Sunsets and Vegas Bombs

☼ Chapter 3

"Get out."
"What? I just asked a simple question! And we're going like, ninety miles an hour down the highway"
"Did I stutter, Jax?"
"Aw, Harley don't be like that. I was just asking if I could have some of your fries!"
"Jaxon! I'll jump this seat right now, don't even try me!"
"Fine, here. You're cranky when you're hungry." He hands me my fries with a barely concealed smirk.
I roll my eyes and shove some of the fries into my mouth, "And you're irritating, Brooks."

I forgot exactly how much I truly dislike riding on roadtrips for extended periods of time. Normally I would be the one driving, but since my eyes have been giving me issues lately, I've been banned unless I wear my glasses, and I wasn't thinking and packed them.

Danny shoots me a sympathetic look and Teagan tosses a fry at Jax.
"Normally I'm all for messing with Harley, but not right now." He says, then quietly, "She's mad cause she can't drive."

Without looking behind me, I reach back and pinch the inside of his calf. While he squeals like a baby pig, I unplug his phone from the aux and trade it for mine.

"At the next stop, Teagan and I are trading spots." I declare, "Unless Jax wants to trade."
"I'm chilling back here, you and Teeg are good to trade." Jax declared through a mouthful of burger.
"You're gross." I comment.
"And I was just about to comment on how beautiful you are." He teases, sticking his tongue out at me.
I laugh and toss a ketchup packet at him before turning and settling back down into my seat.

The next few miles pass quietly and fade into the sunset. The one difference is the way the trees look. You can tell you're getting close to the coast when the trees begin to show signs of wind weathering. I absently trace the tattoos that span my forearm as I watch out the window, knowing the curvature of the lines like the back of my hand.

"What do y'all think the most romantic language is?" Danny suddenly asks after a good while of just music.
I turn the volume down a bit before answering, "Italian. Or maybe Spanish? Both are cool." I answer.
"I agree with Spanish." Teagan responds, his voice betraying how tired he is.
"I like it better when the girls don't speak, if you know what I mean." Jax's deep voice cuts through, laced in laughter.
"Leave it to you to make it nasty, Brooks." I say, biting my cheek to contain my laughter.
"Or maybe my name is the better thing to hear." He continues.

By now, we're all laughing. Teagan snorts when he laughs too, so it doesn't take much for all of us to be thrown into hysterics. It takes miles for us to regain our composure, even Danny who normally isn't partial to Jax's dirty humor. If nothing else, he's good for a laugh once in a while.

"I forgot how long stoplights take out here." I grumble a little later.
"What do you want us to do about that, princess?" Teagan mumbles from the back, rubbing my shoulder.
"Turn them off?" I sarcastically question.
"Do you want to trade seats now? There's enough room for you to sit back here while I move up there." He offers, looking up from his phone.

Nodding, I gather my things and toss them to the back, more specifically on top of an unsuspecting Jax. He hardly looks up as I follow closely behind, landing in the seat between my friends. Planting a kiss on Teagan's cheek, I give him a gentle shove to get him moving to the front.

"Shotgun gets aux privileges." He reminds me, plugging his phone in.
"Play away, I'm going to sleep." I punctuate my statement with a yawn, settling myself into my seat.

Placing my sweatshirt behind my head and against the window, I swing my legs up to rest on Jax's legs, across the seat. He adjusts so that his hand is resting on my calf, holding his phone and the other is absently tracing patterns from my ankle to my knee. He turns to look at me, offering me an earbud with a raised eyebrow, gesturing to the movie playing on his phone. Nodding, I take his offer and pop the earbud in, settling back to watch whatever nineties comedy movie he has playing.

I must knock out about halfway through the movie because suddenly, I'm being carried up a set of stairs. Raising my head, I squint my eyes to try and get them to focus a little in the semi-darkness.

"Relax, princess. I've got you. You can go back to sleep if you want." Danny says, coming to a halt at what kinda looks like a door.
"Oh no she can't. I love you, princess, but you gotta help bring stuff up if you want sheets on your bed." Nathan pipes up from somewhere behind me.
Laughing, I nudge Danny to let me down, "Thanks, Danny."

Then, turning to Nathen, I retort, "Maybe I'll just sleep in your bed, Nathan. Then I don't have to worry about making up my own."
"It's not like you don't at home. Why would here be any different." He says back, wrapping me in a hug and swinging us back and forth.

We aren't together, but it would seem the opposite to anyone outside our friend group. I struggle with nightmares and sleepwalking, but it's generally helped by sleeping with someone else. Another person in the bed helps me feel safer and when I feel safer, I can actually sleep through the night.

All the guys are super accommodating, and I do my best to make sure nobody is put out by my actions. For example, I wouldn't ask Noah because he has a girlfriend. I wouldn't dream of trying anything on him, nor would he take advantage of my being in his bed if it happened, but it gives Jordan peace of mind, and it would feel morally wrong to even ask on my part.

Generally I sleep with Nathan, who has a king sized bed at home, or Teagan who suffers from occasional nightmares as well so he knows how to comfort me after particularly rough nights. Jax also offers his bed up sometimes, but there's always been an underlying tension there that has never been pursued. Plus, more often than not, if he's home he has someone else occupying the other side of his bed.