TRUE LOVE WAY
Chapter Six
Jax rolled over to his side and winced at the splinters of pain that shot out from his neck all the way down to his ass. Sleeping on the floor had really fucking sucked. He rubbed his tired eyes as his head slumped back to his pillow. Rays of sunshine were just starting to peek through the dark shutters covering his window and he rolled over again, desperate for just a few more minutes of rest.
Well, he reasoned with exhausted focus, shit could always be worse. He could've been drunk last night and had to sleep on the floor. Or even worse, he could've woken up in his bed with Emma recoiling back in disgust. He didn't even want to think about how he'd be feeling if that had happened. Running a tired hand over his face, he vaguely remembered Emma quietly leaving his room about an hour before, whispering another thank you and promising to see him at the hospital later. It was overwhelming clear that he'd made the right choice last night.
He wasn't an idiot. He could've, at the very least, gotten Emma's lacy underwear down around her ankles if he'd decided to crawl into bed with her. But that wasn't necessarily what he wanted, especially not last night. And he was pretty damn sure that wasn't what she really wanted either.
He'd never considered himself the chivalrous type but he was grateful he'd been able to exude at least a little of that impossible persona last night. As he'd laid on the floor and heard her moving around in his bed—she had clearly been still awake—it had taken all of his collective willpower not to leap to his feet and pounce on the bed.
With that last thought, he resigned himself to the resolution that he wouldn't be sleeping anymore. So with a deep exhale, he pushed himself up to his feet and staggered, a little unsteadily, into the clubhouse's kitchen for a much needed hit of caffeine. The condition of the clubhouse barely registered as he weaved around the empty beer bottles and passed out forms, almost tripping over a couple through the loaded minefield. When he stepped into the kitchen, he exhaled a prayer of relief that someone had already been gracious enough to make a hot pot of coffee and he eagerly poured himself a cup.
He'd almost gotten that sweet dose of caffeine to lips when he heard the voice that could launch a thousand shit storms.
"Jackson."
His eyes squeezed shut and took a quick gulp from the cup before turning to face his mother. Gemma stood before him with a hard glint in her stare and a manicured, acrylic nail tapping frighteningly on her bottom lip.
"Morning, Ma. You're here bright and early." He tried to send his most charming wink—and maybe it was because he was just too damned tired—but it epically failed.
"Oh, you know me," Gemma started with her usual snark. "Like to get an early start at cleaning up that damned disaster area out there."
He shook his head. They both knew there were plenty of crow-eaters and prospects hanging around that could easily be shaken awake and tasked with the job. But Gemma Teller-Morrow was too bull-headed and manic about having everything in its proper order to step aside.
Before he even had a chance to get another word in edgewise, his mother abruptly cut to the chase.
"So you wanna explain to me why I saw Emma slinking out of your dorm room an hour ago?"
Shit.
"Ma," he attempted hurriedly. "Nothing happened."
"She's family. She's my damn god-daughter for Christ's sake. But if you think for one god damn second that I'm gonna believe that you didn't—"
"She had a little too much to drink last night and needed a place to crash," he interjected anxiously. "I slept on the floor. Pillow's still right where I left it if you don't believe me."
"Why couldn't Dawn take her home? Weren't they supposed to come together?" Gemma was clearly not about to let this go.
"They did but Crazy left before the party wound down. I don't know where she went." He lied. The last thing he needed to do now, other than admit any guilt, was out Juice.
Gemma shot him a frustrated glare. "This isn't rocket science, Jax. You and I, and probably the entire clubhouse, know the only way Dawn was leaving Emma behind last night was if she was leaving with Juice."
He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. It was too early in the morning for this shit.
"Tell me nothing happened in that room, Jackson."
Luckily for him, his mother's poor choice of words was about to save him from an ass-kicking. While he was by no means in denial about last night, the logistics of the actual location was a detail he was willing to overlook. At the very least, now he wasn't actually going to be lying.
"Nothing happened in that room, Ma."
Gemma was assessing him now with her eagle-eye glare as she mentally debated his response. But still, she'd have to beat the real truth out of him before he ever slipped it.
"Good." She concluded finally.
He blew out the breath he hadn't know he'd been holding and took another gulp of his coffee.
"I'm gonna give you the same piece of advice I gave Juice." She went on after waiting a beat.
His eyes widened and he gingerly set down his coffee cup on the table next to them.
"You need to watch yourself here. Think this through. Because if you start something with her before you really know what you want, it's not gonna lead to anything but Emma crying herself to sleep and you getting beaten to an inch of your life by Tig."
"Ma—"
She held a hand out to silence him and stuffed the other in a fist at her side. "I'm not finished here, Jax. Let me say my peace and then you can go back to being completely stupid. Now, I'm not sayin' that I don't like the idea of you two together. What I'm sayin' is that you're treading on thin ice here. Samcro family getting involved with a club member has certain implications but you being the VP is a different nut altogether. You need to be the one setting the examples and you cannot set the precedent that female family members of patches can be used and tossed aside."
"Mom—"
She held her hand up again to shut him up. "You also need to respect Otto for the valued member of Samcro that he is and show some loyalty here—I can't imagine he'd be very keen on keeping up his contacts in Stockton if he were to find out his daughter was reduced to a sweetbutt by the VP."
