A/N: This is for my sweet friend Sue, better known to you readers as sand1128. She is a source of great encouragement to me and is always there for me whenever I need her. Thanks, Sue! Happy Belated Birthday!

"I bit my lip…kiss it better?"

Thirty-two-year-old Lucas Friar decided he was a pretty lucky guy. He had everything he could possibly ever want. He had a wife that he cherished and two perfect kids that he adored. He had a home that just happened to be one of his most favorite places in the world, his grandfather's ranch. He had inherited the place from his Pappy Joe about 4 years ago. When Pappy passed, Lucas had just graduated from vet school and it just seemed natural to return to Texas. Lucas could open a practice right here on the ranch and tend to other places in the area. It was hard for him to leave New York City, it had been his home for 15 years. He never figured he'd be in the city that long, but when a piece of your heart is there it's hard to leave. He was lucky that she'd follow him anywhere, though.

Riley Matthews-Friar was a city girl through and through. She loved everything about the city. But she loved Lucas more. When his Pappy had died and left him the ranch that he loved so much, there was no choice to make, they were packing up and moving to Texas. She had been to Texas many times over the years and loved the wide-open spaces. She loved everything about the ranch. She still couldn't believe that it belonged to her and Lucas now. They were truly blessed. They married before Lucas started vet school, 8 years ago and had two children, 6-year-old daughter, Josette Augusta and 4-year-old son, Cory James. Josie and CJ kept them busy, but Riley wouldn't have it any other way. Her family was her life.

On this particular day, Lucas had decided to take the day off from his practice and take care of some things that needed to be done on the ranch. He had left the house on horseback just after the school bus had picked up his daughter. He had walked with her to the gates of the ranch and waited. It was something they did every morning. His mother was in town visiting for the week and was going to spend the day in Austin with CJ and that left Riley to get some writing done for the online magazine she wrote for.

Lucas decided to ride his horse, King because he very seldom ever got to ride anymore. He was going to vaccinate some calves that had just been born. He rode the fence while he was out, looking for areas that might need to be repaired. He'd stop every so often and check a post to make sure it was holding. He had dressed in a pair of jeans and short sleeve shirt, thinking early spring weather wouldn't be too hot. But the sun was beating down on him and he was sweating already. He had called one of his ranch hands to come meet him and to help him hold the calves while administering the vaccines.

Once the job was done the ranch hand went back to his chores and Lucas went to check on some of the goats and to fix a gate on the goat barn. He had gotten so hot that he unbuttoned his shirt and let it hang open. He decided to walk over to the pond and let King get some water and Lucas would splash a little on his face to cool down. After they visited the pond, Lucas decided to take a rest before heading back to the house. Riley would have lunch ready and he had promised to eat with her. He was leaning against the fence post, and petting King's nose and he was nudging Lucas. He loved this horse and didn't get to give him near as much attention as he'd like. Lucas took out his phone and tried taking a picture with King. He was nuzzling his neck and Lucas couldn't help but laugh. He grabbed the reigns and was going to get back on the horse for the ride back to the house but, as he put his foot in the stirrup, he lost his balance and fell to the ground. He hit the ground so hard that he bit his lip and could feel a little blood trickle down his chin. He got up, wiped himself off and tried again. He made it up on the horse this time. He could feel the heat of embarrassment on his face and ears. Granted, there was no one around to see, but it was embarrassing, nonetheless. He wiped at the blood with the back of his hand and set off for home. He could feel his lip start to swell and it was throbbing.

Riley had been able to get some writing done with the house quiet. She managed to fix her and Lucas some BLT's and had chips and lemonade to go with it. She was getting worried about where he was. He promised to be there and it wasn't like him to go back on a promise. Just as she picked up her cell phone to call him she heard him outside asking one of the hands to take his horse. She walked to the back door and opened it or him.

He kissed her on the cheek, "Sorry I'm late, babe. Got caught up just spending some time with King."

"You and that horse. I bet he enjoyed himself. I think you both needed a good long ride." She said, he went to wash up and change into a t-shirt. He was surprised Riley didn't notice his fat lip, she always noticed things like that.

"So, what's for lunch? I'm starving." Lucas asked.

"Well, I thought BLT's sounded good, I didn't feel like cooking much since it's so warm outside," Riley informed him. "I have chips and made some lemonade and there is still some of that chocolate cake your mom made for dessert last night."

They ate in silence, and when they were done eating Lucas got up to take his plate and clear it and put it in the dishwasher. They cleared the table and cleaned up what mess there was. Lucas reached in the freezer and got an ice pack to put on his lip, as it was still swollen. Riley noticed this and asked, "Lucas what happened to your lip that you need an ice pack?"

