12 Rounds

by barefootblonde

Fresh out of prison and with nothing left to lose, Jax joins the underground fight scene in Reno to make some fast cash while the club is there helping the IRA smooth over a deal with the Russian bratva. As he spends more time in Reno, and debates his future with the club, he gravitates to a pretty casino lounge performer, who's more entangled with the bratva than he knows.

3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Each house Jax passed by was more of the same - some yards were lined with trees, others had a literal picket fence. They were all clean. All well-kept and cared for. Kids were playing basketball in their driveways and kicking soccer balls in their perfectly trimmed, emerald green yards. The fucking sun was shining, and a light breeze swept around his face.

If he had to pick anywhere for Ope's family to land, it would probably be some place like this.

Modesto was normal.

Modesto was safe.

And Modesto wasn't Charming.

And as he pulled his bike into the driveway, that old familiar shame crept across his chest. He should've made this drive weeks ago, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Just couldn't muster up the courage to look her in the eye. She wasn't going to be happy to see him, and he deserved that. Hell, he'd be lucky if she didn't smash something over his head and then call the cops on him. He'd deserve that too.

But he owed it to them for what the club had put their family through - what they lost could never be replaced, but he had to do something. If things had been different, he knew Ope would've done the same for him.

So, with that in mind, Jax swallowed down that shame and that guilt, and rang the doorbell. This was the best he could do, and all he had to give her.

After a few moments, the door swung open, with his best friend's widow standing in the doorway. Her eyes widened with shock - obviously, he'd figured calling ahead of time would just make this worse for everyone - but Donna held her ground, gripping the doorknob so tightly her knuckles turned white.

Knowing he needed to make the first move here, Jax pressed a tight smile to his face and waved to her through the screen door.

"Hey, Don," he murmured hoarsely. "Can I come in?"

She stared him down, frozen at the front door, and then her lips curled into a slight snarl. "No, Jax. You can't come in."

He nodded immediately. If he was her, he wouldn't want him in the house either. He deserved that too.

"Okay," Jax nodded again, and he tried to smile again too but it hurt. "Look, Don -"

"Jax, you should leave. You really shouldn't be here right now."

He held up a hand, suddenly feeling a little desperate for her to hear him out. That wasn't fair to her either - she didn't owe him anything, especially not any amount of her time when his club had taken away what she was supposed to have with her husband and the father of her children.

"Hey, I know. I'm not tryin' to cause trouble or anything, and I know you don't want me here. I just needed to see you. Make sure you and the kids were doin' alright."

Donna's dark eyebrows lifted exasperatedly. "You wanted to make sure we were doing alright? How do you think we're doing?"

Jax swallowed hard, nodding again as he shoved his hands in his front pockets. Of course they weren't okay. Nothing was ever going to be okay or the same ever again. When a painfully familiar little voice called out to his mom from inside the house, Donna's eyes widened and she leaned back inside.

"Go find your sister, Kenny. I'll be there in a minute," Donna yelled back, and then she opened the screen door so she could step out onto the porch, shutting the front door behind her to block him from her children's view.

As much as he'd love to see Ellie and Kenny right now, Donna had every right to keep him and what he represented as far away from her kids as humanly possible. But he wasn't here to make anything harder or more painful for her. So, with that in mind, he reached inside the pocket of his hoodie for the white envelope he'd come here to give her.

The second she saw what he was holding out to her, Donna shook her head furiously as she batted his hand away.

"Jax, you should go."

"I know," he murmured, swallowing hard at the way her face twisted in justified anger. "I just wanted to -"

"I don't want your blood money," Donna growled. She shoved that envelope away one more time just to reiterate her point. "You need to leave. I'm not gonna tell you again."

Jax's hands flew up in the air, envelope and all. "It's not blood money. And it's not from the club either. I've been fightin' again since I got out and this is what I've gotten from those fights. It's my money, and I'm givin' it to you and the kids."

"Jax, I -"

He held up another hand as he gingerly pressed that envelope into her hands with the other. "I know I'm the last person you wanna see right now. But there's about 10K in that envelope, Don. Use it for whatever you need. Bills, mortgage, groceries - just take it, okay?"

Her chest was heaving now as she stared at that envelope in her hands. For a second there, Jax thought she might just shove the whole thing back in his face. Or take the cash out and rip it all up right in front of him. Instead, she flipped the top to peek inside, almost as if she didn't quite believe him.

Finally, her gaze shifted back to him. Her eyes were hard and narrowed, but she hadn't called the cops on him. At least not yet, so that was something.

"I can pay my bills and buy my groceries on my own."

He nodded tightly, shoving his hands deep inside his front pockets now because he just didn't know what else to do. "I know you can. And this house… this neighborhood, it all looks real nice. You're doin' a great job and you've got the kids set up here really well. I just wanna help. That's it."

Donna glanced down at the stack of cash in her hands, her jaw clenched tight. "I understand what you're trying to do, Jax. I get why you feel like you need to show up here, acting like all this is your fault when we both know it's not. I know you never would've hurt him. I know that. And I also know you had nothing to do with what happened to him. But I can't have my children around anyone who has anything to do with the club, and that includes you."

If she'd meant to absolve him of his sins and set him free from his guilt, she was going to have to try a lot harder than that. There was nothing anyone could say or do that would ever relieve that gaping hole in his heart and in his chest. It would never heal. Never cauterize.

"I get that, Don," he murmured. "I really do. Just take the money. That's all I have to give you. Just… just take it. Please?"

She stared him down, challenging him to push her one more time. "And if I take it, will you keep coming back with more envelopes like this?"

"I'd like to. If you'll let me," he swallowed hard, daring a step closer to her, which just made her backpedal toward the front door. His hands flew up in the air again, and he immediately shuffled away a few feet to put some more space between them on her porch.

Donna nodded tightly. "That's what I thought. I know you just want to help, and there's a part of me that really does appreciate that, but you can't come back here, Jax. Not with money, not to see the kids, not to check on us - not for anything. Leave me and my family alone."

He rubbed a hand over his mouth as he weighed his options. There were plenty of ways he could get her the money without having to bother her and the kids by showing up at the house. And as if she read his mind, she crossed her arms over her chest with narrowed eyes.

"If you show up at my house again, Jax, if you find another way to keep giving me money, I will call the cops. And by call the cops, I mean I'll call that fed Clay thought Ope was talking to and I'll actually talk. I'll tell her everything I know, starting with what I know about how my husband died."

"Don -"

"I know that bullshit story I got is just that - bullshit. Ope wasn't killed in some random drive-by. There was nothing random about it. Don't stand there and tell me I'm wrong. Don't fucking do that to me, Jax."

All he could do was hold up his hands. Donna wasn't wrong, and he wasn't going to stand there and lie to her face. She'd been lied to by Gemma and the rest of the club so many times he'd lost count - who could blame Donna for wanting to douse them all in gasoline and light a match? If he was a stronger man, maybe he'd try to do the same.

But there was a part of him, deep down, that knew his passivity wasn't the same as weakness. And his passivity could easily be mistaken for acceptance too. He didn't accept it, but what was he supposed to do? Put a bullet in his president's head and then what? Wait for Clay's sergeant at arms to come for him, if Tig would even let him get close enough to pull the trigger? In the grand scheme of things, none of that would really matter because the club was what it was, and it was never going to change.

"Donna, I didn't come here to feed you a line of bullshit, okay? I just wanna help you. And if you don't wanna use it for bills or anything like that, then set it aside for the kids. Save it for them when they need it. This isn't enough. It's just not - but it's all I have to give you."

She blew out an exasperated breath and tightened her grip on that envelope in her hand. "If I take this money this one time, you have to promise me you won't come back."

Jax shifted uneasily on the concrete underneath his feet. That wasn't what he wanted, and 10K wasn't anywhere near enough to even scratch the surface of what Ope's family deserved. But it looked like Donna wasn't going to give him any other choice.

"Alright," he sighed with a heavy nod. "Alright, Don. I won't come back, I promise."

"Good."

She crossed her arms over her chest again, taking a quick inventory of him from his white sneakers and black sweatshirt all the way up to his buzzed hair.

"You don't look good, Jax."

He huffed out a laugh, gesturing to his face, which was still a little black and blue from the fight this past weekend in Reno. "I told ya - I've been in the ring again. This is just -"

"No, that's not what I meant," she shook her head tersely. "You don't look good. Have you slept since you got out? Eaten?"

All he could really do was shrug and shove his hands even deeper in his pockets.

"How's Wendy doing? You've got a baby now, right?"

That old familiar heartache sliced through him again, twisting and churning until it spread all the way up to his face. This pain would never go away - he'd lost too much for it to ever feel better. And of course Donna didn't know. They'd been lucky to stay out of handcuffs long enough to make it to Ope's funeral, even though they hadn't exactly been welcome there. That was the last time he'd seen Donna. And at that time, Wendy had still been pregnant.