"Mom, I wouldn't do that—"
"I'm sure, Jax," she cut him off with an icy smile. "But we both know you never met a pair a tits and ass you didn't like and Emma certainly fits the bill and then some. I've seen the way you've been panting after her like some horny teenager and after what happened the night Abel was born…look, if you decide to pursue something with her, it had better be with the right intentions."
He blew out a breath. "Or else. I got it…Christ, Mom. Thanks for the ambush."
Gemma just grinned as she leaned forward to give him a peck on the cheek. "No problem, baby. I'm just here to help."
"Right."
She cocked an eyebrow at him. "So, should I assume that Emma will be meeting us at the hospital after church?"
He decided to throw caution to the wind and winked at her. "'Course, Ma. She's family, remember?"
Clay pounded the gavel sharply, calling church to order. The club had settled around the Redwood about an hour after Jax's wonderful chat with his mother and he was grateful for the opportunity to focus on a different female that was giving him trouble. He listened intently as Juice relayed all the intel he'd been able to cook up about Agent June Stahl and her ATF business in Charming and unfortunately for them, it seemed like June planned on parking it in Charming for awhile.
It seemed like the ATF bitch had had an embarrassing blow to her career when she'd lost track of an informant while trying to take down some Russian arms dealers two years before. Said informant was made and taken out by the Russians and the case had quickly run cold with the entire blowback landing at Stahl's feet. Ever since then, she'd been steadily working towards regaining her cred and it seemed like the next step in her ladder towards redemption was Charming. Or more specifcally, Samcro.
"I called Rosen this morning just to be on the safe side of things," Clay informed the table. "He said, at the moment, we shouldn't have anything to worry about and I agree with him."
"Until she digs some shit up though." Opie reasoned.
"And there's always some shit lying around beggin' to be stepped in." Bobby agreed.
"So maybe we do a little investigating ourselves," Jax suggested thoughtfully. "Make sure there's nothing to dig up, at least nothing current."
"That ain't a bad idea," Tig confirmed with a nod. "We could start with the Niners and the Mayans. This will probably have a happier ending if we cover our asses—and that starts with making sure those deals don't go sour and we all know they could if they think we can't handle our shit with the ATF."
"So we arrange a fight, maybe make a tournament out of it, get the Niners and the Mayans to the clubhouse, potentially make some money, and get a sit-down with all three clubs—make sure everything's working the way it should. Charming PD might get its panties in a twist about it but there'd be nothing they could do." Jax threw in, a little surprised at his own input in this situation. He hadn't been this assertive in church since he'd brought the CaraCara deal to the table but the way he figured, the sooner the ATF was off their backs, the sooner they could go back to business as usual.
"Do we know if the Niners or the Mayans have any idea Stahl's in town or what she's doin' here?" Bobby asked carefully.
"My best guess is they don't," Jax speculated confidently. "But I think we're all in agreement that we can't fuck around here. We gotta put a tight lid on this thing before something blow's up in our faces."
Clay rose an eyebrow, as if he'd been thinking the exact same thing. "Well, should we take it to a vote?"
The boxing tournament was sent through, hands down, and as a result of his brilliant idea, Jax was tasked with making it happen. This was a major step up for him, a way to prove his intuition for what was best for the club and he was more than up for seeing it through. Especially if they were able to pull off a win with at the fight—that extra padding in their bank accounts, and his role in making it happen, would not go unnoticed by his brothers.
"Before we adjourn here," Clay was saying now, his face breaking out into a wide grin. "Let's end church today on a lighter note—first off, Jax, Bobby, Tig, and Opie—head to CaraCara tonight to represent the club at Luann's party. And our last order of business, some congratulations are in order—our brother, Jax, is gonna hold his son for the first time today."
A wave of cheers and well-wishes erupted from around the table as Clay pounded the gavel, signaling that church was officially over. He basked in the glory of it all as his brothers clapped their hands on his shoulder or pulled him in for a quick, celebratory embrace. Suddenly, he didn't feel so damn exhausted anymore. It was gonna be a fucking good day.
Emma glanced at the clock again, her leg jumping with biting anxiety as she sat in the chair directly outside of Abel's room. She'd decided to wait to go inside until Jax and Gemma got there but she was getting a little impatient here. Granted, she'd only been waiting five minutes—and she'd gotten there a little earlier than she was supposed to—but she kept craning her neck to catch a glimpse of the little boy she'd soon be holding for the first time.
Agitation was coming at her from all sides but at least she had the benefit, or maybe curse, of knowing exactly where it was coming from. She hadn't necessarily been prepared for Jax to ask her to be here for this but she was overwhelmingly grateful he had. Once she'd gotten the invite, she wouldn't have missed this for the world. Now, all she had to do was wait for Abel's dad and grandma to get there…which, naturally, curved around the other side of her agitation. She had no idea how she would feel when she was face to face with Jax again after the night before. And she had no idea how to tread after not only basically humping and making out with him against the back of the clubhouse but spending the night with him too, even if he'd slept on the floor. The next step was an enigma and that scared the shit out of her.
