E I G H T

Beau is making himself comfortable in my apartment, once again. It seems that I have less and less time alone these days, I sigh as his band mates crowd my living room. As I flit around my kitchen, preparing snacks and gathering drinks, I feel Beau's eyes following my every move. When I look up and catch his eye, he looks away suddenly, back to laughing with Jace at something dumb on Jace's phone.

I groan inwardly. Jace is an even bigger ass than Beau, but not nearly as charming. "Thanks gorgeous," he sneers as I hand him another beer. I hide my disgust, not interrupting the conversation as we go over the nights agenda.

For a couple of weeks now, Beau and I have followed Fiona's rigid schedule, subtly dropping cues to Beau's new relationship status, much to his millions of Instagram followers dismay. Tonight is the night we go public. It'll also be a massive payday for me if we pull it off. We're going to a night club in the city, and there will most definitely be press. But Beau's normal crowds aren't like anything I'm used to, and I can't help but worry that they'll call my bluff.

"Did you hear me?" Beau's voice is sharp as he shoots me a dirty look. "You have to be ready to leave by 9:30,"

I nod my head, recalling the event details Val, Fiona's assistant, had sent over this morning. "Believe it or not, I'm not completely clueless." I snap. All slightly affectionate feelings from our chicken parm night have been thoroughly squashed after a series of Beau's bad moods.

Beau rolls his eyes at me, before going back to his phone. Zach, the drummer and one of the most laid back of the guys, reminds me I could invite a friend, if I wanted. I think of Gemma, but the wicked glint in Beau's eyes makes me change my mind. "I'm good," I vow defiantly.

It's just one night out, how hard can it be?

***

The music in the club is so loud that I can hardly hear myself think, never mind follow the conversation Beau is having next to me. He insisted that we use the VIP entrance to avoid the hassle of paparazzi outside, which only confused me. Wasn't being seen the whole point? Still, I followed his lead, trusting that he probably did know best.

We're now standing in the VIP section of the club, where black leather couches and expensive bottles of champagne distinguish these guests from the "normal" people. Beside me, Beau is chatting, or rather tolerating listening to, a sultry brunette in a leather dress with string tying up the sides. She watches Beau with lust in her eyes, resting her hand on his chest as she speaks. Beau, as he normally does, looks bored. Suddenly, both of their eyes are on my face and I feel myself blush. "Sorry?" I look to Beau for clarification and wait for the attitude I'm sure will follow.

"I was just introducing you," Beau waves his fingers between us, voice raised above the music. "This is Selena," he gestures casually to the brunette.

"Serena," She squints her perfectly lined eyes at me, as if I'm the one to wrongly remember her name.

"Serena," Beau raises his brows at me. I hide a smile - it's not often that Beau and I feel like we're on the same team. The change is nice. "This is my girl, Emma." He slings his arm around my shoulder and I remind myself to keep a natural expression on my face. Tonight is one of the most important events we've had so far, and I refuse to be the one to mess it up.

"Nice to meet you," I extend a hand while leaning closer to Beau's side. Serena ignores the gesture, a disgusted scowl scrunching up her perfectly done face.

"What, are you, like, a model or something?" Serena asks as if there's no way I could possibly be a model.

"Me?" I hide a laugh. "Oh no, just regular old me," her frown grows more pronounced. Apparently, had I been a model, she could understand Beau being with me. But a regular person? The look on her face says it all.

"I keep telling her she should try it," Beau twirls a strand of my blonde hair, curled into tight little ringlets for tonight's outing. "Don't you think so?" Beau eyes Serena from under his lashes, his Cheshire Cat smirk in place.

The woman doesn't reply, only pushes past us and into the crowd without a glance in our direction. I let out a deep breath, "Something tells me there will be many more women just like that."

Beau leans down so his prickly hair is tickling my cheek. "Hm?" I feel the warmth of his hand against my skin as he rests it on my back, and a shiver runs up my spine. Damn this outfit. Val helped me pick it - a slinky black dress, with thin spaghetti straps and an open back. Fit to date Beau Lewis. But horribly uncomfortable.

"Women you have scorned in the past, not exactly happy to meet your new girlfriend." I explain, keeping a smile on my face in case anyone is watching.

"Please," Beau leans closer to me so he is speaking directly into my ear, as he rests his hands on my hips. "If any of them really knew me, they'd count themselves lucky they only got one night."

Startled by a rare moment of honesty from Beau, I jump back, trying to take in his expression. But Jace interrupts the moment, a woman on each arm.

"Emma," he slurs. "This is Becky, and this is... oh shit, what's your name?" The redhead only gazes at him, despite his total disregard for anything other than her breasts. The red hair reminds me of Gemma and I find myself peering at Beau, wondering what he thinks of the girls.

"Kelly," She finishes his sentence sweetly. I try to smile at Kelly, and Becky actually, but they are both too busy drooling over Jace to notice.

"Right, right. Kelly," Jace flips his blond hair out of his eyes and fixes his attention on his band mate. "Oh man, I bet you're so jealous right now," he laughs, an exaggerated sound that makes me squirm.