Wendy had still been alive too.

"They're dead."

He winced on impact - that was the first time he'd said that out loud in… he didn't know how long. Maybe since it'd happened almost a year ago, when Gemma had shown up in Stockton to give him the news in person. But saying the words out loud made them true. Saying the words out loud also forced him to feel it, even if it was just for a moment.

Donna's eyes widened in shock, and her lips parted but whatever she was about to say must've died in her throat because she just ran a hand over her eyes instead. Finally, she took a hesitant step closer to him and rested a hand on his arm.

"She OD'd when I was inside," he explained in a hoarse voice. It was a wonder his voice worked at all. "Took the kid with her."

"Jax, I didn't -"

"I know," he flashed her a pained smile. "How could you have known? And you don't have to say anything. I didn't come here for a pity party, and I didn't come here to give you some sob story or make any kind of excuses."

"I know you didn't. And for what's it worth, I really am sorry about Wendy and the baby."

He just lifted a shoulder, swallowing hard and glancing down at his feet. "Yeah, well, they're better off, aren't they? You know that just as well as I do."

Donna's head tilted to the side in sympathy, but that wasn't what he wanted either. He didn't deserve her sympathy or her condolences. Wendy had never been anything to him but an easy hook-up and a good time, and because of that, he'd never treated her the way he should've, even after he found out one of those easy hook-ups might've resulted in a kid. He'd reaped what he'd sowed, and he'd gotten exactly what he deserved.

"Look, Jax," she folded her arms across her chest now, her eyes hardening just a touch. "We've known each other too long to play games. I get that you're going through something right now, and I really am sorry about that. You were the best friend Ope ever had - and I understand why you felt like you needed to come by. I know you didn't pull that trigger, but you're still part of the club. And the club put him where he is now."

Jax swallowed hard, pushing through the stinging in his eyes as he stumbled backward. "I'm sorry, Don. I'm sorry for everything."

She lifted her chin, holding her head high like the strong old lady she'd always been, and put her hand on the doorknob. Donna had left this all behind her over a year ago, and who was he to show up, after getting out of prison, no less, and try to insert himself into her family's new life? Even if it was just to give them money, he'd had no business asking Juice to track them down and he'd definitely crossed the line when he rang the doorbell just now.

Donna was entitled to this new life. She was well within her rights to want absolutely nothing to do with the club and with him. And yet, in spite of all that, she still managed to pull herself together and send him a tiny smile.

"It's not your fault, Jax. Go home, and don't come back."

Home.

That didn't feel right either. Charming was a place he could barely stomach now.

"I really am sorry," he told her with a sad smile lifting his lips. "If I could trade places with him, I would."

Donna's chest heaved again, but he also hadn't done anything to earn another word. She was right. The club was responsible for Opie's murder, and that meant he was responsible too.

That trailed after him all the way back to Charming, through T-M's lot, and right into his dorm. He'd passed the cemetery on his way back into town but still couldn't bring himself to step foot in there. There were two new bodies buried in that cemetery since the last time he'd been there, and he just couldn't do it. Couldn't bring himself to see it. Gemma had taken care of all the arrangements, dealt with the funeral shit and everything else that went along with it. He'd only heard about it secondhand and after the fact. At least he'd been able to see Ope one last time before they buried him.

But he'd failed all three of them. Ope. Wendy. The kid. Hadn't been able to save any of them either.

Now Donna had to live the rest of her life without her husband. Those kids had to get through the rest of their lives without their father. And he was left with nothing but shame, guilt, and a simmering rage that festered and ate away at him.

He just didn't know what to do. The worst part was that as he sat here on his bed in his dorm, he could hear their voices out in the clubhouse. They were all just going about their lives, unbothered, unruffled, like none of this shit ever happened. Like Ope had never meant anything to them. Like the cost of being in this club was just completely acceptable. Completely reasonable. Just as long as everybody got paid and nobody opened his mouth.

And because he just didn't know what to do, he found himself trekking through the clubhouse again, narrowly sidestepping his club brothers and keeping his head down, until he made it out to the makeshift training area he and Hap had staged behind the clubhouse. Once his gloves were on, he pummeled the boxing bag over and over again until his muscles screamed.

Each hit wore away some of that tension. Just a little bit of that simmering rage too. This was just a short-term solution to a long-term problem - just like these weekends he'd be spending in Reno - but what else was he supposed to do? What other option did he really have but to put as much space between him and the club as possible?

"You plannin' on hittin' somebody for real, or is this just all for show?"

Jax blew out a heavy breath as he caught the bag with both hands. He really, really didn't want to put up with her shit today. Two more days, and he could get back to Reno and leave all this behind for a little while again, and until that happened, all he wanted was just to be left alone.

But hovering was the only move she had in her parenting playbook. If she wasn't careful, she'd hover herself right out of his life too. He chose to just deflect for as long as he could, keeping his back to her as he ran a towel over his face.

"You were gone for a couple of hours - no one knew where you went. All of a sudden… you were just gone."

Jax tossed his used towel into the bin off to the side. Whatever relief he'd just found in punching the hell out of that bag was gone now. Tension slipped around his shoulders again, and all in all, this was just fucking ridiculous. Last he checked, he was a thirty-year-old man who didn't need his mommy's permission to come and go as he pleased.

That was the thing with this club and his mother's role in it - it was all a little too tangled, too twisted and knotted together. He hadn't seen much of an issue with it before her husband killed his best friend. Before, she'd been imposing and meddling and downright annoying as she poked and prodded, both in and out of the clubhouse, but her heart had always been in the right place, more or less.

Now he saw her as an accessory. If she was a co-conspirator too… no, they were both better off if he just didn't know.

He wasn't that much better than her anyway.

"Where were you, Jax?"

"Doesn't matter," he called from over his shoulder. "I'm back now. Isn't that the most important thing?"

Gemma huffed behind him, and at this point, he knew his best play was just to turn around and face her. He didn't want to, but lately he'd been having to do a lot of things he didn't really wanna do anyway.

"You know," she started again as she stepped around him to grab the dirty towels from inside the bin. "Clay's a little worried about you over there in Reno all by yourself every weekend."

"I'm not gonna be by myself. Hap'll be there with me."

"You know what I mean."

Yeah. He did know what she meant.

Gemma and Clay didn't like the idea of him being anywhere that they weren't for any real length of time. They couldn't watch him when he was in Reno. They couldn't influence him either.

"I think you just need to be careful, baby. I get why you need to do this right now, but you can't make this a habit."

Jax felt a grin tug at his lips as he glanced at Gemma. The last time he'd heard that - you can't make this a habit - had been in wildly different circumstances from a girl who couldn't have been more different from his mother too.

"Oh, yeah? And why's that?"

She tilted her head to the side with a heavy sigh, reaching out to rest a hand on his cheek.

"Jax. It's one thing to fight in that league to get some fast cash and work out whatever it is you gotta work out. But you turn Reno into a bad habit and start runnin' up there whenever things don't go your way... Clay's gonna start to wonder about your commitment to the club. You can't be a good VP if you're never here. You know that, baby. And all I want -"

"Don't you think I should be having this conversation with him? If he's so worried about me in Reno all by myself, why isn't he the one lecturing me right now? Oh, right," he wagged a finger at her with a smirk. "He sent you to do his dirty work 'cuz he knows he can't say shit to me about fallin' in line and doin' what's best for the club after he had Tig put a bullet in my brother's head."

Gemma's lips parted to respond, but they clamped shut just as quickly. What was she really going to say? She couldn't deny it. Definitely wasn't dumb enough to make excuses for her piece of shit husband, especially right to his face.

Finally, she seemed to realize she was fighting a losing battle, at least for the moment, and she held her hands up in the air. "Alright. Alright. Fair enough. But you can't be disappearing like this for hours -"

"Jesus Christ," Jax muttered under his breath. He backed up a few paces and scrubbed both hands over his face. "And you wonder why I don't wanna be in Charming right now? Why the fuck would I wanna be here when this is the shit I have to put up with?"

His mother's face twisted with grief and a little too much sympathy for his liking too. "I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to push. I just wanna help."

He huffed out a laugh. Sure. Help. She was doing a real good fucking job of that.

"You wanna know where I was today?" Jax shot back. He didn't give her a chance to respond. "I went to see Donna and the kids in Modesto."

He let that hang in the air for a moment, satisfied with the shock that flickered across her face.

"I wanted to give her the money I've been makin' in the fights since I got out. She took it, but pretty much threw me out on my ass too. Told me if I came back she'd call the cops on me. So, there ya go, Ma. That's where I was. You happy now?"