She heard the light tapping of Gemma's heels before she saw them and her heart fluttered in her chest when Jax came into full view. He swaggered easily towards her down the hallway with a cocky, lop-sided grin spreading across his lips, winking at her as they approached. Gemma swatted playfully him playfully in the shoulder as he broke out into a light jog.
"Hey Em," he sputtered a little breathlessly. "You ready for this or what?"
"Yeah…and I can see you are too." She laughed.
He grinned at her and craned his neck around her head to look for a nurse. "Yo, Claire! We ready to do this? I feel like I've been waitin' all day over here!"
Gemma chuckled and shook her head as she stepped up to his side, resting a hand gently on his shoulder. "Probably best not to order the nurses around, baby."
"Sorry, Ma…can't help myself."
Gemma just shook her head again and cast a glance over to Emma. "Hi sweetheart…long time no see, huh?"
She decided it was best not to acknowledge the veiled accusation radiating from Gemma's stare. She should've known that Gemma had seen her this morning despite her best efforts to creep out from under her nose. That woman missed nothing. Her attention shifted anxiously to Jax, who was scaling the nurses' station for Claire—Abel's regular nurse since the day he was born—or just about anyone that could get the ball rolling. His eagerness was endearing and she was grateful he'd been out of earshot just then.
By the time Claire stepped out from another patient's room and gestured for them to head into Abel's room, Jax was bouncing on his heels and almost plowing poor Claire over to get into the room faster. He didn't stop until he was standing adjacent to Abel's incubator and stared down at his son. When he looked up expectantly to Claire, she smiled broadly before making quick work of getting Abel hoisted up and out of the glass encasement. A beat later, she was gingerly setting the baby into Jax's waiting, slightly trembling arms.
It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion and she could feel her heart thundering in her chest as Jax stared down at his son in complete awe. Her eyes misted over as she watched Jax bend down and place a gentle kiss on Abel's forehead before murmuring something to his son she couldn't quite make out. A few moments later, Jax looked up and grinned widely at both Emma and his mother, who was watching the scene with a shaking hand covering her mouth.
"You wanna meet Grandma?" Jax whispered to Abel as Gemma quickly stepped forward to take her rightful place in Abel's life—her arms extending out to Jax with abrupt impatience.
As Jax carefully transferred his son into grandma's waiting arms, a lone tear trailed down her cheek and then Gemma's face broke out into a wide, proud grin when Abel was finally settled into her embrace.
"Hey there, my beautiful boy. I've been waiting a long time to do this…" Gemma murmured as she gently rocked Abel back and forth in her arms.
He gurgled a little in response, making them all laugh and then Gemma's eyes shifted to Emma. She smiled softly as she delicately stepped closer to her with Abel in her arms.
"Your turn, Emma." She exhaled softly.
She could feel her arms stretching out to take the precious bundle and when the soft fleece blanket graze her arms, everything else just faded away into the background. Abel was staring up at her with alert cobalt eyes—an identical duplicate of his father's—and she took a sharp intake of breath when his tiny fist reached up, his fingers extending towards her. And even if it had started down-pouring in that room, she wouldn't have noticed. Nothing could've torn her eyes and attention away from the tiny little boy nestled in her arms. She was struck, all at once, by his strength, by his resilience, and by the recognition she saw mirrored in his eyes. Tears welled up in her eyes but, thankfully, they never completely materialized on her cheeks. This wasn't the time for crying as the shift she'd felt the moment she'd laid eyes on him twisted around and around until it felt like it was encircling the two of them together.
In a moment of weakness, her eyes shifted up to find Jax, whose gaze was riveted tightly on the two of them, his eyes swimming. His jaw clenched when she smiled shyly over to him and then, after a moment of him just staring at her, his lips slowly slid into a ghost of a smile.
Realizing she'd been monopolizing Abel, she stepped forward to hand him back to his father.
"I think he wants to see his dad again," she whispered softly as she slid Abel back into Jax's arms. He grinned widely down at his son and chuckled when Abel reached up to him with a tiny fist.
"I can't wait to get you home, buddy," Jax murmured.
By the time they were standing next to Gemma's Cadillac, with Jax's bike parked right next to it, she was a little shaken that she still didn't completely feel normal yet. She'd felt a little out of her body since leaving Abel behind in his hospital room—her heart wringing in her chest as she'd stepped away, feeling like she was abandoning him.
"Well, kids," Gemma started happily, shielding her eyes from the sun with one hand as she spoke. "This has been fun but I need to head back to the shop. Hopefully the prospect isn't knee deep in the shit yet."
She leaned forward and pulled Jax into a quick embrace before giving him a peck on the cheek. "I couldn't have been prouder of you today, baby."
Jax beamed down at her and winked. "Thanks, Ma."
Gemma pecked his cheek again before releasing him and pulling Emma to her. "Thanks for being here today, hun. That really meant a lot…now, you make sure my son over there behaves himself tonight, alright?"
She laughed. "I'll do my best, Gemma."
"I'm sure you will," Gemma grinned as she stepped into the Cadillac and started the engine. "See you later, kids!"
They waved as Gemma pulled out of the hospital parking lot. Jax shoved both hands in his pockets and nudged her a little with his elbow.
"That was some pretty amazing shit there, right?" He leaned down to her as he spoke.
"Yeah," she exhaled. "Definitely."
