Chapter 12

After the taping ended, Keyla sent a quick text to both Sami and Drake letting them know she would meet them at the bar. She recognized the name Drake gave her instantly since it was down the street from the hotel she stayed at while in Tampa. Only a few times did she visit the establishment and it wasn't the worst bar in the area. Also not the cleanest or refined either. It reminded her a lot of Nicky's bar in Philadelphia where she used to bartend and work at. Those were the good old days and they seemed so long ago because of everything that transpired in her life the last few years. Tonight, Keyla was determined to have fun with two of her friends and decided to dress up a little.

Her outfit of choice was a white spaghetti strapped crop top that had lace trim on the bottom and top, showing off a portion of her stomach. The light blue jeans she found online weren't regular and had a crochet flower splicing style up the sides of the legs. They were lace and see-through that went from the ankle up to her mid-thigh, also skinny and hugged every curve of her body to perfection. She had 2 ½ white lace heels on that matched the top and jeans, also making the look somewhat posh. Leaving her hair up for the moment, Keyla added a white lace flower clip on the side along with placing diamond studs in her ears. Keyla outlined her eyes in thin black liner and smoked them out in dark blue eye shadow, making her amber orbs pop. She plucked her eyebrows, fanned her lashes in mascara, painted her lips in a peach gloss and made sure her foundation didn't stand out on the sides of her face. Satisfied with her look for the evening, Keyla headed out carrying a small purse with her keycard, keys and wallet that held her driver's license and bank card.

It was time to let loose and have fun for a change.

20 minutes later, she pulled up in front of the bar named Breakers and stepped out, locking her vehicle sliding her keys in her purse. Both Sami and Drake looked up when the small bell dinged throughout the half empty bar and grinned at the sight of Keyla headed toward them. All Sami could think was what a monumental idiot Jon was for letting her go. Then again, so was he. Gina was great and beautiful, but Sami knew Kayleigh would always hold a piece of his heart. Drake was happily married with 2 kids and loved his wife wholeheartedly, so other women didn't faze him.

"Bout time you joined us, little lady." Drake winked, ordering her a beer while nursing a longneck with Sami. "Kinda dead tonight, but hopefully it'll pick up."

Keyla shrugged, not caring if the bar was packed with people or just the 3 of them hanging out and held her longneck up. "To Sami. Or should I call you Solomon? Whoever you are, I know you're going to have a fantastic career in the WWE and we couldn't be prouder of you. Give'em hell!"

"Thanks Kay."

"This is so cool. I'll be officiating some of your matches now." Drake was extremely happy being a ring official instead of a wrestler, picking up the job rather quickly because of his in-ring experience.

"So you're cool with donning the strips, eh?" Sami questioned, ordering a round of shots and slid them over to Drake and Keyla, enjoying the liquid burning down his esophagus.

Drake nodded without hesitation, swallowing down his own shot alongside Keyla. "Bro, it's the best decision I've ever made and Dawson is happy about it. She knows it'll let my body completely heal and if I ever wanna get back in the ring one day, my health will be tip-top being an official. I really do like calling the shots though." It was a major change to his career in professional wrestling, but Drake didn't regret the choice he made for him and his family.

"How is Dawson doing, by the way?" Keyla changed the subject, friends with Drake's and couldn't remember the last time they talked.

"Good, the boys keep her busy and…" Drake became sheepish, a big smile spreading on his face. "We – uh – we're having another…"

"Another what?" Sami had only been paying half attention because Gina was texting him some frisky pictures.

Keyla smacked him upside the head, jolting Sami back into the conversation and shook her head, beaming brightly at Drake. "No way! You're having another baby?!" She tossed her arms around his neck, hearing Drake chuckle in her ear and pulled back to let Sami congratulate him. "How far along is she?"

