Chapter 53

Jax's Point of View

Music thumped through the speakers of the building as the crowd got going; whistling and cheering filled my ears as we all watched the fight taking place before us. Half Sac was on his third round and still going strong which surprised the shit outta me. I took a swig of the beer in my hand and scanned the crowd for Rowan for the thousandth time. She still hasn't showed up. I rested my elbows on my knees; one tapping nervously in rhythm with the energy in the building. I'd texted her the address hours ago.

The sick feeling in my stomach I've had all day didn't leave me even when I watched Kohn leave Charming.

The thought 'I could lose her' flashed brightly in my mind like the neon signs hanging around the building advertising beer and TM and other businesses sponsoring this bare knuckle brawl.

My eyes were closed but I felt someone sit down next to me on the bleacher I was sitting on and opened my eyes to see Deacon. He took a long pull from his beer and looked at me. Something in my gut told me he's been lying to me all day about Lowell's old man. He knew more then what Clay had told me at the hospital when we went to stop the ID on the bodies they pulled out of that hole. Clay said Lowell's old man was just a casualty of war. That the Mayans took him out. They went after everyone, friends, family, didn't matter who.

"Real shame about Lowell's old man." I said over the crowd.

Deacon nodded his head. "Yeah, it is."

"Still don't get how he got caught up in all of it. You know anything about it?" I straight out asked him. Deacon stalled answering me by taking another long swig from his beer and shrugged nonchalantly. "One of those wrong place, wrong time kinda things I guess, kid. It's all in the rearview now anyway. Didn't you talk to Clay about this?"

"Yeah, I did. Just doing a little fact checking I guess." I chuckled, taking a drink of my own beer. Deacon stood up and walked away at that, leaving me with an even bigger suspicion that what Clay had said to me was untrue.

I pulled my phone out and checked my messages; still nothing from Rowan. As I looked up I saw Half Sac round house his opponent and the crowd went nuts. On the other side of the ring I caught sight of blonde hair and my heart skipped a thousand beats. I stood up and couldn't help but smile a little when I saw that the blonde hair belonged to Rowan.

She looked absolutely beautiful in every way possible. I waited a second and stood there and watched her as she scanned the crowd taking in her surroundings. She didn't look like she felt out of place. I watched her facial expressions change as she took in the fight, the crowd, who made up the crowd, the music playing. None of it phased her or bothered her. She accepted people for who they were without a lot of judgement.

Unable to wait for her to find me I made my way through the crowd to her. I walked up behind her and couldn't help but take in the ripped up skinny jeans that made her ass look perfect.

I gently touched her arm which caused her to turn around. She gave me a soft smile as I let go of her arm. "You came." I smiled. This means she still thinks there's a chance for us. Thank fuck.

"I did." She replied, tucking some blonde hair behind her ear. God. I didn't think she could look any hotter, but then I noticed the Rolling Stones tee she was wearing and felt my dick stirring in my pants.

A rowdy guy walking past bumped into her back and caused Rowan to step forward into me and I found my hands on her hips instantly. Our eyes met and she held my gaze. Her pink lips looked so tempting, but I was sure where we stood and didn't want to do anything to screw this up. The bell rang indicating that the round was over and the crowd went wild once again.

"We should talk." Rowan suggested, then bit her lip. If she only knew how much this was all killing me.

I nodded and led her outside, keeping my hand on the small of her back the entire way.

The cool might air was a refreshing change. It was so stuffy inside and smelled like sweat and piss. I led Rowan over to the concession stands. We walked across the damp parking lot, a few rain drops hitting us along the way.

We stopped walking when we were far enough away from the noise to hear each other. Rowan turned to me, standing only a few inches away. Our fingers brushed against each other and sparks shot through my arm. A warm feeling crept across my chest as I linked my index finger with hers. Her eyes stared at our fingers. "Kohn's gone. I watched him leave town."

At that she looked at me. "You don't have to worry about that guy anymore." I reassured her. I could see the relief washing over her instantaneously. She stepped closer and latched onto my cut like she always does and rested her chin on my shoulder.

A mixture of something tropical and coconut filled my nose as I pressed my face against hers. "Thank you." She whispered so sincerely. Her voice so sweet and kind and genuine. Hell, I don't even care that I got stabbed anymore. "You're safe now. You're always safe with me." I murmured into her hair.

