**Dasha's POV**
If I looked flustered while everyone arrived no one said anything. They probably assumed I was just trying to make sure everything was ready... Not that I had just had sex.
"Smells good Dash!" Sean called from the living room as he and Tyson had opened up some bottles of beer.
"You know Hayden is making margaritas right?" I called back while Rose was chilling on the counter.
"They're boys, they drink," she shrugged as I pulled out plates for the food to be served on.
The doorbell rang again as I went over to answer the door. These were Hayden's closer friends who still hadn't been told the "story" of how we met.
"Hey Dasha," Roger greeted me when I opened the door.
"Hey! I'm so glad you guys could make it," I let the guys file in and smiled at the three women who followed in behind.
"Blaze! You already place bets on tonight's game?" One of the guys called as Hayden came back downstairs.
"I was waiting for you to get here first Jones," he chuckled and beckoned for me to come to him.
"Oh Dasha, these are Diana, Robin and Marie," Roger introduced me to the women.
"Nice to meet you," I shook their hands and pointed out my friends who were now all in the living room.
"Congrats on the engagement," Diana smiled as she held her hand out to see my ring.
Hayden grinned proudly as I placed my hand out for them to examine.
"Damn that's gorgeous!"
"Son of a bitch, Blaze you didn't tell us it was going to be that big."
Hayden chuckled and pulled me towards him as I blushed. I had insisted on the ring just being the size it was originally when he showed me. That was before he went and changed it up, making the citrine stone twice as big too.
"Well," he trailed and kissed the top of my head, "I guess when you find that someone you have to find the biggest rock as well."
"Cute," Marie awed, "do you need any help with setting up?"
"Nope, dinner will be ready soon. For now feel free to eat the chips and queso. If Hayden left any chips," I teased while everyone chuckled.
Jasper came in to investigate the commotion before going over to the couch and jumping into Rose's lap.
"Hey it's starting!" Tyson called as they all made room.
Roger and Diana took the other couch along with Marie. That left Jones, Robin and two other guys who were friends of Hayden's to find chairs to sit in.
"Here, I'll pull in some more comfortable chairs," Hayden went and grabbed a couple as I took a seat on the only unoccupied seat left.
Hayden returned a few moments later and set the chairs down before shifting me slightly so that I ended up in his lap. Normally I would be embarrassed at the action but since it was around close friends I didn't mind as much.
"I love you," Hayden murmured only for me to hear as the announcers began naming players and stats.
"I love you too," I kissed his jaw before facing the television again, waiting for the game to start.
"I'm betting the Cavilers will whoop the Spurs," Tyson began saying as bets went around on the coffee table.
"Whatever man, the Jayhawks are going to lose to the Cyclones," Sean argued as Rose and I just glanced at each other. Boys and their games.
"Well as long as none of y'all are concerned about losing your masculinity tonight when your teams lose," Robin teased while words were exchanged afterwards.
"You'll be eating your words tonight," Hayden teased as I felt a blush appear on my face. Why did everything have to be interpreted as sexual when I was around him.
"Okay too much testosterone," Marie giggled, "lets watch the game shall we?"
After that we remained motionless as the ball went into play and the Spurs ran down the court to make the first basket.
"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about," Sean high-fived Rose while Tyson sulked.
"It's just one shot," he murmured.
"I'm sorry what did you say? I couldn't hear it over all the cheers from the crowd," Sean joked as Tyson pushed him.
"Alright guys, take it outside," I giggled as they both reached for more chips to pile onto their plates.
"Hey Dash these enchiladas are the bomb."
"Thanks, it's an old recipe you could say."
"Any woman that can cook has already won a man's heart," Jones joked as Hayden just wrapped his arm around my waist.
"Even before I knew she could cook I knew she would have mine," he murmured only low enough for me to hear as I blushed even more.
"Heard that," someone whispered as I pressed my head into Hayden's chest from embarrassment. I wasn't used to being so open around people with Hayden since everything we usually did was in private.
"Y'all leave them alone," Rose chided before kissing Sean gently. "Besides, we all do enough PDA around campus."
"Blaze, that reminds us, how did you meet your girl?"
I looked up at Hayden as he took a deep breath, "well... it's rather complicated. But I first ran into her at a vending machine."
"How romantic?" Jones chuckled as I rolled my eyes. Men.
"So you're in school Dasha?"
"Yeah, I'm graduating this year," I announced proudly.
"You go to the same school that Hayden teaches at?" one of the girls asked as it got quiet.
Another basket was made as Sean and Tyson whooped and hollered to distract the moment. I didn't think of how we were going to reveal this to his friends, not that it mattered anymore. My friends didn't care once they had found out and had managed to help me keep it a secret. Granted I had never made it seem clear at school that I was even interested in someone there.
Hayden muted the television for a moment, "I uh... Okay if I tell you guys how we met, you cannot say anything."
The ladies raised their eyebrows, "what are you talking about?"
"I didn't just meet her at school," Hayden sighed and kissed my hair gently, "she was my student her freshman year."
The room got deathly quiet as I didn't look at anyone except Rose. She was trying to reassure me that things would be fine without saying it directly.
"Well she's much better than that Missy bitch," Jones chuckled as I flinched.
"Yeah for sure," Robin smiled gently, "we don't care if you met her through your job. Yeah it's a little... unexpected, but as long as you're happy. That's all that matters."
Everyone nodded around him as I sighed in relief. This was something I had been dreading for awhile now and knew he had been too. His family loved me but it was a completely different aspect to bring his friends into the equation.
"Thanks guys," Hayden sighed and groaned when the Spurs made another basket. "Damn it."
"Worried?" I teased as he just chuckled softly.
"Not at all babe, unless all of your luckiness wears off for tonight's game."
"Too bad we're rooting for opposite teams," I giggled, "I think the luck is only going to be in my favor."
Another shot was made as profanities and cheers rang out around the living room. Tonight was going to be an interesting one for sure.
**I forgot how much I had already written so I wrote a little more to finish this chapter. (Which is why I'm updating this one). As you can see I'm trying to extend these chapters little by little! Happy that Hayden's friends accepted Dasha? We'll be seeing a lot of their friends throughout this book.
For fun, comment a ship name you think Hayden and Dasha could have! Because I'm bad at ship names! And Hasha made me think of hash browns... So I'm nixing that one.**