"Can you drop me off on your way to the office? I'm running late." Kiara asked Khari as she searched for her phone charger.

"Yeah, I got you. Here's your jean jacket, you left it on the back of the bathroom door." Khari said as he handed Kiara her jacket and fixed his tie. The two were running extremely late and Kiara had two exams today and Khari had interviews back to back for publicity for his publish company. Khari began to brush his beard and then twist his hair with his sponge brush, he grew to like his hair being long. Kiara grabbed her back pack and zipped her hoodie up and slipped her jean jacket on. The weather was bipolar for the past two weeks, last week Kiara needed a coat then out of nowhere she needed just a hoodie and jean jacket. But she didn't mind because it was March almost April meaning soon she'd be graduating college, all she wanted to do was travel, hopefully open her photography studio and live her life debt free which still till this day she was grateful to be able to do, due to her full scholarship. Khari and Kiara rushed out of Kiara's apartment and down to the car. As soon as they got in Khari sped off quickly taking Kiara to her college campus, once reaching their destination Khari kissed her goodbye.

"You got this baby, go get that A. Khari encouraged as Kiara walked into her building. Khari got back in and pulled off. He glanced down at the time and back at the rode next pressing the break as he came in contact with a student. Last thing he needed was to be in court paying for someone's college debt.

"My fault man, you good?" Khari asked as he hopped out the car.

"Yeah I'm straight." Darien said as he looked up at Khari next rolling his eyes. "Great, first you steal my girl now you tryna steal my life?" Darien scoffed making Khari roll his eyes, already becoming annoyed.

"I didn't steal her." Khari shrugged. "If you don't mind, I have a meeting to attend to." Khari said dismissing Darien, getting back into his car. Usually Khari would have a smart and witty remark but today he wasn't in the mood to battle insults. He just wanted to get his meeting over with and get to his dads house for a small get together. His dad and Courtney sometimes threw these nice dinners just to catch up with family when things got a little hectic in everyone's lives which for Khari's, his was spinning, he didn't think owning two businesses was gonna be this damn difficult. As Khari drove he spoke to his father on the phone.

"So I finally get to meet this Kiara girl you've been so sprung over? She must be something because you, you never been so damn serious about anything in your life." Jean rambled on about his son's new girlfriend, Jean never thought Khari could stay committed to one girl for this long and honestly he was surprised yet proud. "What makes her so different?" Jean asked.

"Because she just is pop, you'll see when you meet her tonight. She's not like Julia or any other female I've dealt with. I think you'll like her." Khari told his dad as he turned down the street his interview was taken place. Thankfully it wasn't too far from Kiara's school. He found a parking spot and sat in the car until it was time for him to go. Armani met him in the lobby of the radio station and the two walked in together.

"So what time does dinner start at your dad's" she asked as types away on her phone.

"4 but you know, we run in Haitian time so 6." Khari told Armani as she laughed.

"Who you texting anyway? You real serious." Khari asked as he looked her over.

"Troy, we're trying to figure out what we're doing for our date night."

"Wait, huh?" Khari asked getting taken aback by the statement. "Y'all together now? Damn I owe Kiki 20 dollars." Khari said in disappointment.

"Excuse me?" Armani questioned.

"Don't worry about it. You got 20 dollars I can have?" Khari asked.

"You a damn millionaire and don't have 20 dollars? What a damn shame."

"I do, I just don't wanna use MY 20 dollars." Khari admitted.

"Time for you to go on air." Armani pointed to the radio booth. Khari walked in and sat in the seat across from the interviewer and began the conversation. The man asked questions reagarding Khari's magazine and new upcoming business, they even cracked some jokes. After the interview Khari had one more and then a meeting.

After 3 hours of running around the city Khari made it back home and collapsed on his couch. He took a 30 minute nap until it was time to pick Kiara up from school. He changed out of his tie and professional attire and changed into a pair of camouflage cargo pants, a black graphic tee and paired it with a camouflage hat. He added some sneakers and headed out to get Kiara. Once he pulled up he chilled in the car with his music on low and scrolled through his social media. He looked up seeing Kiara walking out with Darien, his mind went back to this morning and it began to upset him. Khari got out of the car and walked to the passenger side to open Kiara's door.

