Note: Hello :D

I'm overwhelmed by the positive feedback I received. Thank you all for your support. I'm not sure if I'll be able to update this story as often as Set Me Free since it's pretty difficult writing about something you know nothing about (I'm referring to fighting). I just hope you'll stick around to see where this'll go.

A huuuge thanks goes to princessjazzie(she's on FFN, look her up) for writing the fight scene near the end of the chapter since I'm not a native speaker and I lack in terminology.

Happy reading :3

Music: X Ambassadors, Jamie N Commons - Jungle

I Might Be Checking You Out

Won't you follow me into the jungle (yeah)
Ain't no god on my streets in the heart of the jungle (oh, Lord child)
Won't you follow me into the jungle (yeah)

The music blasted through Jax's earphones as he switched between jogging and sprinting. He had been doing his roadwork training for two hours and was almost done with his morning routine.

He stopped at a meadow near the 'Welcome to Charming' sign. The sun had already risen, but the dew was still covering the grass. Harsh morning wind blew and Jax hurried to finish stretching.

There was no one there, probably because most people were sleeping at six o'clock in the morning. But not Jax. He wanted to be the best and he pushed his limits daily. The last thing he wanted was to let down the people who trusted him or to let himself down.

Street fights were not safe, but Jax had no other choice. Dropping out of high school at the age of eighteen and not graduating was one of the reasons he sought street fights as means to earn some money.

Other reasons included him being born in a poor neighbourhood with not many opportunities ahead.

His father died in a car accident when Jax was only seven years old. His mother Gemma had to take care of him and his little brother Thomas.

She worked as a waitress and seamstress, doing her best to provide her sons with the best possible life they could have.

But unlike his brother Thomas, who had his head in books and school and managed to graduate at the top of his class, even earning a scholarship for UC San Diego, Jax was led astray by his friends.

After spending 5 years in prison for an armed robbery (he was the getaway driver), he had no life, no friends, didn't finish school, and no one would hire him. His mother was now in her late forties, exhausted by work and too old to take care of him as well.

So, he turned to street fighting. He never imagined that one fight could get him so much money.

He lost the first few fights and ended up badly beaten, but after a while, he got the hang of it. He found a gym whose owner, Clay, was willing to let him train there if he agreed to work around the gym, clean toilets, the equipment, and do some smaller repairments.

Jax didn't care what he had to do, as long as he got what he wanted: training.

One of Clay's friends, Chibs they called him, agreed to train Jax. A few months later, Jax was making progress, winning his first fight.

Later, he gained more confidence in himself and he won almost all of his fights.

Clay, Chibs and some other guys who trained there were proud of him and Jax couldn't help but thrive on the fact that for once, someone was giving him compliments instead of Thomas.

Jax turned off the music then stepped with one foot forward and lowered into a lunge, placing his hands on the ground. He breathed in then out, straightening his leg. He then returned to the lung position, and then repeated the action ten more times, before switching legs.

At the fifth intake of breath, he heard the rustling of grass and made a move to stand when he heard a familiar woman's voice.

-"Don't stop."

He turned and faced Tara.

Her grey v-neck shirt was stained with sweat, with red zip up hoodie over it. She wore black leggings and her hair was tied in a ponytail. Her cheeks were flushed and she was panting.

Jax gave her a stiff smile.

-"Tara."

Tara tilted her head, her arms akimbo, then cocked an eyebrow at him.

-"Teller. Are you angry at me or something?"

-"No, I have no reason to be." – Jax answered, standing with his feet together and his arms overhead. He entwined his fingers, his pointer fingers extended. He inhaled as he reached upward.

-"Then, way such a stiff smile? It's a beautiful morning, the birds are chirping and I'm happy today."

She beamed and started stretching herself, repeating his actions.

Jax didn't know how to answer her.

Since they met at the gym, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He knew it was wrong. She had a fiancé. A fiancé who was his sponsor.

But the way she looked at him then, with a devious sparkle in her eyes, it got to him.

