Chapter 36
Jax's Point of View
I grew up believing that there are times in life when you see something so beautiful that it leaves an impression on your soul. Like riding down the coast of California on my bike for the first time. Seeing my newborn son. And seeing the girl you've been fantasizing about having; finally lying next to you naked in your bed, where she belongs. Last night with Rowan was even better than I imagined it would be. My imagination didn't do her justice, at all. Seeing her come undone for me was one of the most beautiful sexy things I've ever witnessed in my entire life. The way we fit together; like a lock and a key was just… Fuck. No one will ever compare to her. Ever. Kissing her. Feeling her skin under my hands. Tasting her. I'll never recover from that.
I finished washing the grease off my hands from changing Rowan's tire in the kitchen sink and shut off the water and searched for a dish towel to dry my hands. This was my fucking house, but I still didn't know where anything was since I let Wendy live here. She moved everything around, probably when she was whacked out on crank. I rolled my eyes thinking about her and that whole situation. I found a dish towel in the drawer by the stove and dried my hands then tossed it on the counter by the sink.
I turned around and caught a glimpse of Rowan in my room down the hall; she was on her cell with someone talking. She had a pair of black cut off shorts on that hugged her hips perfectly. She was buttoning her shirt up and I caught sight of the peach colored lacy bra she had on underneath. I felt myself grip the counter I was leaning against tighter; my dick was already hard for her. Fuck. Everything in me wanted to go in there and take those clothes right back off.
She walked back into the bathroom, out of sight, and I felt a twinge of disappoint wash over me. I could watch her for hours. Not in a creepy way. I just liked watching her be. This fucking girl has the power to destroy me and she doesn't even know it. I told myself don't get attached, but it's to late. I'm so far gone there's no turning back now. If she were to leave me like Tara did I don't think I could ever come back from that. When Tara bailed on me it hurt like hell, but somehow I got over it. I made my peace with it a long time ago and washed my hands of her.
We never truly clicked together. Nor did I click with Wendy either. It seemed like I always found the women that were alright for the time being, but not for the long haul.
But Rowan? There's something about her that's clicked with me. I don't know if it's her honesty or her innocence, but I'm pulled to her.
If I lost her I think the word 'destroyed' would take on a whole new meaning.
The moment I ran into her that day at the diner and she looked at me, her eyes gutted me. I knew then I wanted to see those beautiful eyes of hers everyday; that I'd do anything to see those beautiful eyes, everyday.
"I'm sorry, I'm taking forever!" Rowan said flustered a bit, as she hobbled down the hallway attempting to pull on her black KEDS sort of falling over in the process.
I chuckled watching her and crossed my arms over my chest.
"You're fine, darling. Perfection takes time." I winked at her. She rolled her eyes and walked towards me. Her damp hair was braided down the left side of her face, only a few tendrils of blonde fell loosely around.
I swore if looked up perfection in the dictionary there would be a picture of her write next to it.
"Tires all changed." I told her reaching out to take her hand in mine. A strange look formed on her face for an instant and then it was gone. "Thank you for changing it."
"You can pay me later for my services rendered." I smirked, pulling her into my chest. I let go of her hand and gripped her hips. Her hands rested on my chest. Little zings of pleasure shot through my body like rockets.
"Hmm… Do you take ?" She questioned with a grin on her lips. I shook my head, slipping my hands underneath her shirt and up her back gently. Her back arched in response. "Visa? MasterCard?"
"Nope. I think you already know the only method of payment I'll accept." I whispered seductively into her ear, then nibbled on the bottom of her earlobe. She turned her head towards mine and our noses brushed against each other.
Thoughts of bending her over the kitchen table flooded my mind. I didn't want to do that though. I mean I did, but I didn't want to push her too far. I already felt like I sort of did last night. Rowan didn't peg me to be the kind of girl to do anything she didn't want to do though and I liked that about her. She was willing to push me out of my comfort zone and make me do things I wouldn't normally do. Like watch Finding Nemo… I can't believe I watched that damn movie about fish.
"Who were you on the phone with in there?" I asked trying to distract myself from the inappropriate thoughts running rampant in my head.
"I called my mom to check in. She sounded really groggy. I told her I was going with you somewhere and then I'd be by to see her before I have to leave and help your mom set up for that Taste of Charming thing at the high school."
"I didn't know you were helping her set up for that." I said, grabbing her hand letting our fingers intertwine together. I led us out of the house, stopping only to lock the door.
"I had a text from your mom this morning. She wants help setting up tables at her booth. So I told her I'd help.." We walked down the path towards the driveway towards my truck.
Rowan stopped to get her purse out of her car as I got in my truck. I stared at her destroyed tire that I leaned up against the garage. She said she ran over something, but the gash on the tire was too clean. Almost deliberate even. If she'd ran over something it would have left a curved gash or the damn tire would have blew out. There was no damage to the rim either or sidewall. There was something off about it and the way she reacted to it all that didn't sit well with me.
