"Come on, Jenna! You need this!" Kristy urged. "Didn't you tell me yesterday that three interns managed to rearrange the directory structure on their workstations and you had to spend all afternoon working with them to reconstruct their work?"
    "Yes..."
    "And didn't you say today that after moving one of the interns to a strict paper-and-pencil based desk, he spilled Coke over not only his desk, but your assistant's workstation as well?"
    "Yes..."
    "So girl, you are entitled to go out tonight and have fun! Come on, it won't be any fun for me to go alone."
    "Yeah, right," Jenna snorted. She and Kristy were on their way to the parking lot Friday afternoon. "Last time we went out together, you picked up the bartender and I had to take the bus home."
    Kristy stopped and looked Jenna in the eye--a bit difficult, since Kristy had a good four inches on Jenna. "How's about if I promise...no, don't laugh! I promise this'll be a strict girls' night out. No guys, no matter how cute."
    "No way," Jenna laughed. "I don't believe it. Besides, if we swear no guys, who are we supposed to dance with, each other?"
    Kristy slung an arm around Jenna's shoulders. "All right, but I lead," she cracked.
    Jenna laughed. "You're nuts. Fine, I'll go out tonight, and I won't even make you promise no guys. So where are we going?"
    "Encounters?"
    "Fine. I'll meet you there at nine, after practice."
    "All right!"
 

    Jenna was late getting to Encounters. Practice had run over, and she didn't want to skip a shower, so she just skipped dinner and decided Kristy wouldn't be upset if she was late. She was right. Kristy was already at the bar when Jenna joined her.
    "I was afraid you weren't going to show up!" she exclaimed, hopping off her stool to hug Jenna.
    "How many of those have you had?"
    "This is my first. What are you getting?"
    "I don't know."
    "That translates to ginger ale and a few peanuts, right?"
    "Nope. After the week I had, which you so graciously recapped for me earlier, I desperately need a drink." Jenna hijacked the stool next to Kristy and hailed the bartender. "I'd like a Screaming Orgasm," she ordered.
    "Wouldn't we all," Kristy echoed, eyeing the bartender.
    "Kristy..."
    "I'll be good! I can look, can't I?"
    "You were practically drooling. He isn't that great."
    "So I'm desperate. You've had dates recently. I haven't."
    "But still! There has got to be someone better than the bartender here." Jenna looked around the dance floor. "How about him?" she suggested, pointing out a tall, blonde behemoth of a man.
    "I was checking him out earlier," Kristy told her, "but he's no good."
    "Why not?"
    "Watch." As Jenna and Kristy watched, the blonde behemoth was greeted by a slender, dark haired man who was obviously a lot more than friendly with him.
    "Ouch. It's always the cute ones," Jenna sighed, turning back to the bar. Her drink had arrived and she took a long swallow from the tall glass, finishing half of it in that gulp. "Gods, I haven't had one of these since college."
    "The drink or the namesake?"
    "Either. I don't drink much, remember?" Jenna took another swallow, draining the glass and signaling for another. "I knew a girl on the flagline who'd bring a thermos filled with this stuff to the games. About half the line would share it in the locker room after halftime."
    "Sounds good to me. Great on the snowy football days."
    "Yup. Too bad they were kicked off the line for drinking in uniform." Jenna turned around on her stool and surveyed the dance floor. "There's gotta be someone here to dance with." As she looked around, she thought she saw a familiar shape nursing a drink at a booth in the corner. "Kristy, I'll be back. I think I see someone I know." Jenna picked up her fresh drink and made her way around the dance floor to the booth.
    "I know you," she said, sliding in next to the figure. "I got the tickets; thank you."
    Thom looked surprised to see her, moving his drink so she could put hers down. "That's good. I wasn't expecting to see you here." He smiled. "But I'm glad you're here. Some of the others dragged me here with them thinking I needed a night off, then deserted me. This really isn't my kind of place."
    "Mine either. It was Kristy's turn to chose the place and she likes this place, pogo though it may be."
    "Pogo?"
    "Put out or get out. Most people only come here if they're looking to get laid. They have a good DJ, though. We sometimes come here after particularly rotten weeks. Dancing hard helps get rid of the tension."
    "How bad was this week?"
    "Let's just say I nearly killed three interns and haven't had a decent night's sleep since Monday." The DJ keyed up a fast, hard, pulsing song. "Wanna dance?" Jenna asked, taking Thom's hand.
    "I don't know, I'm not..."
    "Oh, come on. It'll be fun!" She pulled a protesting Thom out onto the dance floor. "There's no such thing as set dance here. Just feel the rhythm, and go with it." She demonstrated, letting her hips sway to the pulsating beat. "Just let yourself go."
    When Thom just stood there, Jenna placed her hands on his hips. "Like this," she said, gently pushing his hips to create a swaying motion. "There you go. Ever see the movie Dirty Dancing?" She wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling his head closer. "Just feel the music," she whispered, placing his hands on her waist and swaying.
    He could feel every motion she made and tried hard not to picture her making similar motions in a different position. With a groan, he pulled her closer, matching his movements to hers. When the tone of the music shifted, she pulled away, a playful, almost flirtatious smile on her face.
    Jenna could feel the alcohol starting to affect her. She wasn't much of a drinker, so on the occasions when she did drink, it didn't take long-or much-for it to hit. Right now, in the early stages, she could feel her inhibitions slipping away. It helped that when Thom pulled her close, she could feel that she was affecting him. It was a heady, excitable feeling and she loved it.
