Page 294 of On His Team

I glance at my phone. It’s empty of notifications. I stand up and walk to my front door. When I open it, Rowan smiles.

“Hi, Laurens,” I say.

He’s in a shirt with buttons. His hair’s wet. He smells like something that came out of a bottle rather than a gym bag.

“Reeve.”

I hear Mara walk out of my bedroom. “Have fun!”

I turn my head, and Lucy pops up behind her.

“Hi, Rowan,” Lucy says.

Rowan looks over. “Benson’s on his way.”

She lights up.

“Ready?” he asks me.

I nod.

“Bye,” Mara says.

“Bye.” I turn to wave at both of them. They’re so cute standing in the hallway. I smile and add, “Tell my brother I said hi.”

Rowan takes me to the place my brother and Percy used to work, the Camerie. There’s a pianist in the corner, the building is beautiful, and the table has linen and a full set of silverware. A person brings us bread as soon as we’re seated. There are about nine tables of people in their sixties, which is how you know it’s good.

He pulls the chair out, and I smile. “Oh my God.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Keep going. I love it.”

He pushes the chair in behind me, sits down opposite, and picks up a menu.

“This is our first date,” I say.

“No, it isn’t.”

“Rowan. This is our first date.”

“We’ve had dates.”

“Name one.”

He puts the menu down. He actually thinks about it. “Hawthorne kitchen.”

I laugh. “You would call that a date.”

He grins and looks down at my white top. “Isn’t that the same one you were wearing?”

“You remember what I was wearing?”

His eyes soften as he looks at it. “Yeah, you look really hot in it.”

I have to drink water.

Then I say, “Unbutton the top one.” I point at my own chest to gesture which one I’m talking about.