Chapter 10

She looks so peaceful when she's asleep, Jax notes, looking down into his arms where one Tara Knowles rests. She looks completely relaxed, that guard she has around herself nowhere to be found. Jax doesn't wake her immediately because he's not sure how she will react once she remembers last night. He remembers it as amazing. It was the best damn make out session he could ever remember happening. He had never been so damn turned on by kisses and groping and some hip grinding in his life. Jax briefly realizes the fact that he's never fallen asleep with a chick before, not even the crow-eaters he's banged. What does it say that he's literally sleeping with a chick he hasn't tapped yet? Man, if the brothers only knew they'd bust his balls for sure. He isn't sure how long he watches her before she starts to stir.

"Never pegged you for a creeper Teller." She teases groggily.

"Creeper?" He asks.

"Watching a girl sleep?" She clarifies.

"Sorry." He smiles. "Couldn't help it."

She turns into his embrace a little more, thankful that he threw the back cushions off the couch to give them more room last night. "We should talk about last night."

He caresses her cheek with his thumb. "What about it?"

"Friends don't make out, Jackson." She closes her eyes briefly.

"Why not?" He teases, eager to see how far he can push her.

"Because….Because…." Damn, she can't think with his hands on any part of her body. "Because I said so!"

"Oh, come on babe." He laughs. "You're gonna have to do better than that. Tell me why we can't make out. Because I could have swore you enjoyed it."

"I did." Tara admits too easily for her liking. "But that's not the point." She places her hand over his on her face to stop his movement. "Us…together is a bad idea. Someone….most likely me, will get hurt."

The raw honesty he sees in her eyes is enough to bring him to his knees, "I'm not going to hurt you Tara."

"Not intentionally." She smiles sadly. "But I don't think I can play by your rules, Jackson. You do casual. And I don't know if I can."

"Why are you over thinking this?" He asks. He wasn't sure what else to say. He didn't know if he could give her everything she was implying.

"How can you not?" She relaxes her head on his shoulder.

"I don't know." He sighs. Why the hell did she have to be so infuriating? "I know that I like you. And I'm pretty sure you like me too. I know that I hate the thought of you with another guy. And I know that is unusual for me."

Now it's his honesty that is crippling. She takes her hand and draws his face down to hers. "I think we might be in trouble here." She admits on a whisper.

His lips meet hers halfway. "I know you like kissing me." He teases against her lips.

She throws her head back on a laugh and he dives into her neck, which is becoming one of his favorite spots. "I think you like my neck."

"I do." He admits. "And I know you like when I do this." He nibbles on the spot just below her ear that he discovered last night. He soothes it with his tongue.

"You make me crazy Teller." She says huskily. And Jax decides to make it his mission to hear that voice from her again. She drops her neck, forcing his lips to find hers.

"Is this my home or a sleazy motel?" Piney booms.

"Christ, old man!" Jax groans.

"Christ?" Piney continues, cigarette in hand. "It's my home and this is the second time I find you two on my couch…like that."

Jax was pretty sure Piney had other words to say but wouldn't use them in front of Tara. "We're dressed." He reminds the man who is like a second father to him.

"For now." Piney grunts. "Keep your tongues in your own mouth and clean up after yourselves…again!"

He heads off in the direction of Opie's room and this time Jax doesn't even bother with trying to deter him. "Sorry about that."

Tara laughs in embarrassment and buries her head in Jax's chest. "It's not your fault." She looks into his eyes. "Well it kinda is." She cocks her head. "If you weren't so good at making me forget, I would have heard Piney come in."

"We were both distracted." He smiles, kissing her again. They both jump apart when they hear a loud shriek followed by Piney's voice, "What the hell? Am I running a brothel here?"

Both teens dissolve into laughter. Tara is the first to move. "Come on and help me clean up."

"We could just bounce and make Donna and Opie clean it all up." Jax sits up and stretches.

"Do and die." Opie says, coming into the living room, yawning. "Thanks for the heads up, brother." He glares at his best friend.

"Anytime." Jax smiles. Really? What did Opie have to complain about? His ass got laid last night. Not that he himself had anything to complain about. He spent the night succeeding in chipping away at the high ass wall Tara kept around herself.

"You just coming home?" Tara jumps at her father's voice, coming from the couch.

Shit. She wasn't counting on him being coherent. Last time she crashed at Piney's and came home, her father had been none the wiser. "Ugh…yes."

"And where the hell were you?" He demands, gruffly. Frank sits up and it is clear he is probably still drunk.

"My friend Donna's." She lies easily. Briefly she wonders if he'd even give two shits if she told him she stayed over a boys house. "I told you yesterday. Remember?" Another lie.

"Ugh…oh….yeah." He nods, then buries his head in his hands. "I must have forgot…started to worry."

"Really?" She asks in disbelief. She didn't know her father did that emotion. "Ugh…I'm sorry, dad."

"Not your fault, kiddo." He rises from the couch and reaches into his wallet. "Next time, write a note too." He hands her some cash. "So I don't forget." She nods, expectantly. "Take that and run to the grocery store. Get us something nice for dinner. We can do better than the Teller leftovers. You can take the Cutlass."

She laughs. "Dad, I'm only fifteen." She reminds him. But secretly she loves that he would let her drive his most prized possession.

"Shit." He smiles. "That's right." He ruffles her hair as though she is still his little girl. "Well, I didn't get much sleep last night…you know, being worried." She nods at his lie.

"Go get some sleep, dad." Tara smiles. "I'll make a nice meal for when you wake up." She watches as he takes off to his bedroom. She's familiar with this routine. When he wakes up, he'll be hell bent on getting out the door, not worrying about dinner. But God-forbid she doesn't cook it, he'll come home hungry and pissed she didn't make and leave him a plate. Stupid ass drunk!

"Where the hell have you been?" Gemma Teller demands as Jax comes into the kitchen.

"Slept at Op's." He takes an apple off the counter. "Why?"

"So you just don't call now?" She huffs. The irritation in her eyes confuses her son.

"Since when do I need to call?" He bites into the apple. "Besides, you knew we were together last night."

"Correction, you left wrapped around your latest sweet butt." His mother replies, hands on hips.

"Tara is not like that mom." Jax instantly defends.

And that is exactly what has Gemma worried. "She's not right for you, Jackson."

"Right for me?" He laughs at his mother's audacity. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't take that tone with your mother, boy." Clay's voice booms from the doorway.

Jax takes in his appearance. It is obvious he spent the night. He glares at him and then at his mother, "Really? You want to lecture me now?"

"I'm not lecturing, baby." Gemma starts to sooth. "I just want what is best for you and…."

He cuts her off immediately. "Best for me?" He looks to Clay before meeting his mother's eyes again, "Or best for you?"

"Jackson" She pleads but he is already out of the kitchen. She makes out the unmistakable sound of his bedroom door slamming. That didn't go according to plan at all, she huffs to herself.