Chapter 2: Where Do We Go Now?
Life had moved on and Aubrey doesn't really try to spare that much thought to Jax Teller or their first conversation at the bonfire, or more so his sly way of starting a conversation.
But it's hard not to as the town is burning like wildfire with gossip with how he is handling Tara Knowles' departure for San Diego to college. From what people had been able to pick up from that wreckage was that it was a nasty split.
Although considering how the two used to argue in public, Aubrey wasn't exactly sure what constituted as nasty, but it was bad enough that Tara had left in the protection of the night without a goodbye. Apparently Jax had to find out she left when he stopped by her father's place. Apparently Tara's dad wasn't all that sad his daughter left without even a goodbye or warning to him. Instead the drunken man had taken the time to gloat in Jax's face about it and how his daughter should be proud to twist him the fuck up.
That conversation had ended with a neighbor calling Charming PD to stop Jax from beating the drunken man to death.
Even after the first few weeks of Tara's departure, the so called love of Jax's life hadn't even called Jax or wrote him a letter just to tell him she made it to school or anything.
Aubrey thinks that is a little nasty considering the history with the two.
And if gossip is true, it seems Jax is handling the breakup like every heartbroken fool by sleeping through his grief. Aubrey wishes men knew that cheap knock offs and one night stands was only going to make the ache worse. Jax was only going to dig a deeper hole for his grief to wallow in as she is sure he has been comparing every girl to the pale dark hair girl. She's surprised his dick hasn't probably been rubbed into a nub or even functions not that she would really care.
It's almost funny how predictable men are.
Aubrey tries to feel bad for him because in a way he loved Tara. Slapped her with a tattoo proclaiming to Charming – the world – that Tara was his, but Jax didn't realize he didn't own Tara. Tara couldn't be owned. Her cage had been broken for a long time away before he came along. He couldn't fix that broken gate to keep her in.
She wonders how he could have been this oblivious about his so called love of his life. Or maybe he just chose to ignore it. He believed their love – bond – would be enough to keep her satisfied. Their love would've kept her in Charming and they would live some fairy tale.
But she can't find any empathy in his worldview. She finds his world to be a little sexiest because if he had loved Tara he would have been supportive of her need to leave Charming and become a surgeon. If they really loved each other, they could have tried to make it work. And if the distanced proved too much, they still had time to come back to each other. Give them time to grow and experience the world. But she has other things to worry about than Jax's broken heart.
…
She doesn't see Jax again until December
She wonders how attending a wedding is helping him with his mood and grieving process as he stands next to his best friend.
He doesn't look too bad. She's taken back by his buzz cut and she laughs at the notion of him getting a post breakup haircut. She can tell he is exhausted and possibly a little bit drunk. She guesses it's a good thing he isn't staggering on his feet. His alcohol tolerance must be through the roof. But he looks good in a blue plaid shirt and dark washed jeans. She rolls her eyes that none of the bikers really dressed up outside of Opie, but it works for them – him.
She's was surprised that she was even invited to the wedding.
She's always been friendly to Opie. They haven't spoken much since their lives were separated from high school, but he remembers her. They're able to make simple small talk. He promises to change the oil in her car and check out the squeaking noise her brakes make if he stops by the diner or they pass each other in Charming.
With Donna, the two of them have become closer because of circumstance. Both of them are attending tech school to become dental hygienist and they have begun to form some relationship. They manage to stop for coffee before or after class and sometimes make study dates.
She finds that Donna is a much better fit for Opie than her friend Payton ever could be. Donna is smart, more serious, and level headed. A good match for the quiet and reserved Opie.
The wedding itself is a small reserved crowd. It also happens that it's one of the warmer days in California during the winter. They are on one of Oswald's properties that carters to events like this. Surrounded by a redwood forest and a small lake that they could go on a riverboat to cruise on, but Opie and Donna decide to stay on the mainland. They are getting married under a gazebo surrounded by a combination of blue and white bouquet of hydrangeas, peonies, roses, ranunculus, and anemones, fairy lights and mini reapers. The reception will take place in the banquet hall that adjoins the property.
