Friday afternoon has arrived.

I've been stressing out over this dinner thing I am supposed to go to with the guys, and I guess the party after it as well. However, my nerves for the following day are much higher.

The highly anticipated day is coming Saturday.

I will go to the first game and be going to whatever party will be thrown for them afterward. I don't think it will be anything like the other party I went to last week. This party will be a victory party—that is if they win. If they lose, I don't know what will happen. I guess it will become a pity party then.

I've just done my makeup, and I think Del is supposed to be here in a few. I gave him my room number over text because he insisted on picking me up at my place, even though meeting in front of the elevator is pretty much the same thing.

This is going to be the first night I am testing the waters with Del as Chase told me to.

Today is the first night we will be hanging out for real. I was a little scared he would act differently after our last conversation. Since I pretty much turned him down, but yesterday at practice, Del was back to his normal old flirty self. Plus, he offered to drive me there, which I accepted. So I got to spend some extra time with him, but that was only in the car.

I am thankful to go with Del to this thing. I'm not very fond of arriving at places by myself. With Del with me—a person I somewhat trust—I feel more confident entering a room than if I were all by myself.

I have no more time to overthink as I hear knocking on the front door. He is here. I quickly hurry toward the door. Before opening it, I straighten my outfit out once more to make sure I look alright, and then I open the door.

He has a big smile on his face as I open the door. We make eye contact for a little before his gaze diverts and scans my body, but how can I blame him for that if I am pretty much doing the same thing.

"Ki, you look... good" he then adds, "...really good."

I look down, feeling flattered by his words. I know I put effort into my appearance today, but his recognition for it makes me blush, and I get this wholesome feeling from it. I've never been the best at taking compliments. But every time he does—I don't seem to mind it that much.

"Thank you, I really like your crewneck," I say as I walk out.

I catch him trying to peer into my apartment before I can close the door behind me.

"Oh, thank you, I've had it for ages." He tells me as we walk in the direction of the elevator.

He is wearing an azure blue crewneck, and I have the sense it's a bit older, but it makes him look very handsome. He has an intriguing clothing style; it's mostly older brands, so I wonder if he ever goes thrifting.

We get to his car, and he lets me in by opening the door for me.

During the ride, he is mostly silent. I do see he really wants to talk, but he probably senses that I need some silence to calm my nerves.

This is not just me at hockey practice and observing from the sidelines. This will be me having to interact with the actual team. This is me having to be social with some of the most popular people in the university.

The guys that have dozens of puck bunnies following their every move.

Or maybe, Del isn't talking because he doesn't know what to say. He hasn't made any advances towards me. He might be scared of rejection after I made it pretty clear there was another guy in play.

I might need to explain to him that there is no one else—at least for now.

If it comes to that, I need to make myself clear it isn't going to work out between the two of us before I do something with Chase.

It isn't that far of a drive since we're already pulling into the parking lot, or I just got too into my head to notice the drive; there is a high possibility that might be the case.

Del and I get out of the car, and he leads me to the restaurant. When we reach the door, I can already see the boys through the big window spread out over two booths. Give or take ten guys showed up.

Del opens the door and allows me to enter first, so I quietly thank him for doing that.

As I start walking to the booth, I suddenly feel the presence of his hand on my back again. Hmm, I've missed that these past two days.

His hand gives me a sense of security. It might be his intention to give me that feeling, but I also know part of him did it to claim me or at least to show the other guys not to try anything with me.

I doubt any of the other guys want anything with me, but I have a feeling he does not want to take the risk.

I don't comment on his hand; I like it.

I am going to give us a shot, so why not start with this. He seems to still be into me, surprisingly.

Gabe seems to spot me first and waves at me, which seems to catch the attention of the other players as well. I watch as all heads turn our way, and I suddenly feel very small.

My pace decreases.

Del notices this. His hand moves from just touching the small of my back to fully wrapping around my waist, howling me into his side. I don't know what expression is on his face, but whatever it is, most of the players turn back and get back into whatever conversation they were in.

"It's okay. You're with me, don't worry about them." He whispers, having turned his head towards me, his lips touching the shell of my ear.

I feel hot inside.

How is it possible that I can feel so affected by two different men? Chase and Del both know how to work me up and make me feel things other men can't, but why does it have to be at the same time. I don't want to have to choose between the both of them—they are both so, so great.

We reach the two booths, naturally, I feel more drawn to the booth Gabe and Taylor are in because they are somewhat familiar. Familiarity is comfortable—the unknown isn't, even though the people might be very nice as well.

I try to navigate towards that booth, which is more in the back. But Del lingers at the other booth and doesn't let go of me. Keeping me at his side as he greets his friends. I scan over the faces as we stand there. I recognize the guy Del is talking to as Dino, and soon Leo also mixes in on the conversation.

I realize that he probably wants to sit over at this table since Dino and Leo are his friends.

A little panicky over the seating situation, I turn to face him, wanting to have his attention. He snaps his eyes to me and cuts off whatever he was saying to the guys. He puts his full attention on me.