He grinned down at her and then motioned with his head towards the parking lot. They started walking towards her car but it seemed like the closer they got, the slower his pace became.
"So…CaraCara tonight, huh?"
Oh shit. Right.
"Yeah…" she trailed off absent-mindedly.
He tilted his head to the side and blew out a breath. "You need a ride or anythin'?"
"What…no, that's okay. My mom and I are just gonna ride together."
He smiled softly and tucked some stray hair behind his ear. "Alright…so I guess I'll see you over there then?"
She nodded slowly and fiddled with her keys a little, not quite ready to get inside her car yet. "Yeah."
When she felt his hand close around her hip and pull her closer, she let her reflexes take the reigns and slid her hands up around his shoulders until they were wrapped around his neck. She rested her head against his shoulder for a moment, reveling in the feel of his arms settled around her and then pulled back before she got too comfortable.
"Thanks for letting me be here today, Jax," she breathed softly. "It was just…amazing…"
He nodded and then abruptly leaned forward until his lips pressed softly into hers. It wasn't anything like it had been the night before—when his lips had been hungrier and more aggressive in taking what they wanted—and he kissed her slowly, resting a hand gently against her cheek, like he was taking his time. It was gentle…and almost sweet. When he pulled back, he grinned softly before leaning forward again to give her one more quick kiss. She laughed against his lips and then he pulled her against him one more time before actually stepping away.
"I should get going, Jax," she laughed again.
He nodded with a wide, lop-sided grin. "I know, darlin'. See ya later."
She waved at him as she shook her head and started her engine. He was already backpedalling towards his bike, that cocky grin still lingering on his lips and she felt like she might combust right there where she sat in her car. She couldn't remember the last time a kiss or even a look like the one he'd just given her sent her so off-balance and she knew it was definitely not normal for her to feel such an alarming sense of loss the second his hands left her body.
No matter what happened now, she had to keep Dawn's advice swimming around in her head. Boundaries. Parameters. Baby steps. No thinking about tomorrow. She couldn't necessarily see a way this could end well but the pull she'd felt towards him ever since she was teenager had thrown her off the diving board and sent her flying headfirst into the deep end of the pool. Now, it was anyone's guess if she was actually going to be able to tread through it or sink straight to the bottom.
The re-launch/celebratory party at CaraCara had been in full swing for a good half hour before Emma really started to feel anxious. Beer and liquor were flowing freely. Porn stars staggered around the room in their sky-high heels with their tits bouncing everywhere. There were plenty of dark, discreet places beyond a dressing room that provided amble opportunity. But still, no sign of any biker outlaws.
For probably the tenth time in the span of thirty minutes, she wished Dawn was there. But she'd let Dawn off the hook, having instinctively known that Dawn would much prefer a night in with Juice over an evening with her co-workers at a porn studio. She'd attempted to make it up to her by borrowing her a satin pink tube top, which Emma had paired with black skinny jeans and matching pink heels. And as she glanced around the studio floor, she quickly realized that she was wearing more clothing than pretty much all the party guests, her mother included.
She did her best to mingle but even after a few months with the company, she still felt awkward and out of place there. Lyla was chatting her up a storm and she was grateful they had another connection other than work to talk about as she brought Emma up to speed on her and Opie's plans to buy a house together. She was trying to focus on what Lyla was telling her, she really was, but it was difficult not to keep her focus from shifting towards the front door every thirty seconds or so, wishing for this self-induced form of misery to finally be over with.
But most of all, she was avoiding making any sort of contact with Ima, who was completely basking in the limelight of having two of her 'classics' re-released as a special edition. The other title starred Lyla but Emma noted with careful precision that Lyla was handling the occasion with much more tact and humility than Ima ever could. Ima probably didn't even know what the words 'tact' and 'humility' meant; let alone how to spell them.
Take a deep breath, she told herself. In and out. All she had to do was avoid her and everything would be fine.
She practically leapt out of her skin when Opie and Bobby appeared down the long hallway, with Tig right on their heels. A few beats later and Jax was right behind them. She felt her body loosen up a little just at the sight of him and blew out a relieved breath. Finally. She quickly averted her gaze, not necessarily wanting him to know that she'd been waiting pretty impatiently for him to get there so she turned on a heel and headed for a nearby couch where she'd thrown her purse.
Digging into it for her phone, she scanned the messages—two from Dawn telling her to have fun and not to do anything she wouldn't do. She rolled her eyes and tossed her phone back into her purse. A quick glance around the room told her that Ima was currently attempting to throw her arms around Jax's neck and she immediately, almost impulsively, started rifling through her purse even though she had no idea what she was looking for. When her nervous hands found a tube of lip gloss, she hastily snatched it from the bag and started absent-mindedly applying it.
But when she felt a hand glide softly around her hip, she jumped, the tube of lip gloss tumbling out of her hand. She turned her head only a little as he stepped even closer to her and closed her eyes when his hot breath tickled her neck.
"Hey," Jax murmured into her ear. He'd gotten so close behind her she could feel leather nipping at her bare shoulders. "Told ya I'd be here."
She was turning to face him now and his closeness was making her feel a little light-headed. His hand pressed more urgently into her hip and all she wanted was for him to slide that hand all the way around her waist so he could pull her closer. But they weren't alone.
