Jax stayed at the party for two beers and then went home to Tara and Abel. The guys gave him a hard time, but the truth was that the parties were pretty much all the same. His days of passing out on the pool table with some random woman were long behind him.

Instead, he was spending his Friday on the couch with Tara, watching a movie. A blissful domestic scene until his cell phone started to ring. He felt Tara stiffen next to him, ready to object against whatever was about to interrupt their time together.

"It can't be the porn hotline," she said as she rolled her eyes.

Jax picked up the phone, but didn't recognize the number. He shook his head and picked up the call.

"Yeah?"

"Um, Jax? This is Julie.....um, Julie Taylor, Tim's girlfriend?"

"I know who you are, Pixie," said Jax with a laugh as he disentangled himself from Tara. He held up a hand to let her know that he had to take the call, then went back to the bedroom.

"Right, well, do you know where Tim is?"

"He had to make a delivery for us up in Oakland. I don't know where he went after that. Maybe to the party."

"The party?"

"You know, at the clubhouse. I left early. He wasn't there when I left, but he could be there now. Do you want me to call one of the guys there and check for you?"

"No, no. That's fine. I can handle this myself. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

They exchanged good-byes, then Jax called Bobby.

"Hey, Bobby. Is Abecrombie there?"

"Yeah, he got here about an hour ago."

"And what's he doing?"

"Well, he was playing pool, but now he's hitting on some girl."

"Thanks, Bobby." Jax hung up the phone and swore softly to himself. If Julie Taylor was on her way over the clubhouse, there could be trouble. No, it wasn't a matter of if. When Julie arrived, there would be trouble.

Jax stood up and slipped the phone in his pocket. He turned and saw Tara leaning in the doorway, her arms crossed.

"Sorry, Tara. I have to go to the clubhouse and take care of something."

"Can't one of the guys take care of it?"

He shook his head.

"It's that girl, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Julie. You're going because you want to see Julie."

"Tara, don't be ridiculous," said Jax, putting a reassuring hand on Tara's arm as he tried to get past her. She shrugged him off and stepped away. He sighed and shook his head, then walked into the kitchen with Tara trailing behind him.

"Jax, this is a problem. I have eyes, you know, I can see what's going on. I see the way you look at her and it bothers me, it bothers me a lot."

"She's a prospect's girlfriend," said Jax, as he put on his cut and picked up his keys.

"So?" asked Tara. It was a challenge that asked way more than he was prepared to deal with right then.

"Tara, I have to go. We'll talk about this later."

"No, Jax, we talk about this now or we don't talk about it at all."

"I have to go now. We're going to have to talk about this later." He kept his voice level and steady.

"You know what Jax? Just go do whatever you want. You always do anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?"He heard the defensiveness in his voice, the sharpening of the tone, but he didn't care. Tara was pushing his buttons.

"You know exactly what it means," she snapped as she stalked out of the room.

Jax took a few angry steps before he realized that she was purposely starting a fight to get him to stay. She knew how he felt when she walked away from him like that. He stormed left the house, slamming the door behind him.

He got on his bike and sped over to the clubhouse, relieved when he didn't see Julie's car in the parking lot. Jax parked and went inside, looking around. He quickly spotted Tim, leaning over and whispering in some girl's ear. She laughed and smiled up at him, causing him to lean in closer.

Jax was on his way over to Tim when Tig stepped in front of him.

"Whatcha doin', Jax?"

"Get out of my way."

"Let the guy have some fun."

"Julie's going to be here any minute."

"Really? Even better," said Tig with a sly smile. "Juice, you got the video camera? This here will be a good fight. That girl's feisty."

Jax tried to push past. Tig stepped up and put a hand on Jax's shoulder, holding him in place.

"Get your hands off me," said Jax in a low, serious tone.

Tig just smirked, daring him to do something. Jax pulled back his fist but Bobby caught him and dragged him back, nodding over to the door.

Julie had just arrived and her eyes swept over the room hesitantly until she saw Tim. She pressed her mouth into a thin, grim line as her cheeks flushed. She walked over to the nearest table, picked up an empty beer bottle and threw it. The bottle hit Tim square in the back before it dropped to the floor and shattered.

"What the hell's wrong with you guys," said Tim as he turned around angrily. When he saw Julie standing there with another bottle in her hand, guilt and regret washed over his face.

"It's not what you think."

"No, Tim. This time, it's exactly what I think," said Julie.

"Jules-"

"Don't you Jules me."

