Loving Knight: Book One of the Cresswell Series

23. ALIYAH

I walked out of the science building, happy that my last class of the day was over. September had finally ended, October slowly creeping in with its windy weather.

I slip my hands into the pockets of my jacket to keep them warm as I walk along the concrete campus grounds, passing by many students and professors. I take one hand out of my pocket to swipe the strands of hair away from my eyes when I suddenly feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist from behind, making me yelp.

“I see you’re still wearing my jacket, Alicat,” Deion says in my ear.

“Oh, no. I was actually on my way to throw it in a nearby dumpster,” I say sarcastically with a smile. “You know, since it doesn’t really look good on me.” I start to take off the varsity jacket when Deion slips it back on me.

“I gave this to you for a reason, you know,” he smiles.  “This jacket is one of a kind.”

I turned to him. “Oh, really? How come?”

“Well, not only do you look absolutely amazing in it,” Deion puts his hands on my waist, pulling me close to him. “But also because it shows everyone on this campus that you’re my girl and that you will always be my girl.”

“Mm, well I’m not opposed to that,” I tell him before pressing my lips to his. Deion chuckles against my lips, pulling me even closer to him as he kisses me back.

“Get a room!”

We pull back as Jennie and Kira come up to us. Deion ruffles his sister’s hair, faking a pout. “Aww. Don’t be jealous because you don’t have a boyfriend of your own.”

Kira rolls her eyes. “Yeah, right. As if I would ever be jealous of you.”

Jennie puts her arm around my shoulder. “We’re stealing your girlfriend now. You can have her back in an hour or two.”

Deion checks the time on his phone. “Damn. It’s already four and I have practice at six. I won’t be finished until late since Coach is working us to the bone for Homecoming.”

“Don’t worry about it. Brooke is doing the same thing to all of the dancers.” I go over to Deion, giving him a quick kiss. “I’ll text you once I get back, okay?”

“Alright. Bye, baby.”

I head back over to Kira and Jennie. “So, why exactly do you two need to steal me?”

“Well, we haven’t really been seeing each other that much with you on the dance team and being with Deion,” Kira says. “So, Jennie suggested that we should grab some dinner at Ollie’s together.”

“Oh, that actually sounds really nice,” I say. “Yeah, we really haven't been spending that much time together so getting dinner at Ollie's is a great idea.”

Jennie looks down at her wrists, checking her watch. “We should go now before it gets late.”

“Yeah. I could really kill for a burger and french fries right now.” Kira wraps her arms around Jennie and I. “What about you guys?”

My stomach growls, making all of us burst into a fit of giggles.

“I'll take that as a sign,” Kira says, her giggles dying down. “Let’s go.”

****

“So, Aliyah. How’s everything going with the dance team?”

I dip my fry into the small container of ketchup, taking a bite. “Things are going good. Tiring, but good. We’ve been practicing non-stop since we’re performing at the homecoming game.”