Only You Ch 01

"Happy Birthday Derek!"

Derek Ryan's blue eyes sparkled with merriment as a pair of busty blondes in tight white tank tops carried a large chocolate frosted cake topped with twenty-four blue candles over to the table he was currently sitting at.

It was a good choice to celebrate his birthday in New York. His family was here and would be joining him tomorrow to hang out. It had been too long since they'd gotten together. Since the wedding of his sister-in-law to her best friend, it had been two years since he'd seen everyone together.

Yes, a family reunion was in serious order. But for now, he was going to live it up with his friends.

Derek let out a loud laugh. "You guys are fucking awesome!" He quickly blew out the candles on the cake as a loud cheer rose up at the bar.

Jake, Derek's best mate and business partner slapped him soundly on the back. "Happy Birthday old man!"

"Old man!" Derek exclaimed. "You're four months older than I am, Gramps!"

Jake laughed. "True, but now's not the time for that." He pointed a finger at the two blonde cuties who were eyeing the birthday boy. "Which one do you want?"

Matt, Derek's other good friend plopped down another large pitcher of beer. "I will take whichever one you don't want, man."

Jake scoffed. "Whatever. I call dibs."

Derek shook his head. "You two can have both of 'em. I'm off the market, remember?" Derek was referring to Lottie Winchester, his current on-again off-again girlfriend.

"Oh for fucks sake, Derek!" Jake sniped. "Lottie's a pain in the ass."

He shrugged. "Maybe so. But what about that whole man law rule that says you can't tell a mate how much you hate his girl no matter how awful she is?"

"Yeah, well whatever happened to 'bros over hos?" Jake smiled at him.

"To be fair Jake we didn't tell you Shanna was a complete bitch," Mark pointed out.

"Yeah, until I married her."

"Well, you always had to learn things the hard way." Derek said. "And anyway, knock off you bastards. There are a lot of special things about Lottie that you twats will never know."

"Oh really?" Matt smiled. "Like what?"

A sly grin crossed Derek's handsome face. "Like she's got a mouth like a fucking Hoover."

Jake and Matt burst our laughing. "Mate, you are an asshole."

Derek's blue eyes flashed impishly. "Perks of being me." He lifted his mug of beer. "Talking of which, time to toast. To Derek Ryan, Happy Birthday, don't forget to drunk dial your girl, and oh yeah...Let's get fucking wasted tonight!"

The three men clanked glasses. "Wait a minute!" Matt exclaimed. "What about the Expo tomorrow? We're supposed to be showcasing the new website layout."

Smiling, Derek gulped down his beer in one take. "Matt, my luv I guarantee we will have a kickass presentation tomorrow or the next night's drinks are on me!"

Jake and Matt exchanged looks. "Whatever you say, man." Jake poured more beer into his friend's glass. "Now drink up!"

********

Tegan James made her way through the crowded club to the table where a group of people were talking animatedly.

"Tegan!" a dark-skinned girl called out to her. "Finally!"

Tegan hefted her body into the tiny space silently cursing her friends for picking a booth to sit in. They know how much I hate these things.

"Sorry about being so late, Case. I almost forgot my Yaz album." She placed her large black messenger bag on the table gingerly.

Casey Kohler flipped her chestnut colored hair over her slender shoulders. Her light brown eyes studied her best friend. "You know, you don't always have to dress like that," she said, pointing a slender caramel colored finger at her outfit, dark denim jeans and a black t-shirt with an As I Lay Dying band logo on the front.

Tegan's whiskey-colored eyes shot her a look. "Case I'm working tonight. I wanted to be comfortable."

"Whatever. I just know you'll never get any man in here looking like that."

Tegan looked around the trendy nightclub. There were gorgeous girls everywhere: the bartenders were pretty girls of all colors in tight white tank tops and short black shorts. The female patrons including Casey and the rest of her friends were dressed to the nines down to their fifteen bucks a pop lip gloss.

And then there was Tegan, who had always been "the chubby one." She looked down at her t-shirt which stretched tightly over her large breasts and rounded tummy.

God I feel so fat, she thought. That's because you are, she answered.

Sighing, she got to her feet and set her bag on her shoulder. "Don't remind me," Tegan grumbled.

Casey grabbed her hand. "I'm just saying this for your own good T," she whispered. "Maybe you can come to the gym with me tomorrow? Work off a few of those extra lbs.?"

Tegan knew she was only trying to help, but the fact that Casey called her out in front of everyone still irritated her. "Actually Case I've got a ton of work to do. But rain check, okay?"

