CHAPTER TEN
If Tara did that one more time, Jax was going to pull his bike over and fuck her in the nearest gas station bathroom. His dick was so hard it was actually starting to hurt. Her innocence was endearing but it was also starting to get painful. She obviously knew enough to wind him up but maybe she didn't quite know what the term "blue balls" meant… As she ran her nails up his legs again, he knew he couldn't take it anymore. Spying a Safeway ahead, he down-shifted his bike. This girl is driving me crazy! As the bike slowed, Tara finally stopped moving her hands and held onto his waist. He drove around the side of the building and dropped the stand. He hopped off first and held his hand out to her. She smiled up at him while pulling off her helmet and was about to say something but as soon as her feet were planted safely underneath her, Jax grabbed her around the waist and pushed her up against the shadowed brick wall. She dropped the helmet to the ground but he didn't wait to see if she'd protest and slid one of his hands up to clutch her hair and slammed his mouth onto hers. He pressed his erection up against her hips and let her feel what she had been doing to him since they'd left Stockton. Their tongues danced around each other aggressively, pushing and pulling for a minute or two that seemed like forever and then he softly bit her lower lip, pulling it with him for a moment as he finally drew away from their kiss. He looked in her beautiful hazel eyes, dark with desire, and saw her chest rising and falling, her breathing just as heavy as his own. Holding her face with both hands, he pressed his forehead up against hers.
"What're you doing to me, Tara?" he said longingly.
"I..I'm sorr.."
"No," he cut her off, "no, don't be sorry. You're amazing…I'm just trying to figure you out and you keep throwing me curve balls…"
"I'm sorry."
Jax laughed and couldn't contain his smile. Still holding the sides of her face, he pulled away just enough to look her in the eyes.
"Quit apologizing, Tara. You're one of the most interesting people I've ever met. But I think you're going to go left and you go right. You've got my head spinning and I don't quite know what to make of it. But I swear, if you run your hands down my leg one more time, I'm going to take you back to the cave and not Charming…" he said laughing. A flicker of something mischievous crossed her eyes and it only worsened his problem. Jax closed his eyes and pulled her head into his chest, clenching his fists in her hair. What IS this girl doing to me? he wondered. He'd liked girls before…but it never failed that as soon as he hit it and they suddenly started talking at him like they wanted to date or something, he lost interest, fast. Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free? Especially if there's a line of cows waiting to visit your farm?
But this…whatever this thing was that Tara had brought out of him, was making him feel, was not something he'd experienced before. It was confusing as fuck. He knew it would be safer to drop her off at home and try and forget all of it but he also knew he'd never be able to do that. It was like a door had opened inside of him and he had to see what was on the other side, but that if he went through it, there was no way to go back again….but the feeling was too strong…he had to know…
Jax rested his head atop Tara's, exhausted from the battle going on in his mind.
"Whaddya say we go find that food?" he asked.
Tara had her arms wrapped around his waist but suddenly he felt her hands sliding up the back of his shirt.
"Ok," she said.
He pulled away from her just far enough to see her face and cocked an eyebrow at her with a smile.
"You're a little troublemaker, aren't you?"
"What?!" she laughed, "Me?"
"Mhm…I'll bet that quiet exterior is just a façade for all the mischief you cause…you're probably a little rebel behind those straight A's," he jested.
"Oh, is that it?" she asked, "And here I thought that was just the Jax Teller Effect."
Her sassiness caught him off guard and he found it completely arousing…which is not what he needed right now…
"Tara Knowles!" he exclaimed jokingly, "What has gotten into you?"
With a bold gaze she leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "I'm pretty sure you did…"
For the rest of his life he would never forget that moment: the wind blowing her hair, the devilish smirk on her face, and her eyes flickering naughtily. Not only was she smart and beautiful, but she was feisty and it was sexy as hell. He felt the blood rushing back between his hips, the desire flooding back.
He leaned toward her ear and whispered back, "If you're not careful it's going to happen again sooner than you'd think…"
Without missing a beat, she looked him in the eyes and said, "I'm not scared of you, Jackson Teller."
