Rowan's friends pulled up chairs closer to the table. Erik sloppily pushed an armchair next to me on my right while Rowan moved closer to me, leaving space for one of the two guys I didn't recognize. I shifted closer to the end of the couch to give him more room, feeling self-conscious.

"Dude," Erik said leaning forward in his chair to look at me, "what happened to your face? That was not there this morning." I felt everyone's eyes fall on my face and smiled back at Erik awkwardly, he's definitely more social when he's drunk.

"Uh, it's nothing really, just a misunderstanding with some guy." I realized I hadn't seen the damage done to my face yet. I felt uneasy as their eyes studied me.

"What guy?" My eyes snapped to Rowan's old teammate. I remembered his name to be Isaiah- he'd graduated two years prior. From what I recalled, he was someone who'd thrown a lot of parties a few years back, the last of which a girl had almost overdosed at.

"Uh, honestly, I didn't really get a chance to catch his name." Surprisingly, a few of them laughed at that and I allowed myself a small grin.

"Well it looks fucking badass Evan. You know, chicks dig tough guys," Erik said loudly, picking up his beer and taking another long drink. I snorted at that and instinctively glanced at Rowan who looked away, amused. One of the guys I didn't recognize had picked up the deck of cards and was shuffling it.

"You know Evan," Ben said loudly, getting everyone's attention. "If you want we all know a guy that could you know, teach him a lesson. If you happen to remember his name." I might've imagined it but I thought I saw everyone's eyes flicker towards Rowan before looking away. It'd gotten quiet and I felt as if they were all a bit more tense. I broke the awkward silence,

"Um, I'm not sure—"

"—What's the game Eli?" Rowan interrupted. I looked at him again. His eyes were almost as dark as I'd seen them earlier, and he was sending a malicious glare in Ben's direction. Had I been on the receiving end of it my blood would've drained out of my face at that point, but Ben just shrugged and looked to the guy who'd been shuffling the cards. I assumed that was Eli because he looked up and started dealing everyone cards.

"Rummy." The chatter resumed and I felt a bit more relaxed. My phone buzzed and I picked it up, seeing a text from Lucy that they were at the bar looking for me. I turned back to Rowan who was re-arranging his cards.

"Hey, my friends just got here, I don't mind us finding somewhere else to go," he set his cards down.

"No, I still owe you that drink, remember?" I gave a nervous laugh. "Play a round without us." He said to everyone then got up. I followed him to the door that led to the club.

The noise got louder as we walked through a narrow hallway, passing the restrooms and arriving on the public side. It was crowded, and I actually saw some familiar, underage faces. The room had dim red and blue lights that reflected on everybody. We reached the end of the bar and I scanned the crowd looking for my friends. Rowan leaned against the counter and got the bartender's attention. I couldn't help but notice how close he stood to me and felt a weird sensation stirring in my chest.

Madison's platinum hair caught my attention on the other side of the bar, and I mentioned to Rowan that I'd go get them. I pushed my way through a few groups of people and reached them. Alex looked ecstatic to see me.

"Evan, thank god, you're never leaving me alone with these two at a gay club ever ag—"

"—What the fuck happened to your face?!" Madison shouted, loud enough to turn a few heads. Her manicured figures grabbed my jaw and forcefully turned my face to see the injury. Alex frowned and Lucy gasped dramatically.

"Who did this, Evan?" I pulled Madison's hands away from me and gave them reassuring smiles.

"It's nothing, I just tripped on the way over, I was a little tipsy—"

"—Why would you lie to us?" Lucy said, crossing her arms. There was a storm brewing in her blue eyes and Madison looked ready to kill. I sighed and glanced back at Rowan. He was talking to the bartender, sporting two drinks.

"Okay, please just drop it after this though. I ran into some drunk guy when I left the club and he tried to pick a fight. Rowan was there and he scared them off. That's it, it was barely even anything." My face reddened recounting the altercation. Lucy and Madison gave each other looks as if they were going to hunt down the drunken stranger. Alex gave me a sympathetic smile,

"Glad you're okay. People are shit heads." I smiled at him, glad that he kept it short and understood that I wanted the subject dropped.

