"So this is it?" Eric grins wickedly, holding up the folder Megan just handed him. "I'm impressed Brewer. I thought you'd drag ass on this since you've gotten so attached." He smirks before opening the folder.    

As his eyes scan the contents, his smile seems to fade a little more with each line. Finally, he looks up and glares at me.    

"Are you fucking serious? You call this a story? So he's cheating on his girlfriend. Big god damn deal. Show me a musician or actor who isn't. I can't run this Brewer. Nobody cares about this shit!"    

"I just... I thought..."    

"Brewer, we've been over this a hundred times. I want something big, alright? I want something shocking, something that people will need to read, you get me?"    

"Yeah, I got ya." I mutter and nod slowly.    

"What's your source on this anyway?" Eric looks up at me expectantly and I right away look over at Megan.     

"Well, I... uhh... I..."    

"They've been hanging out a lot." Megan offers quickly. "She's kind of gotten into his inner circle, so... yeah."

"Good. That's really good, actually. Now, use that and get me something big, alright? And while you're at it, shred this." He shoves the folder into my hands before marching down the hallway to his office.     

"Alright, so... this is a good thing." Megan smiles and plops down in her chair. "You didn't want this to go to print anyway."    

"Yeah, but it was all I had." I frown and pick at the chipped polish on my nails. "What am I supposed to do now?"    

"Your job would be a good start." Molly smirks as she enters Megan's cubicle. "Really Abby, you should have known a cheating scandal wouldn't get you anywhere with Eric. Especially without any photographic evidence."    

"What was she supposed to do? Make a sex tape?"   

"Stranger things have happened." Molly shrugs. "Look... I normally wouldn't do this, but I think Timberlake's a prick and wouldn't mind seeing him get knocked down a peg or two. So, my advice Abby... keep an eye on that restaurant, and Trace Ayala."     

"Really? Why?"    

"Call it a hunch." She shrugs. "Have a good day girls."    

"Wouldn't you just love to rip out all that overly blonde hair and scratch her eyes out?" Megan scowls after her.     

"Eh, whatever." I wave her off dimissively and toss the folder in the trash.     

Normally, I'd see any advice coming from Molly as some form of sabotage, but something about the look in her eyes when she mentioned Justin's restaurant  has me feeling a little nervous.     

I don't really know anything about the place. Justin's mentioned it a few times, but he's never given any details. Hell, I don't even know where the place is.     

Maybe I'm just reading too much into Molly's bullshit. Maybe I'm just getting desperate for a story that'll satisfy Eric.    

So, Molly can shove her advice up her ass.

*************    

"I still don't see why you had to drag me here with you." Megan mutters as we head up Justin's driveway.    

"Because I haven't really hung out with him since.... well, ya know." I groan loudly and shake my head quickly, attempting to rid myself of that particular memory. "Besides, you're way better at picking up on weird stuff. I'm the eyes, you're the ears, remember?" I smirk as she sticks her tongue out at me.    

After Eric's blow up this morning, I had no choice but to call Justin. I'd kind of hoped that Eric would think a cheating story was the best I could do and drop it, but no such luck.    

I've got an in with one of the biggest celebrities in the world, there's no way in hell Eric's gonna just let that go.    

So, when I called Justin and he told me to drop by tonight, I immediately decided that Megan had to come with me.    

Number one, I need her here to prevent of a repeat of the other night and like I said, she's way better at picking up on anything weird that may or may not be going on.    

If Justin's got something to hide, Megan will be the first to know.    

The front door is standing wide open and we step inside, immediately overcome by pounding music and a thick cloud of smoke.     

Well, this is different.     

Megan follows close behind me as we make our way down the long, tiled hallway. I hear voices in the kitchen and follow the sound until I spot Trace and Justin leaning against the counter tops, passing a thin, white, unmistakable object back and forth.     

"Bout fuckin time y'all showed up. I was ready to finish this off." Trace smirks as he passes me the joint.     

Megan does her best to mask her frown as she pulls out her blackberry. I feel a knot form in my stomach at the realization of what she's about to do.    

I take a fairly large hit, wincing at the burning sensation in my chest. I haven't smoked this shit since high school. This is probably a really bad idea, but the biggest part of my job is to blend in.    

I take another deep hit and pass it to Justin, who shakes his head and gestures toward Megan.    

"Oh no, I don't smoke." She smiles politely and shakes her head. "Thanks though."    

Justin shrugs and raises the joint to his lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Megan discreetly raise her phone and I swallow hard when she smiles at her handy work.     

I won't be surprised if Eric makes that the cover photo.     

The joint goes between the three of us four more times before Trace tosses the roach down the garbage disposal.     

"So, what now?" Trace grins stupidly as he looks around the kitchen, eyes bloodshot and glassy.     

"Now, we chill." Justin nods and throws an arm around my shoulders and leads me into the living room.     

I stumble slightly, silently thanking god when we finally reach the couch. We both collapse onto it and Justin flips the TV on.     

None of us says a word for what feels like an eternity before Trace starts to giggle, wiping the tears from his eyes.     

"Dude... did I tell you what happened at the restaurant the other day?"    

"Uhh...no." Justin mutters, eyes glued to the television.    

