DEREK'S MATCH (DEREK #1) SAMPLE, NOW PUBLISHED

9. steal my date

We go to his brother's club, Barcode, and wow-it's a really big club. Like the restaurant, it has a second floor though it occupies just the circumference around the dance floor. It's where the VIP tables are. According to Derek, it was part of a recent remodel.

Inside, it is dark with flashing lights all around us. There are a lot of people. Derek holds my hand as he leads us inside and I follow him close behind, afraid to get lost. A few people step on my toes. They might be purple in the morning. The music is loud and I look to my right which is where the dance floor is. There are people dancing close together while the others are drinking or somehow having a conversation with their friends.

We go up the stairs and he shakes hands with a couple of people that we pass by. I get a lot of dirty looks from women when they see me with Derek. I try to ignore them but it's hard when it's just about every woman we pass by. I can tell Derek is very well known here. He must come a lot. I wonder how many of the women giving me dirty looks he's slept with.

"Hey! Yo!" A guy I recognize as Ian, his best friend, raises his arm as he calls Derek over.

I try to ignore the nerves in the pit of my stomach. God. It feels like I'm stepping on foreign territory here. There is a group of people over at the table where Ian is. It's probably all of their friends. I'm an idiot. For some reason, I thought it would be just Derek and I dancing the night away. Of course it wasn't going to be like that. Derek is a star. Everyone wants to be around him and party with him. I'm probably just the girl of the night.

It's too late though. I'm already here. Now I have to suffer the consequences of my stupidity.

We reach the table and Derek lets my hand go to hug Ian and makes his way around to everyone else. Apart from Ian, there are two other guys and two girls. I realize that the girls are twins and they are not the kind of twins that try to change their hair to differentiate themselves. No. These twins look completely identical. They have beautiful brown skin and straight, black hair that goes just above their shoulders with two big, brown eyes. They're both wearing identical mini dresses except one of them is blue and the other is green.

They look familiar. I'm sure they're some sort of actresses. Maybe I've seen them on TV? I can't quite put my finger on it right now.

Derek waves at them then he turns to look at me. He reaches out and places his hand on the small of my back. I try to ignore how it makes me feel. "You know Ian," he speaks over the loud music.

I smile at Ian who surprises me by giving me a hug.

"Good to see you," he says onto my ear before pulling away.

"And that is Imani and Ebony," Derek says motioning to the twins who are not very excited to see me. Why are women here so rude? I've literally done nothing to them. It's sad to think about the possibility that they immediately hate me because I'm Derek's date. Is it envy? Why do women always have to envy each other? Why can't we all just be friends?

"And that's Roman and Wyatt." Derek continues. "This is Savannah."

I look at him, surprised that he didn't introduced me as Gin since he seems to like that better than my real name. The guys wave at me with a polite smile. They all have drinks in their hands.

"I'm gonna go get us drinks," Derek says onto my ear.

Before I volunteer to go with him because I don't want to be alone with his friends, he walks away. I lock eyes with the twins. They're whispering in each other's ears while looking at me up and down. It's so uncomfortable. I walk to the side where the railing is and rest my hands on it as I look down at the dance floor.