Memory Lane

Chapter 12. Jealousy

Jax

My bike came to a stop in the busy streets of downtown. The guys and I had just finished talking to Hale about his busted plan for Charming Heights. In exchange to get that dream up and running, he was going to rent us one of his properties at Old Elks Lodge. It was for our new partnership with Nero Padilla, it also helped Samcro bring in legit income that didn't land us in prison.

I was thinking about grabbing some food for dinner when Opie said something that caught my attention. "Who the hell is that?" I looked up from where his head was turned to see Desiree talking to some guy. To my surprise, her hair was cut short, totally different from what she looked like this morning. The guy she was with was making googly eyes at her and that irritated me. I didn't want Desiree talking to strangers without someone present, she had just gotten back, she shouldn't be trusting anyone. Especially some guy that looked like he shopped at the GAP.

Desiree noticed us staring and she waved in our direction. She didn't look like she was in danger, to be honest, she looked like she was telling us she was fine. But the guys saw her as their sister, so any man who wanted to talk to her would have to go through the club.

Opie began walking in her direction with a mischievous grin on his face. Most likely preparing himself to mess with her. I, on the other hand, was doing my best to keep calm and not go ape on the guy who was with her.

"Hi guys, what's going on?" she wore a knowing smile on her lips and stared at Opie. "Funny, I was on my way to ask you the same thing." I could tell that Opie's intentions were to mess with her, but Mr. Penny loafers was having a hard time understanding that. I could tell he was afraid of us and what we represented. "Nice hair," Opie said eyeballing her new look. Her hair was nice, it looked good on her, framed her face well. Desiree was always a beautiful woman; no amount of hair would change that.

"Doesn't she look pretty? Ms. Desiree has hair like mine!" my attention was diverted to the little girl standing next to the guy. She was probably no more than five-years-old and she was sporting the same haircut as Desiree.

"And you both look very beautiful lass," Chibs complimented and the little girl looked over the moon. I saw Desiree mouth, "I hate you," to Opie who had most likely said something to torment her.

"Um, Desiree, are you are sure you don't want a ride?" the guy eyed Desiree nervously. Opie let out a chuckle underneath his breath and I sucked my teeth. I could see that she was embarrassed by the way she scrunched up her face.

I decided to step in, "no, we actually came to pick her up. She's good man, I've got it from here." The man straightened up himself to look at me. He looked ridiculous puffing up his chest in my presence and had his daughter not been here, things would have gone a whole differently.

Desiree looked at the man apologetically, "Michael, it's okay, I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow Samantha!" she left us there with them without another word. I knew that I had taken things too far, so I ran up to catch up to her. "Hey, wait up! Don't you need a ride?" I yelled after her. She turned around and looked at me with a scowl on her face. "Jax, why did you do that?"

I tried to act oblivious because I knew I was in trouble. "Do what? What did I do?" This made her angry and she crossed her arms over her chest. Desiree scoffed, "what did you do? Jax, you were acting so jealous!"

I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned around to see the guys laughing at me. They knew I was in trouble with Desiree, just by the way I stood. "I wasn't jealous, that guy obviously had a thing for you! And plus, you shouldn't be getting in cars with strangers anyway. Look, you just got back, I'm trying to look out for you." My face softened and I could see that she was thinking about what I said. Although my initial reaction to Michael was out of jealousy, I did care about Desiree's safety.

When she got kidnapped, I blamed myself for it so much. I was paranoid, antsy, and I was always having mood swings. It was hard not to get out of control when I had a chance to make things right.

"Now, can I please offer you a ride? Pleeease?" I did my best attempt at a puppy dog face and I saw her start to smile. She shook her head and gave me a playful push on my shoulder before walking over to my bike. I smiled victoriously to myself because I could feel Michael's eyes glued to us. So, you bet that I made sure that Desiree's arms were wrapped around me before I flipped him off. The guys started to howl with laughter as I rode off with Des on the back of my bike.

She had no clue as to what I had done and that's what made the situation funnier. But there was also something so nostalgic about having her on the back of my bike. Almost like she was meant to be there. Her head was laying on my shoulder and I did my best to give her the smoothest ride possible. When I pulled into my mom's driveway, I was almost upset that it had ended so soon.

"Thanks for the ride," Des handed me back the helmet. I nodded my head and took placed my hand on the helmet. Not quite grabbing it, but just enough to make us hold it together. The sun was beating down on her face in the most complimenting way. Her brown eyes bore into my blue ones, and I honestly could have stayed like that forever. But then my mom's car pulled in next to me and Desiree dropped her hand.

"I guess I'll see you around," she said before making her way inside. My eyes watched her as her hips swayed from left to right. I never met someone that could make khakis and a pink polo look so good. She also had matching Air Force 1 sneakers on her feet like mine, and that made me smile to myself.

"Staying for dinner?" my mom asked me, breaking me out of my trance. She had a look on her face that begged me to roll my eyes. "No, that's okay. I'm sure Tara is going to make something tonight."

"Of course, she is," my mom said sarcastically.

I inhaled deeply, "mom."

"I didn't say anything, I'm sure what she makes will be great."

"Okay, bye mom." I refused to continue with her little charade and proceeded to pull out of the driveway. However, you know the feeling you get when you've worn something for so long and finally take it off. Like a bracelet or a necklace, and without it you feel naked. Well, I had a hard time explaining to myself why I felt like that on my way home without Desiree on the back of my bike.