"Fuck man, it was bad." Trace shakes his head. "The end of the night, everybody's counting out and shit and Ted's doling out tips, and that bitch Emily starts whining about how she'd done the math earlier and should have cleared almost 400, but Ted only gave her 150. I fuckin died man." Trace finishes, a whole new set of giggles overtaking him.     

"Ha, yeah." Justin nods and even I notice how he's suddenly gone rigid.    "See man... told your ass it'd work, didn't I?" Trace laughs again and shakes his head.    

I look over at Megan who raises a questioning eyebrow and all I can do is shrug.    

"Shit... I need more smokes." Trace mutters. "Anybody wanna go with?"    

"You really shouldn't be driving." Megan rolls her eyes and stands up. "I'll take you."    

"Oh I like you already." Trace cackles as the two of them leave quickly.     

Shit.    

This wasn't supposed to happen.    

Megan's main assignment for the evening was to keep me from doing anything stupid. How is she supposed to prevent my stupidity when she's not even here?    

Shit.    

I can't lie, after what happened, I've... well... I think I like him. I can't be sure but the fear I suddenly have of being alone with him has left me wondering.     

Sure, I told him it wasn't a big deal. I know he has a girlfriend and I don't want to add home wrecker to the list of morally corrupt things I've been doing lately. But, I can't help it.     

"So..." He drawls out, shooting me a lopsided grin.     

I can almost guarantee that if he wasn't stoned out of his mind, he'd be begging me not to mention what Trace said, to anyone.     

I haven't got the slightest clue what he was talking about, but my gut's telling me it wasn't anything good.    

And that scares the shit out of me.     

"So." I mutter and turn to face him.     

"We're by ourselves." He laughs loudly and all I can do is roll my eyes.     

My buzz is slowly starting to kick in, and it's only a matter of time before I turn into a giggling idiot.     

That could lead to very, very bad things.    

"Umm... yeah. Looks like it." I nod.    

"You 'member what happened last time we were alone?"    

Heat immediately floods my cheeks and I look down at my lap. "Uhh... yeah. Why?"    

"Fuck... I don't know." He giggles and rubs his face tiredly. "I just thought about it. I had fun though."    

I smirk, keeping my eyes glued to my legs.     

He wasn't the only one.    

"Oh... ok."    

"We could always do it again."     

My eyes shoot up to meet his and I inhale sharply when I see the look he's giving me. His eyes are two dark blue slits, but there's no mistaking the lust in them.    

I'm going to fucking kill Megan, mostly because I'm not so sure I've got the strength to say no.     

"What about... umm... what about Jessica?"    

Yeah, that's good. Distract him with the girlfriend.    

But that didn't do me much good last time, now did it?    

"Haven't seen her in weeks." He shrugs, sliding closer to me on the couch and I swallow hard. "Abby... I like you... a-fucking-lot." He laughs and shakes his head. "She doesn't... fuck... she just isn't you."    

"Yeah well... that's probably a good thing." I mumble, trying to fight off the dizzy spell that's hitting me full force.     

"Nah, don't think so." He grins and leans into me before pressing his lips to mine.     

It's a matter of minutes before we're fighting our way up the stairs, clawing at each other the whole way. We finally reach his bedroom and just as he's about to pull my shirt over my head, the front door opens and slams loudly.     

"Where y'all at?" Trace's voice echoes through the house and I send a small thanks to my guardian angel, wherever he may be.    

"God damnit." Justin mutters, breathing heavily. "I'm gonna hang his short ass from the roof."        

I run my hands through my hair a few times before jogging down the stairs, not missing the disapproving look on Megan's face.    

"I've got what I need... can we go now?"    

"We haven't been here that long." I mumble.    

Even though I just narrowly escaped yet another bad decision, I'm not quite ready to leave.     

Despite the fact that he makes me do very bad things, I like being around him.     

"And that's probably a good thing." She mutters. "Nice sucker mark, by the way."    

"Shit... fine, let's go."    

Justin strolls down the stairs a few minutes later, a look of pure frustration stretched across his face.    

"We're gonna head out." Megan smiles sweetly before giving the boys a small wave and heading for her car.     

"You don't have to, ya know." Justin smiles, a slight glint in his eyes. "We can... umm... pick back up where we left off, and I can uhh... I can take you home later."    

"Umm... no, I better go." I nod, inching toward the door.    

"Alright, that's cool." He shrugs as he advances toward me.    

He pulls me in for a hug and it's impossible to ignore the way his hands travel down my arms and rest on my hips. He places a quick kiss to my temple, then his mouth hovers over my ear.    

"Next time... don't bring her, and I'll get rid of Trace."    

"Oh... um... ok." I nod and pull away from him, slightly dazed at the bright smile on his face.    

"Later Abby."    

"Yeah, bye."     

I practically sprint out to the car and climb in, trying to catch my breath as Megan glares at me.    

"I swore on my unborn children I'd never say this..." She sighs and shakes her head. "But Eric's right... you're in way too fucking deep."    

I don't say a word as she pulls out of the driveway, but inside my head, I'm screaming.    

I'm in way over my head and it's just a matter of time before this all blows up in my face.    

And I'll deserve every last bit of it.