Be My Juliet [on hold]

Chapter 29

*Dan’s POV*

I slam the door and head down the street, formulating a plan in my head.   If James thinks for a second that I’ll let him say something like that in front of the entire world, he’s got another thing coming to him.  I know I should have trusted Penelope as soon as she told me it was a lie, but now I’ve royally screwed up everything.  My hands ball up into fists as I grab a taxi and direct it to his flat. 

I pay and step out, walking swiftly up to his front door, seeing as James has a townhouse here.  I pound on the door, and after some shuffling inside, it flies open, revealing James with disheveled hair and a button-down hastily done up wrong.  “Can I help you? I’m in the middle of something.” He tells me.

“I’m Dan.” Immediately I see a spark of recognition in his eyes, but then he smirks.

“And why should that name be important to me?”

“I’m Penelope’s boyfriend.” My words taste like venom, shooting out of my mouth to attack him.

“Again,” James says, leaning towards me, “why should that be important to me?”

“You said that you and Pen were dating, but it’s not true.”

“So?” he counters, stepping back and walking back into his front room, leaving the door wide open.  “Why should I care if Penelope had you?  She doesn’t anymore, right?”

“Wrong.”  I smirk back as he spins around, a look of shock plastered on his face.  “She’s mine, and I’m not going to let anyone take her away.  Especially not you.”

“So you’re willing to date a cheater?  You’re that desperate?”

“She didn’t cheat on me.”  I say half to him and half to me.  “You lied.”

“And that matters… because?” he takes long and slow strides towards me, the grin spreading wider and wider across his face.  “Who would believe you anyway?”

“They’d believe Pen.  Why are you so sure everyone would side with you?”

“Well, the article, of course!”  Just the mention of it makes my fists tighter and my jaw clenched.  The idea of it fills me with rage, and the fact that James seems so happy about it makes it all the worse.  “Have you read it?” he asks.  He’s playing with me, dangling this image of him and Pen in front of my face.

“Actually, I have read that pile of bullshit.  Just admit that it wasn’t true.”

“And how exactly would I do that without looking bad?” He smirks again, walking into the kitchen and pouring himself a glass of something I don’t recognize.  The way he’s acting- how he’s pretending as if nothing has happened and how I don’t really matter- infuriates me. 

I follow him to the kitchen, and, while standing on the opposite side of him on the breakfast bar, grab a hold of his shirt and yank him closer, only a few inches separating our faces.  “Listen.  Pen matters to me and I will not take any shit from a dick like you.”

“James?” I hear a voice call from behind me.  James’ eyes dart back and stare at something on the other side of the room, so I look over my shoulder and see a girl standing there.  A girl in nothing but a black bra and panties, I might add.  Her skin is lightly sun-kissed, as if she’d recently gone to the beach.  Her long, wavy hair cascades down her back in a rainbow of browns, a few pieces falling over her shoulder.  Her striking, snake-like green eyes pop out at me, and immediately I recognize her.  Jess.  “Coming back to bed anytime soon?”

“JESS?” I yell, my grip on James loosening. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Dan?  Is that you?” she asks innocently, but I can already see her smile twisting and turning into something wicked.