In reality, she didn't have anywhere to go. She had known Casey since she dated a friend of a friend and suspected the only reason the girl hung out with her was for VIP passes and free entry into clubs. Tegan felt like Casey thought she was better than her because she was thin and glamorous while Tegan definitely wasn't. She knew she had to cut ties and fast.

Casey nodded. "Okay. Where are you going? You're not on for another half hour." She pointed to the other people sitting at the booth. "You should stay and hang out."

Tegan's looked at Casey's friends. They were part of her model clique and never really liked hanging with her anyway. "That's okay. I think I need a massive drink."

She pushed her way through the crowded club, finally making out a space right in front of the bar.

"Hey Drea," she called out to a pretty girl with long red hair. "Can you make me one of your signature drinks?"

Drea's green eyes focused on Tegan. "Hey babe. No problem." She gave Tegan a sly wink. "What color are we going for?"

"Hmm, I'm thinking red."

"Coming right up, hon." Drea set down a large glass and began pouring various liquids in it. "You working tonight?" she asked.

"Yeah," Tegan replied. "I'm on in 20."

Drea nodded. "Great. I can't wait to actually hear some good shit."

Tegan laughed. "Yeah, I noticed Greg's on the tables." She pointed to the DJ booth at the guy dressed like he walked straight out of a Hollister catalog, complete with shiny aviators. He was clearly there to score chicks and free drinks.

The redhead snorted. "You mean G.Nice? Even his name makes him sound like a tool."

The women laughed. Loud noises from the opposite end of the bar made Tegan turn her head. A sizeable group of people were drinking and laughing, shouting at the other bartender for another round.

"Jeez," Tegan muttered.

Drea rolled her green eyes. "Yeah, it's going to be a long fucking night."

"How long have they been here?"

"About an hour." Drea set the bright red drink on the bar top. "Here you go, T. See if you can guess what's in there."

Tegan took a sip from the glass. "Mmm," she moaned. "Let's see. There's vodka...a nice amount of vodka." She smiled. "Pomegranate liqueur, ginger ale...and is that a hint of cream?"

Drea laughed. "Yep. I call it a Dirty Red Virgin."

"Oh," Tegan said, making a face. "That is just a bit too much."

"I like it a lot."

"Don't I know it," Tegan replied, giving her a wink.

"Speaking of, when are we going out?"

Tegan took another generous sip of her drink. "You know you're the only person that has asked me out in months."

Drea smiled as she wiped down the bar. "Guys are idiots. That's exactly why I don't date them."

"I don't know about that Drea. Girls aren't any better."

"I don't know about that. There are a lot of things a woman can do that a guy can't even fathom."

Tegan gave a dramatic sigh. "I guess I'll have to live out my lesbian fantasies through you."

Their laughter was cut short when a tall guy plopped down on the stool next to Tegan.

"Excuse me luv," he said brightly. "But we seem to be out of spirits down at that end."

Drea flashed him a tight smile, something Tegan recognized as her reaching her irritation point. "What'll be cowboy?"

"A couple more pitchers of Heineken."

Drea turned to fill up the pitchers. Tegan sipped her drink and tried to steal furtive glances at the man. He was rather attractive. He had navy blue eyes and his curly hair was shaggy and unkempt. Even in his semi-intoxicated state his full lips were curled in an impish grin, as if he had a secret he wasn't sharing.

Yeah, he was attractive all right. But he would never be interested in someone like me. Guys like that don't talk to girls like me. Calm down T. No need to get so worked up. It's just a boy.

Drea set the pair of pitchers on the bar. "That'll be 15."

Reaching into his pocket, the man slapped two twenties on the bar. Leaning his elbows on the edge, he made a face.

"What the bloody hell are we listening to?"

Drea handed him his change, which he promptly stuffed back into her hand. "Keep it," he said winking. "Think of it as hot girl collateral."

Tegan snorted. "Oh please." Drea chuckled and rolled her eyes.

The man turned to her. "Too much?"

She sipped her drink. "Just a bit."

He snapped his fingers in an 'aw shucks' move. "Damn. Well, what can I say? I am a connoisseur of the female form."

"Uh-huh. So, what were you saying about the music?"

He grinned. "Only that it's fucking awful. It's like where Top 40 went to die."

Tegan laughed. "I know. If I wanted to hear this crap I would have turned on the radio."

The guy's blue eyes lit up at that and Tegan felt her skin blush. Damn, he's cute.

"Oh man I know! Clubs are supposed to play shit you can dance to, not this made for radio bollocks. I thought New York was supposed to be the music capital of the East Coast."

