Ryder's Redemption (Badboy Rockers #2) Read Free

with a lip ring…or a tongue ring.
    The stories she has told me about this smoking hot tattoo artist/rocker makes me blush. She didn’t spare a single detail, even the heartache of choosing between best friends and local rock gods who wanted the same girl.
    And the best man won.
    I’m introduced to Deklan, who surprises me by giving me a breath-stealing hug.
    His body is as hard as it looks.
    Kenzie grins. “I’m so glad you’re here. Mom can hardly wait to see you.”
    “I look forward to seeing her, too.” I felt bad that I had never known what to say to Melissa after Kenzie’s dad had left her for another woman. I had seen the complete devastation that had come over her, and aside from bringing over casseroles my mom had ordered the cook to make, I had offered little in the way of comfort to both my best friend and her mom.
    At least I could make up for my lack of knowing what to do now.
    Kenzie glances past me to Deklan and they share a smile. I wonder what that smile is about, or if she’s just happy to see me.
    Linking her arm in mine, we start walking and fall into step. It’s like the months we were apart are melting away by the second. I’ve never hung out with a guy like Deklan before, and it’s pretty evident from people’s expressions that they’re interested in him, or more noticeably, the tattoos. Men, women, girls, boys, everyone is staring at him. I wonder if it ever drives Kenzie crazy. If it were me, I think I might get a little jealous or maybe a little insecure about all the attention he gets.
    I have to give the boy credit though—he is all about his woman. Ever attentive, he is always the gentleman.
    Kenzie and I chat while Deklan effortlessly lifts my sixty-pound designer cheetah-print suitcase from the carousel.
    “You weren’t kidding, were you?” I murmur, noting the women, both young and old, who are staring at Deklan with open curiosity as he lifts the handle of the suitcase and walks toward us. “Doesn’t it drive you bat-shit crazy how people stare at him?”
    Kenzie grins. “A little, but I’m growing used to it.”
    My friend handles herself beautifully though. She smiles as he takes her hand and in turn she takes my hand with the other. We walk out of the airport and across the six lanes of traffic to the parking garage.
    Deklan listens to us as we chatter and enter the elevator in the parking garage. When we arrive on the third level, we walk out. Sitting on the concrete barrier is a stunningly handsome young man.
    His long legs are in front of him, and his arms are braced at his sides.
    Seeing us, he stands, and my heart drops to my toes.
    Oh my God.
    This is Joshua Ryder.
    The infamous, womanizing, asshole Ryder.
    No wonder Kenzie was so torn between these two men.
    Ryder is nearly as tall as Deklan, has a nice body, but again, he’s not as broad shouldered as Deklan…but the boy has a face that would make angels weep.
    His gaze travels over me slowly, and when his eyes meet mine I see a gleam in them. An expectation. He’s one of those guys who waits for a woman’s reaction.
    Like he expects me to drop my panties on the spot.
    Fat chance, homeboy…
    I force my gaze away from him.
    “Ryder, this is Ange,” Deklan says.
    Kenzie’s fingers tighten around mine, and she squeezes it.
    Apparently she’s expecting me to be nice.
    I force a smile I don’t feel. “Nice to meet you, Ryder,” I say, when what I really want to do is kick him in the nuts for the hell he’s put my friend through.
    This man had hurt my best friend. Granted, Kenzie was now with his best friend, and I’m sure that didn’t feel great, but still…the damage he had done in the short time they had been together had been so destructive.
    Such a selfish prick.
    The phone call I’d received from Kenzie the night she’d caught him sleeping with Sadie had been devastating. I had known how much she had liked Ryder, and how close she had come to giving up her virginity for him.
    Thank God she