"Yeah, I got it, thank you again for the help, I really do appreciate it." Kiara said with a smile.

"No problem, you know that if you need anything I got you. Just let me know." Darien said flashing a smile and reaching to hold her hand. Khari quickly grabbed it and held it tightly next pulling her closer to him. "You ready mama." He asked kissing her head.

"Yeah, lets go, I'm starving." Kiara said. Khari opened the car door and watched as she climbed in. He closed the door behind her and battled looks with Darien.

"Don't touch my girl again, heard me?" Khari threatened.

"Yeah okay." Darien scoffed and walked off. Khari got in beside Kiara and didn't say anything, he just started the car up and began to drive off.

"So I passed my exam. I should be able to get my results for my second one tomorrow morning." Kiara squealed in excitement.

"Thats good mama." Khari said dryly. As he kept his eyes on the road. Usually Khari wasn't the jealous type but when it came to Kiara he was completely different, he didn't like seeing other men drool over her but he knew it was the price he had to pay for having such a beautiful women beside him. But he definitely didn't like that Darien was trying his hardest to get back into Kiara's life especially after he told her he didn't want anything to do with her. Kiara scrunched her face up to the dry statement mostly because just this morning Khari was rooting for her to pass and instilled so much confidence into her and now it was just "That's good baby?" Kiara didn't like it at all.

"How was your interviews and meetings, I know you were pretty stressed out about them. Did everything go well?" Kiara asked, fishing for something more.

"They were good." Khari dryly responded again. Kiara chuckled at him once he answered dryly once more.

"Okay, what's wrong with you?" Kiara asked.

"Nothing." Khari dryly spoke again.

"Fine, just take me home then." Kiara crossed her arms and sat back in the seat.

"Whatever you want, I got you." Khari mocked Darien. Kiara caught on and laughed to herself.

"You serious? You're mad because I asked for help on a simple math problem? Khari hes good at math!" Kiara said.

"Naw, I'm mad because the nigga had the audacity to reach out to you after he said he ain't want shit to do with you and then he tried to hold your hand, fuck outta here yo." Khari told her.

"I'm confused, are you upset with me or him?"

"Both, he obviously still got feelings for you Kiki, damn I should've ran his ass over this morning." Khari stated.

"You were about to what? Khari, the hell is wrong with you!" She exclaimed.

"It was by accident, but shit." He shrugged.

"You deadass right now?" Kiara asked in shock, she'd never seen him like this and honestly she didn't like it. Khari didn't say anything he just kept driving. "You're jealous because I was getting help with something and because he tried to grab my hand? I don't get jealous when you're doing your little spoken words and these little thots be drooling all over you, do I? No because at the end of the damn night I know I'm the one laying beside ya ass every night.• Kiara told him.

"He still walking around calling you his girl and shit."

"When did he ever say that?"

"This morning! This morning when I almost hit him with my damn car! Kiki he still loves you! He's gonna do whatever the hell he can to get closer to you, to be around you! Any damn thing. Ain't that nigga in medical school? The fuck he helping you with business marketing for, he need to be worried about saving old men and shit not trying to help build your sales." Khari stated. Kiara was silent, not because he was right but because she just didn't want to argue anymore. "Listen just chalk it. Just pay attention to his vibes. Let's just forget about it and go chill with my folks." Khari said setting his hand onto Kiara's thigh. Kiara nodded her head and stayed silent for the rest of the ride. She just couldn't believe how jealous and worked up he got over a simple statement that held no weight to Kiara at all.

They drove to Khari's dads home and Khari got out to open Kiara's door like usual. He grabbed her hand and they walked in hand and hand. Kiara let go of his hand and slid her hands in her pockets. Khari looked over at her as he could tell she was still annoyed with the argument they had earlier in the car. Khari placed his hand on Kiara's back as they approached Jean and Courtney.

"Heyy." Courtney exclaimed as she saw Khari, next hugging him.