Her eyes dropped to the ground for a moment, and when her head tipped up again, the shock and the sympathy was gone. There was a little bit of relief on her face now - probably because of all the things he could've been doing while he was unaccounted for, that wasn't the worst. Probably not the best, but not the worst.

"No, Jax," she finally murmured. "I'm not happy. I'm sorry she treated you that way. You didn't deserve that."

"Sure, I did."

Gemma's chin lifted in defiance, and she held her ground, not unlike the display he'd seen from Donna earlier. Old ladies had one common denominator - a fierce, stubborn tenacity that just wouldn't quit. And Gemma Teller-Morrow was the OG.

"Don't talk that way, Jackson," she pushed out through gritted teeth. "You went there to do a good thing. It's not your fault she didn't appreciate what you were tryin' to do for her."

At this point, if he kept talking to her about this, they were just going to go round and round in circles. She would never back down and pressing the issue would only start a fight. He just didn't have the energy to fight with her - shit, he had a well of energy to pound that bag with his fists, but he just didn't want to do this with her right now or ever.

But he had one more thing he needed to say to her before he walked away for now.

"Donna has every right to feel however she wants to feel about me, about you, about the club - we forfeited our right to be all holier-than-thou about that shit the second Tig pulled that trigger. Aren't you even gonna ask how they were doin' or are you too wrapped up in his bullshit to see what really matters here?"

Gemma blew out a measured breath, but her eyes never left him. "How were they doin'?"

"How do you think?" he spat back. "Donna's husband and Ellie and Kenny's dad got his brains blown out because your husband shot first and asked questions later. How do you think they're doin'?"

Her lips parted to respond, but he wasn't about to give her the chance to have the last word. Not this time.

"Her and the kids were set up pretty well in Modesto, in case you actually care, Ma, but my point is - if you ever find yourself wondering why I don't wanna be here, why sittin' at that table makes me sick to my stomach, you remember Donna and you remember those kids, a'ight?"

Then he brushed past her and headed back to the clubhouse.

---

Two Days Later

With the crowd's applause thundering around the lounge, Liv waved out to the void before taking her bow next to Jo. Then she gathered the skirt of her long, sparkly black evening dress and hopped off the stage to start the second part of her shift in the lounge. This wasn't exactly her favorite part of her job, but this was also where she made most of her money too, so it was what it was.

But as she scanned the crowd when she started her rounds, her gaze landed on a familiar head with buzzed blonde hair, wearing an equally familiar leather kutte. Her heart just might've leapt right into her throat when he tipped his chin to her with that lop-sided smirk playing on his lips.

That guy didn't have any right to be as good-looking as he was. The interesting thing about Jax Teller was - he knew it too, but he didn't use it the way she might've expected. He'd been so arrestingly authentic and real with her after the fight last weekend that his looks almost hadn't mattered. Almost.

Maybe he figured he was better off just telling her the truth and being himself. If the same guy she'd met in the lounge that first night had shown up after the fight, she was pretty positive she would've dismissed him as just another overly cocky biker who was too good-looking and too douchey for his own good. He'd pleasantly surprised her instead.

Beyond the honesty, the kindness, and the consideration he'd shown her after the fight, there was a world-weariness to him, and she felt that more deeply than she was willing to admit. Something about the way he walked too, and held himself, like he had anchors tied to his legs, and he was dragging them around, one heavy step at a time. She felt that too.

It was no wonder then that she found herself reeled in, even as she chatted up some people on the floor and took their drink orders. She was always heading in one direction, despite the fact that it took her a little longer to get there than she liked.

But she kept her cool when she called out the drinks she needed to the bartender and patiently rested her elbows on the bartop. Might as well let him come to her. She didn't need to wait long though because out of the corner of her eye, some black leather slid a little bit closer.

"Hey, Liv," his low voice called out to her.

She turned to him, biting down on her bottom lip to hide her smile. "Hey there, Jax. Long time no see."

That lop-sided grin worked its way around his jaw again as he took one last pull from his cigarette and smashed it into the ashtray to his left. "You have a good week?"

She just lifted a shoulder. "I guess. It was a week. Not much else to say about it."

Jax's eyebrows lifted at that, but his smirk slipped just a little. "Sounds like your week went as well as mine then."

They shared one knowing glance - there was plenty she could tell him, if that was something she felt she could do, but seeing him again washed away some of the ugliness that had become the terrible, cyclical monotony of her life. And judging by the look in his eye, his life in California might not be that much better. If it was, she doubted he'd really choose to spend his weekends three hours away from home.

"Hey," he tipped his chin to her now with some lightness in his sky-blue eyes again. "You sounded pretty damn great up there. Your hands ever get sore? Playing the piano that hard and that long?"

Her lips parted to respond just as he held his own hands out for her to see, ringed fingers and all, and then clenched them into fight fists.

"My hands still hurt from last weekend, but I manage, ya know?"

"You beat your hands up a lot worse than I do," Liv laughed, but then she nodded, flexing her fingers out on the bar to stretch them a little. "But I hear you. Most of the time, my knuckles cramp up, but that's always after I'm done playing. If things are going stiff or if I'm getting any cramping, I just block it out while I'm on stage and just focus on what I'm doing. That usually works pretty well."

His mouth curved up to the side as he leaned an elbow on the bar. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Adrenaline is a beautiful thing until it's gone, huh?"

"Pretty much," she grinned back at him, momentarily distracted when the bartender started stacking the drinks she needed on a tray.

Jax must've seen the indecision on her face because he nudged her with his elbow, leaning in just a touch so he could murmur, "I don't mean to keep you. It's not like I've got anywhere to be - I'll just be chillin' here for a while, a'ight?"

She found herself lifting an eyebrow at him. So it looked like he had brought some of that swagger with him from California. It worked for him, though, and it didn't feel forced either, like it had the first time they'd spoken. This just felt like… well, it felt like it was just part of who he was, and he was showing all that to her without any hesitation and without putting on any kind of front.

"Alright," Liv grinned. "I have to make my rounds, but I'll be back."

His head tilted to the side as he regarded her with yet another lop-sided smirk that seemed like less of a smirk and more of a genuine smile. With a quick wave, she grabbed her tray, which was now full of drinks, and headed back down to the main floor to keep working the crowd.

From the corner of her eye, she saw him reach into an inside pocket of his kutte for his cigarettes. He lit one up and puffed away with his back to her and both elbows resting on the bar, almost as if he knew, and she knew too, that if he faced the front of the lounge, he'd be watching her. But she also needed to work, and she needed to earn those tips. Those standing Sunday meetings with Viktor Putlova wouldn't fund themselves, and she needed to be able to deliver.

And as she moved around the crowded tables and booths, delivering drinks, taking new orders and tips right along with them, Jo's movements on the other side of the lounge were hard to ignore. The flaming red hair didn't help her stay under the radar, that was for sure, and judging by the way Jo's gaze kept darting over to Jax's back, it was becoming clearer and clearer that she was looking for a certain someone. Or maybe waiting for a certain someone.

Liv bit back a smile when Jo's eyes flickered to the bar again, like she just couldn't help herself and had to check one more time.

This was new. And really, really good to see. She'd all but written off the idea that Jo would ever even look at another man again, let alone talk to one with actual, legitimate interest in something other than a tip. And that gave her an idea.

After delivering the last round of drinks on her tray, Liv made her way back over to the bar to drop off her next drink order and purposefully settled in right where she'd been before - about two feet away from Jax. He turned to her almost immediately with that cute little smirk playing on his lips as he tapped some ash from his cigarette into the tray next to him.

"Hey," she smiled.

Jax huffed out a light laugh. "Hey."

Then Liv leaned in conspiratorially, prompting him to mirror her movements, "You think you could help me with something?"

His eyebrows flicked into his forehead and that smirk on his face turned down a little uneasily, as if he wasn't quite sure what he was about to agree to but was going to do it anyway.

"Sure."

Liv bit down on her bottom lip to hide her shit-eating grin and tipped her chin to Jo, who was still working the crowd by the stage. "You see my friend over there?"

Jax's eyes followed her movements before landing right on Jo, and then his gaze flickered back to her, that uneasiness still written on his face. "Yeah. What about her?"

"Well," she smiled, tilting her head to the side as she leaned in. Her heart fluttered a little too much when he mimicked her stance and dipped his head lower to hear her. "My friend seems to have taken an interest in your friend, who also happens to be conspicuously absent right now."

Just like that, all the uneasiness and uncertainty disappeared from his way-too-handsome face, replaced by that cocksure grin that had just been there before. Liv fleetingly wondered if maybe he'd thought she was about to tell him Jo had taken an interest in him, not Happy, and if that had been the case, he wouldn't be smiling quite as much right now.

"You see how she just kinda keeps… looking around for someone?"

