To say sitting by Nika was like torture was an understatement. She'd whisper things in my ear to make me blush, and her hand never left my thigh. I had to get through this dinner.
"Hey Ta," Ava said from across the table, "You okay?"
"Oh yeah, why'd you ask?" I knew why, I wasn't talking what-so-ever.
"You just seem out of it I guess," She went back to eating and talking to Paige.
"Are you okay? Be honest with me," Nika asked from beside me, she leaned into me.
"I think I just need some fresh air," I go to get up, but Nika stops me.
"I'm not smothering you am I?" I paused, was she actually concerned?
"Honestly, yes and no," she looked at me confused.
"What do you mean?" She moved away from me a little, I already missed her being so close.
"I mean, literally no. Mentally, yes," I think I made her even more confused, "Like, I like how close you sit with me, you already seem so comfortable. But in my mind, all I can think about is you. You're distracting me without actually distracting me." That was probably to much to say after just meeting her.
"Oh," She looked down, "So you can't stop thinking about me? Can I ask what you're thinking about?"
A smirk played on her lips, "Uh, no. Definitely not."
"Why not?" A fake pout on her lips, replacing the smirk that was just there before.
"What happened to the sweet, concerned Nika who was just here?" She made a face as if she was offended, placing her hand over her heart.
"What, you don't like the flirty Nika," She gasped, "How rude!"
Paige and Ava looked over at us, probably confused on why I slapped Nika's arm. Nika pretended to be hurt.
"You all saw that right," She starts speaking to the whole table, "She hit me!"
KK jumped up, "Tate you can hit me all you want!"
Paige than slapped KK's arm before dragging her back down to her seat. I laughed, KK being stupid and Nika being cute, while Paige was being the mom of the group. The others just laughed.
"Hey, I finally got you to laugh," Nika smiled, taking her hand from my thigh, putting it around my shoulder.
"I guess so," I rolled my eyes, "but what happened to the confident Nika. She makes me blush not laugh."
"Pretty girl, there's too many sides of THE Nika Muhl to keep track of, " She laughed, hearing it made me smile.
"Talking about yourself in third person is so cringe," my attempt to make her laugh.
"Than why'd you smile?" A smile resting on her lips, "You thought it was funny, just admit it."
"Never, " I leaned into to her, God I love this woman.
************************************************************
After the small interaction with Nika, I felt more comfortable with everyone. She some how eased my anxiety within a minute. The rest of the dinner went smoothly, everyone joking around, including me. I learned that KK was the jokester of the group, Ice was calm and collected most of the time (the other times she was somewhat beefing with KK). Ashlynn was way too innocent to be allowed in most conversations that transpired between the group. Q and Aaliyah were quiet, but when they talked it was some of the funniest stuff I've ever heard. The team members who weren't here, I was told, are the more responsible ones. By that, they mean they weren't staying out late at night before an early morning practice.
"You're telling me, you're out here doing all this instead of sleeping before a morning practice?" Ava was asking Paige, she nods.
"That's crazy," I say, "I could never."
Nika laughs, "You're also not a D1 athlete," she shrugged her shoulders, "You get use to it. Ya gotta have fun too."
The waiter walked their way to our table, asking if we wanted the check. The girls told him we were going to split it. So we all put some in. Nika took mine out, handing it back to me.
"Nika, why'd you do that?" I try to put my money back in but Nika already excahnged it for her card.
She explains to the waiter what she's paying for, "I wanted too."
"You didn't have too, ya know," She moved her arm from my shoulder, grabbing my hand.
"Ta, I know," She moves my hand to her lips, kissing the top of it.
My face flushed red, "Thanks Niks."
"Of course," She smiled, "Only for you tho."
After everything was payed for, Paige and Ava lead Nika and I to the car. Just like on the way up here, Nika and I sat in the back together. But instead of leaving a seat between the two of us, Nika moved to sit beside me.
"You wanna listen to music with me?" Nika held out one of her airpods.
