Sorry it's been awhile since I updated. Been extremely sick and had a death amongst my friends. Thank you everyone who reviewed or added this story to their favorites or their alerts..It is much appreciated...Once again..This is a M rating...I don't own the Sons, just my own characters...All that good stuff. Another chapter will be coming in the next couple days. BTW would anyone be willing to review my chapters before I post them and maybe catch stuff I might have missed? Thanks again all and hope you enjoy!
Chapter 8
Ashton opened the latch on Jack's stall door and let him out, motioning him towards the open gate. She had already fed the horses and Jack was her last one to put out to pasture. She closed the gate behind him and latched it before walking into the hay room. She was bent over, about to pick up a hay bale, when an arm slipped around her waist and lifted her. She started to scream and a hand slapped over her mouth.
"Jesus Ashton. It's me, Justin," the man holding her said, letting her back down on the ground.
Ashton spun around and punched him in the chest. "You fucking asshole. You scared me, you douche!"
Justin grinned and rubbed his chest where she had hit him. "I can tell. You knew I was coming this morning. It shouldn't have surprised you too much."
Ashton rolled her eyes before hugging him. "How was the drive?"
"Long," he said. "But not too bad. Ready for a long ass nap now."
Ashton nodded. "Well, help me toss the hay to the horses and I'll get you settled in bed."
Justin smirked. "You gonna join me?" he asked, picking up a hay bale and walking towards the pastures.
Ashton rolled her eyes and picked up another hay bale. "You don't quit do you?" she asked, laughing.
"Of course not. It's been awhile for us. And I'm really horny right now."
Ashton snorted. "How is that different from any other time of the day?"
"It's all your fault babe."
"You are so full of shit," she said, shaking her head as they started setting out piles of hay for the horses.
"But you still adore me," Justin responded.
"Absolutely, dick face," she replied.
Ashton pushed the shopping cart down the aisle of the grocery store. She had been putting off getting groceries but the cupboards and refrigerator were bare and all the guys had been complaining.
"And God knows they are too fucking lazy to go get their own groceries," she muttered to herself.
"You know the first sign of losing it is talking to yourself," a voice came from behind her.
Ashton turned around to see a sheriff, smiling at her while placing items in his own cart.
Ashton smiled back. "You have to of had it to begin with," she replied.
"Lieutenant Roosevelt," he said, holding his hand out to shake.
Ashton shook his hand. "Ashton McGraw."
"I know who you are. Elliott Oswald's sister-in-law, rodeo star. You moved here to open up stables and run a horse rescue as well. You've been married, divorced, no kids. Sleeping with Jax Teller now, SAMCRO's new president and Charming's resident criminal kingpin. Oh, and your sister can't stand it."
Ashton raised an eyebrow. "Wow. That's amazing. I bet you could tell me what I ate for dinner last night as well, can't you?"
Roosevelt smiled tightly at her. "Now that is beyond my means."
"What's the point of this Lieutenant? Or is there one?"
"Just wanted to introduce myself. Your sister seems pretty worried about the company you've been keeping these days and I just wanted to tell you to be careful. People close to SAMCRO end up getting hurt quite often. Collateral damage and what not."
Ashton rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm gonna be as respectful as I possibly can when I say this. Mind your own damn business. I'm a grown woman and who I spend my time with or sleep with is no one's business. That includes you and my damn sister," Ashton said, before starting to walk off. "Oh by the way Denny's Donuts has a special running, if you're interested. A dozen for five bucks," she threw over her shoulder. "You're welcome."
A sharp bark of laughter came from behind Lieutenant Roosevelt. He turned to see Gemma Morrow with her arms crossed; amused by the set down Ashton had dealt him. They both turned to watch the young woman walk down the aisle, both with a new found respect and interest in her.
"So, who is this guy coming to dinner?" Justin asked as he set the table.
"The guy Ashton has been screwing," Aaron replied, laughing and ducking as Ashton threw a fork at him.
"Shut it Aaron. His name is Jax," Ashton directed towards Justin.
"I see how it is. Just move to Cali and replace me."
Ashton rolled her eyes. "Be on your best behavior, Justin."
Justin smiled innocently. "Of course, Ash!"
Ashton pointed the knife she was using to cut cucumbers for the salad at Justin.
"I mean it. You don't wanna cross me on this."
Justin held his hands up in surrender then grinned when they all heard the roar of a motorcycle approaching.
Ashton tossed the knife in the sink and headed towards the door.
"Don't even think about it," she said, moving Justin out of the way. "Finish the salad."