Jax's eyes followed Jo for a few moments, and when Jo inevitably looked their way, he shot her a good-natured wave. Jo just stared back while Liv bit back a laugh - even from where she stood, she could see Jo's emerald green eyes narrowing ever so slightly, so Liv quickly shifted on her heel to rest her elbows on the bar and keep herself out of the line of fire.

"Hmm," Jax mused as he lit up another cigarette. "I see what you mean."

"So, the thing about my friend is," and she couldn't believe she was about to tell him this, but here she went anyway, "she used to date my brother."

Liv paused there, letting those words simmer a little because it had been so long since she'd said them out loud. Jax, for his part, only let his surprise lift his eyebrows for a moment and then he smoothed his reaction just as quickly, leaning deeper into the bartop and giving her his full attention.

"They were pretty serious for a long time," Liv explained, a sad smile curling her lips as she spoke. "He was gonna propose too - I helped him pick out the ring and everything, but then he got arrested and went to prison. And before he went inside, he ended things. Said he didn't want her to put her life on hold waiting for him and that he wanted her to move on. As I'm sure you can already guess, that's been easier said than done for her."

He nodded with sad understanding - she'd seen that exact same expression on his face last weekend the first time they'd talked about her brother.

"So imagine my surprise when she was practically falling all over herself to talk to your friend last weekend, which is kinda weird 'cuz he's not really her type. You're actually more her type."

His eyebrows lifted in amusement, and now it was his turn to lean in conspiratorially, "She's a little old for me, don't ya think?"

A laugh burst from her throat, but she covered her mouth with her hand just as quickly to keep Jo off their scent.

"Don't everlet her hear you say that, or she'll spit in your whiskey."

Jax barked out a laugh, recovering almost immediately like she had before, and rubbed a ringed hand over his mouth to hide his grin.

"I'm serious," Liv stressed flatly. "She will spit in your drink. I've seen her do it enough times to know she means business."

He leaned in just close enough so that their shoulders were almost touching. "So how old is she then? If I had to guess, I'd say she's got at least ten years on me, maybe a couple more - which, to be fair, puts her at right around the same age as Hap, if that kinda thing matters."

"The official line is that she's 35," Liv explained, laughing a little when his smile just widened. "Which makes her a very, very young 43, but you didn't hear that from me."

"My lips are sealed."

"And if you know what's good for you, you'll keep it that way," she laughed again. God, it was crazy just how good that felt. "So anyway, long story short - I promised my brother I'd keep an eye on her, make sure she was doing okay and actually living her life, not just telling him what he wanted to hear. She's… I've known her since I was 18, when I first started working here, and she's like my sister and my mom and my best friend all rolled into one, you know?"

Jax's mouth curved again into a soft smile. "Yeah. I get that. So where do I fit into all this?"

"Well," she leaned against the bar again, glancing casually over her shoulder to make sure Jo wasn't watching. "We've got one more set after this, so we should be off work in about an hour and a half or so, and then we still need to change out of our stage costumes and wipe off the five pounds of makeup we're wearing."

"Okay," he nodded to her with a sly grin, clearly down for what she was about to suggest.

"After we're officially done for the night, we like to go up on the roof for a couple of drinks just to unwind a little bit. Sometimes we eat up there too, but it's also mainly a sushi bar - the best in the city, actually, but I get it if that's not your thing. They've got plenty of other options, but anyway, my point is that we'll be up there for drinks in about two hours or so, and I don't know… if you and your friend just happened to be there too, we'd kinda have to come over and say hi, right?"

"Right," he grinned. "It would be the polite thing to do."

"Definitely. We know you're both from out of town and don't know anyone else around here, so we'd have to come over. I know you said you don't drink right before a fight, but you guys have to eat, don't you?"

Jax rubbed a hand over his mouth to hide his smirk again, and he shot one glance over his shoulder before leaning in closer. "I think I can manage to get my friend up there around that time. He was at a blackjack table the last time I saw him, but I'm sure I can wrangle him away, especially if there's food and pretty girls involved."

She chose to set aside the way he'd said pretty girls - plural - and just focused on the rest of it. "I think that sounds like a plan. We usually sit at the bar, just so you know."

"Got it," he nodded with another grin, but then his eyebrows dipped into a slight frown. He leaned in closer to her again, lowering his voice so he could murmur, "Hey, just so you know, Hap's not really… I'm not tryin' to trash my boy or anything, but let's just say if your friend might be lookin' for anything more than one night, or maybe even a couple of one nights, Hap's not the guy."

"Ah," she smiled back. "I see."

Jax's lips pulled apart in a grimace now. "I know how that sounds, but I just figured I'd give you a heads-up in case that mattered."

"Well, I appreciate it," Liv found herself smiling, even in spite of herself, and then lifted a shoulder. "But Jo's a big girl. She can make her own decisions, and this is the first time she's even really talked to a guy like that who wasn't my brother in… I don't even know how long. I'm not saying they should get married or anything - I'm just saying maybe we give them a little push, you know? They can work the rest out on their own."

"That's fair. We'll make our way up to the roof in about two hours then."

"Deal," she smiled again and held her hand out to him. "It's been a pleasure scheming with you, Mr. Teller."

That crooked smirk tugged at his lips as he slid his hand into hers and gave it a playful shake. "Trust me, Ms. Kelly, the pleasure's all mine."

---

Two Hours Later

"Ugh," Jo leaned back in the elevator, drooping down a little to take some of the weight off her legs. "My feet are literally screaming right now. I think it's time to order some new heels for the stage."

"Hey, you don't have to tell me twice. I don't know about you, though, but I am starving."

And practically shaking with anticipation too, but she figured she was doing at least a halfway decent job of hiding it because Jo seemed none the wiser. This was just for Jo's own good - she'd spent their next set and all the time out on the floor, too, casually and not-so-discreetly glancing around for Happy. All Liv was doing was leading her right to him.

And then, like she'd told Jax before, the rest was up to them.

"What I need," Jo added, just as the elevator came to a stop at the roof, "is a stiff and I mean stiff bone dry martini. I don't care if it knocks me on my arse - I kinda want to be knocked on my arse right now, ya know?"

It was all Liv could do to choke back a laugh. Little did Jo know, she was about to be knocked right on her arse in about 30 seconds or so. She had no doubt that Jax would follow through and get Happy up here, even if this bar was probably the furthest thing from their usual scene. This was their favorite bar around here, and she knew she never would've been able to talk Jo into a different one right now without raising any suspicions.

So she was practically bouncing in her sneakers when they breezed past Kayla, the hostess at the Sky Terrace bar, and waved to her as they headed straight for the bar, just like they always did. She'd done her best to hurry Jo through their normal post-show routine, so much in fact that she hadn't really gotten a chance to scrub all her makeup off the way she typically would, so she felt a little like an alien, walking around the casino with skinny jeans and a Kings of Leon T-shirt on but a face full of stage makeup too.

But now the moment was here, and they were here too, just like she knew they would be. Liv caught Jax's attention from about 30 feet away, where he sat with Happy and all his tattooed muscles on two barstools, their elbows resting on the countertop as they stared down at the menus in their ringed hands.

It was really a sight to see - these two tough, rough-around-the-edges, leather-covered biker guys sitting in a trendy rooftop bar where the main attraction was all-you-can-eat sushi and sake bombs.

"Hey," Liv nudged Jo with her elbow, gesturing toward the only two guys in this place wearing Reaper kuttes. "Aren't those the new fighters?"

Jo's green eyes just about popped out of her head, but only for a second. A split second later, Jo sliced those green eyes back to her, narrowing them just enough to let Liv know she hadn't exactly pulled the wool over anyone's eyes.

"Huh," Jo huffed, her eyes still narrowed, "would ya look at that? I certainly wouldn't have expected those two fellas to make it all the way up to the roof."

"Well," Liv offered good-naturedly as they edged closer and closer to the bar. "Maybe they're exploring the casino a little. This is kinda their home away from home now, you know?"

Jo eyed her warily, even as Happy's gruff voice floated up from over the music playing softly in the background.

"The fuck is this shit? Why'd you drag me up here?"

"I don't know, bro," Jax just shrugged, and then his eyes shifted over Happy's head to smirk at Liv and Jo as they approached. "I heard this place had some good food. Figured we'd give it a shot."

When they got close enough, Jax hit Happy's tattooed forearm with the back of his hand to get his attention and then tipped his chin in their direction, leaning in to murmur something in Happy's ear. It took about one second for Happy's head to subtly - and pretty smoothly too - shift to his left just in time to see Jo standing about two feet away from him.

What happened next made Liv's jaw drop to the floor before she could catch it.

"Hey," Jo grinned slyly at Happy, propping an elbow on top of the bar with a controlled, almost predatory slickness.

Happy's eyebrows lifted into his forehead at her forwardness, but he didn't miss a beat. "Hey."

