Loving Knight: Book One of the Cresswell Series

21. ALIYAH

"My girl."

Those were two words I would have never expected to be called, especially coming from the mouth of my best friend's older brother.

But here I was, waiting for Deion to come out of practice as those foreign words ran circles through my head over and over again. Even hearing them in my own head was making my face turn red.

My head suddenly turns at the sound of voices. The football team starts to exit the stadium, Deion being the last to come out with Aaron and Theo.

Deion glances over to my direction, his mouth turning upwards once he sees me. "I'll see y'all later," he says to his friends before coming over to me. He places his hands on my waist. "There's my baby."

"You just saw me earlier," I told him.

"And just like you missed me during your practice, I missed you during my practice."

"That's cute," I smile. "Ready to go now?"

"Mm, you just can't wait to spend some time with me, can you?" Deion teases.

"Tease me again and you'll be kissing your pillow until homecoming."

He chuckles, pulling me close to him. "Oh c'mon, Alicat. I know you like it when I tease you."

I moved away from him, the slight breeze hitting my bare waist. "Let's go before I change my mind and leave you by yourself for the rest of the day." I begin to walk away from Deion, hearing his footsteps from behind as he starts to catch up to me.

Deion appears beside me, his arm finding its way around me. "You know, ever since I became your boyfriend, you've been more mean to me."

"You're used to it," I tell him, poking his side.

He flinched from that. "Hey. No poking me."

I raise my eyebrow. "Are you ticklish?"

"No!" Deion responded quickly.

I was the one grinning now. "You are, aren't you?"

"Aliyah, I swear to god-"

I poke him again. "What was that?"

He flinched again, a smile appearing on his face. "Stop it."

I poke him again and again, my finger roaming all over his sides. "You gotta catch me to stop me," I say before running away from him.

"Aliyah!" Deion calls out, chasing after me.

I kept running until I reached the parking lot where Deion's car was, stopping to catch my breath once I reached the car.

Deion catches up to me, panting. "Damn, you run fast."

"Gotta be quicker than that," I say with a wink before getting in the car.

Deion chuckles, getting in the car as well. "I'm gonna get you back."

"Mm, I don't think you will."

"I will," he tells me. "Just you wait."

I giggle, turning my head towards the window as Deion backs out of the parking lot, driving down the small road. I see his reflection in the glass, smiling at it.

His eyes then move sideways to glance at me for a moment before moving them back on the road, his mouth moving upwards into a grin. "You're staring, Alicat," he suddenly says.

I turn away from the window quickly, clearing my throat. "No, I wasn't."

"It's okay to stare, you know. I am very handsome after all."