With my eyes, I gesture to the other booth silently pleading to sit over there. Del reads my facial expression and seems to understand—it must have been the desperation in my eyes—because he turns to his friends and says, "Kiya and I are sitting over there, but I'll talk to you later, alright?"

The boys seem to comply with his answer and then say a quick 'hi' to me before getting back to the conversation they had.

We walk up to the other booth, where they have made a free spot for us to sit next to each other. I slide into the booth first, where I end up sitting next to Taylor Del gets in after me.

Before I even have the chance to say hello, Del wraps his arm around my shoulder.

Ignoring Del's protective arm around me, Taylor greets me turning his body towards me and putting his hand on my arm, "Kiya, so glad to see you made it, and you brought our brooding boy, I see." I hear Del scoff.

Del doesn't seem to like Taylor much, or Gabe for that matter, who then takes the chance to open his mouth as he sits across from me.

"Ki babe, hope you're ready because I bought a hell of a lot of tequila for tonight." Gabe gushes.

Tequila? Oh god, this will be one hell of a night. Literal hell.

"It's good to see you both too, but I'm not sure if I can take drinking tequila." I shyly smile.

Del is playing with the little hairs in my neck, his thumb caresses my skin.

"Don't worry. It will be fine. I'm sure you're not as much of a lightweight as you look." He cheekily smiles, "you're my drinking buddy—don't you remember that last party?"

I mean: yeah, I was pretty drunk then and was drinking with him, but tequila hits me at a whole other level.

"Well, we need to see." I just respond as vaguely as I can.

Soon the boys get back into whatever conversation they were having before we got here. I think it's about their opponent of tomorrow.

I take that as my cue to turn to Del.

Who surprisingly is already looking at me and not participating in the conversation.

"Thanks for sitting over here," I whisper softly, "I know you wanted to sit with your friends."

"It's fine. I know you wanted to sit with them. I'm here for you." He says, and his eyes go to Taylor and Gabe.

My heart swells he is here for me—Kiya Riley, a total nobody.

"Yeah, but still, thank you. I know they annoy you."

"I just don't like Taylor being into you and Gabe's big mouth making you uncomfortable and pressuring you into things."

"You know he is not into me, don't be ridiculous."

"Oh, it would surprise you, trust me."

I don't comment on that. Del just has it all in his head, Taylor is my friend and nothing more than that. I'm also pretty sure Taylor is not looking for a relationship, especially with a sophomore when he is a senior.

We all order some food when the waitress stops by our table, it's a pretty simple diner, but I like the vibes this place gives off—it's a bit like we're in the '80s.

I don't try to mingle in the conversation of the boys. I am better off observing for now. I will need to interact with them tonight, and also tomorrow for that matter.

Every now and then, Del squeezes my shoulder to reassure me he is still here before diving back into the conversation he was having with his friends.

I think it's around 8 pm when we have finished our food, and the first boys stand up to leave.

Okay, it's happening now, we're going to that party.

I smile at Del as he helps me out of the booth—behind the smile I force is great trepidation.

It seems as I can never fake my emotions for him because he has a worrisome expression on his face noticing my apprehension.

Del holds us back a little, so we're the last to walk towards the exit of this diner. We trail behind the other guys as we walk back to the car park.

"Hey, don't worry about this. It's just a small party at Gabe's place. No excessive amounts of alcohol. Also, I'm pretty sure Gabe was just teasing you about that tequila. We have a game tomorrow, so no one is really drinking much tonight. I'm not drinking at all." He says to me.

He ceased physical contact now, I think he confined it to only touching me when in his eyes the guys are ogling me. I think he limits it to that because last time I made it clear to him that there is also another guy and I can't start with something now. He doesn't want to pressure me into something which I appreciate.

"I know but I'm just nervous you know..." I start, I can't believe how open I have been with him about my feelings, "...this is all new to me and I think you've noticed by now I'm not good with new."

We are getting closer to the car park now. I think some people are catching a ride with us, which is okay but I'm not really delighted by that.

I still need to tell him about my talk with Chase without truly disclosing who Chase is. Del knows it's some other guy but not exactly who, and I don't want him to know. If I tell him I'm kind of into the guy I sing with, in the shower—a guy I have had some sexual experiences with him but never actually met the guy or know who he is—he would just think I'm weird.

I hold back a little as we approach the car. I can see Dino and Brooks standing at Del's car.

"Del?" I ask and reach for his arm to stop him from walking.

He looks at me questionably.

"Can we talk...something changed," I say without elaborating any further.

He nods, "um yeah, sure."

"Later though, it's kind of a lot."

He nods again, and then we walk towards his car.

I sit in the passenger seat while his friends get in the back. We drive off to the party; Del keeps nervously tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, fidgeting. He looks jittery. I should've probably told him not to worry about it, he has nothing to worry about—I think.

Well, there is still a competition but not actively.

First, I need to see if Del and I are compatible at all, I still don't really know him.

Maybe this party can answer some of my questions.

//

Don't forget to vote xx

Sorry, the update was a little late. I just moved to the UK, so moving to another country and settling in kept me very busy. But I've been here a week now so expect me to update on Friday's again :))