"So," she tilted her head to the side as she spoke, and Liv's lips parted in shock at her flirty tone. This was something she hadn't heard in a really long time. "I think our friends thought they were pretty sneaky, bringing us up here like this, but I don't think this is really your kinda place, is it?"

Happy's eyes scanned the room with a measured precision that might've made Liv a little nervous if not for their current predicament. "Nah. Can't say it is."

Jo leaned in a little bit more with a sassy smirk. "That's what I thought. So lemme make it up to you - what do you say we head down to the little pub on the first level? Maybe I'll even stick around for dessert."

Obviously, there was nothing to consider, and it wasn't like Jo had been exactly subtle in her innuendo. Happy cast one glance over his shoulder at Jax before shrugging and slid off his barstool to follow Jo.

Liv stood there, slack-jawed and eyes wide as they disappeared into the elevator, then she turned back to Jax, who was watching those closed elevator doors with his eyebrows wedged high into his forehead and a cigarette dangling between his lips.

"That," she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, "was not the way I saw this playing out."

"Me either," Jax just shrugged. "But hey, you gotta hand it to her. That was pretty smooth."

Liv huffed out a laugh, shaking her head as her gaze drifted back to that elevator again. "Yeah, it was. I didn't know she had it in her. I kinda felt like I was watching a different person," then she laughed a little nervously, gesturing to the bar, "Sorry for making you come all the way up here. We're here all the time, so I figured if I tried to talk her into something other than our usual routine, she'd be onto me like white on rice."

"No worries," he lifted a shoulder, and then gestured with his head toward the empty barstool next to him. "I don't know how I feel about the menu yet, but I'm really likin' this view."

Now, he tipped his chin out to just beyond the edge of the roof, where nothing but mountains and a wash of purple and orange spread out across the sky.

"So you're gonna hang out here for a little bit then?"

She winced at the overeagerness in her voice - he could do whatever he wanted, and he definitely didn't have to spend any more time on this rooftop bar, especially given the menu, but he didn't move. Instead, his head tilted to the side one more time, gesturing for her to take the barstool Happy had just vacated.

"I think so," he grinned as she dropped down next to him. "I gotta eat somewhere, and the way I see it… it's a beautiful night, I got a nice view, great company…" Jax shrugged easily again, that crooked smirk spreading across his mouth, "seems like a waste of all that if I leave right now."

Liv didn't really know how to respond to all that, so she just flashed him a grin as the bartender stepped up to them.

"Hey, Roz," Liv greeted her with a warm smile. "Can I get my usual, please?"

"Sure thing," her friend behind the bar nodded. "You gonna get some food too?"

"Oh yeah, I'm starving," Liv rubbed her hands together, chuckling at Jax when he gingerly slid a menu in front of her. Like she needed that. "I'm gonna do a dynamite roll and a spicy tuna, and for my friend here..." her heart fluttered a little too much when that smile twisted his face, "let's get him some shrimp poppers, a tuna bowl, and…" she eyed him carefully, tapping a finger to her lips in thought, "a couple of hand rolls too. We'll see what he thinks after that."

"Got it," Roz nodded, clapping both hands on the counter as she walked away to get started on all that.

Then Liv turned back to Jax and held up her hands in defense. "Don't worry. I didn't order you anything raw - it's all pretty tame, I promise."

"Hey, I trust ya. I've got a pretty strong stomach. I'll eat whatever you put in front of me, for the most part."

"Well, I personally think this is the best spot in Reno for both the food and the view, but that's just me," she sucked in a deep breath and exhaled heavily, grateful to be out of her heels and that tight stage costume, and her gaze drifted out to the purple and orange painted sky. "I feel like I can breathe up here, you know?"

And everything else just kind of fell away when she was up this high, with some distance between her and everything inside that casino.

Jax's lips lifted in a soft smile. "Yeah. I know. It's nice up here. You ladies come here every night when you're done at the lounge then?"

"Not every night," she explained, grinning at Roz with a wave when she came back with her drink. "Jo and I take Mondays off. We rehearse most Tuesdays during the day and on Wednesday mornings. We play in the afternoons on Wednesdays and then go pretty hard the rest of the week."

"Dolla dolla bill, y'all," Jax smirked as he leaned some more weight on his elbows. There was that swagger again. "Everybody's gotta get paid somehow, right?"

Liv huffed out a laugh, shaking her head at him before taking a long drink and shivering a little at the cold bite, prompting Jax to tip his chin to her glass.

"So what's your usual? Is that a vodka tonic?"

"Gin and tonic, actually," Liv corrected him with a knowing smile. Inevitably, some surprise flickered across his face, but she just laughed. "What?"

He lifted a shoulder before cocking an eyebrow at her. "Nothin'. I guess I just had you pegged as a whiskey girl is all."

"I like whiskey just fine," she grinned. This lightheadedness she was feeling right now could definitely not be attributed to her gin and tonic though. "I guess I just prefer some gin after work - takes the edge off and I can't have too many 'cuz it does taste just a tiny bit like pine needles."

Jax held up his hands, a lop-sided smirk slipping across his face. "Hey, you said it, not me. But I get that though - after a fight, there's nothin' like a cold, stiff drink, ya know? So, how long you been playin' the piano like that? I know you mentioned you've been workin' here since you were 18, but you've been playin' a lot longer than that."

He was doing this a lot - sliding a tiny sliver of information about himself into the conversation before quickly shifting the focus back to her. Almost as if he didn't want to give her too many opportunities to change the subject, like he either didn't want her to know or didn't want to have to answer any of her questions. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

"I started taking lessons when I was five," Liv obliged him with a knowing smile. "It's just something I've always been able to do, and since a fancy music academy or something like that was never really in the cards for me, I just sort of landed here."

"How long you been in Reno?"

"My whole life," she just shrugged. "Liam started fighting when he was 16, but the league looked a lot different then than it does now. Back then, it was still just as exclusive as it is now, but it was always in someone's backyard or in an abandoned warehouse, something like that. The league moved to the basement here at the Rose right around the time I graduated from high school, and since Liam was here all the time anyway, I figured I might as well get a job here too. Started as a cocktail waitress, which was terrible by the way, but I had to wait for an opening in the band, and when one of the pianists landed a gig in Vegas a year later, I slid right in."

Well, shit. She had a feeling he was going to try to get her whole life story out of her before this night was over, and probably without offering anything substantial about himself while he was at it.

"Why was being a cocktail waitress terrible? The tips even shittier out on the casino floor than they were in that private party room last weekend?"

"The tips weren't that bad last weekend," she allowed easily. She could play this game if he wanted and chose to sidestep his first question for now. "There was one guy in that private party room who tipped pretty well, so the night wasn't a total bust, even if that particular guy shouldn't make it a habit of throwing money at me like that."

"Oh yeah?" Jax's eyebrows lifted in amusement. "And why's that? Also, I don't remember throwing money at you last weekend. I'm pretty sure I handed it to you real nice and respectfully."

"Right," she laughed. "My mistake. But seriously though, Jax, if we're gonna be friends, I'd prefer it if you kept all your money from your fights to yourself - that's money you earned the hard way. Trust me, I know. And see, the thing about being a cocktail waitress that I really didn't like was that after a while, with some of the regulars, you start to feel like you're getting tipped to do something other than bring them drinks, you know what I mean?"

Jax eyed her carefully after that, only turning his head when Roz came back with their food. Now, his eyes drifted down to the plates in front of him, shifting his wary gaze her way before glancing at the handrolls on his plate again.

"It's not raw, I promise," Liv laughed, pointing to his plates as she broke it all down for him. "There's cooked shrimp tempura in that hand roll and some spicy sauce. It's good, I swear, and if you don't like it, I'll be happy to take it off your hands, and that," she pointed to his tuna bowl, "is mostly cooked - they sear the tuna for a few minutes, so it's not raw. The rest of it is all noodles and vegetables and the sauce is really good - I figured you needed some protein and some veggies before your fight tomorrow, huh?"

His lips spread apart in that crooked grin that was quickly becoming one of her favorite things about him, and he blew out a deep breath. "A'ight. I'm willin' to try anything once. But if I hate it, you'll hook me up with a burger or somethin' later, right?"

"Of course."

And so, Jax glanced down at his plate, shrugged, and then dove in. He chewed slowly and cautiously at first, and after he seemed to decide the food on his plate was edible after all, he started shoveling those noodles and vegetables in his mouth like he hadn't eaten all day. That looked familiar too - her brother had always been able to put away pounds of food every day like it was nothing and then he'd turn around and finish whatever was left on her and Jo's plates too while he was at it.

"So," Liv tipped her chin to his plate with a grin. "Is it terrible?"