"Hey," Tegan said. "We are. But we're kind of going through a douchebag phase in mainstream music. I could say the same for England. It is England, right?"

The man nodded. "Yup. Born and raised. Well, for most of me life." He shook his head, making his raven curls bounce. "I'm such a prat. I didn't even get your name."

She took another gulp of the sweet drink. "Tegan James. I'm the DJ here at the Romper Room."

The man tensed. "Dear Lord, you're not DJing now are you?"

"Fuck no. I go on in about 10 minutes. And you are?"

"Fuck me. I'm Derek. Derek Ryan."

"Nice to meet you Derek. Are you going to stick around for some of my set?"

Derek grinned. "Absolutely. Just as long as you promise to play me a birthday song."

"It's your birthday?"

He nodded. "Yup. Well technically it's tomorrow but we're out celebrating early tonight."

Tegan drained the rest of her glass. "Well Happy Birthday Mr. Derek Ryan. I'll be sure to play something special for you."

"Sweetness." Grabbing his pitchers, he walked away.

Tegan watched him, admiring his tight ass in his jeans as he walked away. He was dressed just the way she liked, in jeans and a fitted black t-shirt with the words 'gamer girls r hot' scrawled on the front.

"Whoa," she whispered aloud.

Drea set down another glass of the red concoction. "Down girl," she said with a smile.

Tegan feigned a look of innocence. "What?"

"I saw you staring at his ass."

She shrugged. "Well it's a nice ass."

Drea laughed. "Well yeah. I like girls and even I know that. Do you even know who that is?"

"Sure, he's Derek Ryan. Hot guy who will probably star in my masturbatory fantasies for the next several nights."

Drea shot her a look. "You don't get out much, do you?"

She shook her head. "Not unless it's for a new show."

Drea leaned over the bar, her full breasts pushed up further by the bar counter. "That cutie-pie over there is the younger brother of superstar Dex Ryan."

Tegan gasped softly, her whiskey eyes following Derek as he sat down with his friends. "Shit," she muttered. "I thought he looked familiar. Never would have guessed it though."

"Yeah. I hear he doesn't like to be connected to his brother a lot."

"Would you? He must get a lot of shit because of all the attention from his brother. Wasn't there some big scandal a couple of years ago with Dex Ryan?"

Drea nodded. "Yeah, he married that chick in Vegas but later it turned out that they weren't really married and his manager was like stealing money from his other clients and trying to break Dex and the girl up." Drea shook her head. "It's like straight out of some cheesy romance novel."

Tegan laughed. "True. But I guess everything worked out nice. They're still married and have a kid too. I saw a picture of her in a magazine. Little girl is gorgeous."

"Yeah she is. I forgot the chick he married was black." Drea looked down the bar at Derek, who was singing along loudly with the music. "You think baby brother's got a chocolate craving too?"

Rolling her eyes, Tegan chuckled. "Shut up." Picking up her bag and her drink, she headed towards the DJ booth. "Time to rock out," she said as she waved bye to Drea.

"Play good shit!" Drea yelled out to her.

********

"Who was that girl you were talking to at the other end?" Jake asked Derek when he returned with the beer.

"Oh, you mean the DJ? Yeah, she's cool. She's going to play me a song later on."

Jake shot him a look. "Not the tubby girl. I meant the bartender. She's fucking hot."

Derek took a gulp from his glass. "She's not tubby, man. So she's a little bigger. So what?"

Matt slapped him jovially on the back. "Whoa there D. No one's saying anything about the slightly larger but still cool DJ girl. No need to get offended."

"Whatever. The point is she's a nice chick. And anyways Jake I don't get the feeling you're the redhead's type."

Jake scoffed. "Really? And what makes you so sure?"

"Well for starters you don't have a vagina."

Matt guffawed. "Burn! You don't even need to be looking anyway old man. You're happily married."

"True. But a guy can fantasize, can he?"

A sultry voice permeating through the club make Derek's eyes focus on the DJ booth.

"I'd like to welcome you all to the Romper Room. Is everyone having a good time tonight?"

A collective cheer rose from the crowded club.

"Good. We're going to get this set started off right with a little Daft Punk and

Digital Love

. Speaking of love, I'm gonna show some and dedicate this mix to Mr. Derek Ryan celebrating his birthday at the bar over there."

Derek and his friends cheered loudly while everyone around them whooped and hollered.

"My name is Tegan and I will here until closing. You are rocking at the Romper Room. Now get the hell up and dance!"

The sounds of Daft Punk's

Digital Love

started up. Grabbing the hand of the cute brunette sitting next to him, Derek moved to the dance floor, with Jake and Matt following behind.