"Hey Jax," she whispered back.
His lips curved up into a smile and he tilted his head back a little to get a better look at her. "You look real nice tonight, darlin'."
She laughed nervously and for a brief moment, her eyes flitted around the room to give her a second to regain some balance. Her eyes widened when she saw her mother's curious gaze trained directly on them and quickly shifted her attention away before Luann could say or do anything. Unfortunately, her gaze happened to land directly on Ima, who was staring at them with a malicious glint in her eyes, her upper lip curling up in a snarl.
Thank God Luann's voice rang out around the room, dealing a much needed distraction to everything that was swirling around her, from Jax's proximity, from her mother's inquisitive smile on her lips as she waved them over, to the dagger thrust in her chest by the sheer force of Ima's glare. The crowd moved around Luann, who was still waving everyone into the center of the room.
"Alright, alright—everyone grab a glass of something and get your asses over here!" Luann called out with a wide grin.
When she was standing near her mother with the rest of the crowd, she was acutely aware that Jax had never really left her side although now, the hand that had been searing into her hip was now tucked away in his front pocket with his other hand bringing a beer bottle to his lips.
"Since this is a celebration and all," Luann started cheerily. "I just want to thank you all for sticking it with this company through those much shittier times and to our Samcro family for helping us when we needed it the most. And most of all, I want to thank Emma…I'm not sure that we'd still be here if it weren't for you. Thanks for everything, baby."
Her mother's voice caught in her throat as she uttered that last sentence and Emma had to bit down hard on her bottom lip to keep from visibly reacting to Luann's words. She felt Jax nudge her with his elbow and then he was smiling down at her with kind, compassionate eyes. A ghost of a smile crossed her face and then she abruptly turned her attention back to her mother, who was still standing across from her in the crowd.
Luann lifted her glass with a bright grin. "So now if you would all raise your drinks with me, let's toast to this ol' place…resilient and still-standing! Cheers!"
The crowd followed suit as all glasses rose in the air and then tipped back in unison. Emma felt a little unsteady on her feet but it wasn't from the little bit of alcohol she'd already had that night. It wasn't so much Luann's words that had left her head spinning; it was the moist, overwhelmingly grateful expression radiating from her mother's eyes that had done it. She'd held her mother at arm's length for so long and she suddenly had a hard time remembering why she was still doing it.
But, instead of facing these new, confusing emotions head-on, she leaned over to Jax and whispered: "I'll be right back."
He nodded and she could still feel his eyes on her when she pushed the bathroom door open. Part of her felt a little bad for making a quick exit like that but she needed to get away from the crowd, from her mother, from everything so she get a handle on herself. Her chest was tightening at an alarming rate and she needed some space fast.
Thankfully, the bathroom was completely empty. No seedy hook-ups or moaning coming from any of the stalls and she exhaled a loud sigh of relief to finally have some space. She ran her hands over her face before leaning both hands against the countertop to support her weight. Her chest was finally starting to feel a little more normal and when her eyes shifted to her reflection in the mirror, she blew out a deep breath.
A beat later, the door was opening and Ima was sashaying through it, teetering on five inch heels that seemed to make her skirt that much shorter—and sending all the control she'd just mustered right out the window. Great. Just fucking great. A brief flash of a grin crossed Ima's features, as if she could read her mind, as she moved to stand directly next to her at the double sink and she started running a hand through her hair.
They stood there in silence as Emma grew more and more on edge with each second that ticked by. Just as she was turning on her heel to get the hell out of there, Ima's sickly sweet voice rang out through the air.
"You know, I should probably be thanking you for saving my job." Ima stated matter-of-factly, her eyes still trained on the mirror in front of them as she fixed her make-up. "There was no way I wanted to work for Georgie—I mean, that guy is such a perv."
Emma smiled faintly, in spite of the fact that all she wanted to do was get out of that room. "Yeah…right."
Deciding she'd had enough of this conversation, she started backing away from the counter and took a few hurried steps towards the exit, her hand reaching out for the door. She was almost there…so god damn close when the stupid bitch opened her mouth again.
"I have to say though," Ima grinned. "I wasn't expectin' you to come in here all guns blazin' and gettin' this place back into shape. Maybe I just thought you'd be runnin' this place kinda like your mom was."
She frowned, her hand dropping back to her side. What the fuck kind of game was Ima playing here? "What do you mean?"
Ima just shrugged. "The last six months or so, Luann hasn't really seemed all that interested in actually keeping this place going. I think she was too busy fucking Bobby to really notice she'd run us right into the ground though."
Emma inhaled sharply and Ima's eyes glinted triumphantly at the sound, her head tilting a little as her lips curved into a little pout.
"Oh," Ima faked concern. "I thought you knew. Well, I guess you're not as smart as everyone thinks you are after all."
With a smug grin, Ima took one last glance in the mirror and then she was advancing towards the door. Emma couldn't move; she was frozen right where she stood, unable to push down all the images of her mother and Bobby flashing through her head as her brain automatically shifted through all the evidence. She barely even noticed when Ima's clicking heels carried her out of the bathroom because the entire room seemed to be covered in a foggy haze.