"You know," he garbled through a full mouth, "I don't hate it. Once I got past the texture, it's actually pretty good. But you'll never get me to pick up those," he gestured to the chopsticks in her hand, "and eat any of that," he tipped his chin to the rolls on her plate.

"And I knew better than to try," Liv laughed, even as she dipped a piece of sushi in some soy sauce and popped it into her mouth.

He was smiling now too again, but it didn't quite reach his sky-blue eyes as he leaned in to murmur, "But seriously though, I get what you're sayin'. If I made you feel like I was payin' you for something other than bringing me whiskey last weekend, I didn't -"

"I know," Liv cut in with a soft smile.

And she really did believe that he hadn't meant to do anything but be polite and pick up his buddies' slack last weekend, but she'd still needed to explain.

"I just figured we get that out of the way now," she explained, "so it doesn't become a problem later."

Because, given the way he'd treated her since they met, she could see them sliding into uncomfortable territory. He was well on his way to becoming a regular at the casino, at least on the weekends, and she was an employee. Jax was in the league now, but that wasn't the same as being on the casino's payroll, and because he was polite and a gentleman, she could see him continuing to leave her a small pile of cash every weekend, thinking he was being polite and a gentleman. When, in reality, that would slowly but surely make her feel like he really was paying her for something other than bringing him whiskey. And she knew she wouldn't like the way that felt.

Even if he didn't mean to, that's the way this would go. She had a feeling he was going to keep showing up in the lounge, and they were going to keep spending time together like this while he was in town.

And, she realized with a heavy heart, she wanted him to want to spend time with her without any other strings attached, and without him feeling obligated to leave her money because she'd technically be working most of the time they were going to see each other.

That, and she wanted to make sure he understood that she didn't want him to give her anything from any of his winnings at any point. Having to just turn around and hand that cash right back to Viktor last Sunday had made her sick to her stomach.

"A'ight," Jax smirked at her. This time, that smirk reached his sky-blue eyes. "Fair is fair. I can respect that just as long as you don't feel like you gotta take pity on me and entertain the poor Cali boy who doesn't know what to do with himself in Reno. You got other things to do, I won't keep you."

"I'm not sitting here out of pity, Jax."

His lips curved again, and that tightness in her chest made her shift her focus back on her food. Now, she found herself wondering if he'd given her that little stack of cash last weekend because he didn't want her to feel obligated to spend time with him without giving her anything in return. That was all a tangled, slippery slope, and they really were better off nipping it in the bud now, rather than later.

"Good to know," Jax smiled, eyeing her carefully again before his gaze dropped to her left forearm, where her tattoo was scrawled on the inside. Knowing he was just going to ask anyway, she obliged him, flipping her wrist on top of the bar so he could get a better look at it.

"What's that say?" he murmured softly, lifting his chin to try to get a better look - but he was also at a disadvantage because it was upside down for him.

Her lips lifted as she held out the inside of her forearm to read the quote, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

"Hmm," he tilted his head to the side, biting down on his bottom lip as his eyes lingered on her tattooed skin.

"It's a quote from Mary Oliver from one of my favorite poems," Liv explained, but she left her forearm out and on display for him as she spoke, "I don't know… I've just always loved that open-ended question, that reminder every time I glance down that I need to always be looking for the answer, you know? I guess it just reminds me that life is too short not to be living it to the fullest, every single day."

"So what happens when you figure out the answer to that question?"

"I don't know," she laughed. "Maybe get another tattoo?"

He huffed out a laugh, shaking his head as he shoveled some more noodles onto his fork. "Yeah, you might have to," and then, after a beat, he added, "You can ask me, you know."

When she just blinked at him, he gestured to the impressive half-sleeve tattoo on his right forearm with his fork, "About this. I don't mind. If I minded, I wouldn't have it."

"Okay. I guess that's only fair since I explained mine."

"Sure," he grinned with a nod, and then pointed to the RIP John Teller scrawled above a gravestone, "That was my dad. He died when I was 15 - motorcycle accident. Got hit by a semi on the interstate, dragged almost a half a mile down the road, and died two days later."

"Wow," her eyebrows lifted in surprise. "I'm sorry - I know it's a little late for that, but still."

"Yeah, he was… he was the guy I grew up wanting to be, ya know?"

There was a wistful smile twisting around his mouth, but he was frowning now, as if he was working through what all that meant - if he actually grew up to be like his dad, or maybe if he was too much like his dad. Either way, she didn't exactly feel comfortable asking him that. He seemed to be keeping so much close to that leather-covered chest since they'd started talking that this sudden burst of personal information had her reeling.

"It's crazy… I used to think about him all the time before I went inside, and now, I just kinda can't let myself go there for too long or too often. I guess gettin' shivved while I was in there didn't help -" he must've seen the shock that flashed across her face because he held up a hand with a light laugh. "I'm obviously fine. But I got really lucky. All that Irish blood runnin' through my veins on my dad's side had to come in handy at some point, right?"

And then the image of him lying on a hospital bed, all bandaged up and barely hanging on, was all she could see, and she had to swallow that down, right along with the image of Liam in the exact same position too.

It was right on the tip of her tongue to ask if his dad was part of his club too, but then she realized he'd already told her as much in a roundabout way. If he'd grown up wanting to be like his dad, then his dad was most certainly a member of his club. Judging by the vice president patch on his kutte, she'd also be willing to bet Jax's dad was a pretty highly-ranked member.

"I had a little brother too," he went in a hushed voice. "He died when I was 12. And my best friend, he… he died about a month before I went inside."

Her fingers itched to reach out and touch him, to give him some kind of comfort right now, but at the same time, they barely knew each other, and he seemed content just to sit, just to talk, and for her to just listen.

"What about your mom?" she heard herself ask.

"Oh, she's still alive and kickin'," he huffed out a laugh, pausing there when Roz swooped in to clear their empty plates.

"Are you guys close?"

His eyebrows lifted in amusement now. "Sure. Sometimes a little too close. If you looked up the definition of helicopter mom in the dictionary, you'd see a picture of Gemma Teller-Morrow right underneath it."

"Oh, so you mean she loves you?" Liv laughed, before nodding to Roz when she slid the bill to her from across the bar. She flipped the thick black check folder open to sign for it, and just as she reached inside her purse, she heard Jax call out, some slight panic in his voice.

"Hey, wait a minute. What do you think you're doin'?"

He made a quick grab for the bill but she was too fast as she scribbled her signature and tossed some cash inside for Roz before shoving it back to her.

"Are you shittin' me? You can't -"

"It's fine, Jax," she laughed as she hopped off her barstool and took her drink with her. She gestured with her head toward the balcony section of the bar, which was really her favorite spot in the city, where she could lean against the glass railing with a drink and just forget about everything else for a while.

He fell into step beside her, but it wasn't without protest. "Seriously, Liv -"

So, she gripped him by the elbow to pull him along, leaning into his shoulder so she could murmur, "All the band members eat free. So your food wasn't technically on me. It was on the casino. Big difference, Jax."

Some of the tension left his shoulders as she steered him over to the railing, making sure to pick the best spot that would give them the best vantage point for the expanse of mountains and purple-streaked sky in front of them.

"I guess I see your point," he huffed out a laugh. He leaned against the railing so he could dig into an inside pocket of his kutte for his cigarettes. "You kinda gave me a heart attack there for a second though."

"Why?" Liv cocked an eyebrow at him as she followed his lead and unearthed her own cigarette pack from her purse too. "I know bikers try to act all tough and everything, but a woman picking up the tab for you is really that terrible?"

"Not necessarily," he shook his head with a light laugh, lifting an open flame up to the cigarette between her lips before moving it back so he could light up his own. "More like you pickin' up the tab would've really been that terrible. I told you I'm no charity case and I meant it."

"Well," she lifted a shoulder with a grin. "Think of it as one of the many perks of gettin' in good with the casino employees. Since you're gonna be hanging out here more often, you might as well learn the ins and outs of this place as soon as you can."

"When you put it like that, I guess I can't argue with ya there."

"All that being said," she told him, tipping her head to exhale some smoke up into the mountain air. "As a lifelong resident of this place, I feel like it's my responsibility to say this to you - be careful here, okay?"

He didn't respond, choosing instead to eye her carefully as he tapped some ash from his cigarette out over the side of the railing.

"This city is…" Liv blew out a deep breath, suddenly feeling the heaviness of what she was about to say, "it's a pretty great place to be, from a certain point of view. There's casinos and mountains and really beautiful hiking trails as far as the eye can see. Lots of great food and a pretty fun nightlife on the main drag if you know the right spots. Plenty of money to be made, if that's what you're into. You can find just about anything you're into here," she waited long enough to see his head dip into a tight nod, "And that's the problem with this city. Too much excess. Too much temptation. Too much of just about everything, and this biggest little city in the world will eat you alive if you let it."