She leaned her head back to look at me and placed a hand on my cheek as our foreheads leaned together. "Listen, about Nevada. I know you're pissed and I honestly don't blame you because if the tables were turned I'd be fucking pissed too. But I need you to know something," I said, taking her hand and placing it on my erratically beating heart. "Everyone that I've ever cared about has bailed on me and left in some way or another. You've been the one bright light in my life since you came along; my one saving grace and I can't lose you."

I watched her take a steadying deep breath. "I don't want their to be secrets with us. I wish you would have just told me."

"Neither do I. No secrets. No games." I told her. This wasn't a game to me. Rowan wasn't just some conquest for the night, she was the real thing for me. It scared the hell out of me because I've been bit before with Tara.

"I may have overreacted just a little bit, but I think I was just pissed about Jerry destroying Abel's room and it was easier to take it out on you over that." She confessed, sliding her hand around my neck to play with my hair. I slipped my hands around her waist and pulled her snug against me not wanting us to be even an inch apart.

Stahl's comments about Boston and her motives for being with me swirled in the back of my mind and I had to know if there was any truth to either of those things. No secrets, right?

"Did you take an interest in me because you were scared of Jerry and knew I'd keep you safe. I need to know the truth." She shook her head confused by my sudden weird question.

"Of course not!" She answered firmly. "I didn't even want you to find out about him, which in retrospective was stupid, but I took an interest in you because I liked you… I like the kind of man you are." She explained, in an almost shy way that turned me on entirely.

"Are you thinking of leaving Charming to go to Boston?" I asked next, clutching her sides tighter fearing the answer I might head next. She shook her head and half laughed amused giving me a crazy look. "Where is this coming from? I turned down my internship in Boston when my mother got sick. They said they would hold my spot but that was months ago. I'm not even thinking about that at all right now. So no, I'm not going to Boston. Or anywhere."

This time I breathed a sigh of relief. I let that stupid ATF bitch get in my head. "Where did all that come from?" She questioned, playing with the back of my hair. "Just Stahl feeding me a bunch of shit." I shook my head and held her face in my hands.

A few more raindrops began to fall one right after the other. Pretty soon we'd be drenched, but I didn't mind at all. And look at Rowan standing in front of me she didn't care either. "Are we okay?" I asked, leaning in slightly wanting nothing more than to kiss her right now and for the rest of my life.

I gently brushed my lips against hers and felt a shudder run through her entire body. "I'm still royally pissed at you, but," I kissed her again, letting my mouth take her words. "I'm not going," our lips collided again, "anywhere."

We stood there in the dimly lit parking lot in front of the concession stands and made out. A slow steady amount of rain came down and instead of running for cover we both looked up at the dark sky and then at each other and laughed. I reached down and picked her up, relishing feeling her legs locked around my waist and kissed her until it was becoming impossible to not do more than just kiss her.

The crowd erupted from inside and Rowan glanced at the building. "Do you wanna go back inside and watch the fight." I set her feet down on the ground and kissed her neck. "I don't give a shit about that fight." I felt her hands slide down my chest taking in every dip and curve of my chest.

"Jesus Christ, kid! You owe the club thirty grand." I heard Chibbs holler from across the lot and knew our moment was about to be ruined. I sucked along her neck even more and heard a soft moan escape her lips. "Jax." She whispered and I found her lips again.

"Take me home." Rowan whispered up at me and I smirked and intertwined my hand with hers and led her towards the guys and my bike.

Half Sac was supposed to lose the last round tonight. And from the looks of it he didn't do as he was told. "Clay, I'm really sorry. I just lost it man." He pleaded following clay towards the van he'd drove here. "It's alright. We'll figure something else out. But hey you got the girl."

I smiled looking at Rowan and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, feeling her tuck herself into my side. "Sometimes the girls worth more than anything." I slapped Sac on the shoulder and glanced at Rowan again knowing she was worth it all.

"We're gonna need that 115k by Friday." Chibs said, looking a little drunk and a little despondent. Clay got in the van and rested his arm out the window.

"It's gonna be a busy week." Was all he said before he left. Ain't that the fucking truth.

Cherry walked over and hugged Sac as I kissed Rowan on the side of the head. "Oh god, all of you get out of here before I rape you." Tig said. I shot him a look.

Deacon slapped him in the back of the head. "You need an entire mental wing resurrected in your honor Tig." Rowan half laughed.

"It's a term of endearment." He joked, clearly wasted. I waved him off and led Rowan to my bike.

I was ready to take her home and to bed.