Only You Ch. 01

Tegan was speechless. Was he asking her out on a date? No, it couldn't be. "Oh well, I..."

"I won't take no for an answer," he said, a sliver of mock gruffness in his voice. "It is my birthday, and by law you have to do everything I say."

She gulped audibly. He is flirting with me! Dammit, I can't tell; his blue eyes always have that devilish gleam in them. "Okay. We'll be there."

"Brilliant!" he exclaimed. "It's somewhere in downtown Manhattan, I haven't decided yet." Grabbing a business card from his back pocket, he handed to her. "This has my cell number on here. Call me sometime tomorrow after nine. If you try before then, I'll be majorly busy and might not answer."

Tegan grasped the card tightly in her fist. "Okay then. See you tomorrow."

With a wave and a loud round of SexyBack, Derek and his friends left the bar.

Drea and Tegan followed fifteen minutes later, locking the club doors after them. "Can you believe this night?" Tegan asked.

"It's fucking crazy, that's what." She threw her arm around Tegan's shoulders. "I can't believe my little baby got asked out!"

They both laughed. "It's not a date...is it?"

"I think it kind of sounds like one. But who knows how men operate. I sure as hell don't. Now the real question is: who's buying breakfast?"

"I believe breakfast is on you, Ms. Three Hundred Dollar tip."

Drea sighed. "Ahh, I knew that hot girl collateral would bite me in the ass."

********

As the trio walked back to their hotel, Derek let Jake and Matt rattle on while his mind wandered. He was surprised at his reaction to Jake's words when he described Tegan. There was just something about Jake's teasing that irritated him. She did seem like a cool girl, so what if she was a bit on the large side?

It's not like she still wasn't attractive. In fact, she was very pretty. Her skin was the color of baked earth and her dark amber colored eyes shone even in the dim light of the bar. She had mid-length dark hair with long side-swept bangs and plump lips. She was more curvy than tubby, as Jake called her. She was bigger than most of the girls he dated; a good forty pounds extra, but still managed to look sexy, not unhealthy.

But the thing that caught his attention the most was the small silver ring on the right side of her full bottom lip. Derek heaved a sigh. Lip rings on pretty girls were his weakness.

He supposed he was so intrigued because DJ Girl was completely unlike Lottie Winchester in every way. Lottie was prim, elegant, and proper...at least during the day. At night she became a total London party girl. She had grown up in the spotlight, the daughter of a now aging British rockstar. Lottie was fun, but she was also tiring. They had started dating about five months ago after meeting at one of Dex's movie premieres.

She had seemed truly enamored with him and he gave it go because he thought out of anyone, she would be the one to understand; to know how confusing life could be growing up in the shadow of a famous person.

Not that he didn't love his brother, because he definitely did. But he sometimes felt the burn of his fame no matter how much he shied away from the flames.

He could help it; his mind wandered back to Tegan. She was something else. A real down to earth chick. He had to admit, he invited her to his party so she could show off her awesome skills. She really was a talented DJ.

Derek said goodnight to Jake and Matt while he keyed into his hotel room. Just as closed the door, his cell phone rang (Super Mario ringtone, of course!)

Looking at the ID, he sighed.

He was a little too drunk for this.

He flipped open the phone. "Hello?"

"I didn't realize you were in town," a melodic voice drawled over the phone.

"Just for two weeks. I'm doing a series of gaming and comic book conventions."

"Hmm. And you didn't even think you call up any of us?"

Derek sighed. He peeled off his t-shirt and flopped back on the king-sized bed.

"I just got in, Carrie."

Carrie DiValenti laughed huskily. "Whatever. So what's up Ryan? Are we getting together or what?"

Derek sighed once more, realizing he'd been doing that since he got on the phone with her. He supposed it wasn't her fault. It had been nearly two years ago, on the night of Connor and Angie's wedding that he had drunkenly hooked up with her. He had woken up on the beach, ankle deep in water and with more sand in his crack than he cared to admit.

He promised himself it was a one time thing. They were friends, after all. Except a 'one time thing' turned into every time he was in New York City.

It wasn't a relationship; this much they discussed. They were both lonely, their friends and family paired off and happy made Carrie a little bitter. And as for Derek, his boyhood crush on Angie apparently affected him deeper than he thought. He would never admit it, but sleeping with Carrie allowed him the opportunity to be nearer to Angie.

Angie was the one who figured out what was going on between Carrie and Derek, and at her counseling, he broke it off. They parted but still remained friends, and he started seeing Lottie. He assumed Carrie found someone else to occupy her time. That's why he was so confused as to why she was trying for a booty call.

"Carrie you know we can't," he said.

She sighed dramatically. "I know. But it was worth a try."

He chuckled softly. "How are you doing, babe?"

"Not bad. Things at work are going pretty well." Carrie worked as a chef in an upscale Manhattan restaurant. "There's this new manager at work. Some Russian dude; total tyrant. I call him Stalin."

He laughed. "Not to his face, I hope."

"I'm crazy, Ryan. Not stupid." He heard her sigh softly. "I miss you. Do you ever think about us?"

"Care," he started. "Don't do this. You sound like you've been drinking."

"A little bit."

He knew she had to have been upset. Carrie only got drunk when she was upset. It was weird; having sex with Carrie made her open up to him more than she did to her friends. Behind her blunt hard shell, Carrella DiValenti was more fragile than she cared to admit.

"Tell me what's up, babe." He sprawled out on the bed, eyes closed with his fingers clasped behind his head.

He heard her sigh again. "I can't. You've got a big day tomorrow and it's already late."

"You know I'll always make time for you." He was fighting it, but he was already starting to fall asleep.

"I know, but I don't want to keep you. Let's just meet for coffee sometime before you go."

"Sure thing, Carrie. I'll call you."

"Okay. See you later, you big flirt. Try not to break too many hearts."

Derek laughed. "I promise to be on my best behavior." Snapping his phone shut, he rolled over.

Before he knew it, he was off into a deep sleep, visions of Lottie passing through his psyche. And yet, there was another woman making a guest appearance in his dreams. Rolling over in his sleep, one word tumbled sleepily from his lips:

"Tegan".