    The DJ cued up an entire sequence of the pulsating songs. Jenna took advantage of the opportunity to stay close to Thom, to let her hands linger on his shoulders, his back, his waist, and lower. He didn't protest, usually holding her even closer as his hands also explored as much as they dared in public. Feeling ever bolder, Jenna pulled his head closer, teasing his lips with the tip of her tongue.
    He tried to capture her tongue with his lips, but she was quicker, moving to his neck, lightly nipping at his jawline, grazing his earlobe with her teeth. He caught her head between his hands and brought his lips to hers. Again she teased at his lips with her tongue; this time he managed to catch her.
    Jenna nearly moaned at the sensation. It had been so long since she'd kissed this way, his tongue stroking lazily along hers. She could feel his hardness as she pressed against him, their bodies still following the beat set by the music. She tightened her arms, one around his shoulders, the other around his hips.
    They stayed like that, locked together, for she didn't know how long. When he finally released her lips, her legs were like Jell-O. "I need to sit for a bit," she managed to say. "I think that Screaming Orgasm is starting to hit." Thom just nodded, taking her hand and leading her back to the booth. He motioned for her to sit first. He slid in after, keeping her hand in his, silently thanking the guys for deserting him.
    Jenna picked up her drink and took a few swallows. Thom traced his fingers along her palm, sending shivers up her arm. She could feel the charged air surrounding them and set her empty glass down, scooting closer to him on the bench.
    He gently laid his hand along the side of her face, letting his lips just barely graze hers. Silently, he cursed the loose knot she wore her hair in, wanting to sink his fingers into her hair and hold her to him for hours. He settled for cupping his hand at the back of her head, kissing her with more intensity.
    A loud crash from the other side of the club startled them out of their attentions. Jenna looked that direction and saw a familiar blonde facing off against a slender, dark haired man. "Kristy!" she exclaimed, clambering over Thom to get out of the booth and see what was going on. She raced, a little unsteadily, to where Kristy and the man were on the floor scrabbling, pulling each other's hair, scratching, and throwing punches. The blonde behemoth she'd pointed out earlier was trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to separate them. Jenna joined him, finally pulling the two apart. "Kristy, what's going on?" Jenna demanded.
    "Nothing," Kristy spit out, a bit slurred. "Johnny and I were dancing, and Frank got a little jealous. What's the matter, afraid he'll leave you for a real woman?" she sneered at Frank.
    "Ha! The day Johnny leaves me for an Amazon like you is the day hell freezes over!" Frank spit back, wiping his hand across the slightly bloody scratches on his face.
    Jenna looked at the two in amazement. "Forget I asked," she murmured before turning to go back to Thom.
    "What was going on?" he asked as she slid back into the booth.
    "Kristy was hitting on some guy's boyfriend," Jenna shrugged. "Only Kristy." The DJ was cueing up again, so Jenna pulled Thom back to the dance floor.
    It didn't take them long to get back to the form they had before. Thom held Jenna close, not wanting even an inch of space between them. He was the one teasing this time, just barely touching his lips to hers, feathering along the side of her neck. The DJ had started playing Sophie B. Hawkins' "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover," and Jenna was softly, absently, singing along.
    "Damn, I wish I was your lover. I'd rock you till the daylight comes, make sure you are smiling and warm," she sang, an unintentionally languid, sensual tone invading her words. Her fingers were teasing along the back of his neck, distracting him. He could feel her starting to drift and led her back to the booth.
    "Jenna, are you okay?" he asked her as she nearly collapsed onto the bench.
    "No..." she replied softly. "I think I hit my limit." She leaned against the wall, eyes half-closed. "So tired..."
    Thom ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "How much did you have to drink?"
    "Just two of those." She pointed to the empty glass still on the table. "Just two; that's all it took." Her words were starting to drift off.
    "Come on, I'll take you home." He helped her up. "Did you drive here?"
    "Nope. Bus. Just in case."
    Thom helped Jenna out to the parking lot to his BMW and buckled her into the front seat. He'd been to her apartment building before, the day they spent at the lakefront and the park. He hadn't been inside, though, so when they reached the parking lot he gently shook her awake.
    "Jenna? Jenna, we're here."
    "Here? Oh," she said sleepily, making no movement to get out of the car.
    Thom unbuckled her seat belt, slung her right arm over his shoulders and swung her legs out of the car. "Come on, up we go. You have to help here." She got to her feet, leaning heavily on Thom. "What floor?"
    "Fifth," she murmured.
    "Fifth." He looked up at the building trying to figure out how to get her to the fifth floor. Thankfully, he found the elevator in the lobby. She slumped against the wall in the corner, more asleep than awake.
    At the fifth floor he had to help her to her door. "Jenna, where are your keys?" he asked.
    "Pocket," she mumbled.
    "Can you get them?"
    "Maybe..." She managed to get hold of the keychain and pull her keys out of her pocket. Thom unlocked her door and helped her inside to her bedroom.
    "Okay, you're here. Now you can go to sleep," he told her, lifting her legs onto the bed. Since she'd been mostly asleep already, she was fully asleep before her legs hit the bed. Thom looked at her and gently brushed her bangs before taking off her glasses and putting them on the nightstand.
    "Stay," she whispered, almost inaudible.
    His heart tore at that word. Looking at her lying there, so vulnerable, he wanted nothing more than to comply, to lie there next to her, hold her in his arms all night. Instead, he gently kissed her and covered her with the throw blanket at the end of the bed.
    "I'll call you tomorrow," he whispered, not knowing if she'd hear or not.