Hey yaaaaaalllll, here it is, chapter two as promised. What do you think?


"Oooh wow, you guys laid on her bed and cuddled, you really made the move," Joey teased his slightly taller brother sarcastically. "She must be so … satisfied."

"Fuck you," Trevor laughed, he turned to his sister-in-law, Jen, "how do you deal with this fool?"

Jen laughed as she ran her arm down the bedding, getting rid of the creases after Trevor made it up. "He's just teasing you and anyway, he has no right to speak, your brother moved slower than an iceberg when we met. If Olivia communicated that she wanted to take her time getting to know you for all that she's been through then, I really think you've done the right thing."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Joey turned his cap backwards as they headed back downstairs. "For real though, I am looking forward to meeting her."

"That's fine but please, can you guys just not ambush her, I don't want her to feel like she's been set up to meet the family. Just… be cool."

"Well, I am baking a loaf of bread for you guys, so I can come and drop it off while it's still warm. And what are you doing for dinner Trevor?"

"I thought I'd have a barbecue. I bought some hot dog buns and a little bit of steak"

"We have meat from the steers, Trev, I told you not to buy anything," Joey rolled his eyes at his brother's inability to reconcile the animals they had on their farm going to slaughter and the ones that were sold in the freezer aisle of the store.

"I don't eat the meat from your animals, Joe, I'm not going through this again. We named them, we don't eat them. What you do with your cattle is your business, but I don't want to eat it. Just leave it alone," he snapped with irate. "Okay guys," he sighed, feeling a little stressed out, "you guys are making me unnecessarily anxious," he looked at Jen, "Joey, actually, no offence to you," he looked at his brother, "so can you just leave me alone. I will be fine, Olivia and Noah will be fine, we'll probably go swimming, I'll show them around, you can come and say hello but don't harass us and do not embarrass me or I will come in to your house in your sleep and make you regret it."

Joey couldn't help but to laugh at how breathless and nervous his brother was. "Just chill out, bro," he continued to chuckle which was frustrating to Trevor, "we're not having the queen here, it's just your casual girlfriend who you hold hands with and cuddle."

"Fuck off, Joe, I'm not in the mood."

"Joey," his wife reproached him, "leave your brother alone, come on, you promised the kids you'd take them in to town so they can spend some of their allowance."

"Alrighty, have fun lil brother," Joey continued, enjoying stirring up his little brother, ruffling his hair and jumping out of the way with laughter as Trevor want to swipe him. He waved as Trevor opened the door without a word, doing everything but pushing them out.

/

"We're almost here, honey, I promise," Olivia told her son. It was one of the longest trips they'd taken by car and he was looking almost-green from car-sickness. They'd stopped twice so she could clean him up after he'd vomited on himself with very little notice given.

She drove along the dirt road, slowing right down until she saw the old-fashioned milk-tin mailbox with the farm number on it. She turned up the drive and kept going for a short while while her son whimpered. "Mommyyy, I wanna get out," he moaned.

"Are you going to be sick again?," she asked over her shoulder, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. "Because we'll be there with Trevor in about three minutes and you can get out and get some air."

He shook his head but shrugged.

"Okay, promise its just down this road," she was frustrated with herself for allowing her son to have a milkshake not too long before they'd left. She should have known better.

It was a long stretch of drive-way, if she could call it such - that finally unraveled a beautiful, green farm with two huge houses and a small, more compact one, almost like a tiny apartment. She could see cows in the distance and barn and other animal pens.

"Look babe, look at all the cows," she pointed, hoping to take Noah's attention away from how rotten he was feeling for the moment.

She spotted Trevor out side of a huge, beautiful looking home that was further away down the drive, the second farm that he'd explained he'd bought after his parents passed. He looked up from a fire pit that he'd made in the front yard that just a short distance from a huge veranda. It was already burning away. He threw another log on it and waved her toward him. She kept driving until she got close.

He grinned at her, coming to meet her at her window. She pressed the window button.

He looked hot, she thought, not being able to help but be a little stunned by his plaid flannel shirt, faded jeans and boots. He wore a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses to protect his eyes from the beating, hot sun.

"Hi baby," he greeted her. He waved at Noah in the back harnessed in to his seat. "So nice to see your faces!"

"Hi," she couldn't contain her happiness to see him. As he leaned in, she lifted his cap so that she could kiss him. "You're looking very…" she paused, letting her eyes linger over his soft, pale pink lips, "very gorgeous."

