Free Renegade (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) by Mellie George Page B

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