Wanted
I didn't open my eyes until we came to a complete stop, and Jax's engine fell silent. I looked up to see that we were parked next to a 'small town movers' truck, in the driveway to a one story, white and light blue house. Looking around at my surroundings, I noted that we were in a peaceful, middle class neighborhood. His place was small, and dated, but still homey looking, and he had an older silver Dodge Ram sitting inside the carport off to the side of the house.
Jax let down the kickstand, and dismounted the bike. He gave someone a head nod in the movers truck, before turning and helping me get off. I took his helmet off and handed it to him, and he told me that he was going to go pay the movers, and that the house should've been unlocked, so I could go in and wait for him, which I did.
Upon entering, I was hit by a gust of cold air, that I took a moment to take in, with my eyes closed. This was just what I needed after being out in that obnoxious heat not too long ago. When I reopened my eyes, I instinctively started looking around, and I couldn't help but notice how bare Jax's house was. I mean there were no pictures on the walls, and no little statues, or plants decorating the house.
The only things he had, in terms of furniture was a black leather sectional sofa, a decent sized flat screen tv mounted on the wall, and a glass coffee table. Looking over to my left, in the kitchen there was just a marble top dining table, with four chairs, over by the kitchen window, but that was it. Just like the living room, it fell flat as far as decor went, and it made me feel bad to see all of the things he got rid of, and knowing that it was due to him wanting to forget about his ex.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the screen door creaking behind me, and I looked back to see Jax walk in, shutting and locking the door behind him.
"Man, you weren't joking when you said you had movers clearing your place out. I mean they really stripped the place." I said, watching as Jax looked around.
"Yeah. Almost feels like home in here now, without all the unnecessary clutter from before. Anyway, let's go take care of that hand." He said, turning towards the kitchen, and holding out a hand, allowing me to walk ahead of him.
I walked over to the counter and leaned with my back against it, watching Jax grab a dish towel out of one of the drawers, before making his way over to the freezer, taking out a handful of ice, and filling the towel with it. He then walked over to where I stood, and patted the counter a few times. I took it as him telling me to jump up, so I did, with the help of my free hand. Now standing in front of me, Jax picked up my hand as gently as he could, and propped my elbow up on my thigh, before pressing the ice pack onto my wrist.
"Keeping your arm elevated like this, with the ice pack on it should keep blood from flowing to it, and help some of the swelling go down." He informed, causing me to shoot him an impressed look, because of how knowledgeable he seemed about this kind of thing.
I wanted to ask him how he knew that stuff, but was thrown off by how adorable he looked tending to my injury. Instead of saying anything, I stayed silent, while I took in how careful he was being with me. The delicate way he held my hand in his free one, while pressing the ice pack up against it with the other, and how he would occasionally lift the ice pack to check if the swelling was going down. I guess it amazed me how someone so rugged, and masculine, could be so attentive and gentle at the same time.
Jax was like the perfect combination of bad boy, and gentleman, and it seemed like he was always looking out for me every time we saw each other. I was thankful for that, because Eli made him seem terrible, but he was actually turning out to be a decent man.
"You must've really pissed your old man off for him to do something like this to you." He said, napping me out of my reverie. I scoffed rolling my eyes, as I reflected on what went down earlier.
"Nothing new there. Seems like I can't be around that man for five minutes without pissing him off somehow. Even when I'm not trying."
"I take it, you and the sheriff don't get along?"
"Nope. We did when I was a kid, but all that changed when I grew up, and started becoming my own person. I guess I became less easy for him to manipulate and control, and now it's like we're at each other's throats all the time, due to him treating me like a child. I hate it!"
"You their only kid?" He asked and I nodded.
"Well there's part of your problem right there. Sounds like your old man's having a hard time accepting the fact that his only kid is all grown up, and he shelters you because he thinks he might lose you." He concluded, and I scoffed.
"Shit, with the way he constantly breathes down my neck, and tries to police my every move, he's already losing me. I just can't wait until next fall, when I go off to college. No more getting picked up by him after school, and no more living under the same roof. I would probably never come back to visit if it wasn't for my mom."
"Yeah I meant to ask you about that. You're eighteen, and about to graduate this year. What's he doing still picking you up from school? Shouldn't you have a car, or at least be driving by now, sweet cheeks?" Jax questioned.
"I should be...but I don't know how." I told him, earning a shocked expression in return.
"You really don't know how to drive yet?" He asked and I shook my head.
"Me learning how to drive would be counterproductive to Eli's mission to run my life, because he knows I would never be at home if I knew how, so he'd rather not teach me."
