Lauren Ash || A Tig Trager Love Story

14

The next morning was pretty standard as Alex and I got up at the same time and got ready for work together.

"Did you sleep at all Alex?"

He scoffed a little. "Like ten minutes."

"That's not good for you babe."

"Just club shit. You don't look like you slept much more."

"Just anxiety," I said.

"Nightmares?" He asked. I nodded a little. He'd known about them as long as we'd been friends. One party that we were at together, we fell asleep cuddled up on a love seat and I woke him up by shoving him off on accident. He woke up when he hit the floor and turned to yell at me only to find me thrashing a little and mumbling something about someone needing to leave me alone. He woke me up and held me as I calmed down. Ever since then, if he was around when I slept he helped me calm down from my nightmares.

"What was it this time?"

"Same shit with my dad," I said. He nodded. He knew most the nightmares I had were related to my father abusing my mother and I. "Mom was in it too which didn't help."

Alex sighed as he stood up. "Maybe Gemma will let you take an early day. You can go get your nails done or something."

"Like I can afford that."

"If Gemma takes you, I'll pay. She mentioned something to me the other day. I'll talk to her."

"What?"

Alex looked at me and shook his head. "Don't worry. Time for work though."

He handed me a helmet and we headed outside to his bike. The ride to Teller Morrow was pretty short. I was thankful for that. I liked being on the back of Tig's bike when he kept the speed relatively low. I wasn't a thrill seeker so I didn't love speeding down the highway quite like he did.

When we got to the lot, I immediately went to the office and started on some paperwork. The doors to the office and garage were open creating a nice little breeze still. I hated the summers here. I wasn't exactly built for the heat.

I was working on the paperwork for my father's truck when Jax and Opie came running into the office.

"Good morning you two," I said.

"Good morning Lauren," Jax said. "Mom said you'd be out here but she wants you. She's in the clubhouse."

"Thanks for letting me know boys. I'll head over in a second."

Lowell Senior walked up and punched in.

"Morning Lowell."

He didn't answer which was odd. Something was going on there. He never ignored me so he was either using again or something had come up. I stood up and walked to the garage door.

"Everything okay with your kid?" I asked. He just nodded. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said.

"If something comes up you can talk to me," I said. I followed his line of sight out to where Jax and Opie had their bikes, trying to figure out something to do to them.

"Hey, I'm headed into the clubhouse to talk to Gemma. Watch the office for me, will ya?"

Lowell just nodded and I wandered off, stopping long enough to check on Jax and Opie before heading inside. Alex was already there with Kozik.

"Hey baby."

"Looking for Gemma," I said before kissing his cheek.

"Kitchen."

I nodded and paused a little. "Is something going on with Lowell?"

"Not that I know of," Alex said.

"He was just acting strange this morning. Wasn't sure if he was using again or what," I said, shrugging it off and going to find Gemma.