"Would you at least just give me one chance to explain?"

"I'm done giving you chances and I'm done listening to explanations. I'm done, Tim. We're done."

Tim took a step toward and she threw the second bottle, which smashed on the wall behind him, just above and to the side of his head.

Tig gave a low whistle of appreciation. "Where'd you learn to throw like that?"

Julie glared at him then stormed out of the clubhouse. Tim tried to stumble after her, but Jax stepped in front of him.

"You really think you can make it better right now?" asked Jax.

Tim looked down and half-shrugged. "I have to go after her."

"Let her calm down. And you should sober up. You're in no condition to drive."

"I don't want her driving angry all the way back to Lodi," mumbled Tim, running a hand through his hair.

"I'll follow her, make sure she gets home okay," said Jax.

Tim nodded. "Thank you."

Jax slapped Tim on the arm and left. Julie's car was gone, but Jax had a good idea of the route she was most likely to take. Four blocks later, he caught up with her car. He eased back, hoping she wouldn't notice him following. Just before the highway, she abruptly pulled over and got out of the car.

"Why are you following me, Tim?" asked Julie angrily as she approached the bike.

As Jax dropped his kickstand and hopped off his bike, he pulled his helmet off.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were Tim," said Julie.

"Obviously." Jax kept his tone light and offered a friendly smile, which Julie nervously returned. "You want to talk about it?"

She shrugged and even in the dim light, Jax could see her eyes filling up with tears. She looked up, blinking hard, like she was determined not to cry in front of him.

Jax stepped up and put his arms around her. She was stiff at first, uncertain, but the she relaxed into him. As soon as he felt her pulling away, he let go. But he couldn't help thinking that it felt good to hold her.

Julie leaned against the back of her car and sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions and I should've given him a chance to explain."

"Tig put him up to hitting on that girl," said Jax.

She let out a short, bitter laugh. "So it was about the club then? It's always about the club. He missed my dance performance today. We haven't been on a date in about a month. All because of the club."

"It gets better. The club thing, it's always there, it's always important, but he's getting a lot of shit right now and has no leeway. It's part of being a prospect. But it really does get better.

"Yeah? And if I asked Tara, would she tell me the same thing?" ask Julie, looking over at him skeptically.

He smiled. Busted. "Maybe not. She.....we've hit a rough patch lately, so her thinking's probably biased right now."

"I can drive home by myself, Jax."

He shook his head. "I said I'd make sure you got home safely and that's what I'm going to do."

Julie protested for a few minutes, but finally backed down. She gave him a weak smile and got back in her car.

Jax pulled into the parking lot of Julie's apartment building and turned his bike around. She parked the car, and then came to stand next to him.

"So, um, do you want to come up for a drink or something?" she asked, biting her lip.

He wondered what "or something" could mean, but shook his head slowly.

"OK, thanks for following me home. That was really nice of you but I'm sorry for wasting your time and for causing a scene." Julie spoke quickly, like she was trying to build a wall of words between them in record time.

"It's fine. Really."

"Thank you," she said. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. He let his hands rest on her waist. He tilted his head toward her, his lips so close to hers that they were breathing the same air. He listened to her sharp intake of breath.

She slipped a hand up his chest to the back of his neck, but then stopped. Jax knew that he could kiss her but he couldn't stop himself from debating whether he should.

They were frozen there, on the edge of something that Jax knew he wouldn't be able to take back. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but then Julie took half a step back, the expression on her face strained and unreadable.

"Well, I'm sure Tara's waiting for you. Thanks again," she said, looking down as she turned her keys over in her hand.

"Yeah, no problem. Any time. I'll let Tim know you got home okay."

Jax couldn't mistake the unhappiness on her face at the mention of his name.

"Or not, Pixie, it's up to you."

"I don't care," she said in a voice that was equal parts wistful and defeated. It was enough to make him get off his bike and follow her upstairs.

"Go on upstairs and try to get some sleep," he said.

She gave him a half-hearted wave and walked over to the stairs.

"Hey," he called, causing her to turn around.

"Yeah?" she asked, one hand on the railing.

"Where did you learn to throw like that?"

"My dad's a football coach," she said with a shrug and a smile.

He watched her climb the stairs to the second floor. She opened the second door to the left of the stairwell and walked into the apartment. After a momentary pause, the front window lit up. Julie looked down through the glass into the darkness.

Jax wasn't sure if she could see him, but he waved anyway before driving away.