He chuckled at her compliment. "You are too," he replied, "why don't you pull up just beside my truck and I'll come and help you with Noah and your things."

"Okay," he kissed her again, this time his kiss lingered a little longer and she felt his hand giving her arm a little squeeze.

She couldn't help but feel relieved to see his face, remembering how he had held her until she'd fallen asleep the night before. It had been a wonderful night's sleep and she wasn't sure what to expect for their sleeping arrangements, what she even wanted but she imagined that she would let the day dictate how she felt and be open about it with him to find out if they were on the same page.

He pulled away from her and let her drive the short distance to his Ford Pick-Up. "Mommy are we getting out now?" Noah asked.

"Yes babe, give me two seconds," she halted the car and pulled the handbrake up and turned off the ignition. Trevor was already at the backdoor, opening up Noah's side. Olivia was grateful. She took her time, getting her things together and taking a breath. She hated driving through city traffic and was a slightly anxious driver, worried about going the wrong way and driving through the mountains, she had been a little stressed most of the way.

She got out of the car, and caught a glance of her little boy wrapped around Trevor, hugging him. "Sorry, he's not feeling very we-" her sentence was clipped by Noah giving one tiny little wretch as what felt like a lot of vomit came flowing from his mouth and down Trevor's neck, shoulder and back.

"Uhhh-"

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she looked on horrified. "Trevor I'm-"

"Its okay," he said quickly as Noah let out a loud wail, thinking that he was in trouble. "Its okay," he repeated, to both of them. "It's just my clothes, it'll be okay," he consoled Olivia.

She wondered how he was able to have such a strong stomach that Noah's hot, milk vomit didn't seem to phase him too much. "Here, I'll take him,"

"Liv, I already have the vomit on me, why make you bathe in it too, love," he gave her a smile to show her that it was okay. And it really was okay, he was used to cleaning up animal shit and waste, he'd developed a strong stomach over the years.

"Well, where can I get you a cloth or something?"

"No, its okay," he shook his head, "Noah, bud, I'm gonna have to put you down for one second and then I'm gonna pick you up again and bring you inside with Mom and we can wash your face and your hands and maybe we can put you in the bath or something if Mom thinks that's a good idea."

Noah sobbed loudly, but he was nodding in agreement. Trevor set him down and quickly shedded the flannel and used it to wipe the back of his neck. He tossed it to the ground with zero regard for it and glanced at Liv, "Sweetheart, you look so upset, don't worry about it, I'm not upset. You just made him sit in the car for three hours, we'll both get cleaned off and then maybe have something very light to eat and some water and perhaps a little lay down." He scooped Noah back up.

Olivia picked the shirt up from the ground. "Come on, follow me inside,"

They headed in to what was a beautifully decorated home. "I know what you're thinking, its nice right?" He remarked watching her eyes dart around, as he watched her eyes dart around the country-living style decor and furniture. "I didn't decorate, Jen, my sister-in-law did, I'm really bad at that stuff. Come on, come upstairs."

"It's really nice," she replied, for whatever reason she expected the house to look more like a shack, but it was already such a well-established beautiful home that didn't feel sterile or unliveable. It was warm and clean and family-ready. Not at all like the bachelor pad she imagined.

She followed him with Noah who looked comfortable resting his head on Trevor's shoulder, his arms wrapped around him, his tiny body, shivering with sobs. "Honey, it's okay, we'll get you cleaned up and now that we're out of the car, you'll feel a lot better, I promise," Olivia soothed him.

"How was he the rest of the way?"

"He vomited an hour and a half in to the drive," Olivia informed him, "so this will be his second change today, poor little thing, I didn't even think that he might get car sick. I'll have to get something for him on the way home."

Trevor nodded as he led her down a long hallway and in to a bathroom. She smiled, it was pristine and the tub was so big that her little boy would be easily swallowed up. Trevor set him down on the basin. He had already put towels and wash cloths out for his guests.

"Hey bud, you did such a good job at not vomiting on yourself!" Trevor grinned at him, "you just got me, great aim."

Noah just nodded again, a big pout crossing his face. He reached across and wiped his own tears with the back of his arm. "I can fix Noah up, you're okay." Olivia tried to step in but Trevor was adamant about taking care of it.

"You can just wipe my neck for me when I'm done here, if you can…" he wet the washcloth and helped Noah clean his face and chin and anywhere that had any remnants of sick.

"Do you think you'd like to have something to eat in front of the television for a little while?" Trevor asked him.

Noah nodded, "yes," he murmured. "Yes please."