"Wait," Madison started. I rolled my eyes and glanced impatiently back at Rowan. He looked like he was ordering a pitcher of something. "By Rowan, do you mean... Rowan Williams?" I raised my eyebrows,

"Yeah, he's right over there." I motioned in his direction.

"Is that who you've been with since you left?" Madison asked, in disbelief. I shrugged, trying to act casual.

"Yeah, we were actually about to start a card game so... Do you wanna head over?" The girls looked at each other and shrugged, seeming nervous. I mean, even they'd heard the countless stories of his heroism on and off the basketball court. Alex was studying the bar menu with squinted eyes, so I assumed he was on board. I nodded, and motioned for them to follow me.

We made it to Rowan. Alex greeted his old teammate happily then turned to the bartender he'd been talking to and ordered a shot of tequila. Rowan gave friendly hellos to Lucy and Madison before turning to me and handing me a drink. I raised it to my nose. It was whiskey. I took a small sip and thanked him, trying to keep my face from scrunching up because of the bitter taste. He watched me looking amused,then picked up the pitcher of beer next to him.After Alex took his shot, we followed Rowan back to the staff room.

We reentered the room to a shouting match between Ben and Erik. Ben was towering over him shouting something about cheating and Erik was glaring back up at him holding his cards close to his chest. Lucy shifted uncomfortably beside me. Rowan sighed and walked forward, putting the pitcher on the table.

"Ben, sit down." Ben looked at him and pointed to Erik, who was still sending angry glares up at him.

"He got up to get drinks and was looking at my cards." Ben spat. Erik started to object but Rowan cut in.

"So what? It's a fucking game Ben, sit down." Ben huffed and went back to his seat. "Anyway, we're back so let's just start over." He grabbed a stack of cups from a cabinet and put them on the table next to the pitcher.

Erik took a drink and seemed to immediately return to his previous chirpy mood. Alex pulled up a chair and went over to sit next to him. They started talking about basketball. Madison and Lucy followed me back to the couch where I'd been sitting earlier and sat on either side of me.

I felt a small tinge of annoyance, knowing Rowan would have to sit somewhere else, but I reminded myself that I was the one who'd dragged them there. Rowan sat in between Eli and another guy I didn't know.

"There's too many people and not enough cards, so everyone pair up," Eli said while dealing out cards. Lucy turned to me and smiled, handing me a beer from the table.

"We're partners." She said it as a fact. I laughed,

"Yes ma'am." I saw Alex and Erik pairing up and turned to look at Madison, feeling guilty. But she was happily talking to the guy next to her, seeming fine with the arrangements.

I looked over to Rowan, he was with Eli. I felt a tinge of jealousy but brushed it aside and turned to Lucy, looking at our hand. Our cards were shit.

Being on Lucy's team had it's advantages though. An hour later we'd already closed three games and tallied up the most points. Rowan and Eli were only five points behind us though, and Alex and Erik were in last place. To be fair, they'd both had a lot to drink and spent so much time talking about the bulls draft picks for the next basketball season that they'd missed all the important plays and forgot to put their sets down.

I noticed Ben eyeing Lucy a few times which seemed to make her uncomfortable, because she'd deliberately talk to me more and not break eye contact. Every time I'd look at him, he'd pretend he was invested in his cards. I made a mental note not to leave her by herself.

It turned out I didn't need to worry, because soon Lucy leaned over me and tapped Madison on the shoulder.

"This is a major boys club, wanna go watch something at my place?" She asked quietly. Madison looked like she'd rather have stayed, but must have sensed Lucy's discomfort and gave her a warm smile.

"Sure, sounds fun." I looked between the two girls. They were acting strange, as if hiding a secret.