Ima was a bitch. Ima had been rude and unwelcoming since day one of her working at CaraCara. Ima had also been sleeping with Jax—as far as she knew, Jax had also put an end to that shortly after Abel was born. They had certainly had their fair share of arguments and disagreements over her habitual tardiness and general conduct at work. And Ima had also been boring holes into them when she'd watching them with murderous eyes only minutes before Luann's speech. There was nothing about Ima that told her she could trust her as far as she could pull her bleached hair from her head. And Ima certainly had cause to try to rain on her parade now.
She wanted to believe, with every fiber of her being, that Luann would never cheat on her father because in spite of all her flaws, she really believed that her mother truly loved her father. But given everything else she knew about Luann, every broken promise, every heartbreak, every personal and emotional disaster both her and her father had had to endure over the years, she'd be hard-pressed to completely toss the accusation aside. Her mother was the poster-child for bad decisions and poor judgment. And if Ima was actually right, if Luann had let some things at CaraCara slide because she was actually fucking Bobby, then…that was something she couldn't even wrap her head around just yet.
And then her brain flicked to a brief moment she's witnessed between her mother and Bobby only a few days before. She'd been coming back from the bathroom after a much-needed break from emails and conference calls—when she'd stepped back into the office, Luann and Bobby were in there now and her mother had had her arms wrapped his neck in a quick hug. Bobby's hand had drifted lower and given her backside a quick squeeze before abruptly releasing her when he realized they weren't alone. At the time, she'd been too distracted by numbers and phone calls she still had to make to really think that much of it. Luann and Bobby had known each other for years and she'd seen Bobby make similar gestures with plenty of other women to know that that was just his M.O.—so she'd just forgotten about it. Now, she realized maybe she'd had the evidence in front of her all along—she'd just been too purposefully ignorant to really see it.
Shit. Shit. Shit. She slammed her hand against the wall and fought the urge to scream into her hand. She could handle a lot of shit from her mom—years and years of experience had taught her that. But if this proved to be true, and she had a sinking feeling that it could be, she didn't know if she could handle this particular gruesome shit.
Her legs were carrying her out of the bathroom before she even registered what was happening and instinct completely took over. Flight or fight, right? What she needed to do now was get the hell out of there before she did something really, really stupid. The party whipped past her in a complete blur until she was standing right behind Jax and tugging lightly on his sleeve.
His head whipped around at the contact and for a split second, his lips twisted into that lop-sided grin that had quickly become one of her favorite sights in the world. But at the moment, she was too distracted by the matter at hand to let his happiness to see her register. When she looked back up at him now, his forehead had a deep crease in it and a hand appeared at her back.
"Can you take me home, please, Jax?" She sputtered out. "I don't have a car here and I…I need to get out of here before I fucking kill somebody."
His eyes widened at her words, which had come out a little more aggressively than she'd intended and then after observing her trembling hands and anxious tapping heeled-toe, he quickly nodded and leaned over to Opie and Tig to say something she couldn't quite make out, even though she had an idea. Then, a beat later, he was turning towards her with worry-leaden eyes.
"Alright, darlin'…you need to grab anything before we split?" He crouched down a little as he spoke.
"Yeah—I just need to get my purse. One second."
She didn't wait for his response and quickly skidded over the couch to grab hold of her purse. When she turned back, her gaze fell on her mother, who was watching her with concern. She couldn't deal with this; she needed to get out of there. Jax was waiting for her by the main hallway, leaning against the edge and watching her every move. When she met him there, he pushed himself off the wall and followed her in stride as they headed towards the front door.
"You wanna tell me what's goin' on here, Em?" His worried voice echoed in her ear but she couldn't look at him.
"I'm sorry to pull you away from the party, Jax…" she trailed off, feeling like her energy was better served propelling her out the door. "I just…I can't talk about it right now, alright?"
His hand moved to the small of her back in response and she still couldn't look at him. When she pushed the front door open, it was difficult to reign in the urge to break out running towards his bike. She felt completely out of her body as he handed her his helmet and slid onto his bike behind him, her arms wrapping themselves securely around her waist. This was the first time she'd ever ridden on his bike and the irony—and the bitter sweetness—of the situation was not lost on her. And as the scenery started to fly past them, she finally allowed herself to curl into his shoulder and just take comfort in his presence.
Jax had been okay with being out of the loop when they'd left CaraCara; he'd been more than okay with it as they rode to Emma's apartment when he felt her lean her head into his back; he was even okay when they got inside her apartment as she threw her purse onto the ground and angrily flipped her heels off. He was not, however, okay with her downing a glass of wine like it was cold water and then automatically pouring herself another glass. His eyebrow rose when she finished off half of her second glass and then abruptly seized the glass from her hand, his patience quickly wearing thin.
"Hey!" She exclaimed and reached out to snatch the glass back from him, quickly gulping down another drink.
He couldn't hide his exasperation any longer. "Since when do you drink like this, Em?"
She just shrugged her shoulders and took another quick sip before finally setting the glass down on the kitchen counter behind her.
He rubbed a hand over his face and blew out a breath. "What's wrong, Em?"
Her hands nervously rubbed on the sides of her jeans and then she said the most mind-fucking thing he'd ever heard: "Are you hungry?"