Ashton met Jax on the stairs as he was walking up. She grinned when he leaned down and kissed her lips. Jax felt her smile against his lips and pulled his head away to look at her.
"What are you smiling at?" Jax asked.
"Your face," she teased.
"Funny," Jax responded, rolling his eyes.
"So, I gotta kinda warn you. Justin is here and he's probably gonna try to antagonize you," Ashton said, grinning.
"Why?" Jax asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We kinda have some history, that's all."
"How much history?" Jax asked warily.
Ashton waved a hand in the air dismissively as they walked towards the door. "Nothing big. We just happen to be friends that sleep together on occasion."
Jax raised an eyebrow. "Awkward."
Ashton grinned. "Naah. Least you two will already have something in common and can carry on a conversation."
"You are the weirdest woman I have ever met."
"I prefer to call it eccentric."
"Or crazy," Justin said from the doorway.
Ashton flipped him off. "Just remember, I know where you sleep."
Ashton watched as the two men eyed each other with serious expressions on both their faces before she rolled her eyes and scooting past them.
"Men are so stupid," she muttered to Chris and Aaron as she finished setting the table.
"You're sleeping with both of them," Aaron responded, laughing.
"Sleeping is present tense. I'm sleeping with one of them. I slept with the other," Ashton said, with a pointed look at Aaron.
Chris laughed. "You, my dear, are worse than a man," he said, kissing her cheek.
Ashton grinned. "Being around you assholes at a young, impressionable age corrupted me."
"Oh, I call bullshit," Justin interjected, coming in and grabbing two beers from the fridge and offering one to Jax. "If I remember correctly, you were already corrupted by the time we got to you. We just helped you on your downward spiral."
Ashton rolled her eyes. "Pfft. Like you can even remember when you met me. You were knee deep in cheap whiskey and hot pussy. Or did I get that backwards?" she asked laughing at Justin, who had a quizzical expression on his face as he tried his best to remember. She turned to Jax. "How do you want your steak?"
"Medium rare," he answered as Ashton walked out onto the small balcony.
Ashton threw the steaks onto the grill and turned to face Jax as he walked outside to join her.
"We're kinda crazy when you get all of us together," she said, motioning between herself and the three guys still in the kitchen.
Jax nodded, smiling. "It's no big deal," he responded. He did feel a little out of place, but sure as hell would not admit that to Ashton. He was used to people, especially women, feeling uncomfortable around his family and how they all interacted. He had never had the shoe on the other foot. Most women he knew fawned all over him, begging him for a chance to suck his dick. Ashton hadn't exactly made it easy for him. And even though she had slept with him, Jax knew he didn't have the upper hand with this woman. He had a feeling if he pulled any of his usual shit or treated her like a Croweater, Ashton would just move on as quickly as she had apparently moved on from Justin.
Ashton studied Jax. She could see he was thinking hard about something, but she just mentally shrugged. If he wanted to talk, he knew how to open his mouth. He didn't need her to babysit him. His mom did enough of that already. She checked the steaks, pulling hers off the grill and letting the others cook longer.
Jax's eyes drifted over her as she grilled the steaks. This had to be the dressiest he had ever seen her. She had her hair in a neat bun with a few tendrils starting to escape. She was wearing a white button down shirt with a dressy vest and black dress pants. She had obviously kicked off her shoes prior to his arrival as the hems of the pants legs were pooled around her feet. She really was tiny.
"So what are you all dressed up for today?" Jax asked.
Ashton wrinkled her nose as she pulled the steaks off the grill.
"Had a meeting with my loan officer today. Even though I could pay for everything out of pocket Elliott talked me into getting a loan. They are giving me hell now because of the rescue portion of my business. That and the fact I wanna bring under privileged kids or kids in trouble with the law to the farm for visits. Kinda like a rehabilitation program. Unfortunately, the bank isn't exactly supportive of those that aren't perfect by their standards," she answered as they walked back inside.
"Says Ms. Perfect," Justin mumbled.
"Fuck you," Ashton said, the grin on her face softening the harsh words. "It's not my fault you can't be as awesome as I am."
She set the steaks on their respective plates and motioned for everyone to take a seat. They all started piling food on their plates as Justin and Ashton continued to take verbal shots at each other.
"They're always like this," Aaron mumbled to Jax.
"Yeah, can't have a decent dinner without these two carrying World War III on over the table," Chris interjected.
"Oh come on. You two are just as bad and it's all in hate right?" Ashton said grinning.
