Page 19 of Jax

“Yeah. Black Angels. The MC that runs this town,” he explained. “Everyone’s already talking about the little birdy with the horse running up into their territory. So, you’re either fucking one of them or have a pair of steel balls on you to go anywhere near their joint.”

I gave the man a calm stare, wondering if I had been wrong with the drugs assumption considering the clarity he was displaying.

He was right about the whole town speaking about me, though. Whether it was the local supermarket, the diner, or even some of the public restrooms, people had been stopping me left, right, and center, grilling me about who I was and what I was doing, or plain staring at me. Some of them thought I was deaf to boot, whispering two feet from where I stood as if I couldn’t hear them gossiping about me.

“I’m not Jax’s girl,” I replied, then walked out the back of the bar and into the storeroom to fill the cooler before he could fish for any more about me. This town cherished gossip so much, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to sell my secrets for his next hit.

Reaching the store cupboard, I collapsed onto the first box I saw, because running from the man and his questions wasn’t the only reason I wanted to get away.

My leg hurt like a bitch. It had been a long time since it felt this bad and I had no way of undoing the damage I was doing to it while working. Max’s recovery process, the bar work, and my shit car that forced me to walk more than I drove it seemed to be pushing me beyond my physical limits. A year ago, I would have been doing this amount of work at a minimum, now I was barely coping.

With Max depending on me, I pushed down the pain behind my perfected facade, and by the time I walked back into the bar, business mode was on and—

Oh shit!

Business mode was certainlynoton. Not when I spotted skulls bearing wide black wings spanning over the length of leather-clad shoulders gathering in a booth at the back.

I didn’t know how many long, awkward seconds I stood in the doorway, my eyes popping out of my head in their direction as I fought not to go and escape back into the storeroom. All I heard was Jax’s mean, harsh voice repeating in my head that I was to stay the hell out of his way and out of his life.

And I’m sure that included the bar he frequented—not that I had known that.

But it was too late, and when that one familiar head turned gracefully my way and recognized my face, I knew just what kind of shit was about to hit the fan. His face turned from relaxed to pissed in 2.5 seconds, and he was in front of me in only one.

“What the fuck are you doing back there?” Jax growled, his dark black hair swinging in front of his face as he practically flung his body into the bar.

“Serving beer?” I replied, feigning ignorance since it seemed like the best option.

Apparently not.

“Ronnie,” Jax growled, not liking my reply. Not that he would have liked any of the other replies I could have given him. “Get out here.”

“I can’t,” I retorted, finding myself moving deeper behind the bar. “I’m working.”

Someone chose that time to call for a beer, and I was thankful for the escape. It didn’t last long as Jax followed me step for step as I passed the man his beer.

“I told you I didn’t want to see you around here. Why on earth are you working here?”

“I didn’t know this was your bar, all right?” I shrugged, finding my annoyance creeping its way forward. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have taken the job. Besides, this is the only place I can work nights so I’m not interfering with Max’s training.”

I saw Jax’s eyes narrow, and before I could say anything else, his head turned like a freaking owl as he looked out to the parking lot.

“Donottell me you’ve been driving that piece of shit car late at night from this place.” He posed it as a question, but I could tell he already knew the answer.

“All right.” I shrugged, avoiding the eyes glaring into the side of my head. “I won’t tell you.”

“Goddammit, Ronnie!”Jax’s voice filled the entire bar and I wasn’t the only one who’s spine snapped up straight. All his friends’ heads turn at the sound of his voice and watched in confusion as Jax launched his feet up over the bar and landed with a bang on my side.

His face, closer to me than I had seen it in years, was almost more startling than the harsh grip that clamped around my upper arm and jerked me forward.

“Hey!” I screeched, desperate to pull loose from his grip, but his hand held tight, and I didn’t have the strength in my legs to stop myself from being helplessly dragged along behind him.

I heard one of the men in the bar calling his road name, but Jax was too focused to listen. He marched us all the way to the manager’s office, and without even a second of hesitation, he lifted his foot and busted the door down.

My small, chubby manager leapt to his feet, almost stumbling as he caught his foot on the rolling chair.

“Jax!” he gasped, his face paling a little as he met Jax’s glare.

“Fire her,” he demanded.

---