Jax POV

The final bell rang and I bolted out the door heading to the parking to meet the guys. I made it to Frankie's truck before everyone and threw my bag in the back, letting down the tailgate and leaning back to observe the hordes swarming from the main building. I fought the urge to light a cigarette since Office Garcia was standing not too far away. No sense in getting a ticket now when I could wait five minutes and be in the clear. Instead, I impatiently ran my fingers through my hair and tried to rub the stress from my right temple as I waited.

"Hey Jax," a few girls shouted and waved, momentarily distracting me as they passed. "Hey ladies," I replied with a nod of my head and a slick smile.

Another gaggle of girls passed, this group braver than the last. "You gonna give me a ride, Jax?" asked a leggy blonde suggestively. I'd met her and her sister at a party last weekend. They were new to the neighborhood. Her name was Brittany if I remembered right.

"Well, I would darling, but this isn't my ride. You could always come by the club house later and I might be able to help you out" I bantered back with a wink. That sent them into a fit of giggles. I watched as Brittany tugged the hem of her skirt an inch higher and walked over to me, balanced her elbow on the bed of the truck and looked up at me. At sixteen she looked more like a twenty-something, not that I was complaining. Long legs, nice rack, porn star lips; she could've been one of Luanne's girls if she was a couple years older. I was pretty sure I could pull her if I really wanted to, I just hadn't made up my mind yet if that's what I wanted. Hot as hell but dumb as shit, I guess there could be worse things.

She leaned in a little, unabashedly squeezing her cleavage together – I couldn't help but do a double take. She knew it.

"Such a bad boy" she laughed, playfully pushing my shoulder. "Maybe I'll take you up on that, if you're lucky" she whispered coyly. Her attention was taken away by a group walking our direction. I looked up to see Ryan, Opie, Adam, Tara and Kris walking slowly toward us, laughing at something one of them had said.

One of Brittany's friends tugged on her arm, clearly in a hurry to leave. I had to wonder if Tara and Kris had anything to do with the girl's uneasiness.

"See you later, sweetie" Brittany breathed as she turned to walk away, shaking her hips in an abnormal rhythm, clearly trying to keep my attention. She would've had it to, if Tara and Adam hadn't been ten feet away and acting like long lost friends.

I tried to rationalize with myself; they'd known each other since they were kids too, just like me and him. It was normal to be friendly with someone you hadn't seen in so long and it was near impossible for Tara to be rude to anyone that hadn't given her good reason. But still, there was no rationalizing about it. No matter how close they'd been growing up, things were different now that we were older, now that everyone noticed Tara, now that Adam had that fucking Chevelle. I tried to push it from my mind.

"I was beginning to wonder about you guys" I said as they came closer.

"Oh, you looked like you were plenty occupied to me" Ryan laughed, glancing back toward Brittany who was still overtly shaking her ass.

"She looks like she's going to throw out a hip," Kris mumbled under her breath to Tara. Everyone had to laugh. There were different types of girls at CHS and Tara and Kris were definitely different from majority of them. Something in their chemical makeup set them apart. Don't get me wrong, they could both turn on the charm when they wanted to… I'd seen them both do it. But they were something else; I never could put my finger on it, maybe they were just smart.

Opie looked at me expectantly. I'd known him long enough, I could read his mind. He'd brought Tara this close; I had to at least say something to her.

"So Knowles, you decided to grace us with your presence this afternoon?" I asked with a wide smile, knowing the sound of my voice alone irritated the shit out of her right now.

Tara rolled her eyes but I noticed Kris laugh, which encouraged me a little.

"Well," she started reluctantly like there were a million other places she'd rather be right now. "Actually, Opie tried to volunteer Frankie to give me and Kris a ride home. I told him it was too out of the way, I wasn't going to ask Frankie to do that cuz I know how he gets. No offense, Frankie!" she added as she noticed him join us.

"None taken", Frankie answered with a look that said she was exactly right.

"He kept pestering me," she shot a glare at Opie, "and Adam overheard and offered instead," she finished with a smug smile.