Jax had his fair share of women. His usual type were blondes with big tits and small brain.

Tara was the complete opposite of that with her chestnut hair and tits that were just the right size (not that he looked).

And the way she was stretching...

Tara interlaced her fingers behind her back, then breathed in and straightened her back to expand her chest. Next, she exhaled and bent down, stretching her hands towards her head.

The move offered Jax the perfect view of her cleavage and he began heaving. It has nothing to do with her, he assured himself. It's just the effort of the workout.

-"So, Teller. Do you come here often?"

Jax finished stretching and stood aside as she continued with her routine.

-"Yeah. But usually there's no one here."

Tara grinned.

-"I discovered it last week while I was running. I'm new here so I like to explore."

She finished with stretching and zipped up her hoodie, then re-tied her hair.

-"I hope I didn't disturb you." - she said, smiling apologetically.

Jax grinned back, looking at her. She had a cute smile.

-"You didn't."

Tara sighed.

- "Wow, Jax. You sure talk a lot." – she said sarcastically as they headed towards the town.

Their footsteps echoed the empty road, their sneakers scratching the pavement.

-"I'm sorry. I'm just tired. And I still have to get to the gym."

-"Oh, right. I was meaning to ask you. Would you mind showing me some self-defence moves?"

Jax frowned, tucking his hand in his pockets as the cold wind whipped past them.

-"Why?"

Tara bit her lip as if unsure if she should answer or not. She too tucked her hands into her hoodie pockets.

-"Well, I just want to feel safer. And I will, once you've shown me some moves. What do you say?"

Her eyebrows rose in expectation, her eyes making that puppy dog look which was impossible to resist if executed perfectly. And apparently she was perfect at it.

-"Ok. You can come later today."

She beamed at him, her smile becoming a yawn. She quickly covered her mouth.

-"I'm sorry. I hate getting up early but mornings here are so beautiful, it seems a shame to miss out on them."

Jax wondered why she needed self defence, but didn't ask. It had nothing to do with him.

She glanced at her phone.

-"Shoot! I have to hurry. Neal is waiting for me. See you later."

She waved at him then ran back to her house, her ponytail swinging left and right behind her. Jax's gaze dropped to her ass but then he shook his head, averting the gaze.

What's wrong with me?

#################################

-"Jackie Boy, Juicy gear up!" – yelled Chibs, standing at the side of the ring.

After putting on their head gear and sparring gloves, Jax and Juice stepped into the ring.

They both made their way into the centre and began bouncing from foot to foot, arms up to protect their faces and bodies.

After dancing around in a circle, Juice swung first, labelling himself as the offensive fighter.

His punch connected with Jax's shoulder.

With one connect in, Juice continued with a jab, straight, right hook combo, managing to achieve two of three hits.

The switch up was used to keep Jax on his toes.

None of the hits were hard.

Sparring was meant to build stamina and skill, not injure the opponent.

Jax recovered quickly and threw a jab, overhand right, and left uppercut combo of his own.

Juice responded with another jab to Jax's shoulder, then one to Jax's elbow, and then one to Jax's midsection.

Jax bent over so Juice would think the midsection shot caught him off guard, allowing him to shoot for the takedown.

Juice, finding himself on his back, shuffled his hips seeking a way out of open guard.

Jax responded by shooting over to side control, throwing a combination of knees to the body and elbows to the face.

Juice tried to bring his arm up to protect his face, but Jax saw it as an opportunity to put Juice in an arm bar.

Grabbing Juice's wrist and swinging one leg over his face and another over his chest, the arm bar was locked in.

Wrenching Juice's arm back and hyper extending his elbow, Juice taped after two failed attempts to escape the submission.

-"Aye, good job, Jackie Boy!" – cheered Chibs, patting his back.

Juice went to the showers while Jax drank water, looking at the clock above the entrance door.

Tara sent him a message, saying she'll be at the gym at four, so Jax went to the front to wait for her.

(How was Chapter 2? Please, leave a review. Xoxo)