Beau, much less drunk and overall more tolerable, laughs at his friend, holding me tighter to his side. "Why's that?"

"Because I get to fuck whoever I want tonight, man. And you've got this-"

Beau interrupts his friend, "I've got all I need. Thanks for looking out, Jace." Then Beau wraps his tattooed fingers around my arm and pulls me away, towards the bar. "What are you drinking?" He asks, leaning against the cool glass of the bar top.

It takes me a moment before I realize he's asking me. "Oh, um,"

"It's just a drink," He smiles and I don't see a hint of sarcasm. That doesn't help that I don't actually know what I like, but I appreciate his unusually good mood. "Hm, how about shots?" He suggests, eyes glowing with mischief.

"Oh no, I definitely don't do shots," I laugh and cross my arms over my chest.

"But I do." Beau calls the bartender over and orders a couple of rounds. "And Beau Lewis's girlfriend definitely does." His wink tells me he knows he's won and I don't try to argue.

The bartender slides over four shots of clear liquid, the vibrations of the dance music shaking the contents inside. Beau grabs his but keeps his eyes on my face as I raise the glass to my nose, gagging instantly. "That's like rubbing alcohol!" I scoff, shoving my shots over to him to drink.

He pushes them back, smirking to himself. "It's tequila. And it's good for you," I can't help but to laugh and hey why not? I throw back a shot, nearly choking on the fiery liquid. "Wow, way to wait for me." Beau rolls his eyes playfully before masterfully throwing his back, not even wincing at the taste. "Ready?" He asks, handing my second one over.

We take our second shots together and I immediately begin to feel warmer. I scan the room, taking in all the picture perfect people in the VIP section, the expensive jewelry, the extravagant hair. I can't even imagine what it would cost to get in here. It seemed like our ride over took forever, but it might as well be a whole other world in this city.

"So this," I gesture to the scene around us. "This is your life," Beau shrugs, drumming his long fingers against the bar top. "It's pretty fancy," The alcohol makes me more smiley than usual, and I can tell I'm almost gushing over him. But his eyes are so pretty when they don't look so angry.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," He scoffs.

"Hey," I rest my hand on top of his forearm, noticing the contrast between my pale skin and his tattoos. I catch his eyes and the emotion there startles me, sending my words back into my throat. I've been wondering if there's more to him, and his eyes show me that there is. All I have to do is ask.

"So girlfriend, will you dance with me?" Too late, my moment is gone and his eyes are playful once more as he extends a long hand to me.

I open my mouth to refuse, but something about those eyes draws me in. "Fine," I agree, hands on my hips. "But I'd like another shot first, please."

The Cheshire Cat once more, Beau calls the bartender over, never taking his eyes off of mine. Once we down our shots, I'm the one pulling Beau to the floor, cramming our bodies in between throngs of people, all drunk and feeling the music. Once I'm out there, I feel it too, running through my veins right alongside the tequila.

I throw my hands in the air and sway my hips to the tempo, scooting closer and closer to Beau with each step. Soon his hands grip my waist tightly and I press my body to his, moving to the music as one. In the darkness of the club, it is so easy to get lost in him, his smell, the way the strobe lights reflect off his tattooed skin. We continue like this for some time, my head rolling back into his shoulder as the beat thumps in time to my erratic heartbeat.

That is, until Jace crashes onto the floor, ripping Beau away from me. "Dude, we gotta go," his words are sloppy.

"What?" Beau clenches his jaw but keeps his eyes latched on mine, even as he addresses his singer.

"Kelly, Becky, whoever, they're going fuckin' crazy, man." Jace slumps into Beau for support and Beau only shakes his head at me.

"Guess we're going then." He grunts to me as he half-carries Jace back to the VIP section to retrieve our things.

Once we're outside, Tyler grabs Jace and nearly stuffs him into the limo before any press take notice of us. Beau tugs my hand to keep us in the spotlight a little bit longer, making sure to hold my hand as we leisurely walk past reporters, sending the camera flashes into a frenzy.

"Beau!"

"Over here!"

"Is this your girlfriend?" Beau replies only by giving a thumbs up to the camera and tugging me along.

We're almost out of earshot when I hear it. A shrill, female shriek directed at me and only me.

"You whore!"

It's just a fan, a crazed fan, I tell myself. This isn't anything to get upset over, she doesn't know about our deal.

Beau follows me into the limo, closing the door and drowning out the sounds of paparazzi on the other side. "What's your problem?" He nudges my foot with his own across the limo bench. Tyler is making sure Jace is drinking water, while Zach is slumped asleep in the corner.

"Someone called me a whore," I bite my lip, still a bit tipsy. "A whore! It's not funny," I giggle anyways.

"Well, you're not really a whore." Beau rolls his eyes, leaning his head back against the red leather. "You're not even really my girlfriend,"

As he drifts to sleep, I watch the city lights fade in the window, suddenly entirely sober.