"First, what are you listening too," I asked, she shook her head.
"You can pick if you want," She handed me the airpod, grabbing her phone to unlock it.
"Oh, okay," I put in the airpod, taking her phone that she was holding out for me, "You sure?"
She nodded. I looked up myself, to find my account. I decided on my Calming Taylor Swift playlist. She snapped her head towards me.
"You said I could play what I wanted," I said, raising my hands, as if I was surrendering to her. She chuckled, sending butterflies in my stomach. A smile spread on my face.
As the drive went on, Taylor blasting in our ears, Enchanted by Taylor came on, "Oh my God. This is probably one of my favorite songs of all time."
Nika looked at me, "Really?"
I nodded, "Yeah, I think it's cute."
She grabbed the phone out of my hand, she opened her phone.
"What are you doing?" I asked, hoping she wasn't going to change the song.
"Just following your account," She does just that. Liking the song, and making a new playlist.
"Are you gonna title that playlist?" I asked, curious to see what she was doing.
"Yeah, when I think of a title," She turned her phone off.
Enchanted blasting in my, I was enchanted to meet you, I looked over at Nika. She was already looking at me, blush coated her cheeks. This was the very first page, not were the story line ends.
She looks away for a second, looking back at me, "Is it okay if I lay my head on your shoulder?"
These are the words I held back, "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm sure you're tired from the game."
She smiled, "Yeah, just a little," her head moved to where she was now laying on me.
She mumbled something under her breath, "What'd you say?"
"I just said it's tiring flirting with you all night. Worth it, but makes my brain hurt tryna come up with stuff you've never heard," she laughs.
"Oh, yeah, sure. So tiring," God this woman.
**************************************************
We made it to our dorms, Paige and Nika leaving after dropping us off.
"So you and Nika?" Ava wiggles her eyebrows.
I laughed, "Calm your eyebrows, but oh my God."
I covered my face, blushing remembering the night, "I see she had quite the effect on you," Ava grins.
"A, she didn't ask for my number ... or ... to think, she didn't ask for anything," I slumped into our couch.
"Maybe she was so caught up in making you as red as a tomato, she forgot to ask," she sits beside me.
"Maybe, but maybe she didn't like me, or maybe she did, than I ruined it," I say as a ding comes from my phone.
nika.muhl started following you
"Oh my God, she followed me on instagram," I screamed, a little excited. Scratch that, really excited.
"I told you, " Ava says as she gets up.
"Where you goin'?"
"To shower, than to sleep. It's like midnight. I need to get my beauty sleep," She waved me off, walking to her room.
I looked back at my phone, following Nika back. I sat my phone down to go get me something to drink. I turned on the TV, trying to find something to watch. Ding, a notification.
nika.muhl
Nika: Hey pretty girl
I squealed, getting a shut up yelled to me from the bathroom.
Tate: Is that your nickname for me
Nika: Why, you like it?
Tate: No                                                                                                 I mean, IDK
Nika: Stop blushing , it's showing through your text
Tate: Shut up
Nika: Sure                                                                                               I just wanted to tell you I had fun tonight
Tate: I did too
Nika: We should hangout again                                                               With friends or just us                                                                             it doesn't matter
Tate: Now you're blushing
Nika: Now it's your turn to shut up
Tate: Mhmm                                                                                            Yeah we should hangout                                                                          Either way doesn't matter to me
Nika: Alright, just let me know when you're free
Tate: Will do
I sat my phone down, this woman does things to me. A ding came from my phone, Nika reacted to your message â¤ï¸.
I internally screamed, minding that Ava was asleep. Calling it a night, that's what I needed to do. I went and took a quick shower, getting in bed. I looked at my phone one more time.
Nika: Goodnight Ta
Tate: Goodnight Niks
Now it was time for me to go to bed. My thoughts before I closed my eyes swarm with nothing but Nika. My dreams, the same. Come on, I just met her.
A/N: Sorry if the text are hard to read. How yall feeling about this? Please let me know.