Page 41 of Triple the Danger

SAYLOR

“Babe, dump his ass and come with me,” the wild looking man in front of her crooned. His cut declared him as Taz, and their club’s Road Captain, and she was sure she had never met another man like him. He was wild and crazy, but with such a subtle air of danger she almost missed it. But she saw it, and realized that the rest of them were the same. The Dragons were scary in their own way, but they had nothing on these men. Still, she didn’t think she had anything to fear from them. At least, not right now.

Taz, however, reminded her of a crazy squirrel on crack, with the way he jumped around so much. He went to each woman to hug them tight, much to the annoyance of the men around them, but his tightest hugs were for Glitch and Karissa. Jax quietly told her that this was the team that Karissa and Glitch belonged to, which explained why both women just laughed and shot back at him when he dared to call them soft. It was also how he ended up on his back on the floor, grinning up at them like an idiot. She still was surprised they managed that so effectively.

Taz wasn’t a small guy. Perhaps not as big as some of the others on his team, or in the Dragons, but there was no mistaking he was fast and agile. He stood at six-two, with dirty blonde hair that was currently shaved on both sides, the top longer and flipped to one side, and brownish-green eyes that were currently bright with laughter. He had a thick, blonde beard, and was covered in ink. He owned the ‘big, bad biker’ persona. Despite all of that, he still somehow managed to give off the jokester vibe. It was a balance few could achieve.

“I don’t know you,” she told him, unable to hold back a grin of her own, and ignoring the scowl that pulled at Jax’s mouth. Since the moment she had been introduced to them, Jax hadn’t left her side. She was tolerating his obvious jealousy, for now, but mostly because she was concerned about him having been shot. Because of her. She’d have to live with that guilt.

“That’s why you need to dump him and come with me,” Taz replied. “I mean, how can we get to know each other if he’s stuck to you like a barnacle? Trust me, my cock’s better,” he added with a wink.

Saylor sputtered out a laugh, unable to help herself. Damn, this man was something else. Who blurted shit out like that?

Jax glared at him. “With how often you use it, I’m surprised you still have it,” Jax snapped at him, his grip on her tightening. She narrowed her eyes at him in warning, which he ignored.

“Dude, this thing is revered all around the country and beyond,” Taz exclaimed. “Which means I take extra good care of it.”

“Gross,” Glitch gagged as she came over. “Stop talking about your dick, Taz. And, Saylor, if he gets to be too much, just let any of us know and we’ll put him in his crate until he settles down.” Saylor couldn’t help but snicker, even as Taz gave Glitch a bland look.

“Are they always like this?” Saylor asked Jax curiously.

He sighed. “‘Fraid so. Though Taz is the weirdest of the bunch.”

“I am not,” Taz argued, pouting dramatically. “The weirdest is Simba. Have you seen his giant ass and the way he’s all growly and shit? I’m the fun one. He’s just the grump.”

There was a round of snorts and scoffs around the room, which had her turning to look at the man himself, who stood with Savage, Steel, and Ice near the entrance to their Church. Anyone looking at him would know he was in charge. He was also six-two, but with dark brown eyes, and hair of the same color. He also had a beard, and she could just make out a few silver strands, giving him a subtle silver-fox look. Like most of them, his arms were covered in ink, and he kept himself in shape, if those muscles he was sporting were anything to go by. “I’m about as weird as you are sane, so, not at all,” Simba said calmly before resuming his conversation.

Taz rolled his eyes. But before he could continue to champion for his cause, the twins made their way over and instantly got his attention. “Well, if it isn’t my two favorite ladies,” he boomed, pulling them both in for hugs. “Who are we scaring off today? You tell Uncle Taz and I’ll straighten them out.”

Both girls laughed and grinned. Then they pulled him away, talking quietly, but even from here Saylor could see the excitement on their faces. It was clear that, as crazy as Taz was, he was someone they trusted.

