A/N: You guys are making me smile with the nice reviews. Thank you to ChelleLew, nikki1335, wwefanatic365, justkimmy, i-r-i-s, DeeMarie426, Tammy, IRENELOVE83, .RR and thakidisbac.

The sound of the ringing cellphone jolted Sasha awake. Groaning tiredly, she fumbled blindly for the phone on the nightstand, answering without checking the ID. "Hello?" she answered. Right now, she couldn't open her eyes if she tried.

Joe laughed at her sluggish voice. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

"Holy crap, is it ten already?" she groaned, throwing her hand over her face. He'd texted her the night before asking to take her out to breakfast. She agreed for ten, but she was so sure it was four a.m. right now. She felt like she had just gone to bed after her long shift which had ended at two in the morning.

"Nope. But it's nine, so get up." He had gotten up to jog at six, was at the gym by seven-thirty, showered and done some chores, and was now heading out to pick her up. His routine was usually earlier but he eased up this week thanks to his break. For years he had trained himself to start his day early, and found it strange when people weren't up by eight o'clock at least. "I'm already on my way, so you might as well get up and get dressed so we can hang out."

"Yes, sir," she griped, rolling unceremoniously out of her bed.

"That's the spirit. See you soon."

Sasha hung up, stretching and yawning her way to the bathroom. As cranky as she might have sounded over the phone, she wanted to spend time with him, so it was enough incentive to get ready. She dressed quietly, putting on a white shirt and red pair of jeans, capping it off with boots and a black leather jacket. She made breakfast for T.K. and Mia while she waited for Joe.

"You look nice," T.K. strolled into the kitchen, taking over hot chocolate-making duties from her. "Going out?"

"Yeah."

"With Roman?" T.K. reached into the fridge for the bread and peanut butter. She nodded, trying to gauge his reaction. She'd told him about Joe, not elaborating too much since she was still testing the waters. She was curious as to what he was thinking right now.

"I was thinking about taking Mia to the park," T.K. stated, "We'll probably go to Uncle Reggie's afterwards so she can hang out with the twins."

"That's a good idea." She bit her lip, staring at her son. When he was unhappy about something he got really quiet and kept to himself, like he was doing now. "Look, Ty, if you don't want me to see Joe…"

But T.K. shook his head. It wasn't that he minded her going out but being her son, he was always going to be protective. Sure, he had his reservations about Joe being younger than her and he was a wrestler and he'd heard all sorts of stories about how they used women like they were trash. But she seemed to really like this one, so he had to give the guy a chance. For now. "Of course not, Ma. Go ahead, go have fun. And don't worry about Mia either; I'll take care of her."

Sasha returned is smile and gently stroked his head, a gesture that soothed him from the time he was a baby. "I know you will. Thank you, sweetie."

Breakfast with Joe was fun. Sasha liked his dry humor and his interesting stories. She also noted how comfortable he appeared around other people. She guessed it came with what he did for a living. A number of times people came up to him for autographs and pictures and he did it all without a fuss, even though they were cutting into his private time. For a famous person, he seemed very down-to-earth and Sasha admired that.

In the afternoon they hung out at a bar and shot some pool. Joe shook his head morosely as the striped ball belonging to Sasha landed neatly into the left corner pocket of the pool table. "You told me you were crap at this," he grumbled.

Bursting out laughing, Sasha walked around the table. "I said no such thing. I said rusty. Rusty and crap are two different things."

Joe glanced dejectedly at the green surface, his five solid balls having to contend with her solo striped one. She had all but won the game. "Rusty, huh? If this is rusty, I'd hate to see you at your best." He rested his back against the bar, swallowing as she bent over for another turn. The view he had of her was epic; the way her back arched, showing off some of her caramel skin as her shirt rode up a little; her shapely butt sticking out. He loved the red jeans and black jacket on her, they worked exceptionally well together. He didn't think she realized how nice her body was, especially for a mother with two kids – thick in all the right places, especially her ass…He gripped his pool stick to keep himself from doing anything stupid. He already knew she had a feisty side to her, he doubted she would hesitate in tearing him a new one if he tried anything inappropriate.

