by Vivian Wood
Instead, she made a noncommittal sound in the back of her throat when Katie finally let up, and she got a chance to speak.
“Yeah, the guy is Rhys Grant. His middle name is Jason, though, not fucking.” She was proud of herself for remembering that little bit of information from her initial light stalking all those days ago. A real girlfriend would know those things.
Of course, the non-disclosure agreement prevented her from telling her sister that she wasn't his real girlfriend, so there was that... Feeling like she was lying to her sister, she answered more of her questions. The safe ones, anyway.
Yes, he’s a great guy. Yes, he treats me really well. No, he hasn’t pushed me in to anything. Yes, I am at his house. Yes, the house is a palace. Yes, I have met the other guys. Yes, they are great, too. No, they don’t just act like they’re close for the cameras, they really are like brothers. And on and on.
About half an hour later, she realized she would have to cut this conversation short if she had any hope of getting off the phone before midnight.
“Katie, I really have to go. He’s waiting for me, and I still have to give Mary a call.”
“Better not keep your rock star waiting big sister, I hear they don’t stand still too long.” She had no idea what that meant, but she wasn't going to get into it now.
“Thanks Katie, I love you. We’ll talk soon, okay?”
“Okay, love you, bye bye!” She chirped her usual farewell and then she was gone.
She went through pretty much the same conversation with Mary, only she seemed concerned when Serena told her she had to go.
“Just say it, Mary, whatever you’re holding back. I really do have to go.”
“It’s just, it’s been like five minutes since you broke off your engagement to Bryan and now you’re shacking up with one of the biggest rock stars in the world. I’m just worried about you. I don’t want you to get hurt again. I might not know the guy, but I know he has a reputation and it’s not one of monogamy. I don’t want you to get your heart broken again.”
“I know, Mare. Thanks for caring, but I’m really okay. I know what I’m doing here.” At least she thought she did, but she didn't want Mary worrying, so she didn't hesitate to reassure her.
“And I’m not shacking up with him, we’re just having fun spending some time together. He’s a great guy,” she assured her.
“If you say so, Es. I’m glad you’re having fun. Just be safe, okay? And I do mean that in all respects,” she said sternly, and Serena's ears burned at her insinuation.
“I will Mare, I love you. We’ll talk soon, okay?” She made the same promise she had made to her sister, and seconds later her ears were ringing from the sudden silence.
It had been about an hour since she had come upstairs, and she found Rhys in his living room, sitting on the single couch that looked the most worn and had a great view of the shining lights of LA beyond the floor to ceiling windows, but he wasn't looking at the view.
Instead, his eyes were closed, shoulders hunched, and he was softly strumming an unfamiliar melody on a red guitar he held gently, almost reverently. His fingers flitted across the fretboard with no hesitation at all.
He didn't seem to notice she was here yet, so she took the moment to take him in – empty tumbler on the coffee table next to him and the half-empty bottle of bourbon beside it included. The guy drinks way too much of the stuff, she thought as she sat down quietly on the nearest couch, still not wanting to disturb him.
“You going to just sit there and watch me forever?” he asked, eyes still closed. Apparently, he was aware of her presence.
He played a last chord and opened his eyes. “How’d it go on the phone?”
“Lots of screaming. But I survived.”
“Good, would’ve been a pity if you hadn’t. Heads still intact, I presume? No explosions?” He looked amused as he referred to her earlier analogy.
“Nah. Well, maybe a few little explosions. But they survived, too.”
“Good. Ready to watch a movie?”
“In a second. I want to ask you something first”. She paused before she carried on, her face burning at what she wanted to talk to him about.
“Shoot, ask me anything. I’m an open book,” he joked.
“Uh, it’s just, we never talked about it. But, uh, my sister and my best friend just assumed that we are… you know… uh…”
“Fucking?” he said, not timid or shy at all. Like it was just a normal word to him.
“Uhm, yeah… that.” Relief at not having to be the one to say it coursed through her. “I didn’t tell them anything, but I thought we should talk about what to say, I didn’t just want to insert you into my imaginary sex life without talking to you about it first.” Her cheeks burned.
“I’d like to hear more about this imaginary sex life sometime,” he said, and his eyes glinted. “Don’t worry about it. People are going to think what they want to. Besides, I have no problem with people thinking we’re fucking. I knew they were going to. That’s why you had to be hot,” he said easily with a little smirk, still no shame.
She hadn’t considered the fact that he must have thought about this when he had made the decision to get a fake girlfriend in the first place.
“It’s an honor to be fake fucking you, Serena. If you do say something, just mention that I’m great, okay?” His eyes twinkled, and he hesitated for just a second. “That it? Ready for the movie?” He was already halfway down the stairs that descended into the screening room by the time she found her voice.
“You say the most romantic things to me.”
“If it's hearts and flowers you wanted, you should have been fake dating a guy in a boy band.”
“Well, drat. I’ll have to get the fake dating agency right on that little mistake.” His laughter boomed all the way up the stairs.
