AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey guys! I am getting super excited because last chapter was the most comments and feedback I've had so far on this story!

There is plenty of drama to come... In the meantime, enjoy meeting the one and only Jaxon Stark....!

Love Becky xx

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Chapter 7

Jaxon Stark

I don't know how long I stare wordlessly at Jaxon. It might be a second or a minute or even a year. I just know that I can't take my eyes away from him. And I can't find a single thing to say if my life depended on it.

"I take it you do know how to talk?" he asks in amusement.

My face feels incredibly hot. I can't just stand here gaping at him, but I'm literally frozen to the spot. His sheer beauty has rendered me speechless.

"Um, well, erm..." I search his face desperately for anything I can comment on. His lip-ring? His hair style? His stunning blue eyes? Something that won't make me sound like a total idiot? My gaze eventually rests on his muscly arm. "I like your tattoo."

He laughs appreciably and runs his fingers across the intricate tribal print which is inked onto his skin. "Thanks. I designed it myself."

"Wow, really?!" Before I realise what I'm doing, I've reached out to touch his arm. It feels warm and firm underneath my palm. "It's amazing!"

"Oh, so you don't waste any time do you?" Jaxon is grinning madly and flexing his bicep against my touch. "Trying to a cop a feel already? Hey, I'm more than happy to oblige..."

I pull my hand back so fast it probably looks like I've been burnt. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I wasn't trying to do anything weird! I swear!"

Chunk takes a step forward, inserting himself between us. "Don't pay any attention to him, Ash, he's a wind-up merchant." He gives Jaxon a light-hearted shove. "Come on mate, play nice!"

Jaxon holds his hands up, looking like a picture of innocent. "Hey, I wasn't doing anything. She's the one trying to physically assault me." He throws a heart-melting wink in my direction. "Then again, you can't assault the willing right?"

Now I'm blushing so hard that I must look like a tomato. "I wasn't trying to assault you in any way! Honestly, I really wasn't!"

"I beg to differ," Jaxon quips back instantly. "You're definitely a fiery little minx. Did we really go to school together? I would have thought I'd remembered someone like you."

There are still no words coming to my lips. I just don't know what to say so I give a tiny little nod instead.

"Jaxon looked totally different back at school," Chunk speaks up. "You probably don't even recognise him now. There were none of these tatts or piercings or anything. He was all sweet and squeaky clean back then."

"I was never squeaky clean mate," Jaxon replies at once. There is fire dancing in his eyes and I want to get lost in it.

The sound of heels against the floor suddenly fills the air, just audible above the pounding music from the next room. Chunk nods toward a large group of girls all standing up from a cosy looking booth in the corner. "Quick, let's get a seat."

We all rush over to grab it before anyone else does. Chunk is leading the way and if I'm not mistaken, Jaxon seems to be hanging back to stay close to me. I've only just met this guy, but he's acting like we've known each other for years. It's incredibly over-familiar and I think I like it. A lot.

He dives into the corner of the booth, just as Chunk reaches it. "Good spot Charles my good man. Now, which one of us gets to sit next to the lovely Ash?"

There is a smirk on his face as he pats the space right next to him on the squashy red cushion. Chunk gives a tiny eye-roll and looks to me. "Let me get you a drink, what would you like?"

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with attention. I've got one boy offering to buy me a drink and another boy inviting me to sit next to him. And out of these two boys, I know exactly which one is pulling me in like a magnet.

God, I am so glad that Chunk invited me out tonight. He's such a legend. I can't believe what cool friends he's introducing me to... Like seriously, I am so grateful I could literally kiss him right now!

"I'll have a vodka and cranberry please," I say to him brightly. "Thank you so much." I really mean the thank you. I hope he can tell.

He smiles back at me in a ridiculously sweet way. "Great, I'll just go get it."

Jaxon calls over to him before he can leave. "YES! Chunky Monky's round! I'll have whatever's on draught mate."

"Sure thing bud," Chunk replies without missing a beat. Wow. Boys always seem to have such easy friendships. Annabelle would probably laugh in my face if I asked her to buy me a drink.

Or maybe it's just the power of Jaxon. I feel like he could ask anyone to do anything for him and they probably wouldn't be able to say no.

"Come on then minx, your seat's getting cold."

He's still patting the cushion, urging me to sit beside him. The pull is getting even stronger and I give in to it, sidling along the cushion until our legs are brushing together. He's wearing dark jeans with rips in the knees and I can see his pink skin peeking out through the hole.

"So you work in a pub in Westerfield right?" he enquires. "Chunk said you get supplies from his shop."

"Yeah, that's right." I don't elaborate. My heart is beating too fast to speak.

