I own nothing you recognize. Original characters and storylines are my own.
Chapter Ten
"I'm sorry; all of our copies of Twilight are gone at the moment. I could put you on the waiting list if you'd like." I looked over at the teenager and she smiled.
"Please, I've been dying to read it but my Mom and Dad won't let me get it. They think I'm too young for the violence in it." She rolled her eyes and I smiled.
"Alright, can I see your library card?" I asked and she handed it to me to scan. "Ok Ms. Oswald, you are now number twenty on the list. I'm sorry I can't move you up farther."
"That's fine, thank you so much. Are there any books you could recommend for me to read while I wait for it?" She was such a sweet girl, so nice and a good conversationalist.
"Umm, we have several copies of Vamps by Nancy Collins about a vampire prep school, I hear that one's good. There's the Morganville Vampire series by Rachel Caine, it says here that we have the first three books in the series available. I'd highly recommend that series I have read it and it's very good." I was trying to get her interested because the books really were good.
"Ok, if you like them I'm sure they're good." She smiled and I grinned back at her
"Here are the call numbers; it should be pretty easy to find them." She took the numbers and practically ran back to the books. While I was waiting for her I looked up more read alikes for my patrons. Since the wait list for Twilight was so long I figured it would be a good idea to make a list so that the kids could continue to read while they waited.
"Hey sexy." I looked up quickly from my computer and saw Juice standing where Tristen had just vacated. I rolled my eyes before I answered.
"I'm at work; I can't exactly hook up with you right now." I whispered as he gave me a smirk.
"You didn't say that when we went into the stacks last week. Anyway, Gemma's having a family dinner tomorrow night and I want you to be my date. Not as an Old Lady or girlfriend. Just come, have a good time and I promise no pressure, no strings." He held his palms up and I took a deep breath.
"If I agree this is not a date, ok? You and I are just fuck buddies." I looked hard at him and he had that damn smile on his face.
"If you say so sweetheart. I'll let Gemma know you're coming. Want me to come over later?" His voice dropped an octave and I felt my heart speed up.
"You know I do." I said softly and he started to whistle as he walked out the door. What the fuck was I doing?
"Hey, Ms. Campbell I'm ready to check out." I shook myself and gave a smile to Tristen.
"Ok Ms. Oswald, let's get this done." I scanned her books and gave her a new bookmark before she went out the door. Once she was out I moved to the back and hit my head against the wall, "stupid, stupid, stupid."
I kept up the mantra as I hit my head against the wall. When I woke up with the tattoo I was so sure I'd never forgive him. For the first week I fumed and fussed and cleared almost every reminder I had of him out of my house, and then I changed my locks and became a hermit again. It hurt my heart to undress and see the tattoo under my breast but I had to deal with it, I had to rub ointment on it and make sure it healed. It made me sick but despite that I wouldn't get rid of it. It became a part of me even as I tried to put distance between myself and the man who gave it to me. I started gradually going back to my other life. I had dinners with Gemma, went to Lake Tahoe to see Bobby perform, watched movies with Kip and various Sons would stop to talk to me when I was grocery shopping or heading to the Post Office. Then there was the Koz issue…yeah Juice didn't know the whole scope of that and if Kozik kept his mouth shut he never would.
"Hey chickie!" I jumped and looked over to see Morgan, my coworker and only non-SAMCRO affiliated friend came to the back.
"Is it 4:30 already?" I asked as I straightened my shirt and turned to her.
"Yep, 4:45 actually. I saw the biker boys riding in formation down the street, something up?" Morgan was voracious when it came to information about SAMCRO. She wasn't affiliated with the club but she would have given her soul to be. She tended to live vicariously through me.
"I wouldn't know, I've never exactly been part of the inner sanctum." She walked with me to the office where I grabbed my stuff and got ready to go.
"Oh did you hear about the explosion yesterday?" She was acting like an overgrown puppy and I had to smile.
"Babe, this is a small town. Of course I heard about the explosion." I also knew it had something to do with SAMCRO based on the speed in which Juice had left my bed the night before. We didn't even get past foreplay when he got the call.