She couldn't believe how easy being with him was. It was like she could finally be the person she didn't even know she really was until she met him. He had been doing it so effortlessly that she hadn't even realized until now how he'd been helping her find herself. Helping her become assertive, saying whatever she was thinking instead of swallowing it down and saying whatever was more appropriate.
She felt a stab of gratitude toward him as she followed him down the stairs. Gratitude mixed with something else, something unfamiliar she suspected would hurt once the charade had played itself out. Hurt really badly.
She sank into one of the really comfortable loungers in the room and watched as his fingers swept over the remote. In no time, he was flicking through movie titles and then looked over at her.
“You okay with the new Marvel? I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet. By the way, I made us sandwiches for supper.” He motioned toward a coffee table that held two plates with ham, cheese and lettuce sandwiches. They actually looked delicious.
“Marvel? That’s superheroes, right?” Mother had never really approved of the genre, so she couldn’t say she knew it, but she knew it had something to do with superheroes. She did live on this planet.
“You don’t know Marvel? We have to fix that. Stat. There’s no way I can be in a fake relationship with someone who doesn’t know Marvel.” She could hear from his tone he was joking, but her heart sank anyway at the thought that he could probably find someone way better to have a fake relationship with.
As it turned out, the man with millions of fans around the globe was a bit of a fanboy himself. He paused the movie as the opening credits started rolling to give her a rundown of what had happened prior to this movie. He passed her a sandwich before he hit play, dimmed the lights, and settled back in his chair with his sandwich on his lap.
Just like that, he had helped her find something else she now loved. Marvel movies. By the time the end credits rolled, she was completely hooked. He hit the pause button and then turned toward her, the lights still dim.
“So? What’d you think?” His face was really close to hers now, his voice quiet in the darkness.
He stared for a second longer before he broke into a genuine grin, his eyes soft with a look she had only ever seen aimed at her. “Awesome! We'll have to continue your education then. But not now. It's getting late, and we have another long day tomorrow.” He stood and gathered their plates. She noticed the tumbler of bourbon he'd set on the coffee table when they'd come down was untouched. He ignored it as he let her pass before he hit the lights and headed up the stairs.
“Thank for the sandwich, by the way. I didn’t realize how hungry I was. You’re a good sandwich maker.” she offered, following him to the kitchen.
“Yeah, I’m a decent sandwich maker. But I’m better at other things.” She blushed. “I can do a wicked Thai green curry, and an even better Vietnamese pho.”
He smirked as he noticed her blushing face. “I like when your mind goes to dirty places, though I'd prefer if you took me there with you. And whatever you were thinking when I said that I'm better at other things, I can absolutely guarantee I'm great at that, too.”
Denial was not just a river in Egypt. Her mind was yanked from the gutter it had undoubtedly been in at his mocking comment and her face burned, but there was no way she was admitting to that. So she denied it.
“The only dirty place my mind went was to the cities in Thailand and Vietnam. I've heard Bangkok is pretty filthy.” Before the words were out of her mouth, she realized which city she'd decided to refer to, and she just burst out laughing. There was no coming back from that one.
Rhys cracked up too, doubling over with laughter. When their laughter finally subsided, he focused on her. “That one slipped out, right? Glad it did though, you should just say the first thing that comes to mind more often!”
“Yeah, it did. I've always wanted to visit Southeast Asia, so there are so many other cities I know. Freudian slip, I guess.” She wiped the tears that had formed in her eyes from the laughter, and he chuckled again.
“Yeah, that it was. Fucking awesome though…” He trailed off. “Want something to drink, or are you ready for bed?”
“I could do with a cup of tea, but I’ll get it myself if you wanna go to bed.” She drifted to the kettle, filled it and grabbed a mug from the cupboard she had discovered while he had been gone. It held everything she needed to make her nightly cup of tea.
He looked surprised for a second, probably at the way she was taking over his kitchen, then said, “Yeah, I could go for a cup of coffee.” Not bourbon?
She went over to the fancy coffee machine and examined the flavored pods in the stand. She'd had coffee every morning he hadn't been here, so she knew which flavors she liked, but she'd never seen him with coffee, so she had no idea what he would prefer.
He must have seen her dilemma. “Dark roast, please.”
He settled into one of the stools around the kitchen island as she popped the pod into the coffee machine and walked back to the kettle to fix her tea.
“So, always wanted to go to Southeast Asia? But you've never been?” He watched her closely as she flitted around the kitchen, getting everything ready.
“No, never been anywhere that isn’t mainland USA, actually. But I’ve always fantasized about an island holiday. Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia… They all look beautiful.”
“That they are,” he said. “We’ve hit a couple of the cities over there on tour. Haven’t had enough downtimer to explore so much, but it’s definitely something I want to do.”
“What’s it like, touring? From the videos I’d seen on YouTube, it seems there’s always a camera, a new city…”
“Videos on YouTube?” He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she suddenly felt ashamed. “I just watched a few, you know, to try and see what I was getting into. Then I stopped, I didn’t want to invade your privacy like all the fans do,” she rambled quietly, but then she caught herself and stopped.