Jax's forehead knitted into a frown as he gave himself a moment to really let all that sink in, and then, a moment later, he flashed her a reassuring grin. "I won't, Liv."

"I hope so."

She waited for the inevitable question, and she also had a feeling he understood she was speaking more from an observer's perspective than anything - but that question never came. Maybe they were better off just moving on to something else.

"So, if your mom's name is Gemma Teller-Morrow, does that mean she's married to Clay Morrow?"

When she saw the surprise that flickered across his handsome face and the way his shoulders hunched at the mention of that name, she knew she'd just taken a hard left when she probably should've taken a right.

"I heard that name last weekend during the afterparty and I figured out pretty quickly he was also the same guy who almost burned my hand off. Twice."

Jax huffed out a laugh, but his eyes were still on the skyline as he quietly smoked his cigarette next to her.

"Yeah," he answered finally. "He's my stepdad."

And then there was the second part of that he hadn't said out loud: Clay was also his club president too. And Jax obviously didn't want to talk about his stepdad and club president either.

The longer they stood there, shoulder to shoulder, leaning up against the glass railing and quietly smoking their cigarettes, she decided to throw him a bone and shift the focus back on her.

"I never knew my dad," Liv offered, and she smiled softly when his head turned at the sound of her voice. "Liam knows his dad a little bit, but mine was just sorta… never around. I'm sure he's stumbling around the streets of Reno somewhere, and I'm sure I've probably seen him around the Rose more than once and just never knew it. So, needless to say, I like to think I'm better off just not knowing."

His lips lifted into a sad smile in understanding. "What about your mom?"

"Ah," Liv just shrugged before taking another long pull from her cigarette. "She's around. Haven't seen her in a few years though. Liam's always done a better job staying in touch with her than me, and with him being in prison, we just don't really have a reason to talk to each other right now."

Well, she was right. He really was going to get her whole life story - at least the parts she could tell him - before this night was done. And now, she didn't even care. Talking to him like this, standing out on this balcony with the fresh air on her face without a care in the world… she couldn't remember the last time she'd done this with someone who wasn't Jo.

"I'm not trying to say she was a bad mom on purpose or anything," she went on, acutely aware that he was hanging onto every word. "Liam's just always been that one constant in my life. He's been more of a parent than she ever has, I guess - the same way Jo's kinda been like a mom to me since we met. He's almost ten years older than me in case you were wondering," Liv laughed lightly, "so Jo was only slightly cradle-robbing when she hooked up with him."

"Slightly cradle-robbing is a thing?" he smirked, shifting his weight so he had a better view of her face. "I figure you're either a cradle-robber or you aren't."

"Okay, fine. She's a cradle-robber."

"I believe the correct term is cougar," he mused with a sly grin, settling in deeper with both elbows on the railing.

"Right," Liv huffed out a laugh. "I think she'd love that term, actually."

"Where's she from anyway? I can't figure out her accent."

"Well, don't let her hear you say that either. As a singer and former actress, she has a very sensitive, paper-thin ego, you know," Liv laughed with him there before explaining, "She's from Newcastle in England, but she's been in the States so long now that I think her accent is just a weird hybrid of Geordie, a little bit of English posh, and some west coast all mixed in there that I don't think even she knows which way is up anymore. Supposedly, she's gonna take me to see her hometown at some point, but I've yet to see the receipt for that particular promise. Have you ever seen She's All That?"

Jax's eyebrows knitted together in thought. "I don't know. Should I have?"

"Not really," she laughed again. "But Jo was an extra in that movie when she was like, 18 or 19, I think. She was an extra in Jerry Maguire too and she also likes to brag about being in the same shot as Leonardo DiCaprio in that party scene in Romeo and Juliet. Apparently, he was really sweet to all the extras on set - her words, not mine."

"Wow, so Hap's brushin' up against a real movie star here, huh?"

"That's right. But don't let her hear you say that either or she'll correctly assume you're making fun of her and then she'll spit in your whiskey."

Jax barked out a laugh right around the time her phone pinged in her purse with a text message. She took a moment to slide her phone out so she could read the message, and when she did, her head jerked up to face Jax.

"So Jo just texted," she informed him, still a little bit caught off-guard by what she'd just read. "She's wondering if I can keep myself busy for about another hour or so."

Jax's eyebrows lifted in amusement. "Only an hour? Hap must be pretty tired tonight if that's all he needs."

"What?" she laughed. "They're not -"

"C'mon, Liv," he shrugged easily as he flicked some ash over the side of the balcony. "We get our own comped room here every weekend for these fights. You really think they're not sneakin' off to break his in?"

That did give her some pause. Besides, it wasn't like Jo hadn't made her intentions pretty damn clear when she all but led Happy away by the hand toward the elevator. That was definitely out of character for her, but then again, Liv had also never seen her involved with anyone other than her brother before.

Now, Jax was watching her with some more amusement. "Your brother have any rules about the night before a fight?"

She huffed out a laugh. Yeah, she had a pretty good feeling she knew exactly where he was going with this. Might as well have a laugh at Jo and Happy's expense.

"He did," Liv allowed lightly. "He tended to stay away from alcohol too, just like you, and while I always preferred to plug my ears any time they discussed their sex life in front of me, I did hear them mention once or twice that he preferred to... abstain right before a fight, much to Jo's great frustration."

"Uh huh," he rubbed his mouth now, as if he was trying to wipe away his shit-eating grin. "Sounds like your brother and Hap have the same rules, except Hap's not gonna hold out on her. Just because he's not getting any tonight doesn't mean she can't, if you know what I mean."

"I do, and in that case," Liv shrugged as she tapped out a response on her phone. "An hour doesn't seem like enough time."

His eyebrows flicked into his forehead again and an amused grin worked its way around his jaw. "No, it doesn't. Like I said, Hap must be tired. That, or he's tryin' to save some energy for tomorrow night - for both during and after the fight."

"You think they'll -"

"Oh yeah," he chuckled, shaking his head. "I'd bet my left nut they hook up again after the fight. Hap's gonna be so keyed up from tonight, and from the fight… there's no way he doesn't give her a call. Or, judging by the way she was eyeing him up last weekend, there's no way she's not waiting for him by the door, now that she knows where his room is. He's probably gonna fight a helluva lot better than me, that's for damn sure."

And judging by everything he'd just said, his intentions toward her at the moment were pretty clear too. Mainly, that he had no intention of doing anything more with her than what they were doing right now, especially if Happy's extracurricular activities with Jo in his hotel room were going to help him fight better than Jax tomorrow.

So now she was torn - should she feel flattered that he obviously respected her enough not to even try to get her into his own comped room to break it in, or should she be worried instead that he just wasn't attracted to her in that way and that was really why he opted to just stand here and talk? Or was he thinking he'd just wait to make some kind of move until after the fight, when he wouldn't be at risk of breaking any pre-fight night rules?

Then again, she'd friend-zoned him at least twice already, and pretty pointedly too, so what had she really expected?

She didn't really know how to feel about any of that. Or what she was really doing right now, standing here at the balcony with him this way. She just knew she liked this and liked how easy it was too.

"So you gonna be at the fight tomorrow?"

Her heart just about leapt right into her throat, and when Liv finally let herself look at him again, she found Jax watching her expectantly, and a little hopefully too.

"I don't know actually."

That hopeful smile on his face slipped just a touch, and so she jumped to explain, "Sometimes Viktor wants us there. Sometimes he doesn't. Which employees are in that basement pretty much works the same way as anything else that happens down there - nobody gets in unless he says you get in."

"Ah," he nodded knowingly. "Got it. Makes sense. So you've really got no idea if you get to be down there tomorrow."

"Not really. He tells us to be there whenever he feels like telling us. He hasn't said anything about tomorrow night yet, but that doesn't mean he won't."

And there was a part of her that hoped Viktor wouldn't request her presence in the basement tomorrow night. She didn't really want to see him get beat up like she had last weekend, regardless if he won or not, and in spite of the fact that she really wouldn't mind seeing him with his shirt off again.

"And... " Jax leaned in before casting a casual glance over his shoulder. "Speak of the devil. Careful - he's literally right behind us."

Liv dared one quick look over her shoulder, only to see Val hovering about 20 feet away with his hands in his pockets and a tight line on his face. So she did the only thing she could - she faced the balcony again and tried to play it cool, casually taking a sip of her long-forgotten gin and tonic, which, unfortunately, was pretty watered down by this point. They stood there in silence for a few long moments, Jax with his shoulders tense but cutting an otherwise nonchalant figure as he smoked with one hand in his pocket, and she did her best to keep her skin from crawling right off her body.

When Jax glanced behind him again, some of the tension in his shoulders fell away. "He's gone now. Old boyfriend of yours?"

