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My fingers skimmed through the various materials of lace and silk to find what I was looking for. We had been clothes shopping down at the mall in Stockton for the past hour and a half and my patients was running thin on just about everything. I had picked up a few things for myself once all three of us went our separate ways about a half hour ago. I did tell Jax I was going to pick something up, something on the risky side so that's what I was doing now but I was awful at this type of stuff. I quickly picked out a black set of lace and started to walk up to the line to check out. Once my phone buzzed in my back pocket, I pulled it in front of me and read over the text from Jean.

'Still no word from Max, Tom is here fixing up the window. I'll keep you updated.'

I shook my head and pushed the phone back in place in the back pocket of my loose boyfriend styled denim jeans before I ran my fingers back through my straightened hair. Where the hell was Max? He wasn't with his boyfriend, I had called him to see what was going on earlier when I got back to Misha's but he hadn't heard from him since last night and apparently Max was supposed to stop by his place after closing up the studio. Things started to feel odd after that. It wasn't like Max to just skip out seeing his boyfriend, they were inseparable when he was home rather than on business meetings overseas.

"Miss are you all set?" I heard from one of the busty brunettes at the front of the store and I nodded.

"Sorry about that, it's been a long day" I told her as I put the hanger up on the counter and she started to pull the garments off and ring them up.

"Don't worry about it; we've all had those days. Will that be all?"

"Yeah I think that's it…" My eyes fixed on the black stockings behind her on the wall "Actually, those black stockings, I'll take a pair of those too" She nodded as she grabbed a pair and quickly rung those up as well before tossing everything into a pink small bag.

"That'll be 63.97" She saw my card in my hand "Credit or debit?"

"Credit, please" She nodded after punching a key on her touch screen before I slid the credit card and typed in my info and she handed me the receipt.

I had never bought this type of stuff, except for a Halloween party last year but I didn't show it off to anyone but Misha. I wasn't this type of girl back in Mississippi; if Freddy caught me in this clothing he would have shredded it with scissors and called me a few names, slut being one of them I bet. My phone buzzed in my back pocket again and I pulled it out as I spotted Misha coming out of a jewelry store with her mother.

'Police are at the studio again' I read and sighed deeply.

'If they need to talk to me give them my cell number, I'll be around the rest of the day' I quickly typed back

'Will do'

"I see a pink bag, someone is getting a present tonight" I rolled my eyes at Misha and looked over at Donna.

"Did you find the bracelet you were looking for?"

"Yes, but unfortunately I had to put in an order because they were out of my size" She said

"At least you found it that counts for something."

"Would you ladies like to go up to Marciano's? I could use a glass of wine, maybe some food" Donna asked as we made our way over to an escalator and I nodded, I could totally go for some wine right now.

On the second glass of wine our food arrived and we were in deep conversation with Donna's interest in my own fling with Jax. Apparently Misha had been telling her what was going on so she fired question after question but after a while I changed the subject when she asked about the sex.

"So did you hear your daughter might be moving back here?" I asked and Misha glared at me and I just batted my eyelashes at her with a wide smile.

"You are? Why you have a great life in Los Angeles" Donna directed her interest in something other than my sex life and finally I could enjoy my food as they spoke.

Once the check came, I took care of it and wrote down a nice tip for the annoying waitress who asked us how the food was about seven times. I had a nice buzz from the wine and I was happy that Jean wasn't texting me, just meaning there wasn't any news and no news sometimes was good news.

"So where do you think he is?" Misha asked later on in her bedroom while she changed her shirt for the thousandth time.

"Max?" I asked and she nodded "I have no idea, I wasn't worried earlier but now it's just not like him, ya know?"

"You have spent more time glued to that man's hip than I have and I've been working there for five years, if anyone knew where he'd be at this point it'd be you" She said while taking off the pink shirt and tossing it into the closet which made my eyes roll.

"The police said they already searched his condo, his boyfriends. Max doesn't have time for a double life so he's either at a club hopped up on coke or he's still in bed with another guy"

"I thought he stopped doing that"

"So did I until I found him snorting up a few weeks ago in the back room.

"Jeez" She whispered "No wonder why he's been super hyped lately, I just thought he was getting laid more often" I shook my head and rolled over on her bed to lie on my side to face her "What do you think about this shirt?" She asked. It was a very low cut light green v neck tank top.

"If you want Opie just staring at your fucking tits all night go for it" She smirked at my words

"Someone is still buzzed" She commented as she zipped up the black denim skirt she threw on.