"Been a while since I played, but I haven't forgot Or maybe you're just that bad and don't want to admit it," Sasha, oblivious to his silent scrutiny, teased him, giggling when he pouted. He looked so cute. She sat on the barstool next to him and accepted the drink he offered her, bobbing her head along to the song playing in the bar as Joe looked on, amused. "What song is this?" he asked, waving his finger.

"Def Leppard, 'Photograph'," she replied, singing aloud and swaying and thoroughly entertaining Joe. "You're a rocker, huh?" He placed his cue against the bar beside him.

Sasha beamed, excitement in her eyes. "Oh, I love it, probably more than any other genre. The classics, the indie stuff. After school, I'd go over to a friend of mine's place and just listen to all his stuff for hours before I went home. He had everything – Def Leppard, U2, Metallica, Guns 'N' Roses, Oasis…awesome times. I like the more recent stuff too – Fall Out Boy, Civil Twilight, Thirty Seconds to Mars."

He didn't expect that from her at all. Colby will love her. "I like rock music too, but not that much. They're great to work out to though. I'm more of an R&B, Hip-Hop kinda guy."

"Oh, I'm big on R&B too. Usher is my man. I had a huge crush on him. Still do, I think," Sasha added with a giggle. "I used to like Hip-Hop and Rap, but it's become so shit these days, with all the auto-tuning and shit. Gets on my nerves. I pretty much listen to everything but Rock is my baby. Real, pure rock music is a dying art, and that makes me sad." She turned towards him, crossing her legs as she did so, not missing the way his eyes trailed her movements. "So, I watched you on YouTube. I mean, you and your group, The Shield," she corrected quickly, for fear of sounding like some sort of voyeur. "My friend showed me the videos."

Joe raised an eyebrow, his lips curled into a smirk. "Oh yeah? So what did you think?"

She doubted there was a kid-friendly version of her true thoughts. "Not bad. Y'all ain't the friendliest bunch," she pointed out, earning a grin from him, "but I was impressed. I do think you need to work on your intensity a little bit more though." She gave him her most serious look. "Like your roar. Make it a little louder, ya know, a little more ferocious. Just some advice from an expert here."

"Okay, I can do that," Joe played along, nodding solemnly. "Any more tips?"

"And your Superman punch…don't get me wrong, it looks great. But it still needs a little tweaking, a little pizzazz, ya know?" Sasha added, "I mean, what's a Superman punch without a cheerleader jump? Do the punch, right, and then follow it up with a jump in the air, like a proper mid-air split. Trust me, it's gonna look so much more badass." She tried to keep her expression as neutral as possible as she met his eyes. She could see Joe struggling to do the same, but it became too much and they both burst out laughing. "Boy, you better not listen to me or your ass will be fired," Sasha warned.

Still laughing, Joe cocked his head to the side in thought. "Maybe I should do the split during a match, just to confuse the hell outta people."

"Well if you get cussed out don't blame me. I will deny any involvement," the mother-of-two warned. "That spear is something else, though. That's a tackle right out of the NFL." She didn't need to ask if he played football. His physique gave him away.

"Funny you should say that. I actually tried out for a few NFL teams, but didn't make it. I did play ball in college and in Canada for a while. What about you? You play any sports?"

"Yeah. I played some basketball and I was on the dance team in high school, but that's about it." She paused to withdraw her vibrating phone from her pocket.

"Everything okay?" Joe took a sip of his beer as he watched her roll her eyes at the text message she was reading.

"Yeah. It's just T.K. checking on me," Sasha smiled fondly.

"What does T.K. stand for? Just curious."

"Tyson Kendrick. He hated the Kendrick name for a long time but started owning up to it when Kendrick Lamar made it cool." Chuckling, she held up her screensaver to Joe. "That's Mia by the way, my little girl. And that's T.K., whom you've already met."

Joe smiled softly at the beaming little girl with the curly afro. "She's beautiful. Just like her mother," he commented, glancing down at the blushing woman.

"You say that to every woman you take out?" she asked, her mouth going dry as she watched his fingers weave through hers. He was looking at her that way again. All intense and serious and sexy and all sorts of tempting.

The Samoan held her gaze, enjoying her reaction to him. "No. Just you."

