Dance practice had gone smoothly, minus the sore legs and thighs.
I sit down on the floor, panting as Brooke turns off the music. “Good job today, ladies. We’ll pick up tomorrow for the second part of the combination.”
I stay on the floor when Deion comes over to me, holding my bag. “Out of breath?”
“No, I’m perfectly fine,” I say sarcastically. “Minus the shortness of breath, sore thighs and legs, and sweat, I’m totally fine.”
Deion chuckles, helping me up. “Want me to carry you?”
“No thanks,” I say. “I’m fine. I can walk on my own.”
“You sure?” Deion asks, handing me my bag. “Looks like your legs could give out any minute.”
“I’m fine, Deion. Really. Don’t worry about it.”
“Alright, then.”
I start to take a few steps when I felt my bag being taken from me followed by me being scooped up on someone’s back, making me squeal. “Deion! Put me down!”
“Nope,” he replied, making his way out of the gymnasium.
“Deion!” I try to get myself down, only for Deion to hoist me back up, squeezing his hands under my thighs. Damn, he was strong.
“I’m not putting you down until we reach your dorm room,” he says. “So get comfy.”
He exited through the building, and already eyes were on us.
“Put me down right now,” I tell him.
“Do you really wanna walk all the way back to your dorm feeling sore?”
No, I didn’t. I stayed silent, holding on to him as he continued to walk.
“I didn’t think so.”
“People are staring, Deion.”
He shrugs. “So? Let them.”
Despite the fact that I wanted to kick him in the side of his leg, I kept holding on to Deion as he made his way to the girl’s dorm building. He headed in once we arrived, ignoring the pointing and whispers from the other girls.
Deion finally put me down once he reached the front of my door, and once he did, I hit him on the arm.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“For picking me up without my permission,” I tell him before hitting him again.
“Ow! And what was that for?”
“For not telling me that you told Kira that we kissed.”
Deion chuckled, handing me my bag. “Oh, yeah. That.”
I open my bag, searching for my key. “You know, you could’ve told me.”
“Yeah, I could’ve.” Deion grinned. “But it was cute watching you try to avoid me for two days.”
I blush, still searching for my key. “Shut up.”
I finally find my key and go to unlock the door when it opens, Jennie standing on the other side.
“Deion? What’re you doing here?” She asks.
“Just dropping off Aliyah,” he says.
“Were you heading off somewhere?” I ask her.
“Oh, I was just gonna meet up with a friend,” Jennie tells me. She leaves before I could ask her anything else just as Kira comes into view, standing in the doorway.
“Deion. Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“He was just walking me back to my dorm,” I tell her.
Kira eyes her brother. “Don’t even think about staying.”
“I’m not,” he chuckles. “I was just leaving.” Deion then turns to me. “I’ll text you later, Alicat.” He smiles at me before heading off.
I pass Kira and go inside the room. I drop my bag on the floor then plop down on my bed. Kira closes the door before coming over and sitting down next to me.
“You and Deion seem to be getting serious.”
“Not really,” I say. “I mean, of course we’ve kissed and been on one date, but I wouldn’t say it’s serious.”
“Seems that way.”
“It’s really not.” I get up and go over to the closet, grabbing a towel and a change of clothes.
“You know, you don’t have to be afraid to get serious with Deion because of me,” Kira says. “I already told you that I’m fine with you guys dating.”
“I know that, Kira. It’s just…” I take a pause. I was about to continue my sentence when Kira spoke, the next words out of her mouth making me almost choke on my spit.
“You love Deion, don’t you?”
I whip around. “W-What? No, I don’t.”
Kira raised an eyebrow.
It wasn’t a lie that I liked Deion. I really liked him. But loved…that was a whole different story.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I really like him, yes, but I don’t know if I love him.”
“Aliyah, you’ve had a crush on Deion for years, and you’re gonna sit here and tell me that you don’t know if you love him or not?”
“Having a crush on someone and loving someone are two different things,” I say to her. “And even if I did love Deion, what if we officially get together and things don’t work out?” I place the towel and change of clothes down before sitting beside Kira. “I already talked to Deion about this before and he told me that I didn’t have to worry about it, but…”
“But what?”
“Deion’s really popular here,” I say. “Just like I told him, I didn’t want him to get a bad rep for going out with me.”
Kira laughs. “Aliyah, you’re definitely worrying too much and overthinking too much. Yeah, people will be a little surprised about you and Deion dating, but I know that Deion cares way too much about you to give a damn about his reputation.”
I smile at that. “Thanks, Kira.”
Kira hugs me just as Jennie comes back into the room. “Hey, I’m back.”
“Have fun with your friend?” I ask her with a small smirk.
Jennie giggles a little. “It wasn’t that kind of fun. We just met up to talk.”
“Alright, keep your secrets. I’m gonna take a shower.” I get up, grabbing my towel and clothes before heading to the bathroom.
‘You love Deion, don’t you?’
That was a question I never thought I’d get asked, nor I thought would be hard to answer. If ten year old me were to be asked that, the answer would’ve been yes. Because ten year old Aliyah had a crush, and that’s all she ever thought it was. A crush and nothing more.
But of course, it was different now.
It was something more. Something more than just a crush.
Love? Maybe…maybe not.
YOU ARE READING
Loving Knight: Book One of the Cresswell Series
RomanceFor nineteen-year-old Aliyah Mitchell, her freshman year of college was all she could think about. From rooming with her friends, becoming a member of the dance team, and all around enjoying the college experience, she had it all planned out. What...