"4 months. We find out the sex of the baby in about a month and I'm secretly hoping for a girl since we have 2 boys already." Drake knew that was horrible to say, but the boys ran their mother ragged and Dawson wanted one little girl to take after them. "My Mom is staying with her to help out with the boys until after the baby is born. Then we'll hire a nanny since I'm making a lot more money in WWE than the Indies."

"I'm truly happy for you guys." Keyla said sincerely, kissing Drake's cheek and ordered another round of shots to celebrate the news of Dawson's pregnancy. She made a mental note to call Dawson once she was back in Philadelphia and to go pay her a visit. "I'm gonna put on the jukebox and liven this place up a bit."

Sami watched Keyla walk to the jukebox and looked down at his phone when he received another text message, shaking his head. Gina was being a pistol tonight and he sent her a message back letting her know he'd call once he was back at the hotel. Then he turned his focus on Drake, thankful to have two of his friends from the Indies to hang out with while in WWE.

"She's come a long way, huh?" Drake glanced at Sami, nursing his beer and watched the man nod his head. "You know Jon was down here earlier this month."

"I know. Keyla called Lennox and Gina to vent about it. Did he ask about her?" Sami had to know if Jon found out Keyla worked in NXT so he was prepared if the Shield made another surprise appearance.

"No, I don't think he knows she's down here. But apparently she had a run-in with Seth Rollins and and he described what she looked like. He asked if a woman with dark blue hair and golden eyes worked in NXT. I lied and told him no." As close as Drake was to Jon, he felt an obligation to protect Keyla after what happened. Not all of it was Jon's fault, but he should've kept in contact with Keyla too over the years. "I still can't believe she took the job offer to work for WWE."

Sami remembered that night well and it wasn't due to his audition against Fandango either. Triple H had a talk with Keyla, one she still didn't fully tell him about while he was in the ring trying to impress the officials with his ability and skills. Her camera work in the Independents was her ticket to work for the most popular and biggest wrestling organization in the world. Sami was proud of her, but also leery because of the Jon situation, not wanting her to get hurt again. He would protect her at any and all costs and it seemed Drake would do the same thing, neither of them having any type of romantic feelings towards her. If anything, Keyla was family to both men and they all had to stick together.

Breaking Benjamin flowed through the speakers of the jukebox while Keyla started swaying her hips gently back and forth, twirling to face Drake and Sami long enough to wink in their direction. Then she turned back around while looking through the jukebox to see what other kind of music it offered. Sami smacked Drake's t-shirt covered chest when a hulking figure stood up from one of the darker corners of the bar and made their way toward Keyla. He started getting up and Drake stopped him, shaking his head deciding to wait and see what transpired. If they had to step in to protect Keyla from a creep, so be it, but Drake recognized the figure now standing behind her and wondered what they had in mind regarding their friend.

Warm hands planted on Keyla's bare hips, resting just below the waist of her jeans and she tensed slightly, stopping her hip movement. "What are you-?"

"Don't be scared, sweetheart." A familiar husky voice murmured in her ear and the warm hands slowly began moving her hips to the beat of the music again. "Dance with me."

"Baron…"

Swallowing hard, Keyla whipped around to face her dance partner and looked up into his dark eyes, the buzz from doing shots still in full effect. Keyla slid her fingers down his t-shirt covered chest, not paying attention to the white design embroidered on it and felt him take her hand to twirl her back where she originally was. The feeling of her back pressed against his solid chest did something to Keyla's lower extremities and she didn't protest this position, getting lost in the moment. For a big man, he had excellent skill and Keyla wondered what kind of ability he had in the bedroom. It had to be the alcohol clouding her mind and judgement, but then again she was tired of questioning and second-guessing everything in her life. With Baron, being with him was as easy as breathing and they got along well, enjoying each other's company. No fighting whatsoever. It was nice being with a man who wanted her, so why was Keyla pushing him away?

