I see him before he sees me, sitting at a table to the back right of the room, Opie on his left, Prospect on his right, Juice's back facing me waving his hands animatedly as Opie and Prospect laugh. Jax's eyes are on Juice as well, but they've got the shallow look of someone whose mind isn't in the room. It's even more crowded out here than I expected it to be, and I shuffle through the barely dressed women and mostly-unfamiliar faces. I'm well aware of the stares I'm getting and can confirm that I'm likely a hot topic around here. I'm glad I'm wearing my favorite pair of jeans if I'm going to be getting the attention, well worn and low hung on my hips. Though most are looks of interest, I take in a few dirty glances from some of the women, mostly the younger ones with their skirts covering…well, nothing much. Red waves at me from a couch in the back and I give a her a wave back and a big smile. Opie looks up and sees me then, and I watch him slightly elbow Jax, nodding in my direction. As Jax looks up to see what Opie's motioning toward, I step to the side of a group of men and lose sight of them. I keep my head down and walk the rest of the room to their table.
"Mind if I join you guys?" I try not to sound as out of place as I feel, especially with the added awkwardness of being seen on Jax's bike today. Listening to the words come out of my mouth, I can't tell if it worked.
The look on Jax's face though, is enough to make me feel more comfortable.
"Darlin you're more than welcome. Take a seat." he reaches out and pulls an empty chair in beside him.
Cherry is at the table before I'm fully seated, holding a tray with 4 whiskeys on it and a pitcher of beer. She clears the empties and replaces them with the ones on the tray then starts refilling the beer glasses.
"Glad to see you're feelin' a little better, girl. You want a drink?" she asks me sweetly.
"Actually, a whiskey sounds great. I'll have what they're having. Thanks, Cherry."
Jax nods and lights up a cigarette, then turns his attention to Opie,
"So, how's her bike?" he asks, exhaling.
"Mostly cosmetic, but…you know, lotta custom shit's gotta be ordered. That's what might take time." Opie repeats what he told me this morning.
Cherry slides my whiskey and a beer in front of me, lays a quick kiss on Prospect's cheek and is gone before I can even tell her thanks. She's got a full house and…it looks like not much help behind the bar. Though everyone in a cut, I notice, has a full drink.
The guys start talking about some other project they're working on in the garage and I take a grateful sip of my whiskey as my eyes scan the room to take in my surroundings. I like to have my bearings, especially in a setting like this that's so unfamiliar to me. The warmth of the sip works its way down my chest. I haven't drank much since I've been out on my own, not that I ever really did. But the feel of the whiskey is welcome and I swirl the glass in my hand. Oblivious to the four voices around me, I drink down the rest, placing it quietly on the table and looking up to see Jax watching me out of the corner of his eye while they carry on, wearing a slight but unmistakeable look of deviance.
Trying to avoid the butterflies that full eye contact with this man seems to give me, I grab my beer and take a gulp, letting it chase the fiery spirit to my belly. I smile, a little embarrassed at how good the beer tastes and knowing Jax is still watching me and, I suspect, only pretending to listen to his friends. He then reaches down andm in a repeat of this morning, squeezes my knee twice—too quick for anyone else to notice— reaching up and grabbing his drink in one smooth movement. I bite my lip and take another long sip.
"You must be Tess," a slightly gravely voice comes from my right as I feel a hand come to rest lightly on my shoulder.
I look up to see an older man with gray hair smiling down, his 'President' patch practically staring me in the face with another reading, 'First 9' directly below it.
"Yes, I am." I smile back, offering my hand, which he takes. I find myself thankful bikers don't seem to be the kind of men who squeeze the hell out of girl's hands when they shake it. Probably comfortable enough with their masculinity.
"Glad you're alright, kid." he pats my back in a gesture reminiscent of a parent, and pulls over a stool, sliding in on the other side of Jax.
"Oh, I'm fine," I assure him, "A few scratches. Nothing that time won't heal."
"Ah, time heals all wounds…" he puffs on his cigar in a way that strikes me as menacing, letting the words settle into the air and smoke in a strange pause, "…isn't that what they say?" the second half of his thought snapping through the air in contrast.
"They do say that, don't they?" I quip, not missing a beat, "I guess I have to agree. Well, in regards to the physical wounds, at least."
I notice the President looks a little off-put at my musing and that Jax is biting to hide a smirk.
Cursing the whiskey for making me so chatty with the club president whom I know nothing about, I attempt to recover, "Thank you, by the way, for letting me stay here, and for everything else. I don't know what I would have done your hospitality, truly."
His expression melts to one of a man whose been flattered. Putty in my hands. Give their ego one stroke, I swear…
"Girl who rides a bike like that, please…Mi casa es su casa," he gestures around the room and laughs lightly, pushing back to stand. "Make yourself at home, kid."
I'm thankful to see that he seems genuine. No harm, no foul. After he pats me on the shoulder once more, the president moves in to sit next to a big man at the bar wearing the only denim cut in the room.
I let out a breath and take another gulp of my beer despite that it helped to betray me. Guess I really can't handle my own anymore.
"It's alright darlin', Clay's just a little tense. You're all good." Jax assures me quietly while the other three resume their conversation.
A very tipsy brunette who must barely be drinking age saunters over to the table then, trying her
best to whisper into Juices ear. It comes out just a slurred, raspy version of talking.
"Juiiiiice, you haven't even said hi to me tonight…" she hiccups, looking up at him sadly.
Juice looks to Jax and Opie like their big brothers, clearly embarrassed as they shake their heads at him, grinning like old boys.
Juice answers her like an embarrassed kid scolding his mom,"Dee, you know you can't interrupt when I'm with the club."