He leaned forward, not sure if he'd heard her quite right and when it seemed like he was making her wait too long, she abruptly pushed herself off the edge of the counter and stalked towards the stove, clearly on a mission. He felt like he was in some sort of fucked up mind warp as she rummaged around the cupboards for a few minutes and then started attacking some potatoes with a peeler. It took him a moment to actually realize what she was doing…and to grow increasingly alarmed by the vicious assault she was currently raging on the potato in her hand.
"Hey, Em," his hand gently closed around hers and took the peeler away as he spoke. "Careful now…don't want you peel off some skin here."
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I cook when I get pissed off."
He laughed in spite of the growing worry edging around him and hesitantly handed the peeler back to her. "Okay…so what are you makin'?"
"You like mashed potatoes?"
He frowned. "You're gonna make mashed potatoes at 11:00 at night?"
She cocked an eyebrow at him and for a moment, he was grateful to see Emma at least bit back to her normal self. "Yeah…it was the first thing I could think of. Now, do you like mashed potatoes or not?"
He shrugged. "Well, sure, I do; who doesn't?"
She smiled a little and he was starting to feel a little more relaxed now that she had seemed to calm herself down. When she turned back to the cutting board to start halving some peeled potatoes, he decided to try a different tactic to both settle her and get some answers from her. He quietly closed the distance between them and gingerly slid a hand on her face when he was standing right behind her; he waited for her knife to stop moving so he didn't startle her before pressing his lips gently to her neck. She sighed deeply and he could feel her body immediately relax as she leaned back into him.
"What's wrong, Em?"
She exhaled again and he stepped aside to give her some space as she moved over to the sink, filled up a pot, and then set it back on the stove. When she turned back to face him, her arms were folded tightly across her chest with a pained expression.
"I think my mom might be sleeping with Bobby."
Shit. That wasn't at all what he'd been expecting to hear…well, he hadn't really known exactly what was going on but this…shit. No wonder she needed to leave as suddenly as she did.
"Do you…" she stammered up at him with wide eyes. "Do you know if that's true or not?"
He shook his head sadly, wishing he had an answer for her to either set her mind at ease or confirm her worst suspicions, even if it would most likely suck like dick to do it. At this point, he was willing to do just about anything to help her now, anything to make her feel better.
"I'm sorry, Em," he replied finally. "What makes you think that though?"
"When I was in the bathroom with Ima before," she paused when his eyes narrowed dangerously and just shook her head. "Let me finish, okay? She mentioned something about my mom not realizing or caring that CaraCara was being run into the ground because she was too busy fucking Bobby and then…at first, I figured she's just being a bitch, you know? That seemed exactly the type of thing she'd say to piss me off and ruin my night."
He nodded, his hands clenching into tight fists at his sides. Yeah, that sounded exactly like something that damn bitch would say. She was fucking lucky—for all the violence he knew he was capable of and as much as he wanted to slam her head into a wall—that was a place he would never let himself go.
"But a few days ago," she continued softly. "I saw her and Bobby in the office…they were hugging…he put his hand on her ass…I mean, come on, Jax, that's not something you do if you're just friends."
He made a face and ran a hand over his face. She was right. Especially given the fact that, at his first opportunity, he'd gone directly for her ass too…what had happened the night before wasn't something that happened between friends. Bobby was most likely tapping Luann and probably had been since he took over the books at CaraCara. If anything, that definitely explained why the bastard had put his own money in to save Luann's company.
"I guess I was just too busy, too distracted and I just didn't think much of it at the time. But when Ima said that—whatever her intentions were—it just kinda clicked. I just can't believe she would cheat on my dad like that…I know he's been in prison for a long time and I know there's that rule…"
"The prison clause." He finished for her.
"But I thought she loved him. I guess I thought that a clause wouldn't make a difference."
He watched as she turned to give the potatoes a good stir and then took the pot off the heat so she could drain it. The way she moved around the kitchen in deep thought, quickly mashing up the contents of the pot and pouring some shit in it—milk and butter and some other things he'd quickly lost track of—all of it completely fascinated him. He'd never seen this side of her and quite frankly, he'd never even known it'd existed. But he definitely liked it.
"Look, Em, I can't speak for your mom and I definitely can't say whether or not this true so maybe you should just talk to her. That's the only way you're ever gonna know for sure and you know you're gonna go a little crazy until you do."
"Yeah, maybe you're right," she nodded. "You know, as much as it would fucking suck if this was true maybe on some level this was a blessing in disguise, maybe this was the push I needed because I just don't know how much longer I can work there anyways…even if I wouldn't have to potentially watch my mom cheat on my dad."
He rose an eyebrow and she just smiled shyly back up at him as she messed around in the pot a little more.
"You thinkin' about doin' what we talked about?"
She turned back to him with a wooden spoon in her hand. "I started on a business plan a few weeks ago; I feel pretty good about it right now…I guess all I need to do is head to the bank to see about a loan."
"That's fucking great, Em." He couldn't have masked his relief and excitement if he tried. Part of him was expecting her to turn this into a drama-filled thing but aside from her abrupt departure from the party and some heavy drinking, she seemed to be handling it pretty well.
