Nala was getting ready for work when her dad knocked on her door.

"Come in", she said, while slipping her feet into her shoes.

He opened the door and smiled.

"Kris invited us over to a bbq. Did you know AJ was back?", he said.

Nala nodded.

"He's a teacher at my school", she said smiling.

"Cool, now I have someone watching over you. So don't do anything I wouldn't do", he said.

She laughed.

"Well, I'm heading out. See you later and have a good day", he said.

"You too dad", she said, kissing his cheek before he left.

Driving to work, she noticed a black truck parked near the diner. She smiled knowing exactly who that truck belonged to. She got off her car and he got off his truck. A smile on his face.

"Hey beautiful", he said.

She smiled.

"Hey yourself", she said.

He leaned down and kissed her.

"I missed you yesterday. I thought you would have called me or something.", he said.

"I thought maybe you were sort of angry with me after seeing me and Kathan with AJ", she said.

He groaned and looked away.

"He's just a friend, a brother. He's helped me out a lot, especially after my mom died.", she said.

He felt bad now.

"I'm sorry, I just don't like seeing you with him. It bugs me", he said.

"I know, but you're just going to have to get use to it. I promise, nothing is going on", she said, placing her hand on his chest.

He nodded.

"I love you", he said, looking her in the eyes.

She placed her hand on his cheek gently.

"I love you", she replied.

He turned and kissed the palm of her hand.

"Do you have a few minutes or do you have to get to work now?", he asked.

She checked the time on her phone. She had ten minutes to kill.

"I have a few minutes", she said.

"I read your story and I loved it. You just need to correct a few things and you can send it out", he said.

"What was your favorite part?", she asked.

He pulled her in by her hips.

"The part where he makes love to her", he whispered against her lips.

"I didn't write that in the story", she said smiling.

"You didn't need too", he said.

She kissed him and quickly pulled away.

"Before I forget, we can't be kissing and touching at school anymore. Emerald is catching on and I don't want her trying to catch us", she said.

"I don't think I can go the whole day without touching you. Knowing that you're right there and I can't", he said.

"I know Romeo", she said.

He pecked her lips.

"Its going to be so painful", he whispered, resting his forehead against hers.

"We can meet after, you can come to my work and spend time together on my lunch break", she said.

"Do you work next Saturday?", he asked.

She shook her head no.

"Good, I want to take you out. Its date night, so don't make any plans", he said.

She giggled and nodded.

"Oh, I'm also going over to your friend's house. I guess soccer mom hair is doing a bbq and he invited Seth, in turn, Seth invited me and the guys.", Roman said.

"Yeah, Kris invited my dad and I over too", Nala said.

"Who's Kris?", Roman asked.

"Relax, he's Kathan's brother and he's married", she said.

Roman swallowed and removed his hands from her.

"Marriage doesn't stop anyone from cheating", he said softly.

Nala could tell he was thinking about something, something that hurt him.

"Hey. I'm yours", she said, before kissing him.

"Don't ever forget it", he said softly.

She looked towards the diner and sighed.

"I should get to work, but I guess I'll be seeing you at Kathan's house", she said.

He nodded.

"Have a good day", he said.

She kissed him.

"I love you", she said, before walking away.

"Love you too", he said, opening the door to his truck.

The diner was packed more than usual. She hadn't gotten a second to herself. After work, she sat in her car and took a deep breath. Pulling her phone out, she found a text message Kathan had sent her.

"You will never guess who is coming to my house. Ok. Ok. Calm down, I'll tell you. Mark. My Mark. What the heck?"-Kathan

Nala couldn't help but laugh at her best friend's message.

"Roman's going too. Its crazy that they are going to meet our families. I'll be back as soon as I shower and change my clothes", she sent.

"Just come over, who cares if you're in your work clothes", Kathan sent.

"No way. I smell like cheeseburgers and sweat", she replied.

"Haha. Fine. See you when you get here", Kathan sent.


Roman went to the gym before going back home. Mark had texted him and asked if he was going over to the BBQ. He replied back with a yes. After getting home he showered and picked out his clothes. He hated coming into an empty house. No noise. Hopefully it wouldn't be empty for long. As soon as it was possible, he was moving Nala in.

He smiled at that thought. Him coming home from work and finding her here. Hopefully come home one day to a family, his kids running up to him and hugging him after a long day. Kissing Nala and helping her with dinner.

It's not the first time he's thought about this. The first time was a dream, a dream that almost came true, but she ruined that. He didn't trust anyone after that, stopped believing in love. He almost convinced himself that he wasn't meant to be happy. Till the day he saw Nala, it was love at first sight for him and he knew he shouldn't have felt that way towards her, but he couldn't stop his heart from feeling the way it was feeling.

She was his second chance at happiness and he wasn't going to let anyone take it this time. He hoped she felt the same way. It wasn't like he didn't trust her, it was AJ he didn't trust. He sighed. Mark had texted him that he was already at the bbq. He texted back that he was on his way.

He hoped Nala was there already. He found the house with the directions AJ had given him. Walking towards the back gate, he saw Alana and she ran over to him.

"Hey princess", he said.

"Hi uncle Roman", she said, skipping over to him.

Mark waved him over and he waved to everyone.

"Oh hey, Kris, Joe. This is Roman Reigns, English teacher", AJ introduced.

He shook their hands. He looked around, noticing that neither girl was outside. Mark leaned into him.

"Nala isn't here yet and Kathan is upstairs in the shower. And if you want to know, yes it sucks knowing she's in the shower and I'm not in there", Mark whispered to him.

Roman chuckled.