"Tara," her dad cried out from his bed, "help me up." He was coughing and struggling to breathe when she ran into his room.
"Here," she pulled him up and turned his emergency oxygen back on for him, "how's that?" She asked with tears in her eyes, seeing him this way made his illness seem more real.
He nodded in response, she covered him up and left him there to rest. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and went to see who was knocking on her door. She hoped it wasn't David, she wasn't in the mood to deal with his cheery nature right now.
"Oh hi…" she said surprised seeing Jax standing there, "what…what are you doing here?" She asked, shaking her head at how ridiculous she was stuttering like a fool.
"Thought I'd come by and welcome you to the neighborhood." He grinned, "it's the neighborly thing to do after all."
"Neighborly?" She tilted her raised her eyebrows in confusion.
"Yeah," he nodded and turned to point at the little house across the street, "that's my place."
"Ah…" she was stunned, she liked the idea that he lived close on one hand but on the other it had the potential to be disastrous, "well thanks for the welcome."
"Anytime." He winked, "you wanna hang out for a bit?"
"I can't," her head was screaming at her. Of course she wanted to hang out with him. "My dad's not doing well so I need to stick around and make sure he doesn't need anything else."
"That's cool, we can hang out here. I don't mind."
She sighed, he wasn't making this easy, "I don't think that's a good idea."
He nodded but he had a hint of fury in his eyes, "you want me to leave you alone, just say so."
"I'm sorry, I'm being rude. It's just that I'm not the kind of girl you're used to."
"You keep saying that, what does that even mean?" He hissed, interrupting her.
"You flirt with every girl you lay eyes on, you sleep with them giving them the hope that you will want something more from them, but in reality sex is all you care about…and I'm not that girl."
"Is that a judgement you picked up all on your own or did you have some help coming up with that conclusion." He squinted his eyes in frustration. This girl had him figured out, wasn't buying his shit, and it annoyed the hell out of him.
"Guys like you are fairly predictable." She stated, not backing down and not hinting that David had filled her in on some of Jax's ways.
"Is that so?" He scoffed, "it seems more likely your pal Hale has been giving you the inside scoop. No one is that predictable, darlin." Jax had already made a mental note to have a chat with the fucker the next time he saw him.
"You are. I knew you were a player the minute you stepped into the ice cream shop. So confident in yourself that you were utterly shocked when I didn't bow down and suck your cock right there in front of everyone."
His dick twitched just at the mental image she gave him, he was turned on and wanted to fuck her right here on the porch even more so now than when he first arrived. Her standing up to him was hot as hell. He shook the image out of his head, "You're right, when I first saw you sitting there smokin' hot sucking the strawberry off of your spoon, my cock was rock hard, I wanted to fuck you. You being a bitch to me right now has my dick hard again, I want you even more but I respect that you're still a virgin. I want to be your friend, Piney said we used to be friends when we were little, we are neighbors I figure we can at least be civil if you don't wanna be my friend."
"We can be friends." She whispered, her face scarlet red with all of the sex talk and his brutal honesty. She was being a bitch, she had no right to judge him even if her accusations were spot-on. She noticed his massive erection pressing against his jeans…it was hard to miss…but she had to focus to keep her attention off of it. She had seen a penis before, but Bobby Crail's back in 9th grade was nothing compared to this. That was just a best friend showing the other what the opposite sex looked like in person, not magazines or television.
"Good." He smirked, fighting to keep the thought of what she looked like underneath all of those clothes out of his mind. "Me and Op are having a get together later tonight at our place, if you're free you should stop by."
She considered briefly, "What time?"
"Around 9."
"I'll try to make an appearance." She answered, she didn't want to promise anything given the situation with her dad.
"See ya later, darlin." He winked, knowing her aversion to referring to her as darlin.
"Later asshole." She retorted, not missing a beat, returning his mischievous grin.
His trademark smirk was back before he swaggered back across the street.
"Hot damn," she muttered to herself, "that boy is trouble." She watched him until he disappeared around the side of his house.
Tara peeked in on her dad, he was sitting up in the bed looking through photographs, "what's that?"
"You when you were little." He smiled fondly down at the pictures of her and held them out.
She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at what he was showing her. He had pictures from her as a newborn all the way until she left. Tears filled her eyes when she found one of him holding her against his chest. "I was invited to a get together later tonight, so I'm gonna cook you some food and get you settled before I leave."
"I'm not hungry, but you go and have fun." He replied tiredly. She was still amazed by how tired he was, he was withering away into nothing and it was harder to watch than she had originally expected.
"Hey baby how are things going?" Her mom asked as soon as Tara answered her call.
"He's not good." Tara sighed.
"I hope he goes quickly so he doesn't suffer any more than he has to."
"Yeah," Tara hesitated, "I didn't think it would be this hard to see him suffer. As much as I hated him…or thought I hated him… I just assumed I would be indifferent to the whole situation."
"That's not how your built baby." She replied. "You are a kind loving girl. You have a big heart and watching your flesh and blood die is enough to shake anyone."
"I guess so."
"So how is everything else? Make any friends?" Her mom questioned.