Although as she looks at all the bikers surrounding the altar the Reaper plastered on everything, she hopes this world doesn't consume Donna. She frowns slightly and shakes her head as she shouldn't be so negative. She doesn't know any of them and she tried not to let rumors affect how she viewed people. Donna seems happy with Opie and Opie is most certainly in love with Donna. And as she focuses back to the vows being exchanged she finds a pair of steely blue eyes pinned on her.
…
Aubrey thinks she should've brought a date even if it happened to be her mother as she barely knows anyone at the wedding. There are some friends from high school she catches up with, but for the most part it's people in leather, leather, and more leather. She feels like the odd man out. More like a carcass dead on the side of the road as men clad in leather with different cities sewn on their kutte flock to her. It's almost like they never seen a woman before. Or it could be that they are severely bored with their pick of pussy they brought as dates. Some were sweet, respectful, and others were brash and forward. Clearly these men were used to women doing as they were told.
She finds it better to seek refuge at the bar. Although, she is mindful not to consume so much.
Everyone seems to be having a good time especially husband and wife as they dance. Even though she is happy for Donna, Aubrey can't imagine being married so young. She hasn't even gotten to live her life yet. Doesn't really know what she wants out of life and she wasn't about to saddle down with someone who would be expecting things out of her. So she sips on her drink slowly and wonders when it would be a good respectful time to leave when she finds a glass of Jameson sliding in front of her.
Turning in her seat, she finds her personal space taken over by the one and only Jackson Teller. She raises an eyebrow at him, but doesn't say anything. He knows he is invading her space, but the smile on his face gets wider as he drags his seat closer to her before sitting in it.
"Didn't take you for a whiskey girl?" He starts.
"Really? And pray tell what does it look like I would usually drink?" She says as she flashes him an over exaggerated smile.
"Screwdriver," he answers plainly, which causes her to let out a snort. Although she does enjoy those on occasion, she liked something a little thicker.
She takes a slow measured slip of her whiskey and appreciates the burn and how it warms her tummy. "You look good." He tells her.
"I thought we agreed cheesy lines didn't work on me," she says as she looks down at her green spaghetti strap maxi dress with a slit over her left leg that stops dangerously high on her hip. She paired her outfit with black heels. It was a simple outfit and when her eyes find his, like most men from tonight, they are glued to the exposed leg.
"Just statin' the truth darlin'," he tells her smoothly as he slams back his drink and motions for the bartender for another one.
"Well you're a lot more respectful than some of the other men here," she lets slip pass her lips.
She watches as he tenses and his eyes snaps to hers with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "Really now? What they do?"
Aubrey watches a look take over in Jax's eyes. She decides she is not about to be the start of some brawl and after all she doesn't know biker etiquette and she feels some of them had broken something.
"It's nothing I couldn't handle Jax," she says. In a way to distract him, she turns to face him in her seat. She sits up a little straighter, "You clean up well yourself," she starts and she narrows her eyes playfully. "Although it would have been interesting to see you in a suit."
"Which suit we talking about?" He asks cheekily and she sighs internally that whatever was going on in his head as disappeared.
"Your bathing suit of course." She replies in mock horror. "What are you talking about?"
Jax flashes her as smile and she responds back to one of her own as chuckles leave their throats.
She thinks that he probably hasn't smiled like this in a while or at the very least no one is walking around on eggshells around him.
They sip on their drinks quietly; he asks some questions about what she has been up to since graduation. They are interrupted a few times as Jax is brought in a few small chats as men approach him. She notices Jax is known by many and he gets a lot of remarks about looking like his dad. She remembers that his father started the club he is in and the tragic motorcycle accident he was in. And she wonders how he handles that pressure of solidifying a legacy without feeling the crushing weight of it.
He introduces her to most of the men. Most of the faces blur as one patch seems to be interchangeable to the next one. But she does try to at least remember important ones like Presidents or Vice Presidents even if she knows she probably won't see these men ever again. She feels like an interloper as the guys all seem to be having a silent conversation amongst each other as they would look at her and then back at Jax before introducing themselves. But she doesn't question it; in fact she doesn't say much when they speak with Jax.
"You staying for a little bit longer?" He asks as he finishes off his fifth glass of whiskey since he sat down. She is still working on the second one he bought her.