I am about to lose it in my jeans and this girl isn't even touching me, Jax thought to himself. If this conversation kept going the way it was he was going to be facing the very real possibility of having to go to the bathroom to jackoff just so he could manage to get her home without ravishing her on the side of the road. He knew she probably wasn't ready to go there again yet. He'd heard somewhere that the first time or two was hard on a girl…but if it was, she hid it well. She was pushing all the right buttons and if she had been any other dumb slut, he'd of gladly taken what he wanted and not thought twice about it or how she was feeling. But even though he'd never wanted a girl so bad in his life, never been so turned on by just words, he'd also never been so worried about screwing something up…it was a viciously sweet torment. He must be sick…it was all relatively new though…maybe if he just gave it a few days, maybe it would pass.
From somewhere deep inside though, he heard a voice say, No...It won't.
"Alright, alright Tara," he announced his defeat, "You win. Now let's get back to Charming."
He saw the flicker go out of her eyes. Jax knew she didn't really want to go home but they couldn't stay away any more. He'd already been gone too long and if his mom had grilled the truth out of Opie that he had no idea where Jax was, and there was a distinct chance she might, he knew there would be about ten burly guys on Harleys hunting him down. He didn't know that Tara was ready for that and he didn't know that he was ready to get his ass chewed out in front of Tara either for not telling anyone where he was going. He knew better…if they'd been a normal family his mom probably wouldn't have been as concerned but because of the extracurricular activities of SAMCRO and him being the unofficial Prince of Charming, him going M.I.A. could be taken very badly.
"If I get caught in Charming, I'll get in a lot less trouble than if I get caught coming back from Stockton," he laughed. "Are you still hungry?"
"Yeah," she answered much less playfully. And just like that, feisty Tara was gone. It made him a bit sad but there wasn't much he could do to remedy that. She was going to have to go home sometime.
"C'mon," he said taking her hand, "I know a great place for burgers."
She gave him a small smile as he led her back to his bike.
XxxXxxX
The sun had just started to go down when he parked his bike around the side of Sam's Diner. It was a quiet little place on the main square where they weren't likely to garner much attention. It was more of a breakfast/lunch place so this time of day it should be pretty slow. He kicked down the stand and let Tara hop off before standing up himself. As she unfastened the helmet again, he ran his fingers through his wild hair in an attempt to tame it down. He watched Tara set the helmet on the handlebars and adjust his sweatshirt in a way that you could still tell she was wearing shorts. Jax knew what people would think when they saw her in his Reaper Crew hoodie, worse than if they'd just been seen together. He was fully aware of his reputation around town but it had never bothered him until thinking about how that might affect Tara now. She was a good girl, he hadn't meant for her to be a conquest, but that's exactly how the people of Charming would see it. Being the quiet one had its advantages and disadvantages. And to be seen in that hoodie, with him, was probably going to be a disadvantage for her this time. But somehow, he still couldn't get himself to suggest she take it off. There was a part of him that sort of did want to mark her as his. Not as a conquest like the others, but maybe because by most standards she really was too good for him and yet here she was. He hadn't taken her because he could and he didn't believe for a second that she had given herself to him because of his charm and good looks.
"You look great," he smirked at her, "C'mon, I'm starving."
He grabbed her hand and they headed across the lot to the front of the building.
A bell hanging above the door chimed as they walked in. There were a few people scattered throughout the diner and a patron or two sitting up at the long counter that ran the length of the building. Jax chose a corner booth by the front window and Tara slid into the seat across from him. They'd spent so much time sitting side by side or with her riding behind him, it was nice change to look at her straight on. Her chocolate colored hair was parted down the center and fell past her shoulders and his black Reaper sweatshirt brought out just how light her skin was, practically porcelain. Tara was chewing on her lower lip and looking out the window.
"You ok?" he asked.
Tara turned her eyes back to his but her expression was unreadable. Jax reached across the table to grab her hand and gently rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. For a moment he wondered if she was feeling uncomfortable being with him now that they were back in Charming.
"Just memories," she responded quietly. When he shot her a confused look, she changed the subject, "Don't worry about it…so what's good here?"
Before he could answer though, the waitress appeared at the end of the table. She was an older woman, probably in her mid-fifties with graying blonde hair pulled back and a white apron over her orange dress.
"Can I get y'all something to drink?"
"Yeah," Jax answered, "Can I get a Cherry Coke and a…."
"Just water, please," Tara finished.
"Cherry Coke and a water. I'll go get those and give you two a few minutes to look over the menu," she said laying the two laminated menus on the table between them.