Jax interrupts, "Oh nah man, it's all good. Club business is over. Go ahead, you haven't even gotten to say hi to…" he pauses expectantly, waiting for the girl to retell her name.
"Dee?" she finally picks up the bait and answers with attitude.
"Dee." Jax finishes, both him and Opie grinning ear to ear.
Juice shakes his head and puts his arm around the girl, probably to ensure she won't fall. He looks behind her shoulder and shoots Jax a glare, giving them the finger behind her back before the two disappear into the crowd.
Jax and Opie let their laughter loose.
Opie shakes his head, "Fuckin' evil, man. That chick is beyond crazy."
"Ah, it's good for him." Jax muses cooly, stubbing out his cigarette.
Thjs little glimpse at these guy's daily lives is pretty much what I would have expected. Drunk girls hanging around hoping to get a chance to hang one of these cuts up in their bedroom for a night. What I expected, but still enough to make me finish off another beer in a few pulls.
Cherry is back at the table when I put it down.
"You wannanother round, love?" she asks, dropping the guy's fresh drinks on the table, already knowing their answers.
"Oh no, I couldn't." I shake my head, "I'm a bit of a lightweight…and," I furrow my brow, trying to recall my last meal, "huh," I say giving up, "empty stomach too…I think…" I ponder, trying to pin down the exact events of my time here. Goddamn pain meds are making me cloudy.
"Holy shit." I look to see Jax's face dawning recognition, turning to one of slight alarm.
"Tess, you haven't eaten since you've been here." pushing back his chair a little, hand touching my arm, his concern catching me a little off-guard.
In reality I'm not shocked with how much of a blur it's been the slighty-more-than-24 hours since the crash. That paired with the fact that I never take pills and have been sleeping quite a bit because of it, it's not so surprising that I've had no appetite.
"C'mon" he nudges me with his elbow and stands, a tender look of resolve that somehow already feels familiar to me crossing his face.
I'm still sitting trying to follow his train of thought while he gives Prospect dabs and drains his own whiskey.
"Op, I'll catch up with you in the mornin." he's all business, turning his attention back to me with a look that conveys his obvious thought which is clearly, 'Why are you still sitting down?'
"Sure thing, man. I gotta get back to Donna and the kids anyway. Promised I'd tuck 'em in tonight."
Jax nods and they pull in to a quick hug, the leather of their cuts amplifying the slaps on their backs as they pull away.
I'm standing now, trying to get across my utter confusion as well as he did his sudden need to leave but he doesn't even look at my face, instead just grabbing my hand and leading me across the room trailing Opie toward the door with me in tow as you might have a small child.
I look back to see Cherry catching on while she wipes down the table and sees Prospects confusion at being abandoned so suddenly. She shoots me a 'What's going on?' look and I give her a clueless shrug, trying not to trip over anyones feet as I'm pulled through the crowd. She laughs and I see her shaking her head as I'm ushered out the door.
"Apologies, but I think I may have missed something?" I cast out into the night, trying to catch some type of hint.
Opie's hopping onto his bike and Jax is clearly leading me toward his own. Is this really happening again?
A hush in the crowd of smokers hanging on the picnic tables as we pass makes me want to turn to try to discern what they're thinking and will be saying, but I ignore the urge.
We stop at his bike and he hands me his helmet.
"We gotta get you something to eat. I'm a shit host" he finally explains, deadpan.
"Ohhhh.
I don't know, Jax. It can wait until the morning can't it? I'm really not hungry with these meds and I can just walk to the…" Oops. His look stops me in my tracks.
"Or, well get a ride, ya know? Is what I meant." he's making me stammer like an idiot and the alcohol which I can practically picture swirling with my medicine in my otherwise-empty stomach is likely not helping.
He reaches out and touches my face, stepping closer like I'm some kind of bird he can coax into not flying away. Can he?
"Tess, darlin." He reaches up and lightly touches the scrapes on my hairline and forehead then brings his thumb below my chin to tilt it up, making sure my eyes are on his,"…because of me." he says, pausing so I understand.
In all honestly, the dried blood on my face is currently of much less concern compared to the rest body holds, which feels like it's sitting low in my stomach with him this close to me and I wonder if he can see each time my heart beats in my throat.
His eyes lose their seriousness after a moment and he takes back his hands.
"The last thing you ate was pavement. Let me buy you some dinner." he jokes, raising his eyebrows hopefully.
I take a breath to steady myself and think it over.
"I don't know Jax, I'm not sure I want to be in a restaurant right now, I'm…"
"If you're worried about the scrapes, you look badass.".
I laugh, not even thinking about the patch of road rash.
"No, I'm just…a little drunk,is all." I pause for a moment, embarrassed. "…And I haven't been in a while and so being in public just seems like…a lot?" I admit, looking down at my boots as I say it, then back up to see his surprise.
"Oh, shit. Really?" he ponders it for a moment then, "Your medicine, no wonder."
I nod.
He leans on his bike, lights a cigarette and takes a long, thoughtful drag. He exhales and pushes off the bike with a renewed, excited energy, then gets on and looks at me expectantly.
"No restaurant." he promises, holding his hands up in an act of surrender.
I sigh knowing it's no use and fix the buckle of the helmet, then settle behind him for the second time today. The warmth of my buzz mixes with the buzz of our electricity and the why and where fade into the blackness of thick night. I close my eyes to avoid the watchful stares of the people left in parking lot but by the time we're moving out the front gate it doesn't matter. I've forgotten everyone but him, and I don't know it then, but for the first time since my world closed in, I've forgotten the why of why I'm riding away. Which I don't know is fitting because I'm here.