Jaxon laughs a little. "God, I can't imagine going back to village life. Isn't it completely boring for you?"

I'm not sure how to answer the question. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?!" He's laughing even harder now. I hope he doesn't think I'm an idiot. "Surely it's a yes or no question?"

I shift in my seat, feeling overly self-conscious of our thighs resting together. "Well, sometimes it's boring. But you know, it's my home. I like living there most of the time."

"So you're a good little country girl through and through?" There's that mischievous glint in his eyes again. It's making me shiver. "I wish I could say it was enough for me, but I couldn't wait to get out once school finished."

"You moved here straight after school?" I ask in surprise.

He shrugs casually. "Well, my family did. They'd wanted to move out of Westerfield for ages but they were waiting for me to finish my GCSEs. Once I'd passed them I went to college in Northcastle and then onto a tattoo apprenticeship. It's always been my dream and I was never going to achieve it until we got out the village."

I could never imagine a tattoo parlour opening up in Westerfield. All the old farming families would have a heart attack and probably go out protesting against it. In fact, it's rare to see anyone with tattoos at all where I live. Jaxon must get funny looks from people whenever he comes back to visit.

"What's it like working at a place like that?" I ask curiously. "Do you actually get to do the tattooing?"

"Yeah, all the time! And I do all the designs too."

I feel my mouth open in wonder. "Wow. So there are total strangers walking around with your artwork inked on their bodies?"

"Yep," Jaxon grins. "Cool huh?"

It is cool. It's VERY cool. And I want to know more. And more and more and more.

"What kind of stuff do you design? Is it all tribal stuff like the one on your arm or can you do proper pictures too? Hey, do you have any more? Ooh and has anyone ever asked for something really weird? What kind of stuff inspires you?"

The questions are tumbling out of me one after another and I can't seem to stop them. I just want to know EVERYTHING all at once. Jaxon is shaking his head at me.

"WOAH, I didn't realise I was on a witness stand here!"

I'm mortified. I just want the ground to swallow me up and hide me away forever. "Sorry... I can kind of be a bit full-on sometimes. Just ignore me..."

To my relief, he's laughing again. "It's OK, I don't mind. But we've got plenty of time to get to know each other right? No point revealing everything too soon, where would be the fun in that?"

If I'm not mistaken, his arm is beginning to creep around my shoulders. He's holding it out against the top of the cushion we're on, but it's edging closer and closer to me. No, I've got to be imagining it. There's no way a guy like this would ever be trying to make a move on someone like me.

But I can feel the warmth of him coming into contact with my neck. It's making me sweat and shiver all at the same time. I close my eyes, silently willing him to pull me into his hold...

"Budge up guys, we're coming through!"

Annabelle, Sarah and the two guys from the bar appear out of nowhere and begin to pile into the booth, taking over every little bit of space and breaking my Jaxon bubble. His arm is back on the table top in front of us like it was never even around me at all. I blink myself back into the real world, forcing my eyes to refocus.

What's wrong with me? Why do I keep getting so carried away when it comes to guys? I need to stop this before it even starts. It's not real. It's never real.

The two model guys are now sitting opposite me, whilst Annabelle and Sarah are bunched up beside me. This means I am squished in even closer to Jaxon, but also that I am being buried by my friends' animated presence. Annabelle is leaning over me and talking to Jaxon like I'm not even there.

"Why hello, I don't believe we've been introduced yet. I'm Annabelle." She holds out her hand and I can't tell if she wants him to shake it or to kiss it. He does neither.

"Hey, I'm Jaxon." He gives a little wave to Sarah. "And what's your name foxy lady?"

She giggles her name out to him and to my guilty horror I feel a thousand snakes of envy writhing around inside of my stomach. Oh gosh. Get a grip Ashleigh Apple!

"You're Ash right?" speaks the blonde guy opposite. Up close I can see how handsome his face is. "I'm Dev. This is Raj." He points to the guy beside him who has flawless brown skin and the most amazing beard I've ever seen. It's sculpted around his face like a piece of art. He smiles at me and it is radiant.

"Raj is a model!" Sarah squeaks into my ear. "He's been in clothes catalogues and adverts and all kinds of things!"

"And billboards," Raj adds with a smug wink. "Have you seen the new jeans ad at all the local bus stops? That's me."

Sarah looks seriously impressed. I think she might really like Raj. "WOW, are you for real?! I'm pretty sure I have seen that poster. I'm so going to catch the bus all the time now so I can see you!"

Dev slams down the pint that he's drinking in a way that's jokey but somehow gets us all looking at him. "OK, quit showing off. You've just had a few lucky breaks, but the whole Indian Beard thing can only keep working for you for so long..."