"Why?" She asks as she finishes her glass.
He doesn't say anything as he places an hundred dollar bill along with a fifty on the table, which does more than cover hers and his tab. His ringed hand comes out and she finds herself placing her hand in his and before she knows it she is on the dance floor for the first time that night with a cover band singing a sweet rendition of "Sweet Child O Mine".
…
She knows she shouldn't be surprised, but she is when Jax walks through the doors of Lumpy's. She highly suspects Donna must have let it slipped that she worked there. She is in the middle of reading her chemistry book when he slides into her section. It's been a few weeks since the wedding and she hadn't heard from him since their dance. Back from her romantic, but short honeymoon, Donna had immediately asked her about it and Aubrey had written it off as Jax was the only person she knew there.
As she approaches him, he looks better than he did at the wedding. He seems to be growing out his buzz cut and his skin looks tan and his eyes are bright. But the smile he flashes her, his lips pulled, exposing all his teeth, as he appraises her in her work uniform, which consists of black shorts and a shirt stamped with Lumpy's across it, she knows she's in trouble.
…
It's the beginning of a routine she realizes. At first she doesn't think anything of it as he stops by a couple times a week. After all, the windows of the diner don't hide anything and anyone passing by can see everyone and everything. Yet after a couple weeks, she comes to realize that Jax has somehow gotten her work schedule considering she had asked if he came on her days off and he didn't. She knows he didn't get it from Donna.
She doesn't say anything though. Aubrey finds herself enjoying his company. And she has come to look forward to his visits as she works delivering hot plates.
They talk about school and he seems confused on why she didn't take the chance to leave Charming. To explore what the world could offer her outside of their little town. And she realizes that Jax expects everyone to feel a hatred or reluctant acceptance of Charming and its few opportunity they rarely sprout. But she explains softly that Charming is her home and she doesn't need to see the world. She doesn't want to. She can see it in his eyes that he doesn't believe her, but he wants to.
So he'll switch the topics to her few friends she keeps in contact with from high school. Most have gone out of state or out of town to college. Some stayed like her and are attending a tech school. But most entered the workforce getting a job through one of Oswald's' factories or at their families small owned business. He even surprises her by asking about her parents. Her parents are known to be a little eccentric. She thinks they are some warped bohemian hippies. Her dad still wears the occasional bellbottoms and drives neighbors crazy with their chicken coop. Her dad is a retired firefighter although he still manages to volunteer for most of his days when he isn't driving all around northern Cali looking for antiques to refurbish. Her mom is a Sex Therapist with an office only a few blocks from the diner itself. She used to be the butt of a lot of jokes because of her mom's career and she is surprised that Jax has yet to make a joke about it. She even tells him about her very large extended family and how she has 40 cousins alone and that's not counting her 40 cousins kids. But she's close to her parents and Jax can see that and they both seem to understand the importance of family.
It is what makes it easier for her to ask him about his own family. He talks frequently how his mom is meddlesome, but means well. He jokes that she doesn't realize that he isn't a baby anymore that needs his ass wiped. He mentions in passing how he is still trying to get used to Clay being his step-father despite it being five years since his father's passing, she can tell he still struggles with it. Even more so how his mom had married relatively quick and moved onto one of his dad's best friends. Aubrey thinks it's even more complicated as not only is this man his step-father, but the President to the club he is in.
She learns that he works at the garage, which isn't surprising, as he complains about some customers and how they ruin their vehicles. She jokes that if they didn't he would be out of business.
However, she doesn't realize how much she looks forward to his visits when he disappears for a few days. She knows he'll be gone when she watches the rally of bikes, with him in the back, leave Charming. She finds those days the hardest as somehow he had wiggled into her routine and into her system. She's left to deal with the fact the town seems to be aware of them being friends. She's at the center of town gossip something she isn't used too.
It's after another one of these trips, he comes back from road weary and clearly exhausted during her graveyard shift she asks about the club. He indulges her with heavily edited answers, but she can tell he likes that she even considered asking as his face lights up as he talks about Piney, Opie's dad, was was his sponsor, Chibs, and Bobby.
He speaks with pride and determination, as he tells her that one day he will lead the club like his own father did.
