Loving Knight: Book One of the Cresswell Series

9. ALIYAH

I stare out the window at the lights illuminating from the tall buildings and street lamps as Deion drives along the road. The ride was silent, the only sound being the music coming from the car's radio. I could see Deion glance at me through the reflection of the window.

“You okay, Alicat?”

I nod, sitting back against the leather material of the car seat. “I’m fine.”

“You sure? I grew up with a sister and now I know that whenever a girl says that she’s fine, it doesn’t really mean that she’s fine.”

I chuckle a little at his words. “I’m fine, Deion. Really.” Although of course, I was still a bit shaken up about what had happened back at the party.

The car goes silent again until I speak. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” he answers. “We’re almost there.”

Soon enough, Deion pulled into the parking lot of a diner. “Here we are.”

Deion gets out of the car, coming around before opening the door for me. I thanked him, getting out of the car.

“Welcome to Ollie’s,” he says as we head towards the entrance. 

“What are we doing here?” I ask him as we head inside. The interior was red and white, only a couple of people sitting at some of the tables and booths.

Deion goes to a booth near the back of the diner, sitting down. I follow suit. “Sometimes, whenever we win a game or if we just don’t feel like eating cafeteria food, the football players come here.”

I pick up the menu that’s in front of me, scanning over it. “Only the football teams know about this place?”

“Other people on campus do know about Ollie’s. This place has been around for a while.”

I hum, continuing to scan over the menu when a waitress comes over to us, notepad and pen in hand. She gives Deion a smile. “Well look who’s back.”

“Hey, Emma,” Deion greets. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been good,” she says. “Although I’ve been missing you and the rest of the team.” She chuckles after her sentence before looking over at me, her smile fading a little. “And who’s this? Don’t tell me you got a girlfriend already.”

Her words were a bit less cheery as she kept her eyes on me, but Deion didn’t seem to catch on as he replied to her. “Aliyah’s not my girlfriend, but we are very close. Right, Alicat?”

I nod. “Yeah.” I smile subtly at Emma. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too.” Emma quickly returns her attention to Deion. “So, you want your usual, right?”

“Yeah.”

Emma jots down her notepad before turning to me, her cheery mood receding. “And for you?”

“Just some fries,” I tell her.

She writes on her pad before taking the menus away, leaving us.

“…I’m sorry about what happened at the party,” Deion says suddenly.

I was a bit taken aback. Why was he apologizing? “Deion, you have nothing to apologize for.”

“I know, but I know that you didn’t expect your first college party to turn out like that.”

“Besides that, I kinda had fun,” I say. “And even with what happened, I’m glad that you were there to protect me.”

Deion smiles at my words. “I’ll always protect you, Aliyah. That’s what I’m here for.”