"Thanks." Turning back to Tara he said, "So did you have fun today? Running off with the outlaw's son?"
He gave her a cocky grin which caused her to break out in a laugh. Her smile was as wide as her face and it made her eyes squint up in an adorable way. He couldn't help but smile genuinely back at her.
"Well," she smirked at him and rubbed her thumb over his hand like he'd done to her, "I suppose it wasn't toooo bad."
They just sat like there for a moment, smiling at each other, and Jax knew he could get used to days like this. They'd talked a lot the night before about their lives, for better and for worse, and found they had a lot in common and today they had spent together, not so much talking, as just being together, riding the Harley, hitting up the movie. Even in the silent times he found himself happy just to be with her and holding her hand. If Tara was game, Jax couldn't wait to see where this might go. The door chimed ahead of him, breaking his reverie, and glancing over, he saw the Hale brothers and two other guys from Charming High with them. Great, Jax thought. The Hale brothers were the popular athletic sons of Judge Hale, quite the opposite of a motorcycle outlaw's child. David, the younger one, wasn't too bad. He was in the same grade as Jax and Tara and a lot quieter than his egocentric older brother Jacob, but he still walked around like he had a stick up his ass. Jacob was a senior and was none too shy about acting like his family's money made him better than everyone else. Jax had to fight off the urge not to wipe that snide smile off his face every time he saw him. He tried not to focus on them but Tara must have noticed something had caught his eye and when she turned around to see what he was looking at, he saw David's eyes shoot open at the sight of her.
"Tara?" he said and started to make his way over, his brother and the other two meatheads following behind.
"Son of a bitch," Jax muttered under his breath. Once again, Tara must have heard him because she looked back at him with a questioning look on her face.
"Jax," David nodded at him as he approached.
"David," he nodded back trying to hide his annoyance.
"Hey Tara," David said shifting his attention, "how're you doing? I don't usually see you out on Saturdays."
"Yeah, that's cause I'm usually not," she said looking over to Jax. David looked back at Jax and then back to Tara with a confused expression. It was right about that time that he must have noticed their hands on the other end of the table.
"Oh, well, you know if you ever get bored or want to hang out or anything just let me know."
"Oh, ok," she said nervously, "I'll do that."
Jax looked across the table at her trying to figure out if she actually meant that or was just being polite but true to her nature, he couldn't read her expression.
"We've got a football game this next Friday. You should come watch."
"Um, well, I'll check what I've got going on and see if maybe I can make it."
"That'd be great," he smiled down at her. It was about that time that their waitress made her way back to the table with their drinks. "Well, I'll leave you two be," David said. "Jax. Tara. Have a good night," he said looking at her again before walking away.
Jax glared at him as he walked away. He could feel his blood boiling under the surface. Who the fuck does he think he is, strutting over here and asking if she's doing anything later when he can tell she was here with him? He wanted to stroll over there and jack him in the face. He saw them slide into a booth across the diner. Jax was still contemplating if he could take all four of them when he felt a squeeze to his hand. He glanced back to Tara and saw her watching him with a small smile on her face.
"You ok, Jax?" she asked.
"Yeah. Sorry."
"Do you two know what you'd like to order?" the waitress asked kindly.
"Uh, yeah," Jax answered, "I'm just going to get a bacon cheeseburger, medium, with no onions…aaaand…"
"A chicken strip basket with some barbecue on the side, please."
"Sure. Is that all you guys need?"
"Yeah, that should be all. Thank you," Jax replied.
"So what was that all about?" Tara asked as the waitress walked away.
"What do you mean?"
"You were glaring at him the whole time," she laughed quietly.
"Do you two have a thing?" Jax asked bluntly.
"What?" she laughed again, "Me and David? God, no! Sometimes he says hi to me in the hallway but that's about it. I don't even know why he came over here."
Jax glanced over and saw that David was looking back his way. In a rush of spite, Jax got up to lean across the table and cupping her face in his free hand, he kissed her gently on the lips for a few seconds. Not enough to be obscene but enough to make a statement. Kiss my ass, rich kid, he thought, she's mine. Mine? he caught himself, Well that was quick… But he realized he didn't care. As of right now and until he changed his mind, she was his. He glanced back across the diner and knew that David had seen them. Good.
"Hey Tara," he asked sitting back down, "what're you doing next Friday?"