I got the feeling she was keeping something from me, but couldn't possibly figure out what it could be. I made a mental note to question her about it later.
Rowan climbed into the cab of my truck as I put the keys in the ignition. "You and my mom have gotten pretty chummy lately." I backed out of the driveway onto the street and headed towards Opie's house. It was only a fifteen minute ride from mine.
"Is that a problem? Is she going to spill any dirty secrets about you or tell me any embarrassing stories you don't want me to know?" Rowan glanced at me before reaching down and picking up the binder of CD's lying on the floorboard by her feet.
"No, it's good. And I'm an open book." My mom could be a bitch when she wanted to be. I knew that, hell the whole club knew that. She could probably make satan retreat from hell if she tried. I just didn't want her planting any bugs in Rowan's ear or starting any fires that I couldn't put out.
In other words I didn't want her to scare her off before I could see where this was gonna go between us.
"Gemma's not all bad." Rowan said after a moment, surprising the hell out of me.
I snorted. "You haven't known her long enough, give it time." I chuckled only to be slapped in the arm playfully.
"That's your mom! Watch it! I'll tell her you said that." She threatened, pointing her finger at me.
"You wouldn't dare." I glanced at her, reaching over and pinching her thigh. She squealed laughing and pushed my hand away.
We came to a red light giving me time to stare at her with a devilish smirk. I placed my hand on her thigh and noticed she clenched her legs together. I slid my hand up her thigh slowly and gently moving it towards the very heart of her. She lifted her foot up off the floor board nervously watching me.
Someone honked their horn behind me startling the both of us. "The lights green. Green means go."
I glanced both ways and gassed it, never taking my hand off of her thigh. I turned my attention back to her only for her to playfully turn my head so it was looking straight ahead. "Keep your eyes on the road, won't you?" She flashed a smile. "I like it when I get places without dying thank you very much."
I chuckled squeezing her leg gently. She reached over and turned on the radio. Some country song flitted through the speakers of the truck. I reached over to change it and felt her hand clamp around my wrist. "No, don't change it I love this song!" She looked at me wide eyed. "I love Florida Georgia Line!"
"It's country. I hate country music."
"Bite your tongue!"
I chuckled. "Then why did you have it on a country radio station?" She questioned. I put my hand back on her leg and felt her running her fingers over the rings on my fingers.
"Alright, fine, Nancy Drew you caught me. I like old country. The greats. Not this pop bullshit."
"Okay, I agree with you, Willie Nelson is and will always be one of my musical idols, but there's nothing wrong with a little bit of a newer sound. Just listen." She reached over and turned the volume up a little bit more.
I've been given, a piece of heaven
Yeah you're my angel, you're my angel tonight
I'm feeling her with a breath on the sky
Pretty girl I'm gonna make you fly
See I was burning but you saved my life
You're my angel, you're my angel tonight
As I listened to the song I kept stealing glances over at Rowan as I drove. She was singing along to the song leafing through the binder of CDs resting on her lap. The more I listened to the song and listened to her sweet voice as she sang along the more I thought she really was an angel. It's like the man upstairs specifically made her for me.
Yeah I'm never gonna let you down (i got you baby)
I just gotta tell you now (cause my heart can't wait girl)
You're my angel, you're my angel tonight
I was in complete awe watching her out of the corner of my eye. She sang along with the song and did the back up vocals as well. I chuckled at that. Her foot tapped with the beat and her body moved as much as it could sitting in the seat. I think this shitty band just became my favorite too.
Rowan's Point of View
We turned down a very familiar street and pulled into Opie's driveway. So it was Opie Jax was meeting the night of the warehouse incident. I didn't have it in me to tell him I'd followed him here that night. Jax shut off the truck and squeezed my thigh gently giving me a wink before he got out of the truck. I followed suit and met him at the front of the truck.
Opie lived in a nice rural suburban neighborhood, much like the one Jax lived in. The house was a brick rancher with black shutters. Two kids bikes were lying in the freshly mown grass in the front yard.
We walked up the driveway hand in hand towards the chain link fence and cut through to the back yard. A guy wearing a cut and beanie on his head walked out of the white shed up ahead carrying a box. This must be Opie? He was taller than Jax by a few inches and had a nice duck dynasty kind of bearded look going for him.
"Oh yeah, just like you to show up after all the works done." He grunted, sitting the box down next to a few others lining the shed. He turned and slapped Jax on the hand and gave me a small smile.
"What's up, man." Jax chuckled. "Nothing, busting my balls getting this shit outta here for you."
"Don't listen to him! He just started." A woman's voice called out from behind. I peered over my shoulder to see a petite brunette walking out onto the patio. She walked over towards the shed to join us.
