Thank you to thakidisbac, Tammy, Alexis Black-Reigns, DeeMarie426, ChelleLew, wwefanatic365, IRENELOVE83, benova13, nikki1335 and princessreigns for the reviews. Enjoy 9!


"Man, this girl of yours must be somethin' else."

Joe rolled his eyes, less surprised by the comment than the fact that his friend had held his tongue for as long he did. "Don't start, Lopez."

The man known in the wrestling world as Seth Rollins scoffed. "Do not roll your eyes at me, G.I. How else do you want me to react? You're fucking cooking!" he pointed out.

"Yeah man," the other man with them, Jon Good asked from the other end of the kitchen island. "You've never cooked for us."

"That's because you're not important." Joe knew he was in for it the moment his Shield brethren showed up at his place and found him slaving away in the kitchen. They'd come over to hang out before Colby went back to his girlfriend and Jon returned home to Las Vegas. But now they were gathered in Joe's kitchen, like some warped version of Knights of the Round Table, about to probe him about his love life. He huffed and checked his phone again. Sasha wasn't to arrive for another hour but he felt the urge to call her, or at least text her and make sure she got the directions right.

"Dude, your shit didn't ring." Jon sat back in his chair and laughed. "I cannot wait to meet this chick. She better be all that, because she got you acting like a Grade-A pussy," he said, ducking when the big man aimed for his head. "Seriously Joe, who is she? Where'd ya meet her?"

"Her name is Sasha. She works for a friend of mine at his restaurant."

"So you got a thing for the waitress, huh? She hot?"

Colby scrunched up his nose at Jon. "What kinda dumbass question is that? You know G.I. only got the best broads hanging on his arm. The real question is how long have you been seeing her, man? You didn't even tell us about her."

"That's because it only got started a few days ago. I wasn't exactly about to go shouting on the rooftops."

"Okay, fine. But still, you should tell us. We're your boys. Is she tall? Short? Blonde? Brunette? Kids? Criminal record? Details, big man!"

"No record I that know of," Joe chuckled, sliding the marinated chicken into the oven. "What she looks like is for y'all to find out. And yes, she got kids."

Colby snickered. "Hehe. I'd pay good money to see some five-year-old tearing the mighty Roman Reigns a new one for trying to steal his mom."

"He's seventeen."

They both gaped at him. "Wait, how old is this chick?" asked Jon.

"Mid-thirties. She had him young." He put the potato salad in the fridge. "She got an eight-year-old too. Mia. Smart kid. You're her favorite, Rollins, and she digs Ambrose's hoodie."

Colby was fascinated. "Gotta say I'm jealous, bro. I've never found any MILFs."

"Nah, been there done that. And trust me when I say you couldn't handle it, little boy," Jon taunted.

Colby grabbed the roll of tin foil and chucked it across the table at Jon. "Who are you calling little boy, punk ass."

"Enough! Don't make me whip y'all asses. Jeez." He looked at the time again.

Colby watched Joe with a wide grin on his face. "Aw, this is so cute," he cooed. "When was the last time you saw G.I. like this, Jon?"

"You'd be like this too if you were finally getting laid," Jon stuck up for his friend.

Joe grunted. He wished. "I'm not getting laid."

"What? All this hard work, cooking and shit, and no ass? What's the fucking point?" Jon shook his head in pity as he sipped his protein shake.

"Because unlike you dumbasses, that's not my priority. Maybe I actually want to get to know her." The Samoan glared at Jon, who quickly put up his hands. "Fine, fine. Don't be so touchy."

Walking up to the bigger man, Colby patted his shoulder. "Honestly, we're stoked for you, man. It's about time you got out there again, ya know?" he said, his dark eyes gleaming with sincerity. Jon nodded his head in agreement, and Joe winced at the suddenly-serious looks on his friends' faces, knowing exactly what they were talking about. "Yeah." He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Well, she's going to be here soon so whatever you do, do not embarrass me."

"Oh come on! When have we ever embarrassed you?"

"That's a rhetorical question, right?"


Sasha felt small, smaller than she already was. Every house in this fancy-ass neighborhood made her feel out of place, and Joe's was no exception. She wasn't sure it was the right house until she spotted the familiar license plate on the Range Rover parked in the driveway. Sucking it up, she tapped in Joe's phone number on her cell phone and waited for him to pick up. Damn. She knew he lived large but this was large.

"Hello? Ow! Goddamn it…I swear to God if you touch me again Colby, I'ma fuck you up," His deep voice sounded slightly far away as he spoke. "Hello, Sasha?"

He had visitors? Oh no. "Hey. I'm here. Number one-thirty-nine, right?"

Joe breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, you got it." He'd wanted to pick her up, but she'd had to take Mia to Reggie and Cheryl's place first. "I'm upstairs getting changed, but I'll get my friend to open the door so you won't be stuck outside."

"No problem." She smiled when she heard another male voice shout "I'm coming!" followed by Joe's exasperated groan. "Let me apologize in advance for any stupid thing my friend says or does. He was dropped on his head as a baby. I'll be down in a bit."

