Free Then Summer Came by C. R. Jennings Page A

sandwich.  "You should come to the club with us tonight." 
    "Who is ‘us’?" 
    "Me, Mik, and a couple friends of ours.  They're going to the opening of a new club.  They have a dance floor, just your scene ." He winked and raised his brows at me, obviously poking at my love of eighties dance moves. 
    I cracked up at his ridiculous smirk.  "From what I remember, it's your scene, too." 
    He shook his head, grinning.  "I don't dance," he said with a now-straight face. 
    "That's not how I remember it." 
    "Well you were sauced," he added, matter-of-factly.  "So, will you come?" 
    I thought for a second and decided that'd be perfect for Derek.  He needed to relax and let loose a little, and I needed to see him.  It was the perfect thing to drag him to.
    "Yes!" I exclaimed, and he jumped back at my unexpected excitement.  "I'm gonna make Derek come,too."  
    I was so tired of his all-important job, his full schedule, and him never having time for us!  He was stiff and overworked.  He just needed to get out…and so did I. 
    He called later to apologize for the previous night’s rude-ass phone call, and I took the opportunity to guilt him into going to the club with us.  Beck was right:  it was going to be fun, and Derek and I both needed fun . 
    He agreed to go, and he actually sounded a little excited about it, which thrilled me to no end.  So much so that I couldn’t even sit still long enough to dress myself. 
    My phone rang again as I was getting ready to leave, and it was Em.  She sounded groggy and half dead.  She asked what I was doing and nearly cried when I said I was going out with Derek and Beck.  I could hear her happy dance through the phone.  “I am so freggin’ there!” she shrieked.  She was so excited to get away from studying, and even more excited to get to meet Beck. 
    I met up with her outside the club, and I called out for her.  She came running—well, it was more of a scuffle in her stilettos—and clashed into me with an intense hug. 
    “I can’t believe you’re here!” I cried into her thick, flowery-scented hair.  “And you look amazing for a half-dead person,” I joked at the way she’d sounded on the phone. 
    “Ugh, I feel dead, but we’re about to turn that around quick, fast, and in a hurry.”  I followed her into the club and she split to get our drinks.  “Just beer, lots and lots of beer!” I told her, and she threw her thumb into the air as she scurried off. 
    I spotted Derek across the room talking to another guy.  My heart nearly stopped.  I couldn’t believe he was actually there.  He looked so sexy with his usual gray suit on, his hand jammed casually in one pocket.  His back was to me, so I couldn’t see who the other guy was to know if I’d be interrupting, but I didn’t really care.
    I darted through the crowd to where he was standing.  "Derek!" I shrieked and ran to him.  "I can't believe you came!" 
    He spun as I reached him, and I threw myself into his arms and kissed him excitedly.  He was stiff at first—embarrassed with my sudden PDA, as usual—but I could feel him relaxing under me.  I couldn't help it; I was so excited that'd he'd actually come, I couldn’t hold it in. 
    Apparently it only took a few seconds of my kiss to convince him that an indecent, public kiss was a good idea because his fingers quickly snaked into my hair, and his kiss matched my enthusiasm.  He gripped my shirt on both sides, pulling me into him, and moaned deeply into my mouth, which lit a million different fires inside of me.  He hadn’t kissed me like that in a while.  It wasn't really like any of the times he'd kissed me before; it was needy as hell, like he’d finally missed me as much as I’d missed him.   It had become intense, and I faded into him completely, forgetting the club and everything around us.
    "So, I see Derek made it?" Emily shouted over the music. 
    I was so lost in him I almost didn't hear her.  Realizing