As he danced, he found himself stealing glances at Tegan, who was busy spinning in the elevated DJ booth. Her headphones were half on, her eyes were closed, and she looked like a pro.

Suddenly the husky voice of Marilyn Monroe overlaid the Daft Punk beat. The sound of

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

and

Digital Love

made the crowd in the club cheer. Derek was amazed. The two songs flowed together so naturally.

When he looked up a second time, his blue eyes met Tegan's brown ones. Giving her the thumbs up sign, he continued to dance.

********

Tegan was lucky she was damned good at what she did because she was paying so much attention to Derek Ryan she was sure she'd make a few mistakes.

She couldn't help it. He was actually a pretty good dancer and kept up with whatever she played.

Normally she'd leave a set feeling good about it but not great. However she was nearly done and the dance floor was still pretty crowded. The crowd was hype tonight, loving what she was playing. She tried to mix in a little Yaz and Depeche Mode in the midst of the new stuff like Cut Copy and The Foxglove Hunt.

After making the announcement for last call, Tegan came over the microphone once more. "Thank you all for hanging with us at the Romper Room. We hoped you enjoyed it. Time for one more song before I head out of here, and I'm making it a good one. My name is Tegan and to paraphrase the late great Vanilla Ice: I rock the mic like a vandal."

She pressed play and a club mix of The Smiths'

How Soon Is Now?

started up. As she was packing up the rest of her records while the song played, she turned to see Billie, one of the bartenders standing next to her.

"What's up?" she yelled over the music.

Billie shoved a folded piece of paper in her hand. "This is for you. It's from Dex Ryan's little brother."

Tegan opened the note:

Sick beats Tegan J. You should hang out with us after your set.

She noticed the fifty dollar bill folded into the note.

A tippy for the best DJ. Call it hot girl collateral.

Smiling, she folded the note and the money into her back pocket. She couldn't help the large grin on her face. He called me hot!

Don't get too excited, her brain warned. He's just being nice.

Sighing, Tegan went back on the microphone after the song ended, letting everyone know the Romper Room was closing and invited them back tomorrow night for Ladies' Night.

She packed up the rest of her music and left the DJ area. Glancing around the club, she noticed Casey and her friends had left. She checked her phone but there was no text from Casey. "I can't believe she just left without saying anything," Tegan grumbled.

Walking over to the bar, she plopped down once more in front of Drea, who was busying cleaning up for night. Derek and his friends were still down at the other end, their noise even more raucous as the club emptied.

"Great set T," Drea said brightly as she placed a couple of clean glasses on a larger stack underneath the bar.

"Thanks babe. Walk me home?"

Drea nodded. "You know I will. Casey left you?"

"Does a bear shit in the woods?"

Drea sighed and wiped off the liquor bottles. "You need a good friend Tegan."

"I got you, don't I?"

"True. Give me a couple of minutes. I've got to finish up with Mr. Hottie's crew down there."

Tegan smiled. "What's going on? Normally End-of-the-Night Drea makes an appearance and threatens to cut bitches by now."

A hearty chuckle escaped from the pretty redhead. "Well, when I'm getting three hundred dollars tossed at me for an average night's work I figure I can't be rude."

Tegan was astonished. "You got a three hundred tip?"

Drea nodded.

"Nice."

"I'll say. So you going to talk to him or just stare all night?" "What? What for? What good will it do?"

"Well it might be a step in getting that cherry of yours popped."

"Drea!" Tegan hissed. "Not so loud; he may hear you!"

She laughed again. "Like he doesn't know already."

Tegan pouted. "What does that mean?" Was it really that obvious? She felt like she needed to be in a zoo and studied. She could just picture it now: sitting miserably in a cage while nine-year-olds on a field trip dared one another to poke her. The sign next to her would read "Girlicus New Yorkus. Twenty-three year old virgin". She groaned softly.

Drea gave her a sympathetic look. "There's nothing wrong with it, hon. You just look like you need a deep dicking. And how."

"Shut your face and hurry up so we can walk home."

"Barkeep, I'm closing out!" a merry voice rang out.

Drea put on a sweet smile. "Enjoyed yourself Derek?"

"Immensely, thanks to Tegan J. here." His blue eyes focused on Tegan. "You were awesome."

"Thanks," Tegan stammered, trying to think over her loud heartbeat.

"I have a proposition for you," he said, leaning closer to her. Tegan could smell the mixture of beer and peppermint gum on his breath. "I'm having a small birthday party tomorrow night. You should totally stop by." He turned to Drea. "You too."