But through all that, he still flirts with her.
He always greets her with a cheesy pickup line that she doesn't know where he even learned it from. He always compliments her despite smelling like grease and coffee with a sweaty hairline. She knows his eyes always trail her legs when she serves other customers. It doesn't matter if she is in jeans or shorts. But it's harmless flirting and probably tame compared how he would seriously approach other girls.
Sometimes she falls into the trap willingly.
She can't help but tease him and fall into an easy banter. Every now and then he makes it so easy for her and he gives her a confidence she didn't know she had when it came to snaring men.
However, even though he leaves her a $20 tip every time for a simple $10 meal and a blinding smile, she knows better than to get tangled up with him.
…
She's surprised it isn't until it warms its mid-way into summer that she and Jax finally encounter each other for the time, outside of the diner, at Fun Town.
Fun Town was the one festival in Charming that most kids looked forward to every year for the summer season. It was one of the main attractions that would attract a few tourists that it seemed the SONS were comfortable with.
Her Mom's sister, Annalise, along with her older cousin, Heidi, has come down to visit from Oregon and she's being pulled to twenty different rides by her cousin's babies.
The kids want to practice their aim hitting the clown to make him fall in the dunk tank. Aubrey personally finds it a pointless game. She doesn't understand the thrill of it, but she obliges her cousins. However as they reach the game, it seems other people have beaten them to it when it comes to making the clown wet as she watches Jax and his friends forcefully dunk the man in there as he pleads for them to stop.
Her cousins look horrified and she's unsure of what is going on. It's not like she is worried about them drowning a grown man, but she doesn't' really want her cousins to see this and she's shocked that this isn't causing more of a scene.
"Uh, guys, I don't think this is how the game is played." She ends up saying after she clears her throat.
She watches as the men freeze comically with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. Her eyes find Jax whose look of surprise turns into amusement as he hops off the stand and swaggers towards her.
His fellow patches follow.
He's quick to introduce her to his brothers. She meets Chibs, the Scotsman with a Glasgow smile. She turns red in embarrassment after one of her cousins says he has a smile like the Joker. Thankfully he only laughs it off. Bobby, better known as Bobby Elvis for his Elvis impersonation, is quick to do a quick impression of the Fallen King. Tig is next, who has no problem in undressing her with his crazy blue eyes, and then a Prospect they call Half Sack. She doesn't question the name.
She finds them to be sweet, a little too sweet, but their demeanor contrast with the harsh stereotype the town has bestowed on them.
She isn't stupid or naïve. She knows these men live in an area of gray. They have their own set of morals that rubs against how most law abiding citizens live. She knows these men are capable of many things as the town has documented various raids on the clubhouse and some of the ensuing arrests. She even remembers how for a time there was serious talks about how to remove the MC from Charming around the time Jax's father passed away. But even if these men are capable of things like murder, fraud, and gun running before any of that they are sons, husbands, fathers, brothers, and simply men. She thinks people forget about what's hidden beneath the leather kuttes they wear.
And they seem fine in meeting a new face. They banter and Chibs teases Jax for hiding her away as if she lived in an ivory tower. And she laughs and smiles with them as if these men were simply her uncles or cousins. Jax ends up giving up his remaining tickets to her cousins winning their affection as if he really needed to try.
But their conversation comes to an end as he is called away by a guy with a Mohawk.
When he leaves, his hand burns her waist and her cheek still tingles from the brisk kiss.
She should've known that her younger cousins would tell her family about the bikers who were drowning the clown. Luckily her parents and family find it amusing. Her mom and dad don't send her pointed looks for possibly associating with the club. Of course as she picks at her funnel cake, Heidi manages to break away from her kids to join her at a picnic table.
"They said he give you a kiss?" Her cousin asks with a sparkle in her eyes like an adolescent receiving a piece of ripped notebook paper from their crush.
Aubrey rolls her eyes. "It was on the cheek." She admits as there is no point in lying.
Her cousin looks at her knowingly before she takes a sip of her Pepsi. Her cousin was only 25 and already had four kids with possibly a fifth on the way if the way she has eaten gives any indication.