"Everything is fine. I've met a few people; I was invited to a get together tonight."
"That sounds fun. Any boys?" She could hear her mom smirk through the phone.
"Yeah…" She grinned, "Jackson Teller. He said we used to play together when we were babies."
"That's Gemma and John Teller's boy." Her mom stated, "you played with him and Harry Winston all of the time. Harry's mother Mary and Gemma were good friends of mine before we took off.
"Harry?" Tara wondered out loud, "He must go by Opie now. He lives in that house now with Jax."
"Did they follow in their father's footsteps and patch into the motorcycle club?"
"Yep," Tara responded, "Jax is Vice President."
Her mom worried about her getting involved with the MC but it was a temporary situation and at least she knew she would be protected. "Just be careful baby. The members had and most likely still have a reputation for being womanizers."
Tara chuckled, "yeah, I've already been informed of their reputation. Especially Jax's reputation, but you know me I'm always careful. I will talk to you later though; I've got to get ready for the party tonight."
"Okay baby. Call me tomorrow and let me know how it went. I love and miss you so much."
"Love you too, mom."
Tara sat on the sofa anxiously watching the minutes' pass, she didn't want to seem too desperate so she waited until 9:30 to head over.
There were several other bikes in the yard besides the two that belong to Opie and Jax. She knocked lightly on the door.
"Can I help you?" A petite dark haired girl appeared at the door.
"I'm Tara, I live across the street. Jax said I should stop by."
"Oh. Okay. Well come on in. I'm Donna, Opie's old lady."
Tara nodded.
"Jax," Donna called out. "look who's here." She gestured back at Tara.
"Hey…" his panty dropping smile was back. He looked genuinely happy to see her. "You came."
"Yeah," she returned his smile, "he's resting so I thought I'd stop by for a few minutes."
"I'm glad you did." He winked. "Everyone…" Jax called the attention to everyone in the room, "this is my new friend Tara Knowles, she lives across the street."
Tara gave everyone a small wave, feeling slightly embarrassed that everyone's attention was on her. A few people whistled at her, only causing her to blush more.
"Thanks for that." She muttered sarcastically.
"Anytime darlin." He smirked, "I mean Tara."
"Asshole." She playfully rolled her eyes.
"Want a beer?" He questioned.
"Eww…" Tara wrinkled her nose, "I don't like beer, got any tequila?"
"Yeah, sure thing." He poured the tequila and handed her the shot glass.
"Thanks," she threw her head back and swallowed the shot, "ahhh…not bad."
"That's my girl," he laughed and poured her another shot, "here…have another one."
"Trying to get me drunk?" She giggled, hating the sound of her laugh, not realizing he thought it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.
"Nah," he gave her his famous smirk, "we're just friends."
"Good answer," she replied, "I'm happy we're friends." She really was glad she decided to give him a chance and be friends. It was nice having someone to hang out with-someone other than David who was nice and all but even she couldn't fully resist Jax's allure.
"Me too babe," he bumped her gently, "so now that we're friends do I get any benefits?" He laughed when she smacked him.
"Absolutely not…" she chuckled with him, "only the benefit of my friendship."
"I can live with that." He stated honestly. He would deal with his almost obsessive lust for her if it meant he got to hang out with her. He didn't want to push her away.
"I should get back home, make sure he's still okay. Thanks for the inviting me and the drinks, I had fun."
"No problem," he answered, "I'll walk you home."
"It's just across the street, I don't think I need an escort." She giggled.
"I said…I'll walk you." He tried giving her a stern look but it turned into her favorite crooked grin.
"Well thank you." She accepted his offer.
"Anytime babe." He placed his hand on the small of her back leading her outside.
"Well I guess babe is a step up from darlin'." She shrugged.
He laughed, "is darlin really that bad?"
"It wouldn't be if you didn't use it as an endearment to every other female on the planet."
"Okay…Okay…I got it. I want call you darlin again," he licked his lips, "unless it's just to fuck with ya."
"Such a gentleman." She bumped into him.
"You know it, babe…wait, is babe okay?"
"Babe is fine." She stated. She didn't want to admit that it gave her a massive amount of butterflies' every time he referred to her as 'babe'. "Well thanks for walking me home."
"No problem." He leaned in and gave her a hug, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
Her head was swimming, she discreetly inhaled his scent. She didn't know what kind of cologne he wore but it wonderful. He smelled amazing. "See you later." She replied realizing that she hadn't yet responded.
"You into that girl or what?" Donna asked when Jax walked back in.
"We're just friends." Jax answered, chugging a beer. "I'm gonna head to the clubhouse for a while."
"She seems nice Jax. Be good to her." Donna glared at him.
"Got it, boss." Jax responded, "But as I said, we're just friends."
"I think you should keep it that way." She knew the kind of man Jax could be and the new girl definitely didn't need that kind of drama given the shit she was dealing with Tom Knowles. He was a major fuck up in this town but it would be hard for anyone to watch their dad lay there and die.
Jax rode off hastily toward the clubhouse. He needed to sink his cock deep into something and get his mind off the girl next door who was driving him completely insane.