He played it up a bit to get some sympathy from her. "Oh, I was a bit clumsy and fell as I was trying to get back on my horse, missed the stirrup. When I went down I bit my lip and now it's swollen," he said with a pouty face.

"Let me look at it? Maybe I can help. CJ thinks I have the magic touch when it comes to ouchies." she told him.

"Riley I'm not CJ and I'm not 4 years old. You can't kiss it and make it all better, but if my momma were here, she'd know just what to do," he told her.

"Ask me," Riley said.

"Ask you what?" Lucas asked.

"Ask me to make it better. What did you do to your lip?" Riley told him.

"I bit my lip...kiss it better? Lucas asked. He felt silly, but he wanted to see what she was up to.

Riley took a long hard look at his lip, she made him lean against the counter so that he was a bit shorter and she could get a good look. She finally took her eyes off the injury and looked in his eyes. She was smiling when she placed a hand on either side of his face. Just like on the subway all those years ago, she placed a gentle kiss on his lips, she was careful of his injury.

"Is that better, Friar?" she asked.

"No. I think you need to kiss it again, it still hurts," he said with a sly smile.

"Well, I'll just have to try that again, won't I?" she said. She leaned in again and gave him another gentle kiss. She was about to pull away when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him.

He kissed her back and pulled away. With his eyes on her lips and his forehead against hers, he said, "you can't stop now, it's starting to feel better."

There was a wicked grin on his face. She bit her bottom lip and said, "Well, if it's feeling better then you don't need me to kiss it anymore."

He started running his hands up and down her back and bent down to nibble on her neck. He knew what buttons to push.

She put her arms around his neck and started playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. She used her fingernails to scratch him a little and he moaned into her. As he pulled away, she wasted no time in capturing his lips in another kiss, trying to be mindful of the spot where he had bitten himself.

Lucas ran his tongue along her bottom lip, wanting to deepen the kiss. She let him. They eventually had to part as the need for air won out.

"That was some kiss, Friar. I don't think that lip hurts as bad as you let on." She said.

"I aim to please, Matthews, even when injured." he said sounding pleased with himself.

"That's Matthews-Friar, my dear. But you can just call me Friar." she reminded him. She was enjoying standing there in his arms but, knew he needed to get back to work and looked at her watch. "It's past one, don't you need to head back out. I remember you saying that you had a list of things a mile long that you needed to take care of today. Josie will be upset if you're not here when she gets home and that's only three hours away."

"Well, when I came in I found two ranch hands that didn't seem to have anything better to do than taking a nap in the hayloft of the barn. I pulled that list out of my pocket and crossed off the things I got done and asked the two of them to take care of it for me." He said, sounding pleased with himself. "Besides, I decided I wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon with my beautiful wife if she's free. What do you say, Mrs. Friar?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh, I'm free but it depends on what you have in mind. I was going to use the afternoon for a nap after someone kept me up late last night."

He looked at her with a devilish grin, "I didn't hear you complain about it?"

She could feel the heat in her cheeks, "I never will, either. But how about we just have a good old-fashioned make-out session on the couch? I think we have a copy of The Cuddle Bunnies around here somewhere. It can be just like when we were in high school, minus the homework of course. My father is nowhere around either."

He smiled as a million memories went rushing through his mind, "Well, since my boots are safe, I'm in. But for old time sake can we watch an episode or two?"

She couldn't help but laugh at the hopeful look on his face. "Proof positive that you were way more into this show than I was. I just wish Zay and Farkle could hear you right now."

"Well, they aren't here and would never believe it anyway." he said, very sure of himself.

They went into the living room and Riley found the old worn out copy of The Cuddle Bunnies and put in the DVD player. Lucas removed his boots and propped his feet up on the couch. She sat next to him with the remote in hand and hit play. They made it through the first episode and just like when they were in high school, they got lost in each other halfway through the second one.

At some point, sleep won out over everything else. Lucas' mother returned to the ranch with CJ. She spotted the two of them asleep wrapped in each other's arms. She pulled a throw off the back of the couch while CJ gave his momma and daddy each a kiss.

Lucas woke just as CJ was kissing his cheek. The little boy smiled at his daddy and put his finger to his lips and said, "Shhhh daddy, you and momma need to rest, Memaw is going to take care of me and sissy, so go back to sleep. Love you!"

Lucas looked at his son, the spitting image of Riley, except the green eyes that matched his own and whispered, "thanks, buddy. Love you, too." He closed his eyes, snuggled into Riley and fell back to sleep, knowing all was right with the world.