Free Feeling This by Casey Blue Page A

nods as I
lift the shot to match Heidi’s. As the glass touches my lips a voice questions behind
me, “Aren’t you going to wait for me?”
    I lower the glass from my lips before the
vodka touches, surprised but also terrified. Heidi calls out smiling from ear
to ear never moving her gaze from mine, “Hey Derek, I think we might need
another. ‘Mr. Hottie’ just arrived.”
    I turn swiftly and meet Andrew’s green gaze.
His full lips are turned up in a smirk highlighting his strong, chiseled jaw.
He leans in to grab the shot from Derek just brushing my shoulder. The close
proximity with his wonderful smell is going to make me fall on the floor. My
hand finds the back of a bar stool to steady myself. He holds his glass up
staring at me and declares, “To old friends.”
    Heidi and I both salute and gulp our shot.
When I raise the lemon to my mouth he watches with heavy lidded eyes. What the
hell? He leans down while I suck on my lemon a little longer than necessary
and whispers in my ear, “You look really good Kimber.”
    I stare up at him while abruptly removing
the lemon to toss it on the bar and straighten up moving an inch away. Heidi’s
laughter breaks our connection. She announces, “Derek, I think we need another.
This shit is getting good. Who woulda thought this place could be so
entertaining on a rainy Monday night.”
    Turning, I glare daggers at her which just
causes more laughter. Andrew places his hand over mine resting on the bar
stool. At his touch my heart speeds up and nervous energy courses through me. He
places his other hand on my shoulder telling me, “Calm down Kimber. We’re just
two old friends getting reacquainted.”
    This acknowledgement from him turns my
stomach so I grab for another shot and down it not bothering with the lemon
this time. Derek chastises, “Hang on there Kimber, I wasn’t even finished
pouring them.”
    I slam it back down next to the other two
and tell him, “Fill it up again.”
    Derek smiles as he readies them, admitting,
“I will not be telling your sister about this, she would kill me.”
    The alcohol coursing through me is starting
to affect my inhibitions. I climb up on the bar step leaning across and place
my hand under his chin, forcing him to look up at me and exclaim in a menacing
tone, “Derek, you tell and I’ll have to kill you.”
    Andrew starts laughing behind me. This
brings me back down to reality. I step down from the step and turn to look up
at him. The closeness of the stools has us only inches apart. I want nothing
more than to attach myself to him but the memory of earlier in the day at the
college, forces me to hold back. He is definitely sending mixed messages.
    Derek pours three more and offers, “Here you
go guys, last one.”
    I inch into the closest bar stool and
decline, “No more for me, Derek, you do one with them.”
    As Andrew throws his head back, I admire
the smooth skin covering his adam’s apple. I lean forward wanting to kiss my
way over it. He looks down slamming his glass to the bar and meets my gaze just
a whisper away. I swear I was moving toward him without even realizing it. When
he notices, his eyebrows go up in surprise. I cower back never tearing my eyes
from his.
    Heidi announces, “Well guys, I think the Duck
has had enough of this girl. I’m gonna head home.”
    I turn quickly to her and mumble under my
breath, “No, don’t leave me.”
    She places her hand on my shoulder and
leans into my ear, “Kimber Maguire, if you don’t hit that, I will.”
    Sometimes her crudeness takes me by
surprise but this time, a feeling rushes through me that resembles jealousy.
She must see it in the look on my face because she tells me before turning to
go, “Relax, it’s all you, I won’t steal him. Like I said before, this is something
you need right now. Just let it happen.”
    I watch her all the way to the door, my
eyes still lingering on it after she’s gone. Andrew breaks my trance with his
breath on my bare