It's Hard Not to Hate - An Outlaw Love Story

Chapter Twenty-Six.

"C'mon Opie, c'mon, answer the damn phone!" Taylor hollered aloud to herself, tapping her thumb on the steering wheel.

It's Opie. Leave a message. Or don't. Who fucking cares.

"Damnit!" She hollered. She leaned her head against the wheel, the leather cool on her skin. She didn't have any of the other Sons' numbers. The only
other person she could call was the last person she wanted to. But she had no other choice. She dialed the number and held her breath, praying for an answer.

"Hello?" Gemma's voice was gruff.

"Gemma, it's, uh, it's Taylor. Jax's- or Abel's nanny," the words spilled from her mouth quickly, she was antsy for more than one reason.

"Hi Taylor. If you're looking for Jax he isn't with me."

"He's with me. Or, he was. Listen, I don't know who else to call, I don't have anyone's numbers. Jax gave me yours once, in case of emergencies and-"

"Taylor is something wrong?" Gemma asked, interrupting her rambling.

"It's Jax. He just got arrested. And I don't know what to do."

****

Taylor paced the hotel room, back and forth, back and forth, surely wearing a path in the old, green carpet in the process. It'd been a few hours since she had called Gemma for help, and she was growing rather impatient. She had expected Gemma to scream and yell at her, blame her for all of this, but she had been rather kind to her, promised her that she would find someone to fix this.

Tig had called her shortly after, and she had to explain the situation all over again; They got pulled over just ten minutes after leaving her old house, the police officer arrested Jax for aggravated assault, leaving her on the side of the road alone with no idea what to do. Tig told her that he and a few of the other members would head to Sacramento, get Jax bailed out, and try to get this taken care of. It had been hours, she hadn't heard from anyone since, and it was killing her.

She had a bad feeling this would happen, that something would come of what Jax did to Henry. Henry wasn't the type to just let things go, she knew he would use his position in the courts to get back at Jax, and she had told Jax exactly that as she had admonished him for his actions mere moments before his arrest. She couldn't really be mad at him, though. He had stuck up for her, for Donna. He just hadn't done it in the most civil way.

She sat down on the bed with a huff and pulled out her phone and began angrily typing a text message.

Taylor: Why did you do this?

Not even a minute later her phone pinged with a reply.

Henry: He brought it on himself. I'm the victim here. What else was I supposed to do?

Taylor: No, Henry, I'm the victim. You cheated on me, left me for some other woman while I was getting treatment for cancer. You're a coward. You got what you deserved, especially after what you said today. Think back to when you loved me. If someone would've treated me like you did today, don't you think you would've  wanted to defend me? Just think about that for a moment.

She waited a while, but received no response; she hadn't expected one this time. He was too proud and his ego was too big. She hoped her words had stung, though, just like the tears did her eyes as they welled once again. She sent a quick text to Tig, checking in on things, and when she didn't get a reply from him either she tossed her phone into her bag with a loud grunt before storming off to the small bathroom and running herself a bath.

After close to an hour in the tub Taylor decided to get out. The water had long since turned cold but's he hadn't been able to move; her body was exhausted, her mind completely drained, after the day she had had. She hadn't even really had time to process the fact that there was a chance her cancer had returned. She wouldn't really have that chance, not until Jax was back and things had calmed down. She wrapped a towel around her naked body and exited the bathroom, just in time to see the front door open and Jax come strolling into the room, Tig right behind him. The moon hung high in the sky, and a cool draft entered the room with the men, sending chills across Taylor's exposed skin.

"Hey," Jax said with a soft, crooked smile. She looked from him to Tig, who was staring at her scantily-clad body with lustful eyes, and she hugged the towel tighter to her body, like that would somehow help.

"Dang, babysitter," he muttered. Jax turned around a glared at him, Tig taking a step back. "I'll, uh, leave you two to talk."

Once Tig was out of sight Taylor hurried toward Jax, the towel falling from her body in the process, but she didn't care. She practically jumped into his arms.

"Are you okay?" She asked before leaning up and kissing his plump lips.

"I'm fine, baby," he replied as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"They bail you out?"

"Actually no." Jax slipped out of his kutte and tossed it over the chair sitting next to the tv stand. "Charges got dropped. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Taylor shook her head, feigning innocence. "Not at all. I'm sorry I called Gemma. I didn't know what else to do. This was a first for me." She gave him a crooked smile.

Jax ran his hands up and down her arms, the friction warming her skin, and he glanced down at her naked body, then back into her eyes, kissing her again.

"I need a shower," Jax muttered, his lips grazing past hers as he spoke. He shut the bathroom door behind him as he disappeared. Taylor grabbed the forgotten towel and wrapped her hair in it, pulling on a pair of underwear and a tshirt before grabbing her phone and snuggling under the covers in the queen sized bed.

Taylor: Thank you. Goodbye, Henry.

Henry: Goodbye, Taylor.