"Baron…" She breathed out in a slight gasp when his mouth sealed to the side of her neck, the facial hair he grew out over the past couple months tingling against her skin. "Oh god…"

He was slowly breaking her down while they danced, the same song playing on repeat, but neither cared. "Feel good, sweetheart?" Keyla looked exquisite tonight, the jeans and crop top causing his dick to jump in his pants from the moment she walked through the door. "Want me to stop?"

"N-No…god no…" Keyla slid her hand up his strong arm to hook around his neck, burying her fingers in his short black hair he'd let grow out along with his goatee. It was just enough to grab onto, their hips never stopping moving in sync in front of the jukebox. "You're burning me up, big man…"

"Good." He growled in response, finally pulling back after a few minutes and whipped her around to face him again, taking note of her flushed face and heaving breathing. "Wanna get out of here?"

"I don't – I can't – I mean…" Keyla saw the rejection in his dark eyes and stopped him from walking away, grabbing his hand to make him look back at her. "I want this. You. I want you, but…"

"But what?" Baron gruffly demanded, pointing over at the bar where Sami and Drake sat, though his finger was meant for the man named Solomon Crowe. "Him? You two together or something?"

Keyla's jaw dropped, her molten golden eyes widening in both shock and surprise at Baron's question. "N-No, of course not!" Why would he ask such a thing?! "We're just friends from the Indies and he finally got signed by WWE. We're out celebrating tonight. Why would you think we were together?"

"Because of what I saw at the airport earlier today." There was no point hiding the truth from her and Baron didn't want to be with a woman who was already spoken for. He had morals and self-respect, after all. "I was waiting for your plane to land and…then I saw you run into his arms…" He didn't mention the beautiful bouquet of red roses he'd bought, not wanting to look like more of a chump than he already did.

Baron was waiting for her at the airport because he wanted to see her and left due to thinking she was with Sami. Keyla didn't know whether she wanted to kiss the breath out of him or slap him silly for being assumptive. Shaking her head and still buzzed from the alcohol she consumed, Keyla grabbed the front of his t-shirt in a fist and pulled him down closer to her, smiling softly. It was incredibly sweet he'd been waiting for her plane to land, but Keyla also had no idea he'd be there or Sami for that matter.

"You sweet man." Keyla purred, stroking his face and facial hair, enjoying Baron being this close to her. The intense raw sexual chemistry they had couldn't be ignored any longer either. "Ask me again."

Baron lifted a dark brow down at her, wrapping a strong arm around her waist and bent down until his forehead pressed against hers. "Ask you what?"

"What you did earlier. Ask me again if I want to do it." Keyla instructed, her citrine eyes twinkling and slowly smoldering over to the hazy molten gold they'd been only minutes ago. "Come on, you may like my answer."

One thing about Keyla was Baron enjoyed her playfulness and chuckled softly, black eyes locked on molten gold. "Wanna get out of here?"

Pulling back, Keyla didn't let go of Baron's hand and lead him toward the exit, winking over at Sami and Drake letting them know she was in good safe hands. There was no reason to panic or stop them. She hoped they understood why she was leaving the celebration early, but honestly Keyla needed to be alone with Baron right now. Baron followed her lead until they were outside under the stars and moon before yanking her roughly against him.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" He had to make sure he wasn't pressuring Keyla into doing something she didn't want. "I know you're tipsy and…"

Keyla pressed her finger against his lips and shook her head, finally taking the plunge bringing his mouth down on hers. Groaning at the first taste and touch of her mouth against his, Baron instantly lifted her from the ground and Keyla wrapped her legs around his waist. It was their first kiss and Baron couldn't remember the last time a woman intoxicated him this much. A hard rock formed in his pants that pressed against Keyla's backside and that fueled her fire further, moaning when his tongue swiped against her lips. He wanted access to fully taste her and Keyla couldn't deny him, giving into to whatever he desired. The second their tongues touched, electricity and warmth flowed through both of their bodies. Breaking the kiss needing oxygen, Baron and Keyla searched each other's eyes while standing in the middle of the bar's parking lot, knowing what would happen that night.

Both were more than ready for whatever came next.