"Is... everything okay? Did something happen with Ben that I don't know about?" I asked them in a whisper. Lucy gave a quick glance at him and shook her head, smiling brightly at me.

"Everything's totally fine. You guys can come if you want, it just seems like Alex is having too good of a time right now and I don't wanna be a party pooper." She made eye contact with me then glanced down at her phone, tapping it lightly with her thumb. It was code for, 'I'll text you about it later if you shut up about it now.' I nodded, giving her a smile.

I felt eyes on me and noticed Rowan watching us. Everyone else had been in conversation but his eyes were on me looking curious. I quickly looked back at Lucy.

"Okay, we'll join later then?" She nodded and her and Madison stood up, saying their goodbyes to everyone.

"I can walk you ladies out." A voice cut in. Ben's. I looked at Lucy and slowly stood up. I felt Rowan's eyes on me.

"No, it's alright, our Uber's here already anyway," she responded without looking at him. Her eyes were on her phone. He opened his mouth again but Rowan intervened, asking him to shuffle the cards. Ben turned to respond, and Lucy and Madison walked out. I realized I was still standing up when Rowan and a few others looked at me, so I grabbed my cup and headed to the small sink.

The chatter resumed and I could sense that Ben was upset from his body language. I whipped out my phone and texted Lucy a few question marks.

"You shouldn't drink the tap water." I whipped around, quickly putting my phone in my back pocket. Rowan was standing next to me again, his expression unreadable. I wondered if he'd seen my message but if he had, he hid his reaction well.

"What? Oh, yeah I was just thirsty." The left corner of his mouth crept upwards showing a few of his perfectly white teeth.

He opened up the fridge and pulled out another cold water bottle, handing it to me. I laughed awkwardly,

"Thanks." He nodded, watching me closely. I nervously smiled and took a small sip.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked after a few seconds. I frowned at him and he raised his hand touching the back of it to my forehead.

"Oh, yeah, no it doesn't hurt anymore..." I responded, hoping the dimly lit room would hide the blush crawling onto my cheeks. He took his hand away.

"Good," he said, still looking concerned. I nodded and turned back to head to the couch but felt him grab my wrist, pulling me back. I turned, surprised. He looked over at the group before his eyes met mine again.

"Hey, if Ben ever gives you guys any trouble, let me know okay?" His tone was quiet but serious, his eyes drilling into mine.

"Uh, yeah okay." I responded. My drunken, blurred mind was trying to read his body language but it changed quickly as he smiled brightly at me and put his hand on my shoulder, walking with me back to the couch.

He sat down next to me, where Lucy had been before. My heart beat quicker and I reached for the pitcher of beer, pouring myself another drink.

Why does he make me so nervous?

The cards were dealt and I fixed mine so that they were in order. Alex and Erik weren't playing anymore, they'd been showing each other different college basketball highlights for a while so Eli didn't even bother giving them any cards.

Ten minutes in, I was drunk, and desperate for an Ace of spades. A few rounds passed and I rounded on Rowan.

"You've got what I need." I said, narrowing my eyes at him. He smirked.

"Oh, I do?" His tone was suggestive and taunting.

"You know what I mean." He shrugged.

"Come and take it." I looked at him for a few seconds curiously before my phone buzzed, shifting my attention.

Lucy hadn't messaged me about Ben yet, but Madison had texted that they'd made it home. I looked back at Rowan and opened my mouth to respond before Eli jumped up.

"Rowan." His tone was urgent. He was holding his phone tightly in his hand, his eyes glued to the screen. Rowan stood up and quickly grabbed it from him, his face pailing at whatever was on the phone screen.

Him and Eli shared an unreadable look before he turned back to everyone else.

"I gotta go do something. You guys can stay if you want, I'm not sure when I'll be back."

With that, he dashed out the back door, Eli following closely behind him.

Alex gave me a confused look, but it seemed we were the only ones out of the loop. Everyone else stayed quiet but were oddly not looking at each other. Ben broke the silence.

"So. Whose turn is it?"