Queen of my Heart

12

THIS DAY CAN'T POSSIBLY BE WORSE THAN IT ALREADY WAS.

I jumped—literally; there was no other way to describe what I did. I jumped off the bed like a cat whose arse was on fire, abruptly pulling away from Bryan. I purposely avoided his gaze, unable to bear the disappointment and hurt in his eyes.

Gillian was flushed with embarrassment as she stared at us. "I'm sorry, we—"

"It's fine." I waved a hand dismissively, resisting the urge to glance Shane's probably accusatory glare. "You didn't know." My hands pulled down my shirt and smoothed my tangled hair.

Bryan's arm was around my waist, his hot breath fanning the back of my neck. An involuntary shudder went through my body at his touch, and I closed my eyes briefly to calm myself.

"You could've knocked first." Bryan's voice was as hard and cold as ice shards, making me second-guess whether the last desire-filled moments were only fragments of my overactive imagination.

Opening my eyes, my gaze zeroed in on Shane's. His jaw was set, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. I vaguely noticed he wasn't even touching his girlfriend anymore.

I let myself do a little happy dance mentally.

"Gillian wants to spend the night here," Shane said, his tone uncharacteristically flat as he looked at Bryan. "Would you mind sharing room with Mark in the meantime?"

Bryan's reply was brimming with ease and mockery. "Not at all, mate. In fact, I might just take Juliet back her home, maybe even stay there."

I couldn't help it—I tensed up. It was one thing to have your first love slash best friend walk in to your making out with your boyfriend. It was another to have aforementioned boyfriend provoke said best friend.

And the whole time, I was stuck in the middle.

Shane regarded me for the first time. "Will you?"

I was baffled. "What?"

"Let Bryan sleep over your house?"

"Why not?" I could almost hear Bryan's smile behind me.

I remained silent, looking anywhere but Shane. The kiss almost seemed like a distant memory already, my previous excitement replaced by heartache and disappointment.

"You shouldn't, Juliet." Shane's tone was final, like a father chiding his child for even thinking about going to a party on a school day. "It's immoral."

His words hurt me, but I didn't show it. I would never do something rash with a man I barely knew, even if it were someone like Bryan. I thought my best friend knew me better than that.

Still, I didn't say anything.

My gaze wandered to Gillian, who was surreptitiously glaring at me. My eyebrows went up with disbelief.

Bryan's arm tightened around my waist. "What are you trying to say?" he said.

"I'm just making sure my best friend's safe," Shane said.

"She's safe with me, mate." Bryan grew quiet, the kind that made me wonder how scary he could get if he wanted to.

Shane was raising a brow. "Is she?"

"What is wrong with you?"

Shane shrugged. "I can't let you take advantage of Juliet. I won't let it."

Bryan cursed under his breath before letting go of me, striding across the room to stand toe to toe with Shane.

They started whispering to each other, their faces telling me how near they were from exploding with anger.

Perhaps plenty of other girls would like two boys fighting for them. Well, too bad I wasn't like others.

The last thread of my patience snapped.

"Stop." One word, uttered lowly in a barely restrained growl.

As if somebody hit the pause button. Both of them halted for a few beats before facing me.

I didn't see Bryan's hopeful expression, or the expectant smile Shane threw my way. I didn't notice Gillian rolling her eyes. Oh, no.

I only saw red.

"Juliet?" It was Bryan, holding me by the shoulders. "Your hands are shaking. Are you okay?"

I clenched my fists tightly, my breath coming out in short pants. Closing my eyes, I counted from one to five before meeting Bryan's worried blue eyes.

I glared at him. "Don't touch me," I spat, my voice hard and eerie calm.

Surprise flickered in his eyes as he stepped back and let his hands fall to his sides.

Turning to Shane, I saw him biting his lower lip, clearly aware about my fury. "You're my best friend, not my father. Need I remind you that I'm a damned orphan?" He visibly flinched, not looking at me. "I will do whatever I want, even if it's screwing with different boys every night in my room. I don't need your permission."

I walked over to the door and was about to leave when I remembered something. Whirling around, I faced the shellshocked boys and a smirking Gillian.

Bryan opened his mouth. "Juliet—"

"One more thing," I said, completely ignoring whatever my boyfriend was about to say. "I don't want to see either of your faces until I say so." I spared Shane a withering glance. "Especially you."

I thought I heard one of them call me as I turned on my heel and left the room. On the way I saw Mark leaning against the counter, phone in hand.

"One minute," he was saying as he lowered the phone. "Juliet!"

Pausing, I looked over my shoulder and glared at him. "What?"

Mark blinked, taken aback. "Oh, nothing." He laughed nervously. "Just thought I'll show you out?"

I shook my head, mentally kicking myself for snapping at cute little Mark. "Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind right now." I sighed. "I can leave myself."

"What happened?" Mark sounded so worried I decided to say it.

"Something between Bryan and Shane." Pleading with my eyes, I said, "Mark, please don't let them visit me, okay? I want to be alone."

"Just the two of them?"

"No offense, but I'd really like it if all of you would leave me alone."

Mark nodded empathetically before crossing the room and enveloping me in a tight hug. "Take care, Juliet."

I gripped his shirt tightly. "Thank you, Mark."

We stayed like that for a few more seconds before I pulled back. With a small sad smile, I turned around and exited the room.

Only to find a dozen people waiting for me at Westlife's doorstep.