"Nice guy," I replied, trying to play it cool. I reached instinctively for a cigarette again but stopped myself, thumbing my lighter and flicking it off and on instead. Damn nervous habits. "But watch out for these two, Adam. Rub them the wrong way and you'll find that pretty little car of yours on fire in a ditch somewhere. They have a pretty low tolerance for bullshit".

"Hey, hey. Leave me out of this. I'm not the one with a record!" Kris laughed, giving Tara a playful push.

"Oh, please!" Ryan laughed giving Kris a skeptical look. "If Tara offed someone, you would hide the murder weapon and then help her bury the body. We know how you two work."

I could see the blush spread across Tara's cheeks but she didn't react more than that. Instead, she held my stare, lifted her chin as if to accept some unspoken challenge and then looked back to Adam. "Better be nice" she warned him with a sarcastic smile and a playful look that made me bite the inside of my cheek.

"I'll remember that" Adam promised, feigning wariness as he looked back and forth between the two girls.

"You still coming by TM later?" I asked, hoping to get his attention off Tara.

"Yeah, man. Definitely. I'm gonna drop the girls off, swing by the batting cages and pick up a couple hours and then I'll be by."

"And what are you two ladies up to this afternoon?" Opie interjected.

The two girls shared a look and Tara shrugged.

"I gotta get home and watch the kids. Make sure they do their homework and shit. Cook, clean, you know, general slave labor" Kris joked – there was too much truth to that for it to really be funny but we obliged her with halfhearted smiles anyway.

"And you?" Opie pressed, looking toward Tara.

Tara shoved her hands in her pockets and glanced away, staring off into the distance at something demanding her concentration. "Oh, you know. About the same."

"What do you have to do, really? You should ride with us and hang out at the clubhouse. It'll be fun. Like old times" Opie continued.

Kris and Tara shared another look. What I wouldn't give to understand the secret language the two of them had. Fucking ESP I tell ya.

"Yeah, Tara. Come on. We'll get you back home before… before you need to be home" Ryan added, remembering half way through his sentence that Tara would kill him if he mentioned her dad in front of everyone.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Adam's posture change but he didn't say anything.

As usual, Tara couldn't find it in her heart to be rude to Ryan or Ope.

"I don't know guys. I should probably just head home." I could hear the note of wishful finality in her voice but Ryan wasn't going to let her get away that easy. Sometimes his lack of intuition drove me insane, but his inability to pick up on subtle hints was actually working in my favor this time.

He grabbed her in a playful headlock and gave her a noogie, completely destroying her hair until an uncontrollable laugh erupted from her. I couldn't help but smile at the sound.

"Alright, alright. FINE!" she screamed wheeling out of Ryan's grasp. She looked at Kris again, this time with a "save me" look on her face that Kris pretended she didn't see.

Tara shot Opie an 'I hate you right now look' before turning back to Adam.

"Thanks for the offer, Adam. I really do appreciate it. Maybe another time?". I didn't like the hopefulness in her voice, but I bit my tongue. She was coming to hang out with us and that was more than I deserved really.

"Yeah, sure," Adam said, leaning down to give her a hug. "Just let me know. Anytime." Then he turned to Kris. "You ready?"

"Yep" she replied, turning to give Tara a hug and whisper something in her ear. As Adam walked around to the driver's side, Kris opened the passenger door, pausing before she looked at me. "Don't be an asshole," she mouthed, giving me one of her looks before turning and getting in the car.

I was starting to get the feeling that maybe Kris was on my side and it gave me a little hope.

"Let's get the hell outta here" Frankie bellowed as he slammed the tailgate shut, climbed in his cab and lit a cigarette.

"SHOT GUN!" yelled Ryan and Opie at the same time, but I had already beat them to the passenger side. I pushed the handle and swung open the door, holding it wide. "Ladies first" I smirked at Tara.

She rolled her eyes again but didn't protest, brushing past me just close enough that I could catch a whiff of the Romance perfume she always wore. I slid in next to her on the bench seat and for the first time ever, Opie and Ryan didn't talk shit as they tossed their bags over the side of the frame and jumped in the bed.