"That's bullshit, darlin'. You really should've been driving at sixteen, but not knowing how at your age? Fuck that, I can teach you if you want. Maybe one day when your wrist heals." He offered, and my face lit up at the sound of that.
"Wait you'd do that for me?" I asked, and he nodded with a smile, as I'm sure he could sense my excitement.
"Well okay then! I'll let you know when I'm up for it. You're so nice to me, you know that? I've only known you two days and you've been nothing but good to me. I really do appreciate everything you've been doing for me these past few days." I blushed, watching as Jax's face lit up. The same way it did when Jess introduced us the other day. He seemed to lighten up whenever he saw me smile, and I thought that was the cutest thing.
"Yeah, I guess I'm just a sucker for a pretty face."
"Oh really? But I'm sure I'm not the only pretty girl, you've crossed paths with, so are you saying you'd do all this for them too?"
"Yeah, probably to be honest with you, but with them I'm usually keeping count because I expect something in return. With you, I didn't even realize how much I'd done until you just brought it up."
"So what does that mean?" I challenged, locking eyes with him. I already knew he was doing all this stuff for me because he genuinely liked me. I mean he said so the other night when we were texting, but I was just waiting to hear him actually say it.
Jax sighed, and removed the ice pack from my wrist, before setting it down next to me on the counter. He then leaned in, placing both of his hands on the edge of the counter, on either side of me. His face was now only inches away from mine, as the corners of his mouth curled up into an impish grin. An involuntary gulp slipped down my throat as I was reduced to a ball of nerves, and if he couldn't see my heart pounding through my shirt, I was sure he could hear it in that moment.
"Means I like you. I mean really like you, and I don't mean on just a sexual level either. It's deeper than that, darlin'."
"S-so are you saying you want me to be your girl?" I stammered.
"Exactly, but I don't want to rush it. We can take our time, and get to know each other more, but when it's all said and done, I'm gonna make you mine." He said, and although I liked what I was hearing, my mind immediately went to Jess. I mean she was my friend, and I wanted to consider how she might feel about me being with her older brother.
"But what about Jessica? You think she would be okay with all that?" I asked. Jax shrugged and opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by the sound of his phone buzzing in his pocket.
"Hold that thought, sweet cheeks." He said before fishing a flip phone out of his jeans, and checking the caller ID. "Speak of the devil." He said before answering the phone.
"Yeah, what is it Jess?…. Shit I forgot all about church. Tell clay I'll be there in a few… yeah, okay, bye." He hung up the phone and looked up at me shaking his head.
"Late for church?" I asked, causing Jax to chuckle.
"Not actual church, darlin'. I'm late for a club meeting down at the clubhouse. I see I've got a lot to teach you. You coming with me, or am I taking you to your mom's shop?" He asked, and I didn't hesitate to shake my head.
"I'm with you. Jess had plans for my birthday, and after the shit I went through with my dad, I think I need a break from my parents." Jax nodded, respecting my decision. He then, helped me down from the counter, and I followed him out of the house. He locked up, we hopped on his bike, and shot off to Teller-Morrow.
Rita
"Still no sign of her?" Rita anxiously questioned over the phone, after picking up Eli's call on the first ring.
"Not yet, baby, but calm down okay? It's only been two hours. I'm sure she'll turn up soon." He tried to assure her, but she wasn't going for it.
"Charming isn't that big, Eli! Two hours is more than enough time to look for, and locate a missing person in this small town. She could be tied up in someone's trunk by now!" Rita shouted, immediately regretting her words because she didn't like the thought of that.
"Come on now, don't talk like that, Rita. You know I raised that girl to be able to defend and handle herself."
"So if you think she knows how to handle herself, then why are you so overbearing when it comes to her?" Rita asked, taking note of the awkward silence that leaked through from the other end of the phone.
"I'm starting to think Elise is right when she says you just want to control her, rather than protect her, like you claim to." She paused, growing fed up with the conversation.
"You know what Eli. I have to go. Don't call me unless you have some news about my daughter." She hissed, hanging up in his face and throwing her back up against the cashier counter in frustration. She was so irritated with Eli, because even though she hated to blame him for Elise running off, she just had a feeling that he pushed her to that point, throwing his weight around like he always does.
'It's only a matter of time before he runs that girl off for good.' Rita thought, shaking her head.
