
she started to shove me away. “I’m trying to give you a break so that’s why you
need to tell me what that fuckwad said so I can convince you how wrong he is!”
After a few moments, she stopped fighting and collapsed into my arms, sobbing.
Stroking my fingers through her hair, I asked her softly, “What did he say?”

“He…he insulted you…he called you scum. He
called me his sloppy seconds and then lied to Jude and Beau. He said that I
strung him along for a long time before we had sex and that I was terrible in
bed. He’s told me all those things before but today of all days I didn’t need
him to remind me of it,” she said, speaking barely above a whisper.

Rage like I had never felt before shot
through me and my blood was boiling. If I wasn’t holding onto Everleigh I was
certain I would have gotten into my car and drove around until I found his
house and I would have killed him. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I growled.
“Please don’t tell me you believe that cock sucker, Everleigh.”

“How could I not? I was a virgin when I
slept with him and even then I didn’t feel ready. Of course I’m going to be
terrible at sex the first time.”

“I don’t think that it’s possible for
you to be bad at it, gorgeous. When you touched me last week…God, I’ve never
came so hard in my entire life and that’s the truth.”

She shook her head. “I just wish he’d
leave me alone, Ryder. He’s not around a lot but when he is it’s awful. It’s
like when someone shows me the slightest bit of attention he flips out and
starts insulting me.”

“He’s probably doing it because he still
wants in your panties, Everleigh, and he doesn’t want anyone else to have what
he felt like he was denied. I’m a guy so if I had to guess I’d say he thinks
you cockblocked him and he got pissed,” I said.

“Well, I don’t want him. I didn’t really
want him then but I felt like I was getting too old to still be a virgin so I
did it and completely ignored that little voice that tried to warn me that I
wasn’t ready. He took something from me I’ll never get back,” she cried.

“Well, you have something he will never
get,” I said, taking her face into my hands and staring into her whiskey
colored eyes.

“What’s that?” she asked nervously.

“A man that sees what a breathtaking
woman you are who is
not
about to let you go,” I said, and I leaned in
and kissed her lips lightly. Everleigh moaned and surprised me by wrapping her
arms around my neck, trying to glide her tongue into my mouth. As badly as I
wanted to taste her, I was the one backed away this time.

Everleigh swayed slightly against me and
when she steadied herself, her brows furrowed. “Why did you pull away from me,
Ryder?”

I raised both eyebrows at her. “Everleigh,
I am backing off because you just lost your dad. If I am being honest, I want
you so fucking bad right now but I am trying to be the kind of guy you need.
I’m not Scott, sweetheart. I’m not going to push you for sex, especially at a
time like this.” She opened her mouth to speak but before she could, I stopped
her by placing a fingertip on her plush lips. “It’s not happening tonight,
gorgeous.”

She looked down at the floor for a
moment and then looked up at me with those damned eyes. Fuck, she was
beautiful. “Okay, I understand. You’re probably right. It’s a bad time,” she
said softly. “I just can’t help how I feel right now. This has been the hardest
week of my life and you were there for me like no one ever has been. Every time
you kiss me my body just responds to you. I’m sorry.”

I smiled at her and pulled her into my
arms. “You don’t need to be sorry for feeling that way, gorgeous. Believe me…it’s
going to happen. I just don’t want to look back on it and remember that our
first time together was because you were looking for some comfort sex,” I said,
grinning and trying to lighten the mood.

Luckily, she smiled at me. “Thanks,
Ryder,” she said, snuggling into my arms. She took a deep breath and sighed.
“So, what do we do now?”

I kissed the top of her head and smiled.
“What do you want to do? We can do whatever you want.”

“I kind of liked the idea of watching
the countdown with you,” she said, looking up at me.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.
We have a ton
of leftovers in the refrigerator, or we could order something.
Do you think
that pizza place we had last week will be busy tonight?” I asked. That pizza
was un-fucking-believable and I’d been craving it since that first night I was
in Muncie.

“Pizza King? Um, they might be busy
since it’s a holiday but I can call them.”

“No, I can call, it’s okay. You go get
in your pajamas and get comfortable while I order us some food,” I said.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I am,” I said, giving her a
playful nudge. I already had my phone out and was Google searching for Pizza
King’s phone number. “What toppings do you want?”