"There's a rumor going around that it was a Sons of Anarchy business and the Nords did it." The Nord connection was a new one. Uncle Ernest had been quiet and I figured it was only a matter of time before he showed his face around. Clay had been so kind to inform me about just how big of an asshat my uncle was and that he'd been trying to take out the Sons for years.
"I don't know a thing about that so don't ask." I spoke up before the question could leave her lips and she pouted.
"You're dating a Son, doesn't he tell you anything?" She asked and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
"I'm not dating him anymore; we just have an…understanding. I take care of his needs and he takes care of mine. Simple, uncomplicated." She rolled her eyes at me and gave me a smirk.
"Do you have an understanding with anyone else? Does he? You're dating. Something went down between you two and you were miserable for a month but the last two weeks you've been happy. You're back together with the biker boy and we all know it." She gave me a triumphant grin and I shook my head.
"No I'm not, now I have to go. Morgan, please stop perpetuating the rumor about the explosion. I don't want it getting back to Gemma, she's killed for less." Morgan laughed, not understanding just how serious I was. I walked out of the library and made a call. Morgan had me thinking and I needed a sounding board.
"Now's not a good time baby." Gemma said and I could hear strain in her voice.
"What's up Gem?" I was worried, it took a lot to shake up Gemma.
"The junkie whore had to be brought in. An emergency C-Section." I could hear the rage in her voice.
"The baby ok?"If anything happened to the baby it would devastate Jax.
"He's got a tear in his belly and the family flaw. He's got my blood, too strong to die." I smiled and hoped she was right.
"Want me to come to the hospital?" My only plans for the night were hooking up with Juice so I could take some time to be there for Gemma.
"Not right now, too many people here already. I'll call you later, Daria. We can talk about the reason you called me."
"Don't worry about it Gem, I think I've got a grasp on what I should do." I smiled as I pulled into my driveway. I did have a grasp, now all I needed to do was talk to Juice.
Later that night, later than I should have been up, Juice came walking into my house. I'd given him keys to the new lock for reasons just like that... After I got off the phone with Gemma I was restless, I'd cleaned my house, made stew and randomly started and stopped movies Juice had downloaded. He'd gone noncom so I couldn't talk to him. I had a whole script in my head, what I was going to say but it left my head when I saw him in his hoodie and cut.
"Hey babe, I thought I'd get to wake you. What's up?" He shrugged out of his cut and put it on the chair just inside my bedroom where it always went. I walked behind him and pulled his hand until he sat beside me on the bed and pulled off his hoodie and t-shirt in one movement. If he wasn't a Son and a mechanic he could have made a good living as a stripper, his moves were that good.
"I've been thinking a lot today and some things have been brought to my attention. We need to talk about just what we are." He gave me a smirking smile and I huffed.
"You know what I think. I love you, I adore you. You're mine baby, nothing's changed on that front." He moved his fingers under my hairline and massaged my neck, he was playing dirty.
"Maybe we are a we, always have been I was just so angry, upset, disgusted with you that it blinded me to the fact that I love you. Did you hear about Jax's son?" He nodded and I continued, " He may not even get a chance to live and here I am not taking everything life has offered me. You make me happy, you're the only person who can actually satisfy me and you want me. What the fuck am I doing? You're worth more to me than just a fuck buddy. I love you Juice, I want to be with you."
He didn't say a word and simply brought his mouth to mine. I smiled and he pulled away still gripping my neck.
"Why don't we start fresh? Tomorrow night will be our first date. I'll earn the right to claim that mark on you. Kiss" he kissed me, "by kiss and touch by touch."
"Start claiming now." He smiled and moved over me, undoing my robe and laying claim to what we both knew was his.
Author's Note: Ok, there will most likely be break in all my stories since I'm traveling over the holidays but I'll try my darndest to get my stories worked on. I just wanted to leave the story on a relatively happy note before I took my break. As always thank you all for reading and reviewing.