Just then, she heard the door bells chime, and turned around to see none other than Gemma Teller-Morrow walk in, with a familiar looking young blonde haired girl. Rita immediately figured she was Gemma's daughter, because she looked like a younger version of her. She knew who Gemma was because of Eli. He had given her the run down on the whole club, when they first moved to Charming. The auto shop they ran was just up the street from Rita's shop, so she saw them coming and going quite a bit as of late. She wondered if Gemma knew who she was, and just what the hell she was doing in her shop.
"Can I help you?" Rita asked, with a forced smile, and Gemma nodded.
"You sell mariposa Lilly bulbs?" She asked, looking Rita up and down once she reached the counter, and that's when Rita knew, she knew who she was.
Elise
When we pulled into the TM lot, there seemed to be a steady flow of business coming and going from the shop, with a few crow eaters occupying the picnic tables outside of the clubhouse. As Jax backed into the row of bikes, I looked around for Jessica's car, smiling when I saw it parked out in front of the office. Just as Jax cut off his engine, I spotted Chuckie walking out of the office. He smiled, and nodded at us, and I waved for him to come over to us, which he did.
"What's goin' on guys?" Chuckie greeted, as he stood awkwardly across from Jax and I.
"Nothin' much." I said. "Is Jess around?"
"You just missed her. She left with Gemma, maybe five minutes ago."
"And Gemma left you in charge?" Jax asked, taking his helmet from me and hanging it on his handlebar, before getting off his bike. Chuckie nodded.
"Said they were just making a quick run up the street. They could be back any minute now." Just then, a customer headed into the office, and Chuckie dismissed himself before going back to work. That's when Jax looked down at me as I stayed seated on the back of his bike, and asked if I was coming in.
"Nah, I think I'll just hang out here until they get back."
"Okay, well I shouldn't be in here long, but I'll be Inside the clubhouse, in the room with the double doors if you need anything." He said, and I nodded, thanking him before watching him stalk through the lot. I noticed an exchange of words between him, and a few of the crow eaters, before he eventually disappeared into the clubhouse. I didn't think much of it though. I just looked down at my hands, and began fidgeting with my nails, not realizing how badly the two week old gel set needed a fill until now. I was definitely gonna take Jess up on her offer to take me to get my nails done when she got back.
Not even two minutes later, the sound of keys jingling, and heels clicking against the pavement, caused me to look up, seeing a tall blonde woman strutting my way with her eyes trained on me. She was wearing a black cropped tube top, and short black shorts, with a pair of white high heels. The whole outfit was tacky to me, and screamed either crow eater or porn star. I felt my eyebrows twitch in confusion as she continued to stare, but I just brushed it off and went back to messing with my nails.
"You lost, honey?" I heard her ask, and I looked up again, wondering who she might've been talking to.
"Who, me?"
"You're the only one around aren't you? You should get up before Jax comes out here and sees you sitting there. I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate some hood rat sitting on his bike." She shot back with a subtle attitude. I quirked an eyebrow, and tilted my head, wondering just who the hell this bitch thought she was. Must've been someone Jax screwed before because she seemed a little bit too familiar with him.
"Okay first of all, I don't have to explain a damn thing to some random hoe. Second of all, chill with all that hood rat bullshit. What are you, a crow eater? Porn star? Check yourself before you come questioning me, like you run something, when I'm sure the only thing getting ran around here is that pussy, now beat it bitch!" I snapped, watching her flinch in offense, as she crossed her arms.
"You've got a mouth on you! Jax sure knows how to pick 'em doesn't he? I never knew he was into black girls anyway." She said, taking a few steps forward, and sassily placing a hand on her bony hip. I made sure to take note of the fact that she was only standing about two feet away from me… close enough for me to reach out and smack her if I needed to.
"I'm guessing he grew tired of scrawny white girls, and figured he'd try something new for a change."
"Or maybe, he developed some sort of slave fetish, and went with the first nigger he could find." When she said that N word, it felt like something came over me and I instantly saw red.
I don't even remember saying anything before bringing my hand back, and slapping the dog shit outta old girl. causing her to stumble back a couple steps, grabbing her face in shock. I didn't let her regain her footing, before I hopped off of Jax's bike and went after her again, this time snatching her up by her bleach blonde hair, and pulling her to the ground, where I got on top of her, landing blow after blow to her face, until the sound of tires screeching filled my ears. Next thing I knew I was being pulled off of her, as the other crow eaters came to her rescue.
"Ima, are you okay?" One of them asked.
"What the hell's your problem?!" Another shouted at me.