Aubrey comes from a big family on both sides. Both of her parents are one of eight. And her family always found it peculiar that she was the only child between her parents. She knows the family is banking on her to pick up her parents slack.
She looks at her cousin with narrowed eyes. "What? It was completely innocent and friendly."
"Those ones are the most dangerous."
…
A few weeks later her mom sets her up with a local church boy. Apparently her cousins had made a point that she needs to dip in the dating pool. After all, it's been at least a year since she last was dating someone. She knows her mom means well, but she finds that it's never a good idea to let your parents set you up on a date.
But she goes and tries to have a good time. His name is Billy with dirty blonde hair slicked back and an easy smile that holds some crooked teeth. He's not bad looking. In fact, in high school she probably would have fooled around him if it weren't for the fact that he is boring.
His voice is too low and he tries to be smooth, but his lines come out like a flat joke. Not once has he really asked about her. She had to listen to him regale about his high school lacrosse team and how he lost to be Homecoming King. And the worst of it all, as she listens to him, she finds that his blonde hair isn't a golden sun kissed hue. The eyes aren't blue with a grey rim. The voice isn't smooth or holds a cocky edge. And she it hits her that she is comparing Billy to Jax like some obsessed teenager and she feels like a fool.
She's glad after dinner that he needs to stop for gas. She needs a minute to herself and really wants a cigarette. She regrets making the decision to quit. She's wondering how to let him down easy when hands wrap around her waist. She tries to feel something – anything. But it makes her stomach turn in protest and he smells like the onions and garlic he ate instead of leather and sandalwood.
"I'm sorry, but I would really like to go home." She tells him softly.
Instead, his arms tighten a fraction and she knows he doesn't take rejection well. But thankfully he releases his arms with a bitter laugh.
"So what I was just a free meal then huh?"
Aubrey steps back and moves down the car near the truck, closer to the store. "It was just a date, Billy. Nothing more. I had a good time –"
"Save it," he snaps. "I should've known you would be a teasing bitch."
Aubrey's jaw clenches and she wishes to be able to slap him in the face. If looking bored and in pain seemed like she was interested, she was about to knock this man down a few pegs. But then as she looks around in the seemingly deserted gas stop with only a semi on the lot, she decides to pick her battles. After all, she is in some mini dress and heels. She takes a deep breath and thinks it would be best to call a cab. She reminds herself to start driving herself on first dates to avoid this again.
"How about you just go." She suggests. "I'll call a cab." She adds and tries to make a hasty exit.
She goes to walk away, but she a bruising grip latches onto her forearm and Billy whips her back.
"I'm not done with you yet." He growls.
"Let me go," she tells him with narrowed eyes.
His grip becomes tighter and she bites her lip to stop from crying out as he eyes her down. "Let's go."
Aubrey tries to plant herself into the ground, but her heels make it hard as she stumbles slightly. "Stop! Let me go, asshole!" She yells as she fights to remove her arm as he tries to drag her to the passenger seat.
"Hey!"
At first she thinks it's him yelling at her.
"Hey, asshole!" The voice yells again.
But it's not Billy yelling as he freezes as the voice gets nearer. Aubrey realizes she knows that voice. Aubrey takes the advantage and rips her arm out of Billy's grip and puts a lot of distance between them. She looks over to find Jax with a deadly look on his face and she realizes she had seen a fraction of this before at the wedding.
"Aubrey, you okay?"
She goes to open her mouth, but Billy beats her too it. "She's fine."
Jax whips his head to Billy and she's surprised Billy doesn't cower, but puffs up his chest. "I wasn't asking you, dickhead."
"I'm fine, Jax." She tells him mostly because she doesn't want to make an even bigger scene.
She knows he doesn't believe her, but he doesn't press it. "You need a ride?"
Aubrey doesn't bother looking over a Billy as her response is walking closer to Jax.
Billy scoffs from behind her. "I should've known you probably fucked him. Dirty biker who-"
Aubrey squeaks in surprise as Jax surprises both her and Billy with a solid shot to the face bringing Billy down to the ground moaning in pain.
Jax doesn't seem too concern about retaliation from Billy as he only leads her to his bike that was hidden behind the semi and hands her his helmet.
