Juice

My phone rang as I grabbed the hospital attendant's arm. I cussed and grabbed it while my other hand closed over her mouth. It was Laura.

"Baby, now is not the best time," I growled out. I cradled the phone between my ear and my shoulder while my hands tightened on the nurse. She grunted and I knew the sound would carry.

"Juan Carlos Ortiz, what the fuck are you doing?" Laura demanded.

"Look, baby, I'm on club business right now. It's not the best time."

The hospital attendant grunted again and I clamped my hand over her mouth tighter. Laura shrieked, "Caracara business? Are you fucking one of those girls? You answered your phone while you were fucking a porn star!? You stupid asshole!"

"Laura, that's not what's going on. Will you chill the fuck out? I'm on club business and I will have to call you back. I love you. Bye."

I hung up and dragged the attendant closer to me. I stared into her eyes and ordered, "Forget the names on that list. Forget the money the bounty hunters offered you for a phone call. Forget this ever happened and that you ever saw me. Because we do not play around with witnesses. Forget about calling the cops and reporting this because you will never make it to trial. There are those of us who value our privacy and you fuck that up every day without knowing what the bounty hunters want from us. We're getting really tired of this shit and, if I were you, I'd stop before somebody less friendly than me finds out what you're doing."

She nodded in agreement, her eyes wide with fear. I fucking hated having to scare females. It always made me wonder what Laura would do in their situation. She'd probably try to head-butt them or bust them in the face. She was a scrapper. My gorgeous, tough, amazing fiancé, who was pissed at me because she thought I answered the phone while I was having sex with a Caracara girl. I groaned internally.

"Don't say anything to anybody about this or we will find you." I let go of her and shoved her away from me. I ordered, "Go back to work and don't forget to destroy that list you have. And I'm not on it so don't even think about trying to turn me in to somebody."

I walked back to my bike and took off. I'd heard from Jax earlier in the day that they'd managed to get Tig free and deliver the guns. I was supposed to meet them at the exchange but I was in a pissy mood and really just wanted to call Laura back and explain to her what was going on. I stopped by a motel on the way there and rented a room. When I got inside, I called Laura on the prepaid. It took me three times to call before she answered.

"What?" she snapped.

"It wasn't what you thought, Laura," I said quickly.

"So I didn't hear a girl grunting in the background?"

"Look, that was club stuff. I wasn't fucking her. I was taking care of some stuff for the club. It wasn't sexual."

"Then why the fuck did you answer your phone? You know it's better to not answer your phone when you're on club business," she scolded.

"Look, baby, today has been a stressful day. I'm on my way to a club meet up. I won't be able to call you for the rest of today or tomorrow."

"Sweetbutts be there?" she demanded.

"Always is."

"Best not call me for a few days then."

"Laura…"

"Juice, right now, I'm mad. I don't even know why I'm mad. I just thought of you fucking one of those porn girls and I just couldn't handle it. And right now, I'm handling it even worse knowing that you're going to be around sluts who trade favors for power. When I was home, I could expect you to wait on me because it was only for a few days. But I can't expect that now and it's my fault and it's driving me nuts."

"Baby, baby, baby, it's not your fault. You're doing good. You're getting an education. You're smart and I can't hold you back. I can't keep you in Charming. I don't blame you for that. I blame myself for ever trying," I soothed her.

She sobbed. I hadn't heard her cry over our relationship since she'd been gone. She cried the day I left her and she cried over club business but she never cried over our relationship. I said calmingly, "Laura, Laura, Laura, please. Please don't cry. I swear, I won't sleep with anyone tonight. God, I promise. I won't sleep with anyone."

"Tonight! You won't sleep with anyone tonight! But you can't promise me that forever. You can't promise me that you won't be lonely on the road and take up with someone else. And I have to deal with that. I knew what I was getting into when I got with you and it's not fair of me to ask that of you but it's killing me."

"You can ask anything of me, Laura. I don't want to lose you. God, I can't lose you."

Her sobs were frantic at that point. She was gasping for breath and crying. "Call me later, Juice. Just call me later. I love you."

She hung up at that point and I slung my prepaid across the room.

Laura

It was three a.m. I hadn't talked to Juice in three days so I knew it wasn't him. I rolled over in bed and snatched my phone off the bedside table. I snarled, "Andrea, if this is you again, I'm going to beat your ass. You have three days until you leave. No I can't help you reach Half Sack!"

"It's not the sweetbutt," Opie's voice came over the line and I sat up quickly.

"Ope, what's going on? You called! What's happening?"

"Well, I'd like to know why Juice is moping around the club like a fucking asshole, screaming at crow eaters and drinking himself under the table at night. Second, I'm back in Charming with my kids."

"That's great! Are you seeing them regularly? Are you back in your house?" I demanded.

"No. Not yet. But I'm working on it. I have them at the garage every now and then and I'm trying to take care of them. I really am. It's just hard to be around them. I'm constantly fucking worried that they're going to start asking me how I could let that happen to their mom. I don't know what to say to them. I don't know what to do."

"But you still have to be there for them, Opie."

"I know. I'm working on it. I promise. I swear I'll take care of them."

"Taking care of them is more than just supporting them. You need to love them, Opie."

"I will. I swear I'll start being better, Moon. I've gotten lectures all around from everybody. I don't know why yours are always different but they seem to crack through my skull a lot easier."

"That's because I'm Laura Moon and I'm part of SAMCRO, just like those men."

"Speaking of you being a part of the MC, what's going on with you and Juice?" Opie transitioned the conversation easily.

"Separation anxiety," I answered. "I made a mistake and thought he was fucking a Caracara girl and then he told me he was going to a club party and it just hurt a lot. It's never hurt before but it hurts now."

"Well, before you weren't a million miles away, Moon. I get that it hurts but you gotta understand that it's not easy for him either. He's trying to do the same things he did when you were home but it's not the same. He doesn't have you to come back to when he's been gone on club business for a while. He doesn't have you to relieve the tension."

"Aren't there better ways to relieve it?"

"Think about it, sweetheart. If his head is focused on his dick, you really think he's going to be able to get the hell out of the way when the time comes? Any chick he balls is no big deal. You can't change your mind just because you don't live in Charming anymore."

"You're right. I'll have to call him. God, now he's going to know he's right."

"If that's the biggest of your worries, you'll be fine."