Free Rowan by Josephine Angelini

Seriously. You need to take care of that,” Lily replied immediately, sounding much more encouraging than she felt.
    “I’ll keep Lily company,” Scot offered. “Make sure she doesn’t get trampled by the hockey team.” He gestured into the kitchen with his head, where four beefy dudes were downing shots and doing a lot of unnecessary shoving and bellowing.
    “Okay. I’ll be back in a bit,” Tristan finally decided. “Or I’ll be back in bits, depending on what kind of mood Miranda’s in.” He drank most of his beer in one gulp.
    “Courage, man,” Scot said bracingly, fixing Tristan’s shirt.
    “Thanks, dear,” Tristan replied, like they were husband and wife. Lily watched their joking around, feeling the warm glow of inclusion.
    When Tristan had gone, Scot took Lily’s elbow and steered her in the opposite direction. “I think it would be a good idea to keep you as far away from Miranda as possible.”
    “There’s no reason for her to be upset with me,” Lily said.
    “Maybe, maybe not.” Scot stopped to admire her. “You really look great tonight.”
    Lily dropped her eyes, feeling her cheeks heat up. “Thanks.”
    “Look out.” Scot grabbed Lily’s arm and pulled her toward him suddenly, making her drop her bottle of water. Behind Lily, two drunk girls stumbled past, debating which path to the bathroom would lead them by the cutest boys.
    “Sorry about that,” Scot said after the girls had left. “I’ll get you another.”
    “It’s okay, really,” Lily began, but Scot had already picked up the bottle and was making his way to the kitchen. Lily took some napkins off a nearby coffee table and mopped up the spilled water as best as she could while she waited for Scot. He came back moments later with a glass of bubbly red juice.
    “No more water. Sorry. The only thing in the fridge was cranberry juice and seltzer. I mixed them. Is that okay?”
    “It’s fine,” Lily said, taking a sip of her fizzy cranberry juice. It tasted a little sour, like it had gone bad, but she swallowed it and smiled anyway. “You don’t have to stay with me if you don’t want to, you know.”
    “I know.” It was Scot’s turn to blush. “I want to, though. I’ve always wanted to hang out with you. Did you know that?”
    “No. I didn’t.”
    Another wave of partygoers passing through the busy living room made Lily and Scot reposition themselves.
    “Do you want to go somewhere cooler?” he asked. “I know you get hot easily. Tristan told me once.”
    Lily was so surprised she just nodded. She had no idea that Scot knew anything more about her than her name.
    “How’s your drink?” he asked as he led her upstairs.
    “Great.” Lily took another big gulp to be polite, even though the mix of seltzer and cranberry burned her tongue a bit. “It’s really stuffy in here.”
    “There’s a balcony off my room.” Scot swung the door to his bedroom open and went inside. Lily stopped on the threshold. Something didn’t feel right.
    “You don’t have to worry,” he said, holding his hands up in a surrender gesture. He rushed over to the balcony doors on the other side of the room and opened them for Lily. She felt a gust of cool, clear air rush toward her and nearly sighed with pleasure. “It’s just, everyone’s smoking on the patio out front, and my room faces the back. You can leave the door open if that makes you more comfortable.”
    She felt stupid for doubting him.
    “It’s okay. And you’re right. I’d rather be on the non-smoking side of the house.” Lily resisted the urge to giggle. Her body felt warm and gooey. She crossed the bedroom and joined Scot on the balcony, breathing in the crisp air, trying to clear her head. “Can’t catch my breath.”
    “The heat got to you. Sit,” Scot urged, and Lily sank down next to him on the outdoor love seat.
    “This is really nice. I’ve never seen a teenager with his own balcony. But then again, I haven’t been in many guys’ rooms.”