Loving Knight: Book One of the Cresswell Series

8. DEION

Music blasted throughout the frat house. All around, people were dancing, drinking, or making out in the dark corners of every room.

I stood near the snack table with Theo as we both watched Aaron and some girl drinking lay grind on each other.

Theo leans over to me. “We haven’t even been here that long and he’s already drunk.”

“No surprise. He’s always been like that,” I tell him with a chuckle.

Aaron then stumbles over to us, a red solo cup in his hand. “Yooooo, this party is fucking lit!”

“Okay, no more of this,” Theo says as he takes the cup from Aaron’s hand, setting it down on the table.

Aaron drunkenly laughs, turning towards where the doors were. “Woooah. Ain’t she a sight for sore eyes.”

I focused my attention over to the doors to see who Aaron was talking about. Behind my sister and Jennie entered someone who I almost didn’t recognize. When I caught a glimpse of her face, my eyes slightly widened in surprise.

Aliyah came in, her curly hair cascading down to her shoulders. Her lips and nails shimmered, but what caught my eye was what she was wearing. The dress was tight around her waist, the bottom short, showing off her legs and thighs. A dress that would make any guy fall to their knees in a matter of seconds.

God, she looked absolutely gorgeous.

She looked even more gorgeous up close as she approached us. “Hey.”

“You look nice, Alicat,” I say, even though my mind was telling me to say something completely different.

“Thanks,” she says. “You’re not looking too bad yourself.”

“You should see him when he wakes up in the morning. A total mess,” Theo jokes.

I nudged him. “Shut up.”

Theo chuckles, holding out his hand to Aliyah. “I’m Theo.”

Aliyah shakes his hand. “Aliyah.”

Theo smiles at her before turning to me. “I’m gonna go find Eric.”

“Alright,” I said.

Theo heads off to another part of the house. The same girl that Aaron was with earlier comes over to him, asking him to get another drink. Aaron obliges and goes off with her, leaving Aliyah and I alone.

“Wow. This is just like I expected,” she says as she looks around. “Chaotic.”

“Trust me. This is just the first of many chaotic campus parties.”

“You guys don’t ever get caught or anything?”

“Only if it gets really crazy.”

Aliyah nods just as Jennie comes over, the music changing to the next song. “Oh, I love this song! C’mon, Aliyah.” Jennie takes Aliyah’s hands, leading her over to the dance floor.

I stay back, my eyes staying on Aliyah. The way she danced was different from the way she danced at her tryouts and during halftime. The way she moved her body was almost sensual. My eyes lowered to her hips as they swayed side to side, her hands roaming around her body and her hair as she danced to the music.

…Fuck, what was wrong with me? I shouldn’t be thinking like this. I shouldn’t be watching her like this. She was my little sister’s best friend. She was like a little sister to me as well. So why was I…

“Want a tissue for that drool?” A voice asked next to me.

I snapped out of my thoughts, seeing Theo standing beside me. “What?”

“You were staring,” he tells me.

“I wasn’t staring at Aliyah.”

Theo grinned a bit. “I didn’t say you were staring at her. I just said you were staring.”

“Whatever, man.” My eyes go back to the dance floor, only to see that Aliyah was gone. All of a sudden, I could hear the sound of glass breaking followed by a hard slap through the loud, booming music. Theo and I rushed to the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about.

In there, Aliyah was yelling at Cole, one of the players on the team. The same player who had made that comment towards her during halftime at the game.

“What the fuck is wrong you?! I told you no! What part of that don’t you fucking understand?!” 

Cole stood there, holding his red cheek as he scoffed. “You know, I’m really tired of bitches like you. Always asking for it but then you’re always switching up.”

“Excuse me?” Aliyah stepped closer to Cole, but I stepped in between them.

“What did you do to her?”

“What did I do to her? Look at what she did to me!” Cole removed his hand, showing me his cheek, where a faint handprint could be seen. I hear some of the other students murmur and snicker.

“You had to do something to make her slap you,” I said. “Again, what the hell did you do to her?”

Cole hesitated a bit before speaking. “I was just talking to her. I approached her and offered her a drink. We started talking and then—”

I cut him off. “For the last time, Cole. What the fuck did you do to her?”

Cole spoke again, stumbling over his words. “I…I-I touched her—”

“Where?”

“O-On her waist—”

“Tell the truth.”

“Fine! I-I gripped her butt, but it wasn’t—”

I cut him off for the final time, gripping his shirt. “Touch her again and you will lose both of your fucking hands. You understand me?”

“Dude, chill out! It’s not like you’re her boyfriend or anything.”

“Doesn’t matter. Keep your hands to your fucking self. Got it?”

“Alright! Alright! I got it! Just let go of me!”

I let go of Cole’s shirt, making him stumble back against the counter. “I suggest you leave. Now.”

Cole leaves the kitchen and the frat house, not saying another word as he disappears behind the big double doors.

I turned to Aliyah, who still seemed a bit shaken up. “You okay?”

Despite that, she nods. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” Kira asked.

“I’m okay,” she repeats.

“I’ll take her back to the dorm,” I tell Kira and Jennie.

“Alright,” Kira says.

I take off my varsity jacket, putting it around Aliyah’s shoulders before leading her out of the frat house.

“Thank you, Deion. But you didn’t have to do that,” Aliyah says.

“I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to,” I said, leading her to my car in the nearby parking lot.

“You know the girl’s dorm is about a three to four minute walk from here, right? We don’t need to take your car.”

I grin a bit, opening the passenger side door for her. “We’re not going back to your dorm.”

Aliyah raises an eyebrow at me. “Where are you taking me, then?”

“Depends. Do you trust me?”

Aliyah eyes me for a moment before getting in the car. “Should I tell Kira that you’re basically kidnapping me right now?”

I grin, leaning against the door. “Don’t worry, Alicat. You’re safe with me.” I wink at her before I close the passenger side door. I get in the car, telling Aliyah to buckle up before pulling out of the parking lot.