"Ummm…" she smiled confusingly, "I don't think I'm up to anything…"
Giving her his most award winning smile, dimples and all, he asked, "How'd you like to go to a football game with me?"
Tara's left eyebrow shot up and her grin was as wide as her face. There was no fooling this girl…but that was ok because he hadn't been trying to.
"Since when did you decide you liked football?"
"Oh about three minutes ago," he grinned wickedly.
"Well, I might be free," she said coyly.
"Good," he got back up and leaned over to give her another quick peck on the lips.
The rest of the meal went off without a hitch and they laughed and talked about school and the people they couldn't stand. Jax decided to not bring up the Hale brothers. They ate their food absentmindedly and Jax couldn't stop thinking about the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled or how she was constantly tucking her hair behind her ears just for it to fall back forward a moment later. By the time the waitress brought them their check, the sun was starting to fade behind the trees. His thoughts shot back to his mom and he knew she was going to be livid with him. But at least he was in town so he was on home turf. He wondered for a moment if Tara was going to be in trouble with her dad or if he'd even of noticed she was gone. Jax had planned on taking her home but now he was starting to wonder if he could get away with keeping her out for another few hours. It was Saturday…but when he saw her yawn across the table, he knew he should take her home. They had spent the previous night outside in a cave so she probably hadn't slept that well, not to mention the other activities that had probably taken a bit of a toll on her. He smiled to himself at the memory of seeing her beneath him, being inside her….
"You ready to go, Tara?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think so," she said.
Jax pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and tossed some cash on the table for the waitress. They both slid out of the booth and Jax threw his arm over Tara's shoulder and she slid her arm around his waist. She was just the right height. Walking past the Hale brothers again next to the door, Jax kissed her on the temple and led her out the door. The night air was refreshing although a bit cooler than the night before. He knew he'd have to get Tara home pretty quick because her legs were bound to get cold in those short shorts she was wearing so well. They hopped on the bike again and he relished the feeling of her arms around his waist and her thighs pressing up against his. As they pulled out of the parking lot and rounded the front of the building, Jax revved his engine for good measure. Eat it, Hale he smiled to himself.
He pulled up to Tara's and the house was dark, which he assumed was probably a good thing. He rolled his bike into the driveway and killed the engine. Letting Tara off first, he lowered the stand again and got up to walk her those few last feet to her door. It'd only been a little more than 24 hrs ago that he'd touched her hand for the first time and here he was now head over heels for the girl. Tara handed the helmet back to him and he laid it across the handlebars.
"Jax," she started, fumbling with her hands, "thank you. For everything. I don't know where I would have wound up if you hadn't found me last night."
"I'm glad I could be there," he said with his hands in his pockets, suddenly feeling every bit the awkward teenager. It was a strange and foreign feeling to him. Say something! "So I'll see you in school Monday?" Not that!
"Yeah," she smiled quietly back at him, "I had a lot of fun with you, Jax. Today and…well…last night and everything."
It may have been dark out but Jax was pretty sure he saw a blush creeping into her ivory cheeks.
"Yeah, I feel the same way," he said, his confidence returning. Pulling his hands out of his pockets, he reached forward and held both sides of her face, leaning in for another gentle sweet kiss. He could have kissed her all night. Instead, he pulled away, looking her in her beautiful hazel eyes, so dark in the twilight, and tucked another errant strand of hair behind her ear. Jax slid his hands down her arms until they were holding her delicate hands. Backing away a step or two, he brought one to his lips and let them gently brush over her knuckles, his eyes never leaving hers. He saw her chest rise up as if she was holding her breath. Retreating another step or two, he let her hands gently slip out of his.
"Have a good night, Tara," he smiled at her with a happiness he'd never felt before.
"You too, Jax," she smiled back.
Grabbing the helmet off of the bars, he straddled his bike and strapped it on for the first time in 24 hours, watching Tara stand there in his Reaper hoodie. It's a good look for her, he thought, aroused again by the sight of her in his clothing. He revved his Harley back to life and Tara smiled and gave him a small wave as he backed out of the driveway. Oh the things I want to do to that girl…. As she disappeared into the house, Jax sped off down the street, but not towards home. He had to find Opie and make sure he knew what his cover story was before facing the intimidating force of nature that was his mother. There wasn't much that scared Jax in life, but Gemma Teller was definitely one of them.