"Guys this is Rowan. Rowan this is Opie and his wife Donna. Their kids are probably inside burning the house down.." Jax introduced us with a smirk.. I smiled and laughed, shaking their hands. Which was probably a bit formal, but that's just how I grew up. When I met someone new my mom always made me shake their hand. "It's really nice to meet you guys."
"She's polite. I like this one." Donna grinned, shocked. I guess she wasn't used to that. If she had to deal with the croweaters at the club I didn't blame her for being surprised.
"You must be what's had him tied up all morning." Opie said, glancing at Jax and then me. "I've heard a lot about you. It's good to finally put a face to the name."
Jax glared at him, rolling his eyes. "More like all night." He grinned. I felt heat rush to my cheeks and slapped him on the shoulder. He rubbed his arm like I really did some serious damage. Jax laughed and slipped his arm around my waist pulling me into his side.
Opie kept staring at me like he was lost in thought. "Is your last name Collins?" He questioned over his shoulder as he pushed the shed doors open a bit more revealing a maze of crap piled inside.
"Yeah, it is." I replied. Opie turned and smirked at me. "I knew I recognized your name when Jax told me about you. You and some other chick are legends at the high school."
"Wait, what?" Jax looked confused. I smiled and looked at the ground already knowing where Opie was going with this.
"It was right after we dropped out. There was some chick that went toe to toe with The Helter Skelter." Opie started to explain, I couldn't help but laugh at the nickname for my high school science teacher. Her name was Miss. Skelter, but everyone always called her The Helter Skelter because she was a rolling disaster; she was a very crotchety old woman who didn't take any nonsense from anyone. "Apparently these two chicks didn't want to dissect the live frogs in class so the let them all loose in the school. I think it was like, what, 150 frogs in total?"
"174 to be exact." I corrected him, hiding the smile on my face behind my hand. Jax was staring at me and shaking his head, a smile forming on his lips. "It was animal cruelty, okay? Lena and I just wanted to send The Helter Skelter a message and it got out of hand. She's the one that left the keys to her classroom lying on her desk. She was practically begging Lena and I to come back later that night and set them free."
"Hold up, you broke into the school to set a bunch of amphibians free?" Jax arched his eyebrow at me. "You've been keeping a rap sheet from me."
"Guilty." Jax and Opie started pulling things out of the shed and setting them in the yard so they could get to the things they needed to get to.
"The best part is they had to call animal control to get all the frogs out of the school, but there's still one that roams the halls. Or so the legend goes." Opie continued, talking over his shoulder.
"Did you get caught?" Donna asked with a chuckle. Amusement sparkled in her eyes. "No." I laughed. "They couldn't prove who did it."
"You do know breaking and entering is a crime, right?" Jax said, walking towards me. He placed his hands on my hips and gave me a pointed look. Right, like he's opposed to breaking and entering. No way. "I never said I was perfect." I grinned, as he leaned in an kissed me on the lips.
"Hey, least she made a stand for something with her incident. You two dumbasses cherry bombed Mr. Graves car and mailbox just because you were wasted and bored." Donna pointed out, coming to my defense, pointing at Jax and Opie. Opie grinned and shook his head laughing, "Good times."
"He was a dick." Jax muttered. Vivid images of a younger version of Jax and Opie flashed in my mind making me smile. The hell they must have raised… Jax was a few years older than me, so our paths never crossed in high school. Plus, he dropped out. I wish I would have known him back then.
The sun was beating down from the sky making it actually a bit warm. I was glad I decided to wear shorts today. A light sheen of sweat was forming on the back of my neck as I stood here. Jax removed his black t-shirt and slung it over my shoulder. It was a little wet from where he'd been sweating and smelled like pure Jax. "Hold that for me?" His chest was covered in a light sheen of sweat and I couldn't help but stare at him for a brief moment. "It's all wet and sweaty!"
"I thought you liked getting all wet and sweaty." He whispered in my ear as he walked past me to go help Opie lift the pack and play out of the shed. I grabbed his t-shirt and rolled it up and attempted to snap it at his butt quickly, but missed.
Donna and I both laughed. "You're gonna pay for that later!" Jax said over his shoulder as he and Opie set the pack and play down on the ground. They struggled a bit pulling the pack and play out and ended up knocking over a toolbox.
"How the hell did you get that thing in there?" Opie asked Donna.
"By myself!" She shrugged.
"This is really nice. You sure you guys wanna get rid of it?" Jax asked, inspecting the pack and play. It was blue and had tiny green elephants on it. It looked like it had hardly been used.
"Yeah, it's just collecting dust in there. You should get some good use out of it with Abel." Donna reassured him.
"How much?" Jax reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. Where the hell that money came from I had no clue.
