Runaway ✔

024 • Dana

Here we go... Dana thought when the door swung open.

For just a second Juice seemed to freeze in the doorway, then a surprised smile spread across his face. "Hey..."

"Yea, hi."

Man, this is so awkward.

Her lack of enthusiasm went not by unnoticed. His smile faded and a serious glance appeared in his eyes. "Is there somethin' goin' on? Did I miss a call?" He patted the pockets of his jeans and looked over his shoulder as if his phone was still in the living room and he was able to see a missed call from this distance.

"No, everything's fine," she said quickly. Damn Dana, don't be such a brat. "Just wanted to ask ya how serious you were about needing some assistance at the office, and when I asked for ya at the clubhouse, Chibs found it necessary to take me to ya place... And I couldn't change his mind. So yea... here I am." She shrugged.

Man, this sounds so stupid. As if I'm kidnapped and his house is the worst place in the world ...

"Oh..." It was clear Juice neither knew what to say.

A few very uncomfortable seconds passed by, and Dana remember why she had avoided spending time with him alone.

"Well, if you really don't wanna hang out, I can bring ya back?"

Dana could clearly imagine how that would work out. She could already hear Bobby and Chibs' laughter.

"No, I don't mind," she said quickly. "Of course not. It's just... I've never been to your place before. And... we aren't as close as I am with Kip and Ope... And... I don't want to disturb you," she rattled, feeling her face glow.

Oh, this is horrible, so horrible! Can't I just vanish?

"Nah, come in. I don't mind." He stepped back, so Dana could enter his house.

Juice led her to the living room. The atmosphere differed from that of the other guys where she'd been. Cherry and Kip were the biggest pack rats she'd ever seen and Opie's floor was covered with toys. It smelled fresh here and the room was clean and organized.

She sat down on a black sofa and looked around. It was a modern and nice apartment. Two miniature Harleys were placed on the mantelpiece, and canvas paintings of bright colored bikes and Cadillacs against a black and white background were on the walls. In front of the sofa was a large flatscreen with the paused image of a sniper scene. Chibs was right, he had been gaming.

"Wanna have a drink?"

"Eh – a beer?"

He walked to the kitchen. She heard how he opened and closed the fridge before he returned with two beers. For a moment he seemed to hesitate whether he should sit on the chair in front of her or next to her on the sofa, and eventually, he did the latter.

Dana took a sip before saying anything. Her throat felt dry. "I wanted to talk about it yesterday or today, but you weren't around." She bit on her inner lip. How the hell is that an interesting subject?

"Yea... needed to take care of some things."

His tone made clear she shouldn't ask questions about it. Probably things that were none of her business as a non-member.

Dana leaned back a little, looking for a way to feel more comfortable. She thought about the party when they'd flirted to some degree. It felt like they needed an icebreaker over and over again.

"Jax must have caught you by surprise when he asked you," she tried to get the conversation going.

Juice shrugged. Again his lips formed the grin everyone would fall for. "As I said, don't think anyone could say no to someone like you. I'm not an exception at all."

"Thought that mainly was about the private pool dance shows." The tension built up in her stomach. Still, she decided to go on, if only to feel a little more at ease. "But I honestly don't know if you liked it."

His eyes lit up. She stopped breathing when their eyes met and she forced herself to inhale.

"Tig's dance act scorched my eyeballs, so I haven't seen much of it. Maybe you should do it again." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Chuckling she grabbed the cushion that was lying next to her and smashed it to his head. "Not until you turn fifty too."

He laughed and gripped the cushion so she couldn't hit again. "I rather look at ya now. Doubt your skin is just as smooth over twenty years."

"You have no idea if it's smooth now. Unfortunately, you haven't been able to figure that out."

"If ya find that just as unfortunate as I, we can always do somethin' about that."

Those few words caused a cramping pain in her stomach. She pulled her hand away from the cushion, took the bottle from the table and put her lips on it.

"Sorry," he said softly. "I wasn't thinking."

Dana dropped her eyes. "It's not your fault. I don't know why I can laugh about everything else, but not about this." She bit her lip. She had said the words before considering if she wanted to share them with him. "That's how it often goes. Then all of a sudden I'm reminded of... everything."

"Still I had to be more careful. I know you've bad memories with stuff like that."

Dana made a scoffing sound. "How could you know? The whole club knows I've slept with Jax. You must all think I'm fine."

A silence fell. It was an awkward subject after all, maybe also for him.

"Went that well?" he asked, hesitating. "Weren't you... Sorry, it's none of my business."

Dana looked up. Juice avoided her eyes. She wondered how often he thought about that first night. It couldn't be easy, knowing that someone was traumatized without knowing how to talk about it. And deep down she wanted to clarify that she had no feelings for Jax. "It was the first time, after Maddox. I really wanted it, I hoped it would make the memories about him go away." She folded her hands around the beer bottle and bowed her head. "But it didn't go as planned, and I had a lot of flashbacks."

"That sucks. Have ya talked about it with Jax? Maybe... it will help? Next time?"

"There will be no next time," she mumbled. "That helps too." She didn't dare to look at him, afraid her eyes told him she rather tried another time with him.

"Ya don't like 'em?"

"No. Not like that. It was just for one night. An experiment. Which absolutely failed."

Another silence fell. She heard her breathing, and his. She wondered what was going through his mind. He must found her a slut. Though all women – and men – in his world were.

Dana looked aside. Did he really looked relieved, or was that just her imagination? The question was already on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. It would only lead to more complicated conversations. What if he admitted he liked her? What should she do? Lie about her own feelings? Tell him the truth?

That would tarnish his honor. No Son would ever eschew a relationship because he was afraid to get in danger. He would claim he'd do anything to protect her, even if that was a lie. It was a conversation she was not willing to have.