Paloma spent her day cleaning her house from top to bottom. She didn't wanna reach out to Roman when he was with Lana. If he needed her somehow, he would reach out to her. Many hours later when her house couldn't get much more clean, she finally stopped and took a shower.

"Well, fuck this," she mumbled to herself. "Who am I kidding?"

She left her house. Roman had a key. He could lock himself inside if he came home. She walked downtown and into a Vietnamese place to get some food. After a delicious noodle dish, she walked around aimlessly. The sun slowly set and she stopped in front of a bar. She might as well have a few drinks to try and forget about last night. She walked inside and grabbed a seat in front of the counter.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked.
"Vodka and orange juice," she answered.

Like the night before, the one drink turned into a few more. In the middle of her fourth drink, a man came to sit next to her.

"What's a pretty bird like you doing here all alone?" He asked.
"What makes you think I'm alone?" She asked.
"I've watched you since you arrived. If you're waiting for someone, he blew you off, sweetheart. Sorry to be the one to tell you that," he said.

She finally turned her head to look at him. He was tall, bald guy.

"What's it to you?" She asked.
"Nothing," he smiled. "I'm just trying to make your night a bit more pleasant. You look like you could use some pleasure."

He licked his lips and smirked.

"Where are my manners?" He chuckled. "My name is Luke. And you are?"
"Not into bald men," she said. "And even if I was, I'm not into any man tonight. Just let me drink in peace, please."
"Who hurt you, sweetheart?" He asked.
"Don't call me that," she said.
"Come on, you can tell your old pal Luke here. It's not like whoever he is will ever know," he said.

Her phone ringing sounded like an angel choir in that moment. Roman's name flashing across her scream made it even better. She couldn't control her smile as she picked up.

"Hi, Roman," she said.
"Where are you?" He asked.
"I'm on my way home. I'll see you soon," she said.

She hung up and grinned at Luke.

"That was my boyfriend," she lied. "He just got back home."
"Why don't I believe you? Do you even have a picture of this mystery man?" He asked.
"Do you wanna know your competition?" She chuckled. "As if you could ever compete with him."

She found a picture of Roman on her phone and showed it to Luke.

"Now I know why you're not into bald guys," he grinned. "But he's not here, is he? How about we go have some quick fun in the back?"
"How about you cut your own dick off?" She shrugged. "Find another woman, Luke. I'm not interested."

She left the bar and walked as fast as she could. She rounded a corner and let out a small scream when someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a dark garden. He slammed her up against the wall of the house and she stared into the face of Luke from the bar.

"Where is loverboy now, huh? Where is superman when you need to be saved?" He mocked. "He ain't fucking coming because he doesn't give a shit about you. Now, I'm not gonna take what's not given to me willingly but I don't appreciate being ridiculed like you did so I am gonna rough you up a bit."

He threw a punch at her face. She saw stars for a few seconds. Her nose was hurting and she felt something wet drip out of it. She moved her hand up to touch it and stared at the blood smeared on her fingers. Her nose didn't feel broken though. Just banged up. She looked up at him again and she started laughing.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?" He snarled.
"You! This!" She laughed harder.

It all seemed so ironic in that moment. Roman had left her to tend to his beaten up ex girlfriend. Now she was here getting beaten up because of Roman. Not that it was his fault. Just all the events leading up to this moment had something to do with him.

"You got a screw loose," Luke said. "I don't stick my dick in crazy."
"You never had a chance anyway. I thought I made that clear already," she said.

He turned around and ran out of the garden. She wasn't sure if he had planned on hurting her further before she started laughing. It seemed like it. Something about her not begging for mercy or crying had scared him enough to abandon his original plan.

"Fuck!" She hissed. "Fuck, that hurts."

Her nose was throbbing and a headache was creeping in. She would have to deal with that later. Right now she just needed to get home. Home and get cleaned up, then get into bed and forget about this day ever happening. She walked back home and found her front door unlocked. She walked into the house and aimed for the bathroom.

"You're home," Roman said.

She heard him follow behind her. She stepped into the bathroom and walked over to the sink to look in the mirror.

"What the fuck happened?" He asked.

He hurried over to her to study her face.

"Some dude named Luke who was mad about not getting his dick wet tonight," she said.
"Did he hurt you in any other way?" He asked.
"In what way?" She asked.

He scanned her body up and down before looking in her eyes again.

"Oh," she said. "Nope, the virgin is still intact. Or whatever I'm supposed to say in this situation. My clothes never came off. Not like last night."

She grabbed a cloth and wetted it. He took it from her and gently cleaned her face for her.

"Do you regret it?" He asked.
"Regret what?" She asked.
"Last night," he answered.
"Do you?" She asked.
"If neither of us want to answer that question first, is it because we're both afraid that the other one regretted it?" He asked.
"Might be," she mumbled.

He removed the cloth and gave her a little, tired smile.

"I don't regret it," he said.
"Me neither," she said.
"Then where do we go from here?" He asked.
"I don't know," she answered. "How's Lana?"

He sighed and shook his head.

"Lana is Lana. Rusev hit her. She thought I'd take her back. I told her that would never happen. I also told her this is the only time I'll ever come to her aid and that she better use the time wisely. She used most the time switching between crying about me leaving her and telling me what a big asshole I am. It was quite the performance," he chuckled. "I blocked her number as soon as I got home."

He gently grabbed her chin and studied her face. She had been lucky. Nothing seemed out of place or swollen. It had just been some blood.

"If he had messed up this beautiful face, I would have gone hunting for his balls right now," he said.
"Beauty fades," she said.
"But my love for you never will," he said. "I can't fool myself anymore. For years I tried telling myself that it was just infatuation. The whole 'what if' deal. That I just wanted to try you out to see how it might be. I can't lie anymore. I've been in love with you since... I don't even know for how long. At some point it just happened. These feelings came out of nowhere and they never went away."

She grabbed his shirt and pulled him down for a kiss. For a long minute they stood like that, kissing and holding each other, until she finally broke the kiss and looked at him.

"I've been in love with you for so long. I never thought we would be anything but friends," she said.
"Best friends," he grinned. "And now best lovers as well."
"I'm beginning to regret this," she joked.
"Nope, too late," he tightened his arms around her. "I'm never letting you get away now."