"Okay. See you." Walking up to the house, she could feel her palms sweating already. A part of her couldn't help but wonder if he would be different with her around his friends. Based on experience, guys tended to do that, and not in a positive way. Joe didn't strike her as that type of guy, but he was a guy and she wasn't ruling anything out. She had already made up her mind that she was going to be cautious and not get caught up.

Yeah, like you've been cautious so far, she thought to herself. You've made out with him, he's met your kids, he's been at your place twice and now you're at his, all in a matter of days. You're already caught up, girl. Admit it.

The front door opened before she could counter her thoughts, revealing a tall, thick-bearded, grinning young man. She remembered his blonde and black hair from YouTube. "Hi! You must be Sasha," he greeted, stepping aside for her to come in. "I'm Colby."

"Hi, Colby." She followed him into the house and jumped a little when she spotted another big guy, clean-shaven with light curly hair coming towards them from the open kitchen area. "Hi. I'm Jon." He extended his hand, which she took.

"I'm Sasha. Nice to meet you both." Gosh, they were really tall, as tall as Joe, but with slightly less intimidating statures. "You're Joe's Shield friends, right?"

Colby smiled. "That's us. Joe's told us about you."

Sasha's face warmed. "Has he now?"

"All good stuff, don't worry. He's upstairs getting dolled up for you," Jon snickered, and Sasha noticed his deep dimples.

"Come sit down," Colby offered, leading her to the kitchen area, where he proceeded to engage her in conversation, with Jon chiming in every now and then. When Joe came into the kitchen, Sasha felt, rather than saw him. It was weird how acutely attuned she had become to his presence. Caught up.

Joe kissed Sasha's cheek, relieved to see that his doofus friends hadn't scared her off. "I hope finding this place wasn't too difficult," he said.

How did he always manage to look so delicious in something as simple as a t-shirt and jeans? "It was fine. The cab guy knew this area right away."

"A number of wrestlers live around here. We've probably used the cab company a hundred times." He cast a glance at his friends. Behind Sasha's back, Colby flashed him two thumbs up and an approving grin while Jon made a show of checking her out, tongue dangling and all. "I take it you've met the Dumbass Brothers over there."

Sasha laughed. "Don't be mean. They're nice."

"See? We've been nothing but perfect gentlemen," said Colby, frowning when Joe glared at him then cut his eyes to the front door. "Dude, are you kicking us out?"

"They don't have to go," said Sasha.

"It's fine. We got stuff to do anyway," Jon said, grabbing Colby's arm. They didn't, but Joe looked like he would spear them both if they didn't vanish that instant. "Nice meeting you, Sasha. Come on, Colb."

"Bye, Sasha," Colby sang, waving his fingers at the laughing woman while Joe shook his head. "That wasn't very nice," Sasha admonished playfully, swatting his arm.

"What? I told them you'd be here. They'll be back anyway. They're staying over tonight." He gave her a long look. "I haven't said hello to you, have I?"

Grinning, Sasha shook her head. "Uh-uh."

A corner of his lips quirked. "Hi." Leaning down, he kissed her sweetly, and Sasha went weak in the knees. He was an amazing kisser without even trying, always left her wanting more. "What you got cooking?" she managed to speak, the words murmured against his mouth. Her gaze suddenly snapped towards the hand she'd instinctively clamped over his massive, bulging bicep. "Wow," she breathed, her eyes widening with fascination as she squeezed his arm again.

Joe felt pride swell within him. "Chicken, as promised." He answered the question she asked. "Should be done by now, actually." He stole a few more kisses off her before reluctantly letting her go. "Ever tried chicken barbecued with pineapple juice?"

"Pineapple juice?"

"Yep. It's the usual barbecue sauce, you just mix a bit of pineapple juice in it, Hawaiian style. It tastes better than it sounds, I promise. I got some potato salad in the fridge as well, and regular salad. Drink?"

"Water's fine." She made her way to the spacious living room. Everything in the house seemed to be bigger than average, but it made sense since Joe was a big guy. The decor was simple yet tasteful, with ceiling-to-floor windows making up the walls in some corners of the open layout. From outside she could see the deck leading to the backyard, where a large swimming pool was. "Wow. You have a beautiful place," she commented. She looked at the pictures of his family. There were a few pictures from his days at Georgia Tech as well, with his name inscribed underneath some of them. "Your name's Leati?"

He almost hadn't heard a word she'd said; he was too busy eyeing up her backside. "Lay-ah-kee," he pronounced it correctly for her. "It's my Samoan name. Only my closest family still calls me that. Everyone else goes by Joe."

"Lay-ah-kee." She tested the name out. "I like it," she remarked, and Joe's body flushed with want at the sound of his birth name rolling off her lips. His name had never sounded sexier. Suddenly feeling warm, he quickly turned away and put all of his concentration on withdrawing the chicken from the oven.

Sasha rejoined him in the kitchen. "So, you excited to go back to work?"

"Mixed feelings," he admitted, setting a bottle of water in front of her. "I've enjoyed my vacation for obvious reasons." He met her gaze with a wink, causing her to lower her head shyly. "But yeah, it'll be good to get back into the groove of things. There's never a dull moment in our business."