"I'm not really; I guess hanging at the club house yesterday made me slip up on my language a bit"

"It suits you; you sound better when you're swearing anyways. You've got that whole southern badass thing going on tonight and Jax is going to die when he sees what's underneath that getup" I smirked and rolled onto my back before standing up from the bed "Even though you should show off your legs more…"

"You hate me wearing jeans" I commented "I thought these be tight enough even for you."

"Maybe" She whispered "You never wear skinny jeans so I'll be happy about that" She grabbed her purse and crossed the strap over her body "So I heard the guys have something going on tomorrow, we'll have to make tonight last."

"Believe me, I plan on it" I fixed my black top in the full length mirror in the corner of her room and turned around.

"You weren't serious about going back were you?" I looked over at her "I overheard you tell Jax that you'd go back if Max didn't show up tonight."

"I don't know" I whispered "I'm hoping not. I'm hoping he just turns up…"

"So do I" She whispered "Hey, if he doesn't show up and you need to go back I'll go with you."

"You don't have to do that, your mom still has that big dinner on Thursday with your cousins and stuff and I don't want you missing that"

"But it's Max"

"I know" I told her "Stay here alright? He'll probably turn up by Saturday and I'll drive back up here Friday night"

"That's a lot of driving"

"I know but it'll be worth it to have another night here"

"Using me to get to Jax already?"

"I can't help it, look at him" She laughed and pulled her phone from her bag and put it to her ear. After a quick conversation, she turned the screen off "That Op?"

"Yeah they'll be here soon."

I quickly walked back in my room and pulled on my light denim jacket and then grabbed my small clutch bag and pulled it up over my shoulder and checked my phone again. Still nothing. I had to stop worrying because there was nothing I could do about it until he showed up again.

"They're here!" Misha called as she passed my open door and walked down the steps while pulling on a small leather jacket. I had heard the motorcycles pull up but I was still stuck in my own thoughts to move from my spot on the edge of the bed. Taking in a deep breath, I brushed my hair behind my ear and got up to walk down the stairs after her. The front door was still open and she was wrapped in Opie's arms already before I could shut the door behind me. Jax was sitting against his bike, his fingers raking through his hair but when he spotted me he stood up and straightened out his white t shirt.

"No cut tonight?" I asked as I walked towards him and finally I was wrapped up in his embrace.

"No need for it darlin'" He kissed me, tilting my head back to have leverage when his tongue slid into my waiting mouth. His hands moved down my back until they tucked into my back pockets. "Damn your gorgeous" He whispered before pecking my lips once more.

"Mmm, I tried" I whispered "So what's the game plan tonight?" I asked while he handed me the helmet I was so accustomed to wearing now.

"It's a surprise" He said while hopping on his bike and I raised an eyebrow and placed a hand down on his shoulder and straddled the seat behind him.

"Is it too late to tell you I hate surprises?" I asked

"You'll like this one, you ready?" He asked and I nodded while sliding my hands over his sides and down over onto his belt buckle but they didn't stop there until I was touching something lower.

"Now I am" I whispered and he chuckled while letting out a deep breath "I'm kidding" I laughed and gripped his buckle now.

"So about that thing you were going to buy…" He mentioned after he turned the engine on.

"It's a surprise" I threw back at him as he pushed the kickstand up and started to pull away from the curb. At the corner in the town square, Opie and Misha turned a separate corner and I raised an eyebrow. Finally real alone time with him I thought, that would definitely get my mind off of worrying about my boss. As he turned another corner and the noise came to my ears I shot out alone time with him because he was taking me to that fun town place. We'd be alone in a sea of people.

"So is this your definition of a date?" I asked once I was on my feet, suddenly glad I wasn't in less clothing.

"Nah, the real fun begins when I get you back to my place" His words were a shot of electricity to my groin and I couldn't help but smirk and turn away to get into the grounds of the fair.

"You have a filthy mouth Jackson Teller" I said once he caught up to me and slid his arm over my shoulders to let the two men who had been eying me at the gate that I wasn't there alone.

"And what are you gonna do about it darlin'?" He teased against my ear while we walked up to the ticket booth.

"Put it to good use later" I said honestly and slipped from under his arm to get to the ticket booth first.

We use to have state fairs with rides and a few booth games back in Mississippi, the high school hosted them every year for some type of homecoming party. I never went to them in high school, only when I was a kid. It was a mother and daughter bonding moment, as my mother put each time. As I grew up and she grew sicker, we stopped going, then the year after she passed away. My dad hated this things, mostly because people would just point and talk about him in hushed whispers even though he knew what they'd be saying about him. The town drunk always got talked about behind closed doors.