"Don't be a hater mate," Raj chuckles, holding his hands up innocently. "Your time will come someday."

"It better do," Dev replies with an eye-roll. "I'm sick of folding up jeans with your fucking picture on. It's like the universe is taunting me."

Jaxon leans into the conversation. "Dev works at a clothes store in town, but he'd rather be modelling the stuff he sells."

"Hey, I've done a couple of catwalks. I just have to get more shots in my portfolio."

"I think you make a GREAT model," Annabelle interrupts. "I'm sure you'll get more work soon." She is touching his arm and smiling wildly at him. She is such a flirt with everyone! I guess I should just be glad that she's turned her attentions to someone other than Jaxon...

"SO, Jaxon. How do you know these guys anyway?"

Nooo! Damn you Annabelle! I may as well give up now if she wants to go out with him. Annabelle always ends up getting whatever she wants, no matter what the rest of us think about it. My heart twinges in disappointment, but I try to ignore the sensation. Maybe she's just being friendly. I have to have hope.

Jaxon slouches backwards into his seat, not looking her directly in the eye. "I went to college with Dev, we took a few classes together. And then we met Raj later in the year when Dev started getting more into the model stuff."

"I'm basically his mentor," Raj adds, throwing his arm around Dev's neck.

"It's not like it's your full-time job," Dev grunts in retaliation. He pushes himself out of Raj's strong-looking grip and sweeps his eyes round the table at us all. "He only models part-time, he works in a music store for most of the week."

"Just for now. I'm getting loads more bookings lately, though!"

It's so funny seeing the boys bickering like this and trying to outdo one another. They are showing off for us big time. And I guess they have good reason to show off. I mean, male models are COOL. Heck, even their day jobs are cooler than mine. I can totally see Dev folding stylish jeans in some trendy warehouse clothes store and Raj hanging out by a record player, giving music recommendations out to all the local hipsters.

But there's only one guy here who's captured my interest. And he's currently sitting right next to me, confidently silent. Like he doesn't even need to try and compete with anyone else.

I want to talk to him. I want to unlock some of his secrets. But now all the others are here, I've disappeared into the background, just like I always manage to do. Why can't I just act like a normal person for once in my life?!

A few more minutes pass by. Jaxon tells Annabelle and Sarah about his tattooing. There are giggles and questions and words that I couldn't seem to make come out. Then Chunk appears at the side of the booth, holding two drinks in his hands. I had almost forgotten that he was here. It seems like a whole lifetime ago that he went to the bar. I'm happy to see him, though. Something about his presence makes me feel so much calmer.

"Here you go little lady." Gently, he places my glass of vodka and cranberry in front of me. He then plonks Jaxon's pint down beside it, spilling precious drops of beer on the tabletop.

"Oi, watch it mate!" Jaxon cries. "I don't want to lick it off the table."

"You should be lucky I got you one at all," Chunk counters. "Don't you owe me about a dozen drinks by now?"

Dev is pouting across the table at the exchange. "I didn't realise it was Monky's round! Where's ours then?!"

Chunk raises his eyebrows at the bottle of cider which Dev is currently holding. "You've already got drinks!"

"Only because we didn't realise you were paying," Raj interjects, cheekily. "First round's on Chunk everyone!"

He and Dev start cheering and Annabelle and Sarah join in, both holding up their own glasses which are already going down rapidly. I don't say anything. I can't tell if this is a joke or not. Do they really expect Chunk to go and buy them all drinks? That doesn't seem very fair.

"I can't afford to get everybody a bloody drink," Chunk laughs. Oh, he's laughing. I guess it really is just a joke. Suddenly I start laughing too. It's pretty funny when you think about it. These guys are all like naughty school kids.

"Don't you start joining in Apple," he scolds wryly. "You're meant to be one of the good ones."

Jaxon brings his arm back around me. It happens so fast that I barely even have time to register it. "Not anymore. We're bringing her over to the dark side."

The table erupts into more noise as the boys start slamming their hands onto the table-top and chanting Chunk's nickname over and over.

"CHUNKY MONKY! CHUNKY MONKY! CHUNKY MONKY!"

Annabelle and Sarah add their voices to the chorus, banging their glasses down in unison with Dev and Raj. Jaxon is chanting the loudest of all. With every word, his grip gets a tiny bit tighter around my shoulders.

I hear the shrieks of hysterical laughter echo around me. I hear Chunk grumbling at everyone to shut up. But most of all, I hear Jaxon's deep, sensual tone running through the air like an invisible river.

I know I shouldn't get carried away again. I know that Annabelle will probably be the one he ends up liking more. I know a hundred different reasons why this will probably end up with me getting hurt somehow.

But all I want right now is for him to hold me just a little bit tighter...