"Shut the fuck up bitch, before I whack you next!" I shouted, just as I was dragged across the parking lot, pulled into the office and sat down on a lumpy sofa. I looked up to see that it was Jess and her mom who broke up the fight.
"You wanna tell me what the hell that was all about?" Gemma asked, standing over me, huffing and puffing with her hands on her hips.
"Bitch started with me for no reason. Then had the nerve to call me a nigger, so I showed her one!" I told her.
"I'm really sorry for fighting at your place of business. She had that coming though." I apologized, shaking my aching hand.
"Well I guess I can't be too mad. That Ima gash deserved to be put on her ass for that shit." Gemma said, going to sit down at her desk.
I really was sorry, and embarrassed more than anything, that they saw me get out of character, but I couldn't just sit there and be disrespected like that.
"What are you doing here anyway, sweetheart? Looking for Jess?"
"Yeah." Jess chimed in. "I thought you were supposed to be working with your mom today. We just left her shop, and I was wondering why you weren't there."
I explained what happened between me and my dad, and told them that Jax saw me walking and offered help and a ride. Then he got a call from Jess about the club meeting, so I decided to come here and meet up with her because I wasn't in the mood to deal with my parents after what happened, and they wholly understood.
"Well, I mean it is your birthday. You shouldn't be working anyway. You should be out having fun." Jess said.
"Oh it's your birthday today? Eighteenth?" Gemma asked, and I nodded.
"Well happy birthday, sweetie. Maybe we can set up a birthday dinner for you at my house since it doesn't seem like your folks are doing anything to celebrate. How about tonight?" She offered, and I nodded with a smile.
"I'd like that, thanks Gemma." She shot me a wink and a smile, and just when I was about to turn to Jess and ask her if she was still up to go to the nail salon, Jax busted through the office doors, causing all of us to jump.
"What happened to Ima?! I just saw Lyla driving off with her in the passenger's seat, with blood all over her." He asked, brooding at his mother, probably thinking she had something to do with it. Gemma calmly threw her hands up and scoffed.
"Don't look at me. Ask Laila Ali over there." She said, and my face flushed as Jax looked over at me.
"That was you?" He asked, sounding a bit more surprised than when he spoke to his mom.
"She came at me sideways about sitting on your bike. We exchanged a few words, and she called me a nigger, so I laid her out. You should really keep your bitches on leashes!" I kinda snapped at him, as I winced from the pain that shot up my arm, and tried to shake it off. Jax's face went from shocked, to concerned when he saw that I was in pain.
"Shit, your hand."
"Yeah, I guess I was so caught up in the fight, that I didn't even notice which hand I was using to pound that girl's face in. Hurts like hell, but I'll live." I said, and just then, the sound of a loud siren sounding off outside caught all of our attention, and we all rushed over to the window. My heart sank when I saw a squad car pulling into the parking lot, because I already knew they were here for me.
"That whore called the goddamn cops?!" Gemma blurted out.
"Stupid ass bitch!" Jess grumbled.
"I'll handle this." Jax spoke up. He was about to walk out of the office, when I grabbed his arm, causing him to stop and look back at me.
"This is my mess. I don't wanna keep leaving you to clean up after me. I got this." I told him.
"You're sure?" I nodded, and he slowly moved out of my way, allowing me to step out of the office. I glanced over to see the other members, watching from in front of the clubhouse, before looking inside of the car to see officer Cane. I could see the shock on his face as I walked through the lot. The same look was still painted on his face as he got out.
"Well well well, Ms. Roosevelt. You're a wanted woman down at the station, you know that? Are you who I'm here to arrest?" He asked.
"Afraid so." I responded, causing him to shake his head.
"Lieutenant Roosevelt wanted us to bring you in but not like this. You know he's gonna be pissed right?"
"You mean more pissed than he is naturally?" I nonchalantly shot back, as I placed my hands down on the hood. Cane came up behind me and began to pat me down. When he got to the lower half of my body, I started to feel uncomfortable when I felt him pawing at places he had no business touching.
"Looking for something in particular?!" I asked firmly, and that's when he stopped and cleared his throat. Fucking weirdo!
"Nah… I was just being thorough." He stood up, and cuffed me, before nudging me to start walking, and mirandizing me on the way over to the backseat. He opened the door, and just as he was about to lower me into the car, I peered up to the office window to see an angry looking Jax shaking his head, and gritting his teeth. Jess and Gemma didn't seem too happy either, from what I gathered, as I was put into the car. Cane shut the door, got in himself, and next thing I knew, I was on my way to the station… on my damn birthday. What a motherfucking day it's been!