As Jax paid for some tickets, I absentmindedly traced my finger over the pouch that held his knife on his thigh. It was good to see him without his cut and just being himself tonight instead of representing the club. He still commanded authority everywhere he went though, that much was clear from the various people looking over at him and then at me. Was this how it always was with him? Did he not even need the cut for people to know who he was and what he did? As I looked at Jax again once he got his change back and pushed the money into his black chained wallet, I wondered more about him. I didn't know much about him to be honest. Just the general things about him, like how he had a brother who died, how his dad died, when he died. I had met Gemma and Clay, who seemed nice enough but it was clear just by spending so little time with Clay that he was the boss and what he said got done no matter what.

"What are you thinkin' about so hard?" He asked while we walked and I shrugged

"I was just thinking that I don't know a whole lot about you, you know me pretty well now"

"I don't know everything" He mentioned and I nodded

"That's because some things are better left unsaid" I commented as his fingers slid into mine and he brought the back of my hand up to his mouth and kissed it gently.

"Why don't we forget about all of the shit going on in our lives and just have fun tonight" He stopped walking which made me stop to look at him, and with one clean nod of my head he started walking again. No consequences, I had to keep reminding myself of that.

The fun did start as he dragged me unwillingly to a very fast spinning ride and I closed my eyes the whole time we were up in the air. That wine was playing tricks on my stomach as I tried to get my bearings once we were finally on our feet. "You're going to kill me" I whispered to him once the bar against our stomachs was unlocked and I pushed it away instantly.

"You laughed, awe come on babe don't be like that" He chuckled at me as I brushed the hair out of my face. His arm snaked around my waist when I got a little ahead of him and he pulled me back "Alright, fine you pick the next one." I looked around and with narrowed eyes I smirked and pointed "The fun house?" He asked and I nodded "It's not that fun Abby."

"I don't care, we're going" I took his hand and we were off. After he gave the woman two tickets, we slowly made our way through different obstacles; like a sliding floor, as well as a spinning one and then we pushed our way through punching bags that were set up in one of the rooms. Once I was near the end of the punching bags, I slid off to the side in the dark room.

"Where in the hell are you?" I heard Jax say over the very annoying carnival music that was playing. Once I saw him, I shot my hand out and grabbed his wrist and pulled him into me against the wall. One of the bags fell back and hit him in his back pushing his body flush against mine. "Was this your plan all along?"

"I've always had this wild fantasy especially in high school, about being in one of these dark rooms and-"

He cut me off by pressing his lips down against mine, the bags swinging back and forth behind him because others were making their way to the exit door but they didn't see us because we were in the opposite corner. His fingers slid up the side of my tight black tank top to squeeze my side and then it moved further until his palm cupped over one of my breasts. His teeth nipped at my bottom lip gently as a smirked sprung up on his lips.

"Getting felt up in a fun house crossed off of your fantasy list?" He whispered and I nodded as I leaned up and kissed him again while his hand kneaded my breast in his hand. As my fingers traced down his white shirt and to his belt he pulled back "We should stop, don't want to spend the night in lock up" I nodded and took in a deep breath while my hand fell away from nearly unbuckling him.

"Okay" I whispered once I got my head screwed on straight and he took my hand and pulled me along with him to the next room, and then finally we were back out in the fresh air. It was easier to breathe out here. Sometimes when I was around him it was like this magnetic pull, I guess I should thank our actions last night for this happening, but there was just something about him. "I'm going to head to the ladies" I told him once I spotted the set up restroom tents and he nodded.

"Want something to eat?" He asked

"Ate earlier, just a drink?" He nodded as he kissed me quickly and I walked off and waited in the four woman line to use a stall. As I waited, I checked my phone for any messages and I only had one from an unknown number. I clicked it open and read the long message.

'crow nailed them together, nailing heaven and earth together- so man cried, but with God's voice. And God bled, but with man's blood."

"What the fuck" I mumbled to myself and typed 'wrong number weirdo.' Then I pressed send and tossed the phone back into my purse before using the toilet and washing my hands. When I left the restroom tent I spotted Jax eating something in his hand which looked like a hot dog and he had a drink in his other.

He handed me the medium sized cup and I took a sip through the straw to find that it was coca cola. I took another sip and leaned up and kissed his cheek while he swallowed the last bite of his food. "So was a guy winning a stuffed animal on your fantasy list too? Because I've been eyeing this one game…"

"Sounds perfect" I whispered while wrapping an arm around his lower back and his arm caught around the back of my neck while we walked towards a ball throwing game. He ended up wasting too much money but eventually he got the prize he wanted after many times of me telling him it was okay. But he was a man and he wanted to get the thing he wanted no matter what I said. The stuffed husky dog stayed wrapped in my arm for the rest of the night.