He smiled at the little boy, "Such good manners," he remarked. Olivia took the cloth from him and rinsed it. Trevor ducked down just slightly so that she could clean the tiny spatter of vomit from the back of his neck, making sure to get it with soap. She noticed as she dragged the cloth slow over him that it caused gooseflesh on his arms.

"Ya like that, huh?," she teased him, running her hand over his forearm.

He laughed, a little bashful. "It doesn't feel awful, baby, not gonna lie," he grinned back at her over his shoulder.

She smiled and let go of him, going back to rinsing the cloth. "So, how about I get you the crackers and some water that I have for you and you can watch the television and Mom and I can bring some bags and things in the house."

"Okay Trev," he replied in a small voice, his tears had dried up.

He helped him off the sink and Olivia put the cloth out so that it would dry and they both headed back down the stoop.

/

"Thanks for sorting Noah out and for not freaking out when he puked, how embarrassing…"

"Liv…" Trevor sighed as they got to the front stoop with her bags, "stop apologising for Noah, he's your son, you should never feel apologetic for him, he is always going to be your number one priority and you have raised him to be a really sweet little boy and not only that, but him feeling sick and vomiting is not your fault and it's certainly not his."

He lifted what looked to be a heavy bag from her shoulder and placed it over his own. "Thanks," she murmured, a little stunned at his kindness. She followed him back upstairs and down the end of the hall to a bedroom that had a double bed with a bath towel and a few cloths and a fresh cake of soap.

"This is so sweet, did your sister-in-law do this too?"

"No, Olivia," he glanced at her cocking his head, "I'm not useless you know, I've been living on my own for at least 25 or so years, I know how to lay amenities out… but you didn't even see the other stuff…"

He pointed to the dresser. She turned around and felt her smile grow in to a grin and her heart began to soar, "Oh my goodness, are they for me?"

"Of course," he replied, going to the dresser to pick up the bouquet he'd put together on his morning walk, "they're wild flowers near the river that I picked when I went for a walk with Lila this morning," He handed them to her and watched her smell them, looking delighted and grateful.

"You walked the horse?," she laughed, "you didn't ride her?"

Trevor laughed too, "Really, Liv? That's your take-away? I get picked you some gorgeous flowers and you're busy teasing me because I led the horse around so I could use her as a pack animal for all the flowers…"

She laughed but softened immediately, "they are really beautiful, thank you, I love them. That was really thoughtful. This house is beautiful…"

"I don't want to assume, so I set you up with your own room, there's a room next door for Noah or I don't know, maybe he'll sleep with you and I'm at the other end of the hall," he felt the need to explain.

"Okay, well… can I see your room?," she asked coyly looking up at him as she set the bouquet down in a vase that he had filled with water beside it.

"Of course, maybe we can have a snuggle before bed again," he remarked, waiting patiently for her to arrange the flowers. He felt pleased that she liked them. He took her hand and showed her down the hall, nervous electricity filled the silence between them save for the clomping of his boots on the hardwood floors.

Olivia entered his room and looked around at the well lit space complete with a well cushioned reading nook at the bay window that looked out over the property. "Wow, this is beautiful… please tell me you read by this window otherwise it's a space that's wasted."

Trevor loved her enthusiasm. "Okay, it's probably a wasted space, I don't exactly fit there comfortably, I'm six feet and five inches, Liv, but its okay, you can read here. I'll bring you coffee, it'll be nice."

She met him in the middle of the room. "How would you feel if maybe I shared a bed with you at some stage?" She rested her hands on the slightly dusty white- t-shirt he was wearing.

"Mmmm," he rose an eyebrow, "I like that idea very, very, very much." He leaned over, sliding his arms around her shoulders and drawing her close.

"You know…" she began, "its very rude to wear a cap inside the house," she finished, reaching up and lifting it from his head to reveal severe hat hair. She laughed, "wow, wild curls, I did not see that coming," she tossed it on the bed behind him. He didn't say a word, he leaned in for a kiss, opening her mouth with his own, sliding his tongue in deftly. It was just what Olivia didn't know that she needed.

She slipped her fingers through the belt loop of his faded jeans and gripped them tight, pulling his hips against her own. "Mmm," he groaned from the back of his throat, it was quiet, but she didn't miss it and it did not bother her. She felt his tongue massaging against hers, setting her nerves on fire, making her feel stirring in her lower stomach that she hadn't felt in far too long.