"What?" Liv huffed out a laugh, too relieved that Val was gone to really grasp what he was asking. "Are you kidding?"

"I don't know," he just shrugged. "You got reason to be scared of him like that?"

"He's not my ex-boyfriend," she stressed, carefully sidestepping around his last question. "Honestly, I think I'd rather die than have to be with him."

Jax took a long pull from his cigarette, scrutinizing her with sharp precision. Finally, he tipped his head back to blow out a steady stream of smoke over his head. "So I gotta worry about anyone else comin' up here and lookin' like they wanna kick my ass for talkin' to you like this?"

She just shook her head with a light laugh before flicking her spent cigarette into the wind. "Nope."

There was a question she could throw right back at him, but there was also no reason to do that.

"I guess if I learned anything from my mom growing up it was not to make the same mistakes as her, especially when it came to the ever-revolving door of guys always in and out of our apartment, so now I just do the opposite of what she did. We've got some Irish blood running through our veins too - our last name is a dead giveaway, right? - but my mom's never had much luck when it came to choosing the right guy."

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, my mom's got a pretty lousy track record too," Jax shot her a smirk before squaring his shoulders back to the balcony. "Her first husband's six feet under and her second one's a fucking monster."

Liv's lips parted, but whatever she might've said died in her throat. How was she really supposed to respond to that? And he seemed to know it too because he kept his shoulders square with the balcony as he finished off his cigarette and flicked it into the mountain air.

"But hey," he shrugged again as he lit up another cigarette. "It's good to know I don't have to worry about a beating anywhere else around this place except in the ring."

"Yeah, well, as it turns out, having an older brother who also happens to be a champion fighter in an underground league who also has a reputation for literally being a killer… doesn't really have the guys knocking on my dressing room door, ya know?"

He huffed out a laugh, glancing down at his feet before shooting her a sly smirk. "Yeah, I can see how that might present a problem. Hey," he tipped his chin to her, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but… has Putlova set your brother up with any kind of protection on the inside?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know," Jax just lifted a shoulder. "You seem to be on pretty good terms with him - hey, don't take that the wrong or anything. He just seems to like you is all, for whatever that's worth… I don't know, he definitely seems to worship the ground your brother walks on. And I kinda get the impression he wouldn't let anything happen to you here on casino grounds either."

She knew she had to tread lightly here, but half-truths and a carefully-worded answer was about all she could really give him.

"Viktor's always had a soft spot for Liam, mainly because he's made Viktor so much money for years. So after his sentencing, they made a deal that included protection for both of us while he's in prison."

There. That was the most she could give him, for both their sakes.

Jax chewed on that for a little while, rubbing a ringed hand over his mouth in thought as he mulled it all over. "That makes sense. Is that why you're still workin' in the lounge right now? You've got protection here that you wouldn't have anywhere else?"

"Something like that, yeah," she pressed a tight smile to her face and hoped that was enough. "But that being said, I really do love what I do, especially since I get to do what I love every night with Jo on stage with me. Sometimes, I feel like I have to pinch myself that we get to do that every night in front of people and they actually like it."

"I think I know what you mean," he smirked back at her. "And I can see it too - when you're on the stage. I can see how much you love it. I guess it helps that you're so fuckin' good at what you do. You guys are a blast to listen to, even if I still can't quite figure out what I'm listening to."

"What?" Liv laughed. "Motown and banjos and jazz isn't your style?"

A wry smile curled around his lips. "I was listening to Wu Tang Clan on my way up here, so I gotta apologize in advance for feelin' a little embarrassed at how much I like what you guys do up on that stage."

"Alright, alright," she laughed again, glancing down at her phone when it pinged in her purse. "I get it… so that was Jo. She says she's waiting for me in the lobby."

Jax huffed out a laugh, shaking his head a little. "That wasn't even a full hour, was it? Hap must be pretty damn tired."

"Orhe's just really thorough and knows what he's doing, so he didn't need the full hour."

He wagged a finger at her with a sly smirk. "I think I like your answer better. Yeah, let's go with that. C'mon," he gestured with his head toward the back of the bar, "let's head down to the lobby. I bet your friend's pretty dead on her feet now that Hap's done with her."

"You might be right about that. It's a good thing we've got a late start tomorrow," she laughed as they made their way through the bar and headed for the elevator.

Once the doors closed behind them and she hit the button to take them down to the lobby, she was acutely aware that he'd positioned himself a careful distance away from her with his hands shoved deep inside his pockets. "Hey, in case I don't get an invite to the fight - good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks," he smirked. "I don't need luck, but I appreciate it anyway. And in case I don't get a chance to see you before I head out Sunday morning, I had a really good time with you tonight, Liv."

Her heart did that thing again where it fluttered and tightened and twisted all at the same time, and it was lucky for her that the elevator kicked to a stop and the doors opened when she finally figured out how to respond.

"I had a really good time with you tonight too, Jax."

That crooked, so cute-it-hurt grin worked its way around his face, and it stayed there while they moved through the casino's main floor, easily finding Jo's bright red hair through the moving crowds of people.

"She looks a little disheveled, doesn't she?" Jax leaned in with a knowing smirk.

"Just a little."

To be fair, Jo looked pretty dead on her feet, but in a sated, almost drunk way that could only mean one thing - she'd gotten some action, and it'd been pretty damn good too, from the looks of it.

"Hey there," Jo waved as she met them in the middle, her green eyes darting between the two of them. "You kids have a good time while the adults went to go play?"

Jax's shoulders started to shake with laughter, and he put a fist to his mouth to mask some of his amusement at this whole thing.

"Uh huh," Liv hitched a hand on her hip, eyeing her friend curiously. "We got some dinner while we waited."

"That's nice," Jo shot back with her trademark sass. "We got some dinner too, and then Happy got his dessert."

Now, Jax ran a hand over his buzzed head, his shoulders still shaking - but this time, he didn't make any effort to hide his laughter. But Liv wasn't quite as amused by this little display.

"Very classy, Joanna," Liv rolled her eyes up to the ceiling and then held out her hand. "Keys, please. I'm driving tonight 'cuz I don't trust you not to pass out behind the wheel."

"That," Jo pointed a finger at her, "is an excellent idea, lady."

Liv just lifted her eyes to the ceiling again, shaking her head as she grabbed the keys from Jo and wrangled her toward one of the employee doors off to the side, where their car was parked in a lot just behind the casino. She waved to Jax from over her shoulder, who was still standing right where she'd left him with his hands in his pockets.

"You ladies need me to make sure you make it to your car okay?" he called after them.

"Nah, we're good," she waved again, gripping Jo by the elbow to keep her in check. "There's always a guy by the employee doors that walks people in and out."

He nodded to them then, waving with a ringed hand and another smirk. "A'ight. Have a good night, ladies."

"You too," Jo shot back from over her shoulder, but Liv put a lid on that as fast as she could, giving her a gentle shove toward the exit.

"He wanted to walk you to the car, Livie," Jo eyed her slyly. "Wasn't that sweet of him?"

"I've had just about enough of you tonight, missy. You wanna explain who that person was that went into a near-stranger's hotel room an hour ago, or are we just gonna pretend that never happened?"

"Oh, please," Jo laughed that right off as she opened the passenger door and slid inside. "The only one who's got some explaining to do when we get home is you."

---

A/N - That felt a little bit like a date, didn't it? I wanted to juxtapose the darkness and the heaviness of what Jax was dealing with away from Reno with the lightness and ease he finds almost immediately once he's in the casino and with Liv again. That's pretty much how it's going to be for him moving forward, too. The harder and more painful it gets for him to be in Charming, the more he's going to want to be in Reno, and the more he's going to value his time there.

We learned some more about Liv in this chapter, but there's obviously something pretty big she's holding back - not that she's trying to be secretive. She really feels like can't tell him, and I think there's a part of her that doesn't want to scare him off either by telling him what's really going on with her family and the Putlovas. All that being said, Jo has already seen the writing on the wall between Liv and Jax, and so she's going to spill the beans to Jax in the next chapter as a way to test him (and because she also knows Liv will never tell him, and she should). That chapter was a blast to write, and I'm excited to share it with you next week ;)

Also, I'm always looking for more beta-readers, so if you're interested, feel free to let me know in a review or in a PM! I'm mainly just looking for thoughts on plot and character development (I already have a beta who whips me pretty well into shape grammar and editing-wise). I'm just finishing up chapter 13, so that also means you'd get all the chapters in advance and then we could chat about what's going on with the characters. If you're interested, let me know!

Thank you so much for reading! This story has been a joy to write, and I'm really on a roll with it! I've been posting teasers and my playlist and answering questions on Tumblr, so feel free to check that out too for more content in between chapters (my handle is at lovebarefootblonde). I can't wait to hear your thoughts on Jax and Liv's first date ;)