Justin laughed. "The bad thing is this is Ashton being nice. She used to be a lot meaner and much more of a hell raiser."
Jax raised an eyebrow. "Worse?" he asked, incredulously.
Chris snorted. "God, yes," he responded as Ashton glared at him. "Hey Aaron remember about five years ago? That little rodeo in Texas with that little drunken buckle bunny that was climbing all over every cowboy within a five mile radius?"
Jax grinned as Ashton glowered at the other three men sitting at the table.
"Oh, I remember. I especially remember when she decided to climb up on that guy Ash was dating. What was his name? Matt? Mark?"
"It was Mitch, you nimrod. And that wasn't what pissed me off. I don't fight over men, you know that," Ashton responded, with a curl of her lip.
Chris cackled. "Oh it definitely wasn't Mitch that had Ashton pissed. That heifer decided to climb up on Jack with her little friend's urging right about the time that Ashton walked up. I don't know if it was Mitch's hand on the girl's ass helping her into the saddle or just the fact her ass was in Ash's saddle that set her off first."
Jax looked at Ashton, whose cheeks had flushed slightly.
"So, what did she do?" Jax asked.
Chris grinned. "Well, lil ol Ash walked right up to her and didn't say a word. Just reached up, wrapped her hand in the blonde's ponytail, pulled her right off Jack, and proceeded to whip that girl's ass. It took me, Aaron, and Blaine to pull her off the girl who was just a bawlin. The girl was yelling that she was sorry. That she didn't know Mitch was Ashton's boyfriend. Ole Ash just looked at her in complete confusion and said, 'I don't give a damn about him you dumb twat. You can have him. Just keep your skanky ass off my horse.' Poor girl was terrified of Ash and as soon as Ash's back was turned, she hauled ass," Chris responded, grinning proudly.
"She should have known not to sit her ass in my saddle. Disrespectful twit. Besides, every woman there already wanted to beat her ass. I just happened to be the lucky one to catch her."
Jax grinned. "You are a hellion."
Justin smiled at Jax. "Just remember that if you think of hurting lil Ash here. You don't have to worry about us. She'd slit your throat before we could ever get to you."
Ashton rolled her eyes. "Shut up Justin. You're just lucky I haven't done that to you. Now, eat up or I won't cook anymore and you'll have to eat Aaron's cooking from now on."
Jax gritted his teeth as he listened to Clay schmooze Gaalan. His life would have been so much easier if Gaalan would have worked with the club without Clay. Then he could have finally been rid of his asshole stepfather. He smiled and nodded at the Irish King before turning and walking away. Every day since Clay had been released from the hospital it had become harder and harder to keep from just putting a bullet in his head. Opie refused to be around him unless it was absolutely necessary. Thank God Opie and Lyla had worked things out rather quickly after Clay was shot otherwise if both of them had been staying in the clubhouse there would just be more bloodshed. Jax sighed and rubbed his face as Opie and Chibs came alongside him. All this bullshit was starting to weigh on him, dealing with the Irish and Romero and Luis pushing him to help with the drug and weapons running. It was getting old real quick, being President. If one more thing went wrong, he didn't know what he would do.
"Hey brother, I'm gonna go pick up the truck and get Ellie and Kenny from Ashton's if you don't need me," Opie said, clapping Jax on the shoulder.
"Naah man, you're good," Jax said, then looked at his watch. "Think I might run over there too. See Ashton before I gotta go get Abel."
Chibs laughed. "Ya spend all your time o'er there. You and Abel migh' as well just move on in as much as you two are o'er there."
Jax shrugged. "What can I say? The kid likes her and she makes awesome pancakes."
Opie snorted. "Yeah, that's the only reason your over there."
Jax grinned and straddled his bike. "Not everyone is pussy whipped like you Ope."
Opie rolled his eyes. "I'm not pussy whipped. I just like making Lyla happy."
Jax and Chibs looked at each other for one long moment before bursting into laughter. "Yeah, you aren't pussy whipped at all bro," Jax said, shaking his head and firing his bike up.
Ashton clucked and pulled the lead line she was holding in her left hand gently, signaling the horse cantering around her to slow to a trot, then a walk. She grinned at the young girl on the back of the horse.
"Alright, Ellie, I think you can try this without the lead line," she said.
"You think so Ms. Ashton?" the young girl asked nervously.
Ashton unclipped the lead line and smiled reassuringly up at her. "Absolutely. You've been without a lead line lots before and if I didn't think you were ready I wouldn't be doing this. Now drop your heels, straighten your back. You've got this."