"Hey, how you been? You don't like talking to me no more." Khari joked with Courtney. He hadn't talked to his stepmom in a while and if anyone knew him they knew how close him and Courtney were, she was always there for him when it came to situations with his mom and dad, school, relationships, anything.

"Boy you stopped calling me so shut up." Courtney teased she then shifted her attention to Kiara who was standing beside Khari silently. "And you must be the infamous Kiara, Khari talks so much about you!" Courtney told her as she pulled her into a hug causing Kiara to hug her back as well, honestly Kiara wasn't expecting that at all but it felt nice. Deep down Kiara was nervous to meet Khari's family but she didn't show she was anxious. "Hi, nice to meet you." Kiara exclaimed. Kiara and Courtney released from their hug and Kiara was met face to face with Jean.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jean, Khari's dad." Jean said with his hand out waiting for Kiara to shake it, Kiara did so and added a smile. So far she felt welcomed and that's all she was worried about. "Tell me about yourself." Jean said as he began to walk to the living room to sit on the couch, Kiara followed behind him and the two began to talk. Khari walked into the kitchen meeting with Langston and Courtney, who was preparing the food. Khari and Langston dapped each other and Khari sat on the bar stool that was in the kitchen letting out a sigh and pulling out his phone.

"What's wrong with you?" Courtney asked as she put the burner down.

"What does it mean if you get jealous?" Khari asked, he felt Ike a little kid asking his older brother and mom the simple question. Langston let out a snicker but quickly became serious once he realized Khari was serious.

"It can mean two things, you're either insecure and you don't like what you have or are, or, you care for someone so much you're afraid of losing them." Courtney told him. "I know you're not insecure so what happened. I saw her take her hand away from you when y'all walked in, so what happened before y'all walked through that door."

"We got into an argument, her ex been stepping his boundaries and I'm not feeling it, he specifically said to her that he ain't want shit to do with her and now he coming outta nowhere tryna get back in her life. All I did was tell her to watch his moves." Khari blurted out.

"I mean to be fair, you liked his girl, flirted with her, fought for her, bought her home, bought her stuff then to top it off, you kissed her, on New Years Eve, so really." Langston stated.

"No one asked for your input." Khari spat at him as he began to feel salty.

"Now just get mad at me because YOU made ole dude mad, but okay." Langston said putting his arms up in surrender.

"Khari, you have to realize, this is basically your first time falling in love with someone, so things that never bothered you before will bother you now because you actually love someone now, it's normal, just remind yourself that she's all yours at the end of the day. Does she do anything that make you think she'll leave you for him? No. Does she bring negative energy around you? No. She's pure and that's something you just have to get used to." Courtney told him, just hearing Courtney say that he was falling in love with Kiara made his heart flutter. He didn't think he was and he didn't want to think he did, especially not now, it seemed way too early to fall in love, they've only been together for 2 almost 3 months and he didn't want to get so attached because he knew once he did, there was no going back to normal.

"Falling in love? I'm not falling in love. You bugging." Khari refused to admit his feelings. Langston and Courtney gave Khari and knowing look and Khari began to sink down into his seat, he knew Courtney was right he just didn't want to believe that he was falling in love. "I can't fall in love though, it's way too early for that, right? Right?" Khari searched for closure.

"There's no time limit on love baby, if you love her then you love her. But the first step to loving someone is to accept the fact that you do."

"I know I do, it's just.." Khari began.

"He's afraid of getting attached. Every time he gets attached to something or someone, it never works out for him." Langston told Courtney. "Am I right?" Langston said glancing over at Khari, Khari shook his head.

"Listen, one thing I know is, you can't let anything good happen for you if you're just gonna keep blocking things out. Let your heart and your mind love that girl and trust me she'll return it back." Courtney told him. "But as far as her ex, don't pay that man no mind, he's still hurting and that's okay, just watch out for Kiata, make sure she's okay, he's gonna do everything he can to get under your skin, just don't let him." Courtney said as she went back to cooking. Right on cue, Jean and Kiara came into the kitchen laughing and talking.

"I like her, she's funny." Jean said as he pat Khari on the back. Kiara came to Khari's side and kept quiet, she wasn't upset about the argument just more upset that Khari snapped the way he did.