His grip got a little tighter but he slowed his kiss down a little, capturing her lower lip between his before letting go and kissing her again and again, trying to control himself. Olivia let her eyes open as they parted. She looked at him with a dreamy expression and it made him feel light and wonderful and at ease with where they were at now that they'd broken down the barrier.

He smoothed down her navy tank top, letting his hands slide down her arms, caressing her bare skin. "We should go back downstairs and keep our eye and ear out for Noah."

"Yeah… and I know you have things to do—" she replied.

"I do, but I want to help you guys settle in first. Once Noah feels better, I was thinking you guys might like to come down to the cow corral. I've got an enclosure for the calves and I've got another beautiful cow that's ready to calf, so I just want to make sure its fox-proofed before it gets dark but apart from that I am at your and Noah's every whim,"

"I can't wait to see the rest of the place," she remarked, "its beautiful, really…"

"Jen, my sister in law said that if you feel like, you guys could pick some berries, they always end up with way too much so it'd almost be doing them a favour."

"Oooh," Liv smiled. "I love berries…I think Noah would really like that. Am I gonna get to meet your brother and sister-in-law?"

"I think so, if you want to, I don't want to put any pressure on you, but they're nosey as shit and I know they'll find an excuse to come and hone in on you."

Olivia laughed, "I'd be delighted to meet them."

/

Noah was sitting on the couch looking a little sleepy. "How are you feeling, babe?" Olivia asked him.

"I'm hot, Mommy," he whined, looking up.

"I know, it's a warm day, isn't it?," she asked, "do you feel like you might be sick again?"

"No, I did a big barf before, didn't I?," he asked, almost as if he should be proud.

Olivia tried not to laugh, "Yes honey, you did a huge barf, it was really gross, poor Trevor, huh?," she made her way over to him and lifted off his t-shirt, "oh, you're really warm."

"I'll turn the air con," Trevor announced, going to the thermostat near the front door.

He closed the windows and pulled the blinds, sometimes it could get unbearably hot in the summer. "There you go," he smiled, "it'll get cooler in a minute," Noah peeled his eyes from a cartoon that was playing on the TV.

"Mommy, will we see the cows and the piggies?," he asked softly, almost embarrassed of Trevor overhearing his request.

"Of course babe, we'll just wait til you are feeling better," Olivia replied.

Trevor sat on the edge of the couch beside the little boy, "Do you want to see my horse, Lila, in a little while?"

Noah nodded emphatically, "Yeah, I wanna see her! Can you ride her?"

"I do ride her, but if you want to go on the back of a horse, I have a much smaller horse, because Lila is really big," Trevor explained. He turned to Liv, "We have a little American Shetland as a company horse," he explained to her.

"What do you mean as a 'company' horse?"

Trevor laughed, "Like, so the other horses don't get lonely. It's a thing, trust me. The Shetland is really small, the kids love to ride her and she's so sweet."

"What's her name?" Noah asked.

"Her name is Dolly," he told Olivia's son.

Noah laughed, "Dolly…" he repeated, "that's funny."

Trevor and Olivia laughed at her son's reaction. "Okay, so you have a little rest, Mom and I are just going outside the door," he pointed, "so if you need us you can call out or come and get us."

He nodded.

Olivia kissed her son's warm forehead and got up, following Trevor outside.

/

Olivia was so happy to see Noah running around with three other children while she sat chatting to Trevor's sweet sister-in-law and brother. It felt organic and easy and she felt as though they genuinely liked her from the on-set.

She could feel Trevor constantly stealing glances, often interrupting to check that she was alright.

"The kids look like they're having so much fun," Jen remarked, glancing at them running around a little further away. Noah had recovered well from his car sickness.

Olivia smiled and looked over at them, "Yeah, Noah loves to play with other kids, he doesn't get the chance too much at home, he's used to a lot of adults around him," she replied.

"I knew he'd get along well, you guys all have a similar parenting style and all the kids are polite and super well-mannered," Trevor remarked.

Joey smirked as he kicked another log in to Trevor's fire. "You're gonna need some more logs," he informed his brother, "I'd give you some of my wood, but I'm running low, sorry."

"Why don't you give him what we've got and go and get some more," Jen asked her husband. He shot her a look causing her to roll her eyes.

"No-no, its fine. I'll get some. I'm gonna take Liv and Noah the calf corral with me soon to proof that and then I'm going to put Noah on the back of Dolly for a little ride."

"I know I'm being a total city-loser but, is it okay? Is the horse safe for him to ride if he doesn't know how?," she wondered, looking from Trevor to Jen and then to Joey.