"It must be nice doing something you've always wanted to do," said Sasha. "Living your dream."

"Yeah. Wrestling's it for me. Even when I was doing something else, it was all I thought about. What about you? I have a sneaky suspicion that bartending isn't your dream career."

"Bartending isn't all I do there, you know. And don't knock it. It is a dream career for some people out there." She stared into space for a minute. "I guess I've always been big on photography."

"Photography?"

"Yeah. I got a camera on my thirteenth birthday and I was hooked. I went everywhere with it, took a whole lot of pictures." She sighed sadly. "And then it got stolen." Plus life got in the way, but that was another story.

"That sucks," Joe said, pausing when his phone vibrated. He picked it up, pushed a button, then frowned. "What is it?" Sasha inquired.

"Just a co-worker of mine. I don't even want to know what she wants now," he muttered, eyes still on his phone and not looking particularly happy.

She? Sasha cleared her throat, feeling something she refused to label as jealousy. "Maybe it's important," she offered.

"It's not, trust me." Joe set his phone back down, looking uncomfortable. "She's, uh…asking me out."

"Oh." Curiosity got the better of her, and she reached for his phone. 'What r u doin 2nite?' was the message sent to him. The air rushed out of her lungs as she gaped at the profile picture of a very pretty blonde woman with a sizeable cleavage. The photo was at bust level but the mother-of-two could already detect the killer body that complemented the dazzling smile. Danielle, her name was. Sasha had no right to be jealous. There was nothing between her and Joe; at least nothing concrete enough to warrant such feelings. He could do whatever he wanted, and that included dating stunning, twenty-something beauty queen types. "She's hot," she managed to force out. "Go out with her if you want."

"I actually did a few times. We had a storyline together in Developmental and we would grab a bite to eat after shows and stuff, but that's where it ended for me. She's a nice girl, but I'm just not that interested in her."

Not interested? He wasn't interested in this young, perky slice of hotness? That was just crazy. There was nothing not to be interested in. Heck, if she were gay, she probably would be interested herself. The more Sasha looked at the photo, the saggier she felt. "I don't get it."

"Get what?"

She set the phone back down and crossed her legs. "Why don't you want her?"

Joe looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "What do you mean?"

"I just can't figure out what you're doing with ratchet old me when you can have Supermodel over there."

She didn't get it, did she? Maybe she wanted him to spell it out. And after hearing the comment she just made, maybe he needed to. "You're not ratchet. I think you're very beautiful, and I want you."

Her gaze softened. He wanted her? "You're kidding."

"Kidding?" Joe rounded the kitchen island and slowly approached her, his eyes on her the whole time. He invaded her space, his frame towering over hers in that dauntingly attractive way he seemed to have mastered. Sasha gasped when he reached for her crossed leg, caressing her jean-clad ankle before slowly sliding his large hand up her calf. Challenge sparkled in his grey irises.

"You have no idea how sexy you are, do you, baby?" he whispered, "Do you know how much it's taking inside of me not to drag you up to my bedroom, rip your clothes off and fuck you senseless?" He watched her eyes widen in shock. "Hell, it's taking everything in me not to take you right here, right now." He risked getting the taste slapped out of his mouth but he suspected that would not be the case. Not with what he saw in her eyes. Not when he was almost certain that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Sasha stared at Joe, speechless. She should have been repelled by the blatancy, the audaciousness of the statement. After all, in retrospect, they barely knew each other. But instead she sat there, surrounded by his familiar scent once again, incredibly, irretrievably aroused. One look in his charcoal-colored eyes, hazy with desire, shot shivers down her spine. Her teeth clamped down on her lower lip as he continued to torture her with his touch.

"Please stop biting your lip, otherwise I might not be so restrained anymore."

Automatically, she let go of her lip. Goddamn. His voice was so husky, so full of need. All for her. She legitimately didn't know what to think.

Joe leaned even closer, talking low in her ear. "I have thought about it, ya know. Your hot little body pinned underneath mine…me touching all over you…my dick buried inside you, making you come over and over until you're limp from pleasure and begging me to stop…" His hand went past her knee, creeping along her inner thigh, and Sasha shut her eyes and let her own imagination run wild. Sudden images of their bodies, naked and panting, her fingers tangled in his long, silky head of hair as his hard length probed her, left her breathless. Her skin pebbled, her nipples tightened, the reaction so strong she squirmed in her seat. Lust was all she felt. Hot, bone-melting lust for the hulking, gorgeous man in front of her.

Just as he reached the juncture between her thighs and she was about to hyperventilate, Joe took his hand away and stepped back. Cool air swirled in to replace his warmth. Flustered, Sasha glanced up at him, wondering why the hell he'd stopped. There was no mistaking the evil little smirk that curled his luscious lips that told her he knew exactly what he was doing. "I've imagined that for a long time now, so no, I'm not kidding," he said innocently, as though nothing had happened. "But we can talk about that another time. You're here for lunch, so let's eat." And then he turned his back, leaving Sasha hot and bothered and her bottle of water in a death grip.

Hot damn.


The last scene though *fans self* I'd love to hear your thoughts from top to bottom, guys! :D