"Can I talk to you real quick?" Khari said looking down at her. She didn't say anything. Khari excused them and took her hand and walked her to the guest bedroom that was down the hall. He shut the door behind them and Kiara sat on the bed. Khari rubbed his hands over his face and began to speak.

"I'm sorry." He started. "I just.." he didn't know how to break it down but he knew what he wanted to say. "I honestly don't wanna lose you and seeing him try to touch you pissed me off, he still has feelings for you and deep down inside I don't know if you still do, it was just seeing you with him.."

"Khari I don't have feelings for him, I have feelings for you and only you. He's not gonna get back with me even if he wanted to, I left him because I lost feelings. I love you." Kiara said. Her eyes widened and she realized what she said as soon as she said it. Kiara was surprised at her honesty, she was more afraid of letting another man get close to her the way she let Prince do and she was more afraid because she knew Khari wasn't going to hurt her but she was scared that she'd hurt him.

"You do?" Khari asked, his heart raced and he fought back his smile. Kiara nodded. "I love you too mama." Khari said pulling her into a hug, Khari teared up for a minute because he didn't think she felt the same way as he did but finding out she did was a different kind of happy that he didn't want lose.

"Are you crying?" Kiara laughed as she looked over his face.

"Yeah, cus I was just talking to Langston and Courtney about how I thought it was too early to say that I loved you but now I see there's no time limit on it, I really just depends on the persons feelings and how their significant other makes them feel and honestly you make me happy." Khari told Kiara. Kiara wiped his tears and held his face to kiss him. She knew Khari could be a big baby but she didn't think like this, she didn't mind it though. The two walked out and met everyone at the dinner table, when they came out Armani was already at the house and Kiara hugged her. Khari was still in shock that his girlfriend and best friend were sisters but he liked it but he knew Armani was gonna be all up in their business.

""So Kiara, were you from?" Langston asked as he dug into his food.

"From Harlem. My moms Indian and my dads black." Kiara told him.

"Oh that's cool and you and Mani are sisters?"

"Half sisters, my mom married her dad and boom, I got a sister." Kiara told him, she was hoping no one asked about her relationship with her parents, yes her and her mother were getting better slowly, but she had yet to ask her the one question of what happened to her dad. Kiara always wondered what her father looked like and acted like. She wondered if she ever looked like him in any way.

"So Khari hows everything with the new business?" Jean asked him.

"Isn't this night supposed to be a night where we don't talk about business? How's life going father? Have you bought a new car or anything?" Khari asked sarcastically causing Langston and Nevaeh to laugh.

"Boy, don't get smacked." Jean threatened. Khari rolled his eyes and continued to eat, sometimes he wished he could just have a regular conversation with his dad other than it having to be about business, they'll have regular talks but they'd always end up talking about money and the magazine. Kiara saw that Khari was growing annoyed and decided to help him out.

"He's actually doing pretty good, I mean sometimes it gets difficult but he's smart so he always figures things out, it wouldn't be a job if there weren't any bumps in the road. But he's been doing pretty well, he just found some readers and editors for the company as well." Kiara spoke highly of her man. Khari reached under the table and held her hand. He brought it up and kissed the back of it, symbolizing his gratitude to helping him.

"That's good. I just wanted to make sure he had everything under control, you know, in case I needed to step in." Jean said as he cut his chicken.

"Nah I'm good." Khari grew more annoyed.

"Every once in a while you ask me to help out and I end up taking over the whole project."

"I don't ask you for help, you look for problems and attempt to fix them. No one ever asked for you help pop, you choose to help." Khari spat not realizing his tone got louder.

"Watch ya tone." Jean threatened. Khari got silent and Kiara knew it was because he was obeying dad, she knew how bad Khari's temper could get and how smart his mouth could get. She gripped his hand tighter to help calm him down.

"So Nevaeh, you're a sneaker head?" Kiara asked trying to change the topic and make things lighter.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Khari told me, he thinks you have better shoes than me, I told him I'll accept that as a challenge." Playfully challenged the young girl.