“Let’s go,” Jax murmured in her ear, tugging on her hand to pull her back toward the stairs. At first she resisted, but the intense look on Jax’s face made her relent. He obviously wanted to talk to her, so she supposed that she might as well get it over with. Besides, she had to clean up her mess in his room anyway.

When they reached his room, he pushed open the door, walked inside, and then stopped, his hand tightening on hers and his entire body going tense. Then he suddenly let go of her hand and pulled away from her, his entire body rigid as he stared into the room. Confused, Saylor looked around. His desk was a bit of a mess with her things, and his bed was still unmade, along with her bag kind of haphazard on the floor, but she hadn’t touched anything else in the room. Hell, she had been too zoned in to even consider doing that. “Sorry for the mess,” she said casually as she stepped around him and walked over to where her bag was on the floor, picking it up. But when she turned around, she saw that he hadn’t moved and his eyes were strained, his fists clenched tight. She frowned. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Her gaze flicked to his stitches worriedly. Was his head bothering him? Jax didn’t answer. “Jax?” she prompted, concern making her stomach knot.

“Do you always leave things a mess when you’re in someone else’s space?” he finally asked, his voice harsh, and almost angry.

Saylor stilled, blinking at him. What the hell? What was his problem? “Excuse me?” she demanded.

“You heard me,” he snapped, angry eyes turning to hers.

She couldn’t believe the audacity of this man. “I heard you being an asshole. You’re the one who insisted that I stay in your room. That I had to work in here because it wasn’t safe for me at the apartment. What did you think would happen? That I would sit in the corner, not touch anything and just stare into space?”

“I thought you would have the decency not to mess up my room,” he bit out.

Anger made her lash out. “And I thought you would have the decency to understand that I don’t want to be here. Not with you. Not in this room. And not in this club. You’re the one who refused to let me leave, and then you took me from the space I was in and forced me to stay in this tiny room because of so-called safety. You make it sound like I trashed the damn place, when all I did was leave the bed unmade, and use the space you allowed. Not to mention, I only used the bed and the desk. So, if you have a problem with that, that’s too fucking bad. Either let me go back to the apartment or give me another space to work.” Her voice rose with each word, until by the end, she was yelling.

“Just because?—”

“Nope,” she interrupted, angry and too worked up to listen to more of his complaints and excuses. “You’re not going to stand here and make me feel stupid or embarrassed because you told me to work here. The only thing I’ll say is that I didn’t clean it up right away because I was hungry. I planned to come right back up, but I got pulled away. If you want to be mad, go right ahead, but I’m not going to stick around and listen to you get upset over some stupid bullshit like this.” She grabbed her bag and moved to the desk, scooping up her stuff and stuffing it into the bag.

“Saylor…” Jax’s voice sounded strained, no longer angry, but she ignored him, continuing to pack up her things. She wanted to only be angry, but she was hurt too. He acted like he wanted her here, had made her come and cuddle him in bed this morning, and even kissed her in front of everyone, but clearly that had only been for show. Or maybe because he thought he would get lucky again. Her stomach soured. Yeah, she wasn’t going to be made a fool of. Not again.

The moment she felt his hand on her shoulder, she tried to wrench away but he held firm. She whipped her head up, but before the cutting words she wanted to yell at him could leave her mouth, the look on his face stopped her. Defeat, guilt, and regret were there, and some of her anger turned to confusion - and maybe a small hint of concern, though it wasn’t enough to make all of her anger disappear.

“Saylor,” Jax said calmly, voice heavy. “I’m sorry. Look…I…I have issues with things being messy. It caught me off guard, and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have, and that’s on me. Just…Just let me explain. Please?”

She hesitated, but something in her told her to give him a chance. Clearly, this was about more than just her leaving her things around. So she set her bag down and sat in the chair, crossing her arms over her chest and stared at him expectantly. She was still pissed, and he needed to know that, even if she was willing to listen.

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