She nodded slowly, biting her lip in thought, and scooped some mashed potatoes into a bowl and poured some brown liquid over it before handing it to him. When he looked down at the bowl, his eyes widened.
"Whoa…Em, why are my mashed potatoes green?"
"I put a little bit of wasabi in them…it's pretty good, especially when you put some soy sauce on them too." She shrugged, shooting him a playful grin.
He decided just to go for it and shoved a forkful into his mouth. When all the different textures and flavors sprouted out on his tongue, his eyes widened and he hastily took another bite.
"Wow," he exhaled with his mouth still full. "These are the best fucking mashed potatoes I've ever had…shit, I think you better open up a restaurant or something with the way you cook."
She shrugged and smiled back at him. "Actually I was thinking of going the café angle. Charming really doesn't have anything like that and I figured, I might as well give it a shot, you know?"
He followed her into the living room and plopped himself down next to her on the couch, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as she leaned into him. He took a few more gigantic bites from the bowl, feeling like he was in heaven with every bite and squeezed her shoulder. This was comfortable, sitting on the couch with her like this and eating the fruits of her fucking amazing cooking. As his thoughts drifted back to his earlier conversation with his mother, he realized that while he still hadn't exactly nailed down what he wanted here, he knew instinctively that this was a little more than just pussy now—especially since he hadn't even gotten it yet. And he still couldn't quite put into words what he'd felt when he'd watched Emma hold Abel earlier at the hospital. The two of them just looked so fucking perfect together.
Her head pressed into his shoulder and when he felt her cheek turn to his, his neck bent down until he had easy enough access to her lips and pressed a gentle kiss to them. Her arm reached up and wrapped around his neck to pull him closer and then he felt himself instinctively pressing her down to the couch until her head fell just beneath the headrest. He fit easily in between her legs and almost groaned out loud when he felt her hips shift up and towards his waist. When her lips moved down to his neck and her tongue flicked out against his skin, he couldn't stop himself from shivering against her.
"What are you doin' to me, darlin'?" he asked hoarsely. Of course, it was more a rhetorical question than anything. She knew exactly what she was doing to him.
She just laughed against his skin and resumed her achingly slow ministrations up and down his neck until he couldn't wait any longer and recaptured hold of her lips with his. The hand that had been itching all night to touch her bare skin slowly traveled up the side of her shirt, going slow enough to give her plenty of time to stop him. When his fingers scaled the edge of her bra, he waited a beat and then curved his hand around her round tit. He started to massage his handful of perfection and grinned into her lips when her hips continued grinding up into him. One of her hands had snaked up underneath his cut and up the edge of his T-shirt, trailing up his back with a feather-light touch that made him groan into her mouth. What set him off-balance the most about this was how different it felt. He wasn't grabbing her up by the ass and carrying her into her bedroom so he could pound her. And he definitely wasn't ripping her clothes off so he could pound her on the couch either. He was taking his time with her, wanting to savor it all.
"Oh shit."
Jax's head snapped up at the sound and his hazy focus quickly registered that Juice was standing about ten feet away in the dark hallway, his eyes wide as boulders.
"You better not be stretching out my shirt, Jax," Dawn popped up from behind Juice with a smug grin.
He quickly untangled his hand from underneath the shirt and sat up, pulling Emma along with him. She looked absolutely mortified as a hand went out to straighten her hair and he quickly realized, with heavy disappointment, that the night was now pretty much over due to cockblock one and cockblock two.
"Don't worry, bro," Juice just shrugged his shoulders as he gestured between them. "I won't tell anyone if you won't."
He just rolled his eyes and shook his head. That definitely didn't help the situation and just made it all the more awkward. He shifted his attention back to Emma, whose cheeks had since turned a light shade of pink.
"I think maybe I should get goin'," he leaned over to her.
She bit her lip and nodded slowly, her hands moving to the top of her tube top to pull it up a little more. He took that as his signal to really get moving and pushed himself off the couch, heading straight for the door. He turned a heel back and winked at Emma, not wanting to leave without letting her know that she didn't need to be embarrassed, before heading out the door. He certainly wasn't. In fact, he was pissed they'd been interrupted.
Emma shut the door behind him and leaned up against it, mentally cursing her nosy roommate and best friend for interrupting. She blew out a breath and winced before popping her eyes open to see Dawn's smug face in front of her.
"So…" Dawn started cheekily. "Payback's a bitch, right?"
She just rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the door, starting to head towards her bedroom.
"Whatever happened to boundaries? Parameters? Baby steps? Right out the window, huh?"
She bit her lip to keep from laughing and threw her hands up in the air. "I was well within my limits, thank you very much. And thanks for interrupting, by the way. That was great."
She didn't wait to hear Dawn's response, instead opting to keep moving towards her room. In spite of her best efforts, she still heard Dawn's laughing voice calling out to her:
"Well, I'm glad Jax liked that shirt, you whore!"
A/N-Don't worry; Ima will get hers eventually. Anyways, Jax and Emma was edging closer and closer here...they've definitely already laid down the foundation for a mature, respectful relationship, even if they don't know it yet. Like I've said before, it will still take them a while to realize the legitimate feelings behind it.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There's more action, more drama, and more trouble on the horizon. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Please let me know what you think...any feedback is helpful to me and definitely keeps me going! R/R!