He was standing incredibly close to her, his imposing stature towering over her seated frame. Usually she would be uncomfortable with the invasion of her space but as far as she was concerned he wasn't close enough. His cologne drifted over to her every time she shifted on the barstool and her knee bumped his thigh. She eyed him closely, butterflies fluttering wildly in her stomach as she anticipated his next move, and found herself somewhat disappointed when he placed a kiss to her knuckles and backed away. She instantly missed his warmth.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." This was another exercise in self-control for Joe. All he wanted to do was lean down and taste those plump, juicy lips of hers, and see if they were as delicious as they looked. But he was determined to keep it slow, just like she'd asked. He didn't want to scare her away, ever.

Later in the evening, Joe took Sasha home. In the car he made sure to leave the radio on the classic rock station and enjoyed how she sang along to practically every song that came on, joining in on the ones he knew. He liked how she seemed to have loosened up around him, and he hoped he would get the chance to see that more often.

"You don't have to keep walking me to the door, you know," Sasha stated when Joe made to open her side of the car.

"Now what kind of gentleman will that make me?" he grinned, helping her out.

"We should play pool again sometime," the mother-of-two wiggled her eyebrows. "I'd love to school your ass one more time," she bragged, wondering if he caught on to her hint. Hoping he did.

If that was an invitation for another date, there was no way was he turning it down. "Hell no. I let you win," Joe scoffed. "Next time I won't be so nice."

A grin spread over her face. "We'll see about that." Can he kiss me now? I promise I won't chicken out this time.

"Oh, we will." Joe took her hands in both of his, looking into her eyes as he drew her closer to him. God I wanna kiss her so bad.

"Hey, Ma!"

Startled, Sasha looked over to see T.K. exiting the apartment complex, effectively ruining whatever moment was about to transpire. "Ty. What are you doing out here? Where's your sister? Is she okay?" she asked, worry replacing the frustration she was feeling.

"She's fine, Ma. She's asleep." He approached slowly, his expression unreadable as he sized up Joe. "Hey." His greeting was half-hearted.

"Hey, what's up, man?" Joe greeted back, instantly sensing the tension emanating from the teenager.

Sasha took one look at her son and immediately knew what this was about. He was here to scare off Joe. This wouldn't be the first time it was happening, and more often than not, it worked. She would be lying if she said she wasn't curious to see if Joe would be any different. Only time would tell.

Joe, to his credit, was the epitome of cool. He didn't seem fazed by T.K.'s presence at all. "You should go inside," he said softly to Sasha. "I'll text you when I get home, alright?" Draping his arm around her, he pressed his lips to her forehead. "Goodnight."

Sasha returned his hug, suddenly feeling like she was in the middle of a Western stand-off. Her anxiety grew when T.K. didn't make a move to follow her. "Ty, are you coming?"

The teen crossed his arms, his jaw clinched. "Go ahead Ma. I'll catch up."

Over her son's shoulder, Sasha searched Joe's eyes, and the big man nodded, telling her it was okay. Hesitant, she glanced back and forth between the two men before heading inside.

T.K. watched his mother go, then turned back to face Joe. His arms were still crossed, his mouth set in a thin, firm line. "Look man, I think you're cool and all, but I'ma cut to the chase." Right now it didn't matter that he was a huge fan of The Shield, or that Joe was a famous wrestler and could easily kick his ass. This was about doing his duty to protect his mother. "I've heard stuff about what wrestlers do with women and all that. Use them then toss them like they're yesterday's trash. That ain't gonna happen with my mom. She isn't some plaything you play with and throw away when you get bored, alright? So if you plan on doing that, I strongly suggest you hop in your ride, drive away and never come back here."

Thrusting his hands in his pockets, the Samoan man tilted his chin, a hint of defiance about him. Sure, the kid was standing his ground, but so could he. "I understand you're looking out for your mom, and of course you should. But I would never do anything to hurt her. I'm not like that," he said sincerely.

If T.K. believed him, he didn't show it. "We'll see about that," he answered coolly. Without another word, he turned his back on the larger man and went back inside the building to join his mother.

A/N: Ooh, Tyson layin' down the law. Do you agree with his actions? What about Joe and Sasha's latest outing? Kindly review!

I was asked about Mia's dad. We'll get to that soon.