The girl on the back of the horse followed her instructions before clucking to the horse and moving off away from Ashton. Ashton smiled, watching her. She had been giving Opie's daughter riding lessons the past few weeks and had watched the shy child blossom each day she was out at the farm. She walked to the side of the arena and laid the lead line across the top rail before climbing up to sit and watch Ellie. She jumped when she felt a hand touch her back and looked around to see Jax.
"Hey I thought I wouldn't see you till tomorrow," she said, smiling down at him.
"I had some time before I have to pick up Abel and Ope mentioned he was coming out here to get the kids so figured I'd tag along. How's she doing?" he said, nodding towards Ellie as Opie walked up.
Ashton grinned at Opie. "She's a natural. I'll have her running barrels in no time."
Opie's face whitened. "Are you serious?"
"Well, it's either that or Tristan and I teach her show jumping. She's been saying she wanted to try that," Ashton responded.
Opie winced. "You people are trying to put me in an early grave."
Ashton grinned. "Ah come on. It's not too bad. Could be worse. She could be interested in chasing boys."
Opie straightened. "You're right. Keep her with the horses. I like that better."
Ashton grinned. "I thought you might."
Jax shook his head, laughing. "Where's Kenny?"
"Last time I saw him he was on the four wheeler with Tristan, putting hay out for the horses. They should be back soon."
Ashton looked up to check on Ellie right around the time she heard a squeal and saw Ellie sliding off the side of CoCo, the lesson horse. She jumped off the fence and ran over to where Ellie lay in the dirt with tears streaming down her face.
"Hey now hon, everything's ok," she said running a quick hand over her arms and legs. She felt more than saw Jax and Opie land beside her. She brushed both their hands away. "Give her some space and let her catch her breath so she can tell us what hurts."
Ellie sat up slowly and her breath hitched slightly as she tried to get her crying and breathing under control. Ashton smiled reassuringly at her. "You ok sweetie?"
Ellie nodded even as her dad started to open his mouth. Jax shook his head at Opie. Ashton was much better at the girl and horse stuff than they were. They stood up and stepped back slightly to give them both some room.
Ashton grinned at her. "That first fall sucks doesn't it?"
Ellie giggled, surprising even herself. "Yeah, it does. It just knocked the wind out of me but it does suck."
Ashton smiled back. "But now you know how it feels. It's scary when you haven't done it, but once you take a tumble and realize that it usually doesn't hurt too badly, it's not so bad. Besides that's why I had so much extra dirt put in here," she said, winking at Ellie. "And look at little CoCo. She didn't even move a muscle," she finished then clucked to the little silvery mare, which immediately took a step forward and stuck her nose to Ellie's and snuffled.
Ellie giggled and Ashton took that as the perfect sign. She stood up and reached down and helped Ellie to her feet. She helped her brush the dirt off, tightened the riding helmet and stood beside CoCo's head.
"And now the best lesson you will ever be taught. You gotta get back in the saddle," Ashton said, motioning with her head to the horse.
Ellie's immediate protests died when she saw the stubborn look on Ashton's face. She walked over and Ashton smiled reassuringly at her before she gave her a leg up into the saddle. Ashton handed the reins to her and smiled.
"Just walk her around until you both get comfy again. Then when you're ready you can go back to doing what you were doing," Ashton said, stepping back.
"You know, for about two minutes, I wanted to punch you," Opie mumbled to her.
Ashton grinned. "I've had a parent hit me before when I was giving lessons. After that, I banned parents from being around. You and Lyla have been the exception," she said then looked over at Jax, who had a strange expression on his face as he looked at her. "What's the matter with you?"
Jax smiled at her and bent down to give her a quick kiss. "Nothing," he said. In reality, he was afraid the woman in front of him was claiming his heart.
Ashton quickly pulled her white tank top with Mama Tried emblazoned across the front on and then her favorite pair of faded and torn jeans. She was going to spend time with Jax and Abel and was already running late. She grabbed her boots and started pulling them on, while hopping out of her room and towards the door. She waved bye to the guys who were gathered in front of the TV and clambered downstairs and into her truck. She was on the road headed to Jax's within minutes.
Ashton tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and sang along loudly to Pink coming from the stereo. She started to brake as she approached the red light up ahead but let up when it turned green.
"Aha! My green light superpowers still work," she mumbled to herself and started to accelerate. She looked to the right as she saw a flash of light, just in time for a black SUV to crash into the side of her truck. Ashton didn't even have time to brace herself as the truck started to flip. Her head slammed into the window and everything went black.
