He'd wanted to surprise her tonight.
But now he was the one who watched utterly bewildered how his ten year older brother kissed his girl.
And she didn't push him away.
She didn't fucking push him away!
He really had no clue what was going on here. He'd thought Kozik had been like a brother to her, or that they'd had a close friendship in the past. But he'd never expected... this.
Juice went along with the rage that arose within him. He rushed to the couple, grabbed Dana's shoulder and tore her away from the blonde man. He clamped his hand around Kozik's shoulder and with his other fist he slammed the man in the face. Before Kozik could come to his senses, Juice grabbed his throat and squeezed. "If you ever touch my girl again, I snap your fucking neck," he spatted.
"Juice! Stop!" He felt Dana's pulling hands around his wrist, but he roughly tore away his arm and kept looking at Kozik. If the man hadn't been released from the hospital a few days ago he'd probably returned the punch by now, but at the moment he rather looked confused than angry.
With a grunt Juice let go of his throat, cast Dana a dark glare and grabbed her wrist. Ignoring the looks of the others, he dragged her away from them.
"The fuck was that?" he snapped when there was enough space between them and his brothers.
"Let me go." Her voice sounded rough, but the look in her eyes was insecure, maybe even anxious. He did as she asked and stared at the marks his fingers had left on her arm. He however didn't apologize. Hell, she'd been on the verge of cheating on him under the eyes of his brothers. Right under his nose!
He hated the fact she'd slept with Jax once, but that she had a history with another Son as well made him feel sick. As if half of the club had already done his girl.
"You gonna answer?" he snapped when she kept staring at her shoes.
"I don't know what happened," she answered quietly. "I haven't seen him in ten years, Juice. I was completely overwhelmed."
Against his better judgement he tried to explain the kiss in another way. Sometimes old friends greeted each other with a kiss on the lips. But the way she'd caressed his face, the ease with which Kozik's hands had moved to her ass... "You fucked him?"
"What? No..." She looked up to him. He didn't know what to think of the look in her eyes. He rubbed his hand over his mohawk and started to pace. What was he supposed to do with this? There was something between those two, everybody could see that. What a fucking mess. He never should have called that asshole.
Dana heaved a sigh and let her hands slip into her pockets. She didn't look at him, but aimed her eyes on the others. Nobody paid attention to them, they all greeted Kozik enthusiastically and undoubtedly asked questions about the night he'd been shot.
Dana's silence frustrated him. She didn't even apologize.
He forced himself to stop pacing and took a step toward her. "You have feelings for him?"
She crossed her arms and rubbed her upper arms as if she felt cold. "You really want to talk about this now? Here?"
Juice clenched his fist. 'No' wasn't a difficult answer at all. He forced to spread his fingers when he noticed how nervously Dana stared at his hand. "You clearly don't," he grumbled.
For a moment he looked at her, then he shook his head and rushed back to the others. Even though he was sure his brothers would have reacted in exactly the same way, he had the feeling they were all looking at him.
With a sulky face he walked to the barbecue and tried to participate in the conversation the prospects were having, but everything they said passed him right by. He was having a hard time not to look over his shoulder to find out what Dana was doing. He however didn't want to show the others how hurt he felt. Not only because she'd let someone else kiss her, but even more because she acted as if it was no big deal. He remembered all the angles he'd worked himself in, that time a Croweater had knelt in front of him. Dana didn't even try to give him the impression this meant nothing.
"Hey man, I'm sorry." He froze when he heard Kozik's voice. A firm hand squeezed his shoulder and Juice clenched his teeth. "I didn't know she was yours."
Juice turned away, so his hand glided off his shoulder. "Maybe you should have thought about that before you kissed her, asshole."
He peeked aside. Where his fist had hit Kozik's cheek, his skin was already swelling up and turning dark. Kozik looked at him with sincere regret, there were no signs that he was trying to provoke him.
With a grim face Juice moved his glance back to the smoking meat, realizing he felt more anger towards Dana than towards Kozik.