…
"You sure your parents won't mind me dropping you off," Jax voices to her as he pulls into the driveway. He had offered to drop her off a block away for fear of her parents and neighbors, but she assured him he was fine. One, she was an adult and two, her parents wouldn't care and she certainly didn't care what her neighbors had to say about her.
"I'm sure," she tells him.
"How are your parents?" He asks as he parks his bike and turns it off.
"Saving for their next vacation. Apparently they want to go to Bali." She informs him. "How's your mom?"
"Whatever you heard is probably true," he tells her as he stands so she can get off his bike.
Aubrey laughs as she hears a lot about Gemma Teller-Morrow, but she doubts half of it is true. She's pretty sure most things are coated in exaggerations.
Aubrey stands in front of him and she's glad the moonlight can hide some of her blush as he candidly checks her out in her outfit. Of course his eyes are glued to her legs before they trail back up. However, she notices his eyes linger on her red forearm and they harden.
She distracts him as she unclips his helmet and hands it too him, "Thanks for the ride. I think I owe you a free meal on the house."
"It was no trouble, darlin'." He replies as he grips the helmet. "Do I want to know how you got saddled with Billy boy there?"
Aubrey shrugs her shoulders. "Mom set me up with it. Thought I would appease. Been awhile."
"Been awhile 'eh?" Jax repeats with a smirk that has her rolling her eyes.
"Goodnight, Jax," she replies as she goes to walk away.
"Hey, wait," he calls out as he grabs her hand. Unlike Billy, he doesn't grip it. His hold is lax as she can easily slip away; it's more of a caress.
Aubrey turns back and looks at him with raised eyebrows.
She sees him nibbling on his lip before he runs his hand through his growing hair.
"Can I kiss you?"
She blinks and blinks again almost left speechless at the question. The fact he even asked her throws her off. He didn't deliver it as a smooth pick up line or guessed for the answer by placing his lips on her and waited to see if she responded. He didn't coat it in his usual cockiness and swagger. Instead, the question was laced in uncertainty and maybe a bit of insecurity.
And she knows that she should say no. Reject him softly as she tried to do Billy. Considering how Billy acted the last thing she wanted was to deal with men. Yet, it's Jax.
Just Jax.
The two of them under the moonlight in their own little world.
After all, what can be so harmful about one simple kiss?
So she nods her head and she can see some of the tension leave his shoulders – his stomach. His hand on her wrist slides up her arm leaving goosebumps in it's wake. He tugs her forward as his hand reaches her shoulder and traces her clavicle. His thumb caresses the pulse point in her neck. He leans forward slowly as their noses slightly bump causing them both to chuckle nervously.
He leans forward and their lips meet. His lips are softer than she imagined, but there is a roughness there from them being slightly chapped. The kiss is fairly simple. Just the pressing of lips, they don't make moves to deepen it even as both of his hands cup her face and she surges forward chest bumping against his.
The kiss doesn't last very long either as she pulls back and his thumb begins caressing her cheek.
"Goodnight, Jax," she tells him with a smile as he replies with one of his own.
His hands drop from her cheeks as she backs away. "Goodnight, Aubrey." He tells her as he straps on his helmet.
He doesn't leave until she walks through the door.
…
Her lips still tingle the days following the kiss. She finds herself tracing over her lips as she thinks about him. From his smile, laugh, the way he is never ashamed to trail his eyes over her. She thinks it's ridiculous that she may be forming a crush over Jackson Teller as most girls have done in Charming.
She's almost relieved that her next scheduled shift at the diner is Monday. It gives her a whole two days to try and kill this silly little infatuation. She of course had to tell her parents what happened as there was slight bruising on her arm. Her mom was furious and apologetic she would even consider setting her up with a man like that. Her dad was livid as he threatened to beat the living shit out of the boy. And she had to reveal that Jax came in like Prince Charming and save the day. She finds herself a little bit annoyed that she was made a damsel, but revealing how Jax helped her seems to appease her parents a little that someone was able to be there for her.
And despite her not mentioning the kiss, she can tell her parents know that something happened. But they don't press trusting her to come forward when she's ready.
So instead she decides to visit her friend Payton, who is back for the summer. Payton can't wait to tell her about college and all it entails.
