Loving Knight: Book One of the Cresswell Series

12. DEION

Going to sleep at four in the morning was proven to be a bad idea the next day.

I slept soundly for what felt like a whole eternity, which turned about to be five minutes until Professor Thomas slammed a textbook down in front of me, causing me to jolt awake.

“You may have gotten away with sleeping during class in high school, mister Knight, but you’re in my class now,” Thomas scolded. “In this class, you either pay attention or leave. I leave the decision up to you.”

As much as I wanted to make a joke, I kept quiet.

“Hm. Good choice.”

I roll my eyes soon as Thomas turns his back.

Aliyah giggles quietly beside me. “I saw that,” she whispers.

“I was hoping not to get him this year,” I whisper back. “But lucky me.”

“Aww, poor baby,” Aliyah whispers with a small pout.

Fuck, she looked adorable when she did that.

I turn my head to the clock sitting above the door, watching as the minute hand ticked quickly while the hour hand moved at a snail’s pace. After what felt like a decade, class was over.

I trail out of the room with the rest of the students, seeing Aliyah through the small crowd. I end up reaching her, grinning as I do. “Where are you heading next, Alicat?”

“Study hall then my next class,” she tells me. “You?”

“The gym,” I say. “Doing anything later today?”

Aliyah shrugs. “I don’t know. I’m probably just gonna study for the rest of the day.”

“Well that’s boring.”

“It’s something that you should be doing,” she says, poking my side.

“I do study,” I tell her. “When I want to.”

Aliyah chuckles, checking the time on her phone. “Shit, I gotta go. I’ll see you later, Deion.” She waves at me before sprinting towards the exit of the building. I watch as she goes, a smile appearing on my face as I watch her.

Theo comes up next to me. “Wow, dude.”

I look at him. “What?”

He shakes his head, grinning. “Nothing, nothing. Where are you headed?”

“To the gym,” I tell him. “Coming with?”

“Yeah, I could use a good workout right about now.”

“For Eric, right?” I wiggle my eyebrows at him.

Theo shoves me playfully, smiling. “Shut up and let’s go.”

~*~

I grab the towel off the bench, wiping my face and neck.

“You know you’ve gotten stronger than you were last year,” Theo compliments, giving me a height-five.

“Thanks, man,” I say.

“Although, I don’t think you’re strong enough to go against me,” says Theo with a grin.

I laugh. “Don’t get cocky now.” I grab the combat gloves, slipping them on. I go over to the punching bag as Theo does the same, holding on to the other side.

Time had passed, and soon enough, it was now three.

I grab my bag, slinging it over my shoulder as I say bye to Theo before heading out of the gym. I walk through the Wellness building when I reach the dance studio. I peer inside, seeing Aliyah in there by herself, dancing.

I open the door and head inside, Aliyah stopping once she sees me. She grabs her phone, turning off the music. “What’re you doing here?”

“I saw you in here by yourself. Decided to pay you a little visit.”

“Okay, well, thanks for stopping by. Now get out. I don’t need any distractions.”

I grin. “I’m distracting you?”

“Yes, and I don’t need that right now,” she answers. “So leave.”

“Oh, c’mon, Alicat. Let me watch you practice.”

“No.”

I give her the puppy-dog eyes. “Please?”

Aliyah bites her lip before letting out a sigh. “Fine.” She points to the other side of the room. “But you are to sit over there and not say a word. Understand?”

I nod and set my bag down before taking a seat on the floor, pressing my back against the big mirror. I watch as Aliyah turns the music back on, starting to dance again. I keep my eyes on her as she dances, watching the way that she moves. Something about this moment felt different. It wasn’t because of her dancing, but because she wasn’t dancing with others or in front of a crowd.

This moment felt almost…intimate.

Aliyah stops the music once again, moving her hair out of her face as she pants softly. She eyes me in the mirror, meeting her back. Before I knew it, I was standing up, walking towards her slowly before I ended up behind her, slowly placing my hands on her bare waist.

Aliyah shivers a little. “I told you not to distract me,” she says quietly.

I turn her around, our eyes meeting. “How can I be the one distracting you when you’re the one distracting me?”

I back her up slowly until her back hits the mirror.

A small gasp escapes her. “Deion, what’re you…”

I glance between her eyes and her lips. I shouldn’t be doing this. I know I shouldn’t be doing this. But…

“Fuck it.”

I tilt her chin up and lean down, my lips now against hers as I kiss her.

It wasn’t long before she wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing me back.