He didn't look angry, but not happy either though. Puzzled, maybe. “You stopped because you didn't want to invade my privacy? Even though I had just asked you to be my fake girlfriend? And you'd never heard of us?” His tone seemed skeptical.
She looked down, shame and guilt washing over her. “I swear it, Rhys. I told herself I'd let you and Milo and Jett and Anders and Luc tell me whatever you wanted me to know, whenever you wanted me to know it. So I stopped. Sure, stuff about you guys has popped up while I've been trying to research celebrity culture so that I'm a bit more prepared for what to expect, but I haven't read any of it. I swear.” She could feel tears stinging her eyes now. Damnit. She knew she shouldn't have invaded their privacy like a stupid fangirl, and now she'd gone and ruined everything.
“Hey, hey. It's okay, Serena. I believe you.” He put his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. “Don't cry, please? It's okay.” She hadn't even noticed him standing up or coming toward her, but she relaxed into his strong chest, smelling the remnants of his cologne and something that was purely Rhys' own unique scent.
“I'm sorry.” She took a deep breath and let go of him. It took every ounce of her willpower, but she knew that she had to do it.
“It's okay, really. I would've been surprised if you hadn't. I'm more surprised that you stopped, though.” His voice was quiet now.
“Come on, let’s go to bed. It’s just been a long day. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
He walked out of the kitchen and started flicking off lights.
“Good night, Rhys,” she said softly as she headed up the stairs, still feeling a little ashamed despite his words of comfort.
“Good night, Sese,” she heard from somewhere in the darkness behind her.
13
A week passed, just like the first day they had spent together in the public eye. They woke up, though now they had breakfast before leaving the house, with Rhys cooking and Serena doing the dishes after. They got themselves ready, and then they went out to be seen.
Malls, restaurants, tourist attractions, anywhere highly visible and public. He always kept her close, made her feel safe despite the crowds and flashing lights that were always present, ready to capture the moment.
A couple of times a day, Rhys took a picture of her or a selfie of them together and posted it to his social media accounts, complete with cute emoticons. He always made sure Serena would be okay with each picture before posting it though. She thought it was his way of being a modern-day gentleman.
She had also learned that no less than two hundred fake Serena Woods profiles had popped up on several social media platforms. Insane hadn't even begun to describe it.
Though she was exhausted, the press were eating it up. Still not one journalist had made mention of Luc.
Rhys had told her yesterday that Annie had been getting requests from just about every entertainment journalist in the country for interviews with them. He assured her though, that Annie was holding them at bay.
Their pictures were splattered over every gossip site on the internet, at least the ones she had managed to find.
She had set up Google alerts on them a few days ago and while the pictures didn't bother her as much as she'd thought they would, some of the things people were saying about her were disgusting.
Her phone had started ringing off the hook the morning after the first day they had gone out in public together. People she didn't remember ever knowing wanted to be her best friend, and texts had poured in from every girl who had ever been mean to her in high school. She was even getting hundreds of friend requests on Facebook from complete strangers.
By that afternoon, she had given up and turned off her phone. Rhys had ordered her a new one and she had texted the number only to Mary and Katie. She had also sworn off social media after seeing a particularly creepy post on Twitter, aimed at one of the fake Serena Woods accounts, from a girl who'd claimed that Rhys would always belong to her.
Strangely, she still had not heard one single word from either her parents or from Josh. Katie had told her that her mom was in shock and couldn't believe that she would “do this to them.” She supposed her mother wouldn't be able to get over Rhys' reputation and tattoos.
When they weren't out trying to create a scene, they were hanging out at the house. Milo came over every day, and they had settled into a comfortable arrangement resembling friendship.
He was becoming the closest thing she'd ever had to a brother. It sucked that he'd only be her surrogate brother until Rhys called the charade off. Maybe if he liked her enough he'd opt to keep her around after Rhys and her were over. She hoped, anyway.
Milo had bragged just yesterday about having been out in public for almost an hour that morning without any paparazzi in sight. He loved being out of the spotlight.
Jett had been by twice, but Anders only once.
Yesterday, she had been throwing a snack together in the kitchen and when she returned to where Milo and Rhys were lounging out by the pool, they had both stopped talking, but not before she had overheard Rhys saying “pretty fucking worried about him, man.”
At night, they had settled pretty much into a routine. As soon as whoever was over left, they cooked dinner and headed down to the screening room for “Mar” as the phrase had been coined.
It was almost domestic bliss. They joked around, talked about a variety of topics, both casual and serious... She'd become dangerously comfortable with him, with being here. It had all started to feel real somewhere along the line. Yep, definitely dangerous.
In the mornings, they had taken to working out together. Rhys had a trainer, of course, who arrived to bust his balls at the crack of dawn.
Marco, the trainer, had decided that she needed to work out as well, and had he up every morning with Rhys to bust her ass on his dime. Although it had only been a week, give or take, she was already feeling less winded and she was starting to take pleasure in the burn in her muscles. Of course, she also took pleasure in ogling Rhys, shirtless and sweaty and perfect…