Aubrey is slightly worried that her friend is partying more than studying. But Payton seems happy and she has a feeling her friend won't return to Charming after her four years and she will need to go somewhere for her Master's for occupational therapy.
And as her friend rambles on, she realizes she has nothing to really tell her friend. Nothing really happens in Charming. She goes to school, work, and attends local fairs and festival the same as always. Unlike her friend's promiscuous ways, Aubrey doesn't have any men in her life. Unless she considers Jax.
So Sunday she spends the day in bed. She's going to be turning 21 soon and she has no idea where her life is going. She knows she doesn't plan on marriage or babies anytime soon, but she knows she needs to make steps to figuring out who she is.
So she decides it may be time to move out of her parents' house.
And Monday, after successfully avoiding all thoughts of Jax, despite her fingers subconsciously tracing her lips, she's nervous. Her stomach is in knots and she finds herself always looking at the door or waiting for the sound to hear his bike.
Aubrey thinks a boy has never made her feel this way. And she has had a decent amount of boyfriends and flings. But they were always mutual and pretty straight forward. But this is something different. Other boys before weren't Jax. Jax was different from the rest and she didn't know if it was because of the leather on his back or him or maybe just a strange combination of both.
But after a few hours, she finds herself pathetic when he still doesn't show. She decides it's more important to focus on earning tips and to get a head start on some homework.
She's engrossed in her book that details the anatomy of the mouth when she jumps when hands touch both sides of her waist.
She gasps from fright as her hand slams into her chest. Her heart is beating wildly as the hands tighten before she hears a low deep chuckle from behind.
She growls in annoyance as she removes herself from Jax's grip as she levels him with a stank eye. His grin only stretches wider as he does his familiar once over of her.
"What's your section, darlin'?" He asks.
And Aubrey thinks she might hate him a little as she knows he knows that she can't stop thinking about Friday night, the kiss, and him. She doesn't need anything else inflating his ego. But she can't help the reluctant smile that takes over her features at the sight of him.
She doesn't even mind it when she leads him to a table how his hand finds the small over her back.
…
They don't talk about the kiss. Don't talk about the ramifications of it despite it already affecting how they interact with each other. They are both aware of the energy between. She can feel it when he places kisses on her cheek dangerously close to her lips and how she leans into them. They aren't afraid to touch each other either. He isn't afraid to outline her body with his fingers or wrap his arms around her.
She isn't afraid to seek him out either. She's not afraid to grab his jeweled fingers. She is bold when she runs her fingers through his growing hair. And some days she finds herself playing with the edge of his kutte or traces his flashes, the meaning behind them she'll probably never know.
And she realizes he'll never mention the kiss because he's waiting on her. He already made the first move the rest is up to.
So instead he offers her rides to places. Mostly to and from work. But sometimes he'll take her for a ride through Charming using routes she never did. She finds herself enjoying being on the back of his bike. She likes the wind blowing through her hair and how fast sometimes he goes. It feels free on the road. Peaceful. It's also nice to be able to wrap her arms around him and lay her head against his back.
And tonight he takes her all the way to the streams right on the border of the Wahewa.
Somehow he knows about a hidden cove and she does her best not to think about him bringing other girls here. Instead she focuses on the beauty of it and how it remains untouched by anything other than Mother Nature. Jacob Hale hasn't managed to get his grubby hands on it, which is a plus.
She strips off her socks and shoes and dips them in the warm water.
Jax joins her as he rolls up his jeans and sticks his feet in it.
They're quiet, but the silence is attentive. She finds it weird that Jax is alright with silence as other men couldn't stand it and often used their own voices to fill the void. Yet, Jax doesn't mind it.
A little while later, he takes her out of the cove and to a raspberry bush and they find a spot to munch on them as their feet dry.
"My dad has a raspberry bush in our backyard," she tells him as she looks at her stained fingers.
"Doesn't he sell some of the stuff he grows? I know my mom gets eggs from him." Jax tells her.
"Depends on if he got overzealous in planting."
Jax nods his head. "You a green thumb like him?"
"Depends what I'm trying to grow but I wouldn't mind a garden of my own someday." She tells him. "I'd have to find a place first."
"You've been looking?"