"No, man. It's a gift." Opie said resting his hands on his knees. "Yeah, we can't take your money.." Donna started to say. Jax shook his head and slipped a $100 dollar bill in her hand when Opie went back into the shed. "I'm the one getting a deal here. Take it."
Donna smiled appreciatively and kissed him on the cheek. "Oh, I brought down two boxes of baby clothes from the attic that you can pick through. Rowan will you give me a hand?"
I nodded my head. "Sure."
I followed Donna into the house through the patio.
"Jax mentioned you're a nurse?" Donna mentioned over her shoulder as we walked through the kitchen.
"Planning on being a nurse. I'd love to work in the Emergency Room when it's all said and done. I'm not quite finished school yet. I had to take a break when my mom got sick." Donna paused in the living room and turned to look at me. "Cancer." I filled her in before she even had to ask.
"I'm so sorry. That is a terrible thing for someone to go through. My mom passed away a few years back from ovarian cancer." She gave me a weak smile. The pain of it all still evident on her face. I wondered if something like that would always hurt. I imagined it would. I wasn't prepared for that kind of pain.
"I'm sorry for you too."
"So an ER nurse? That's exciting. Jax definitely has a type doesn't he." She chuckled, then stopped herself. I put the pieces to that puzzle together. Tara was a doctor…. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way."
"No, no it's okay! After I finished getting my EMT certification I knew the ER was where I wanted to be, all the action happens there!" I laughed, not taking offense. "She really did a number on him didn't she?" I asked after a few moments, curious to learn a bit more about Jax and Tara.
We walked up a flight of stairs and stopped in front of two medium sized boxes sitting in the hallway. I heard laughter coming from one of the bedrooms down the hall.
"You have no idea." Donna replied, handing me one of the boxes. "That's all water under the bridge though. It takes a certain kind of woman to handle the club life and Tara, well, couldn't. She never wanted to know what went on but at the same time she wanted to stick her nose in everything. It just didn't work."
I nodded and followed her down the stairs after she picked up her box. "You seem like you really like Jax and he seems happy with you."
"I do." I answered. We rested the boxes on the counter in the kitchen and looked at each other.
"I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. You've got something with him. Make sure you hold on to it because those bitches at the club, they'll do anything they can to screw things up. I learned that the hard way."
"Yeah, I'm still learning the ropes." I said, thinking back to what Gemma said about them constantly being surrounded by women when on runs and at the club.
"You'll get the hang of it if he's worth it to you." Donna smiled, causing me to smile back at her…
Jax's Point of View
"You still going to Stockton to see Otto with Clay today?" Opie asked, as I lit a cigarette, pulling the smoke deep in my lungs.
I nodded my head. "Yeah, something about locking down some temporary protection for a friend of his on the inside who's getting out."
Opie nodded in understanding. He wasn't exactly fully back in the loop with things since he got out of Chino a while back. He did time for the club and it really put a strain on him and Donna while he was on the inside. Now that he's out he's struggling to find his place within the club again.
"So the girl?" Opie gestures towards the house, "You just screwing around or you see it going somewhere?" I took another drag off my cigarette.
"I don't know, man. I'm hoping it goes somewhere." I shrugged my shoulders and took another long pull off my cigarette. "Why?"
"Oh, no reason. I just think you've met your wife." He tossed me a cocky ass grin.
"Shut the fuck up."
"I'm serious. I'm dead fucking serious. I can tell from the way you're looking at her that she's gonna be your wife. You don't believe me that's fine." He shot at me. I flipped him the finger just as the girls came walking outside carrying two boxes. They were laughing about something. I was glad they were hitting it off. I already figured they would; Donna was a sweet girl that loved Opie. She was nothing like those bitches at the club. Just like Rowan.
The thought of Rowan being my wife actually didn't sound that bad. Even though we were nowhere near that. I actually liked the idea of it though not that I'd let Opie know that though.
"You boys out here talking about us?" Donna grinned as she sidled up next to Opie. He took the box from her and I took the box from Rowan.
"You know it." Opie grinned.
"We better get this shit loaded. I'll see you guys at the fundraiser thing, right?"
"That taste of Charming thing?" Donna questioned, looking at Opie a bit confused. Rowan swatted a bug off her leg causing her arm to brush against mine.
"Yeah, it's not a club thing, Donna." Ope told her. Ever since Ope went to Chino Donna hasn't looked at the club the same. I guess five years apart really isn't good on a marriage. I felt for Ope, I really did. He didn't even deserve to go to jail. It was that asshat Kyle's fault he'd even got caught that night because the asshole pussied out and bailed on being Opes get away driver.
"I'm doing the fireworks." He explained to her some more. "Oh, well we'll see you guys there then." She replied curtly, an uneasy look swam across her face.
Ope helped Rowan and I get the stuff loaded in the back of the truck and we headed back to the house to drop it off.
A/N: Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews! You guys are to sweet! Thank you for answering all my questions too! :)