They all shared a gentle laugh. "Yes baby, You've never seen an American Shetland?"

She looked confused, not phased by their laughter. "Its just a miniature horse," Jen explained, "Dolly would be lucky to come up to Trevor's waist, she's tiny. You could just throw one of the kid's saddles on her and put Noah on the saddle so he has something to hold on to, the kids are surprisingly precious about pulling her hair."

"To be fair, I wouldn't want anyone pulling my hair either,"

"Well, that's probably a private conversation for you and Trev-" Joey couldn't help but to remark raising his eyebrow.

"Joe!" Trevor and Jen both reproached him, but Trevor was mad. "Don't you-"

Olivia had laughed though, she knew it was a joke and it didn't both her. Joseph as it turned out, was just a very cheeky version of Trevor. He meant no-harm, if anything the way he teased Trevor was slightly funny to her.

"Its okay, Trev, honestly, its just a joke, I can take it. And for the record, I don't want you pulling my hair ever."

He softened but cocked his head. She stared him down with a smile, "Its okay, I promise, just … chill out. I'm precious about my hair just like Dolly, but I'm not precious about your brother trying to make steam come out your ears…"

Joey grinned at Liv. "Its just too easy, I'm sorry, Liv, I really was just kidding."

"I know," she shrugged, "its fine.

"Well, we'll let you guys get back to it," Jen told them, getting up from the the seat beneath the huge tree that was just outside of Trevor's home. "I have some sweet tea and cake at the house if you guys want to come by later."

"As if they're going to want to come by, they've got smooching and shit to do," Joey teased.

Trevor shot him a look, "I'm so sorry for my brother, Liv, he's about 15 years old mentally, big farming accident when we were kids, took a pretty big knock to the head, was never quite the same afterwards," Trevor explained with a straight face.

Olivia's eyes widened as she looked between Joey and her man. "You ass!" Joey motioned to playfully punch his brother. "Better not punch you for real, you'll probably still run away and cry,"

"Get used to this," Jen replied when it dawned on Olivia that Trevor was kidding. "They're like this all the time, it's exhausting. Always harassing each other."

Trevor laughed, "Sorry love, I was just kidding. He just acts like a horse kicked him in the head, it didn't actually happen."

Olivia didn't care. She stood up from her own chair where she had been sitting with Trevor's sister-in-law. "Thank you for the bread, that was so lovely of you," she told her, ignoring Trevor and his brother, giving him a roll of her eyes.

"Don't mention it," Jen replied.

"I think Trev is doing a barbecue for dinner, why don't you guys come and eat with us?," she asked.

Jen looked at Trevor for his permission. He shrugged, "Yeah, you guys can do that, but don't bring your named meat…"

"You are such a little bitch," Joey muttered at his brother. He turned to Olivia, "Liv, tell me if you think this is so ridiculous, we raise steers over in the pasture behind us and they are lovely, grass fed, well-looked after cattle that we take to … er … the market," he explained, "but Trevor here refuses to eat any of the meat from them. He has to go to the supermarket to buy meat which may or may not be one of the steers we've raised."

Trevor rolled his eyes as Olivia smiled faintly at him. "Because the kids name them! And I love cows and I've bonded with them!, I hate that you even have them!"

"Welcome to the food chain, little brother," Joey smiled at him, "don't be so pretentious your whole life."

"I kind of understand," Olivia replied, wanting to support her man, "I agree that it makes absolutely no sense, but if it makes him feel better, there's no harm."

"Thank you Olivia," he took a step closer and put an arm around her waist and drew her in, letting his fingers brush over her waist. She arched her back slightly at the sensation of his touch on her skin.

"Anyway," Jen grabbed her husband by the arm, "let's go, you've caused enough trouble, Joseph. We will let you know about dinner shortly."

They gathered their kids and Olivia called Noah back over to say goodbye.

/

"Are you very, very excited?" Olivia asked Noah as she held his hand beside the mini pony. Trevor was putting a small saddle on her.

Noah giggled, wriggling with excitement, "she's so little! Is she a baby, Trev?"

Trevor grinned at his excitement, "No, she's not a baby, she might be about a year older than you!"

"I'm not a baby but I'm not a grown up either," he told Trevor as if there may have been some contention.

"I know, but horses get older faster than us, or they become grown up faster than us, but she's still young and she is really excited for you to sit have a little ride." He finished fastening the saddle and gave her neck a petting. "Would you like to pet her before you get on her?"

