Page 69 of On His Team

Drew sees us almost immediately.

His face changes. “Laurens?”

Rowan points at me. “Her fault.”

I laugh. “Happy birthday, Drew.”

Drew comes over and gives me a quick one-arm hug. “Thanks. Reeve’s—” He stops himself. “Gianna. Sorry.”

I smile. “You got there.”

He looks relieved.

Rowan takes my coat when I shrug it off, folds it over his arm with his own, and hands both to Drew when he points toward a bedroom where everyone is dumping things.

“I’m driving,” I tell Drew when he offers me something from the kitchen.

Drew says, “Water?”

I nod. “Perfect.”

Rowan takes one too.

I look at Rowan. “You don’t have to be sober because I am.”

“I know.” He twists the cap off the bottle and chugs it, watching me. I watch the water bubble out of the plastic and his throat bobs.

I open mine and drink, too.

We’re both staring at each other, drinking the entire bottle of water.

He finishes first and wipes his mouth. Then he tilts his head, waiting for me to finish.

Mara finds us and interrupts the moment. She flies through the kitchen and wraps both arms around me. “You came!”

“You texted me six times.”

She pulls back and looks over my shoulder.

Her eyes widen slightly when she notices Rowan. “You brought him.”

“He was helping me with my project when you called, so yeah.”

He shakes his head. “I’m not helping her.”

Mara looks at him and then at me. “Okay,” she says. “Whatever, nerds.” She looks at my water bottle. “Dance with me?”

“Obviously.”

The living room furniture has been shoved against the walls, leaving a space in the middle where enough people are moving around that it counts. The sun is finally out of sight and the lights are low. I lose track of Rowan for a while.

Theo shows up at some point, and I watch him shake Rowan’s hand. Two other guys from the team join them. Rowan settles against the wall with his water bottle in one hand.

I dance with Mara. Then Mila gets there. Then Drew’s roommate changes the music, and the whole room screams because apparently everyone our age has the exact same relationship with songs from middle school.

Every once in a while, I look toward the kitchen. Rowan is usually still there. Once, he’s already looking at me. I lift my brows at him. He lifts his water bottle an inch. I turn back to Mara.

Later, I go to get another bottle of water and find Rowan standing alone beside the counter while Drew and Theo fight about hockey sticks.