She gave him a noncommittal shrug. "I've been saving up. But I think it's time for my own place."
Jax nods his head and gives her a smile and she finds herself being fed raspberries.
…
She isn't surprised that only a couple of days later that Jax informs her that Floyd, the local barber, has a one bedroom apartment above his shop she can rent.
The apartment is nice and affordable as he is only charging her $300 bucks a month. Yet, it's obvious that no one has lived here since the 70s with the retro flock wallpaper along with the layers of dust that infects the place. But it's nice. Something that is temporarily hers for the time being. And she loves it even with the blast from the past appliances. It gives it character.
Somehow on her moving day, Jax has recruited Opie into moving her meager belongings to the small apartment. She doesn't question it as she is grateful for the help and it will make the move much quicker. She repays them in beer and pizza and she has to fight both Jax and Opie on letting her pay for the pizza.
A few hours in, Donna comes by with a nice gift of a key and mail rack and whisks Opie away.
By then most of her boxes are all opened and scattered from her haphazard unpacking. She has forced Jax to take a break while she finishes the kitchen. Her plan was to fully unpack her bedroom, but considering Jax and Opie were there she had to keep the beer cold and it was easier to be out in the open to direct.
And she doesn't realize she had so much kitchen shit. She growls for the 20th time in frustration as she tries to figure out how to organize her cabinet space. Jax calls out for her from the living room a few feet away.
"Just let me finish this, Jax," she tells him as pots and pans clang together.
"You need a break, darlin'," he replies. "Those boxes aren't going anywhere."
Aubrey nibbles on her lip as she would like for at least one room to be done.
"Aubrey," he calls out again and she realizes he was never asking her. He was telling her and it rubs her slightly that he thinks he can order her around, but for now she will appease him. After all, he did help her out tremendously.
She wipes the sweat off her forehead as she knows she is going to have to invest in an air conditioner. She walks over into her small living room where Jax is sitting.
Her parents had bought her a nice living room set from Ikea that included a couch, rug, coffee table, entertainment stand along with a '65 inch TV from Best Buy. Thinking about her parents she was kind of sad moving out. Her mom couldn't stop the waterworks despite the drive to her apartment was only like 15 minutes.
She joins Jax on the couch and puts a considerable distance between them. After all, she smells like sweat and dust. Her skin is still coated in a sheen of sweat.
She folds her legs underneath herself as she plays with the pillows on her couch, "Thanks for helping me out."
"It was no problem," he tells her as he leans back on her couch and throws his arm on the back of it.
They are quiet as they watch TV and listen to the local Charming News, which details another fundraiser for the town's garden to save it from Hale. But considering nothing happens in Charming it soon turns to details about Stockton, Lodi, and Oakland. Unlike the SONS, other crews are very public about their activity. Aubrey doesn't it find it very smart.
Jax drains his beer quietly besides her and is quiet as he takes in all the information, but she takes these 30 minutes to admire him. Thankfully he had put his shirt back on as he had kept it off as he moved boxes. She got to see his very large back tattoo on full display. She wondered if it hurt when he got it considering how defined his muscles were. And she wasn't surprised that he was in shape with his six pack and she tried her best to not let her eyes linger for too long. After all, his ego was inflated enough she didn't want to contribute to it.
As she sits there she wonders though how it would feel to run her fingers through his hair and along his skin. The feel of his stubble across her skin as his fingers follow. She scolds herself as she writes this off as to not getting laid for a while.
He places his empty beer bottle on the boxes stacked next to him and his blue eyes find her green ones. "Why are you so far away darlin'?" He asks lowly.
She shrugs her shoulders and as a response her hand curls around her ankle and he pulls her towards him causing her to release a squeak.
Soon her back is on the cushions and Jax is hovering over her. His blue eyes are sparkling as he looks down at her as he fits snuggly between her thighs. Any teasing in his face is gone though as her hands cup his face and trace his jaw and lips.
And she knows she should push him off. She's annoyed that such a position already has her a little bit damp. His hands aren't anywhere near her though as his forearms frame her face. In reality, nothing of his is pressed against her. The only thing she can feel is his heat.
Despite him being the one that had dragged her down and making his intention clear, she is the one who leans in first.