Noah nodded. Olivia let go of his hand and watched him follow Trevor's careful instructions about where to pet her so he didn't scare her and that she could yet used to him. They petted her for a few moments before Trevor lifted Noah up and put him on the saddle. "Okay buddy, I need you to listen really carefully,"

Noah watched Trevor adjust the stirrups so that his feet weren't just dangling. Olivia stood back and took a few photos of them both organising themselves for the comfort of her son and also for the pony.

Trevor stood up straight and looked at Noah, he placed his hands on his shoulders, "So I need you to hold on to this," he patted a hard block of leather at the front of the saddle. "And I'm going to take this," he held the horse reigns, "these are called reigns and we steer the horse with them, we tell show them which way to go when we use them correctly. So, I'm going to hold on to them and you just relax and if you feel like you're getting a bit scared, you can take Dolly's hair and hold on to her hair and she won't mind at all, okay?"

Noah nodded solemnly. "Okay," he said with seriousness.

"And when you're used to it, we might get Mom on a horse too, what do you think?" He winked.

"Oh yeah! Mommy you're gonna get on a big horse!"

"Oh, Mommy is fine, Mommy is happy to watch."

Trevor looked at Olivia and smiled, "No way, you're going to get on a horse and show Noah how brave you are and I will jump on Lila and Lila can guide Dolly and you can ride next to me and we can go on a short trail up to the calf corral."

"I could just walk beside you guys and make sure Noah is okay," Olivia replied, feeling a little unsure about Noah on a horse without someone spotting him.

"Liv, my nieces have been riding Dolly since they were two, she's gentle, I promise I won't let anything happen."

She breathed in, "Do you feel okay, babe?," she asked her son.

He nodded confidently, giving her a big grin, showing her all of his baby teeth in a way that always made her heart melt. She figured that if Noah felt confident, she would have to just let go and let him do something independently and trust that Trevor knew what he was doing and to trust him to sometimes take the reigns when it came to her son.

So to speak.

Olivia stood and watched as Trevor guided Noah on the pony back and forth in a straight line and in big circles until finally when Noah was over his initial excitement, Trevor handed him the reigns and showed him how to guide in each direction. "Its super easy, right?"

Noah nodded. Trevor went and stood off to the left and gave a little whistle. As he was shown, Noah pulled gently on the left side of the reigns until Dolly met Trevor. They did it a few times until Trevor was satisfied that he had it figured out. Olivia filmed her son's impromptu riding lesson and couldn't help but to find Trevor incredibly sexy in his white shirt and faded jeans and cap.

She was a little worried about Noah in the sun as it was at least 90 degrees out and the sun felt hot. Even she could feel beads of sweat forming. "Do you want me to teach you how to make Dolly start walking when she stops?"

Noah nodded.

Trevor walked around to Noah's side and grabbed his calf gently, "When you want her to move, you are just going to squeeze your legs, just a little tiny bit, not too hard because we don't want to hurt her or scare her. Just a little bit. Why don'gat you see if you can have a turn and get Dolly to walk over to Mommy like I showed you?"

"Okay!" Noah exclaimed enthusiastically.

At first he tried and Dolly didn't budge. "Do you need some help?" Trevor asked.

Noah shook his head, "No, I want to do it."

Trevor held his hands up in surrender and smiled at him. "Ok maybe just a little tiny bit harder."

Noah squeezed a little more and Dolly began to move. "I'm doing it!" His face lit up and Trevor felt proud that he had taught him something and that Olivia's little boy held so much pride in the way that he moved the reigns gently as Dolly moved at snail's pace toward Olivia.

And Olivia's face was warm and happy, a giant smile plastered on her face proudly as she filmed her little boy moving toward her on horseback.

"Oh my goodness, Noah!," she exclaimed as Trevor trailed at a distance behind them. "You did it all by yourself, my love! Congratulations!"

"Thanks Mommy, did you see?"

"I did see! I didn't take my eyes off you for a second, you are so clever and Trevor is such a good teacher isn't he?"

Noah nodded. Olivia moved close and petted the horse and gave her son's sweaty cheek a little kiss. She turned to Trevor who put an arm around her. He was also hot and sweaty. "Baby, I think I might just go inside and change in to my own jeans and put a lighter tank or something on and grab some suncream and a hat for little mister."

"Yeah good idea. Oh!" He started to laugh as if she was in on his joke, "baby I bought you a pair of farm boots!"

Olivia laughed, "what? