Loving Knight: Book One of the Cresswell Series (COMPLETED)

33. ALIYAH

I was awakened by the sound of music the next morning.

I sit up in bed, stretching out my arms as I turn my head, seeing Deion nowhere to be found. Curious, I get out of bed and grab his jersey off of the floor, slipping it on before leaving the room.

I walk out and head into the kitchen area, my mouth curling upwards into a smile once I see Deion standing near the stove on his phone.

“Morning,” I say.

Deion looks up from his phone. “Hey, baby. Good morning.”

I lift myself up onto the counter, swinging my legs. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“Well, if you count putting waffles in the toaster, then yes. I can cook.”

I giggle at that, moving my hair out of my face. “Last night was amazing.”

Deion comes over to me, a grin on his face. “Oh really?”

“Mhmm.” I smile more as his hands start rubbing my thighs. “Very amazing.”

“I’ll definitely remember that.” He looks down for a moment before looking back up at me. “I never got to say this yesterday, Alicat, but…thank you.”

I tilt my head a little in confusion. “Thank you? What are you thanking me for?”

“For forgiving me after everything I did,” he says. “I wasn’t expecting you to, but I was surprised that you did.”
I cup his cheeks. “Deion, you don’t have to thank me for that.”

“I know that, but I just wanted to.”

I  smiled at him. “Have I ever told you that you are the most incredible guy on the planet?”

“No, but I definitely love hearing that from you.”

I play with the hem of his shirt. “You know, there’s one thing that I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“And what’s that?”

“When exactly did you start liking me?”

“Mm, well.” Deion thinks for a moment before answering. “When we were at the party.”

“Which one? We went to, like, a whole lot of them.”

“The one that was your first party,” he says, his hands still on my thighs, his thumbs caressing them slowly. “Where you were wearing that gorgeous red dress, making you look extra beautiful.”

“Yeah, okay,” I giggle. “Now, tell me the real answer.”

He lets out a small chuckle. “Okay, okay. To be honest, I’ve always liked you. I’ve just always steered clear from you because you were best friends with Kira. I didn’t wanna ruin my relationship with you or her, so I just didn’t say anything.”

“Oh, but you knew that I had a crush on you and waited for me to say something, didn’t you?”

“Maybe,” Deion says with a grin. “I definitely knew you couldn’t resist my natural charm.”

I shove him playfully. “Shut up.”

He grins more and leans in for a kiss when the waffles pop up from the toaster, making us both laugh a bit.

“Your waffles are done, chef,” I tell him.

“Yeah, they are, but…” Deion moves his hands up my thighs slowly to my waist. “I’m craving something a little more sweet.”

I giggle, teasingly pushing him away. “Didn’t you get enough of me last night?”

Deion leans back in, his hands now slowly going under the jersey and up my waist. “Please, Alicat. I could never, ever get enough of you. And seeing you in my jersey right now is just making me want you more.”

I go to speak, but my words get replaced with a squeal as Deion removes his hands from under the jersey and hooks his arm under my legs, picking me up bridal style. I quickly wrap my arms around his neck for support.

“Deion! Put me down!”

He shakes his head. “Nope. I’m never letting you go, Aliyah. No matter what.”

“But what about breakfast?”

“Breakfast can wait,” he says as he carries me back into his bedroom.

The time reaches almost twelve in the afternoon when I get out of the shower, wrapping a clean towel around my body before starting to dry my hair with another one. I go to brush my teeth when a knock is heard at the door.

“Aliyah? Are you done?” Deion asks from the other side. “I got your clothes.”

“Hold on. I’m coming.” I wrap the towel around my damp hair before opening the door. I grab my clothes from him, giving him a smile. “You know you didn’t have to go all the way back to my dorm to get clothes for me.”

“Well, I didn’t want you walking around wrapped in a towel or in one of my shirts all day,” he says, a slight grin on his face. “Although, that wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”

I roll my eyes, smiling. “I’ll be out in a second.” I close the door on him before starting to dry myself off. I change into my clothes, dry and fix my hair, then leave the bathroom. I head back into Deion’s room, seeing him put on his sneakers.

“We start practicing again on Tuesday,” he tells me. “Guess Coach wanted to give us a little time off because of our win.”

“How lucky you guys are,” I say, putting my hair up into a ponytail. “The dance team starts practice again on Monday.”

Deion comes over to me, placing his hands on my waist. “At least I get to come watch you guys practice.”

I shove him playfully before grabbing my shoes. “You mean that you’re excited to come watch me practice.”

“You know I am.” Deion grabs his hoodie, putting it on. “Ready to go?”

“Mhm.” I head out of the bedroom with him and almost make it to the front door when I stop in my tracks. “Oh. I almost forgot.” I rush back into his room and grab his varsity jacket off the back of his chair, slipping it on before leaving the room.

Deion smiles at me as he grabs my hand. “Better?”

I nod, leaning my head on his arm. “Much better.”

“It definitely does look better on you than it does on me.”

“Aww. I know it does.”

Deion pokes my side, making me giggle. “Oh, yeah? You know?”

I tug his arm, pulling him towards the front door. “Come on. I don’t want us to be late.”

“Alright, alright,” Deion chuckles, opening the door for me. “Lead the way, Alicat.”

“Thank you, Mr. Knight,” I say, walking outside.

“How I missed that nickname so much,” Deion says, following me as he closes the door behind us.

Relationships will always have their ups and downs. In some cases, they could never be fixed at all. But I was happy that the broken pieces of my relationship with someone who’d I never expected to end up with were able to be put back together.

I was glad to have him back.

To have us back.