Chapter 8

Jax POV

When Riles left I could tell that she was pissed off. I found Opie standing just outside of the garage bays so I walked over. "What's with Riles?" He asked me.

I ran a hand over my face. "Tara showed up trying to cause drama." I said.

"That's a sore subject for Riles." Ope said.

I leaned against the wall. "How come? What am I missing?" I asked him.

Ope walked back to the car that he'd been working on and continued. "Tara hates Riles. Tara told Donna once that she could see how close you and Riles were. She said that it scared her." Ope said.

"Why though?" I asked.

"Tara had this feeling that once you realized that you had feelings for Riles that you'd kick her to the curb." Ope said.

"But Tara's the one that broke up with me." I said.

"I know that and so does Riles but she has insecurities when it comes to Tara. Riles told me once that Tara threatened her once."

"What?" I said shocked. This was news to me. "What are you talking about?"

He looked up at me. "It was right after Riles graduated. Tara had showed up at the house and told her that she needed to leave town. She didn't care where she went but that she needed to go." Ope said.

"I don't get it. Riles hasn't done anything to Tara." I said trying to figure it out.

"That's the thing. When Tara's involved, you don't always see clearly. It's like Tara has this hold over you. That's why Riles would keep her distance whenever you brought Tara around." Ope said. Was he right? "Look man, I love you your my best friend but she's my sister. I'll do anything I have to, to protect her."

"I get it." I said.

A little while later, I was pulling up at Riley's house. When I walked inside she was curled up on the couch with a tub of ice cream. I walked around the couch and stood there. "Why didn't you tell me that Tara threatened you?" I asked her.

She looked up at me. Her eyes were red. She'd been crying. Damn it. "It was a long time ago. It didn't matter. She left town the same night that she threatened." She told me.

I walked over to the couch and sat down. I grabbed the ice cream from her and sat it on the coffee table. I gently pulled her into my lap so that she was straddling me. I pushed her hair out of her face. "I want you to listen to me. Okay? There is nothing that Tara could say to me to make me go running back to her. You understand me?" I said to her.

"You might feel differently when you find out what she has to say." She told me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

She sighed. She stood up from my lap and walked into the kitchen. She came back with an envelope in her hands. She handed it to me. "I had Juice look into Tara. I don't know. Something about her visit didn't sit well with me. Call it intuition or jealousy…I don't care which. This is what he found." She said. I opened the envelope, pulling the contents out. They were pictures. "Tara's pregnant. Juice pulled her hospital records." She told me.

"There's no way that it's mine." I told her.

She crossed her arms. "You sure about that? You and Tara were together an awful lot…back then and when she came back to town." She said.

I ran a hand over my face. "What do you want me to say? Other than the fact that I was an idiot for not seeing what was right in front of me." I said.

I stood up from the couch and walked over to her. She uncrossed her arms and I grabbed her hand, intertwining our fingers. "You think that charm is always going to work?" She asked me.

I shrugged. "Maybe?" I asked, smirking at her. I pulled her into my arms. "Come here." I wrapped my arms around her. "We'll get through this okay?"

She nodded against my chest. "Yeah. Okay. Just keep her away from me." She said.

I kissed the top of her head. "I'll do my best."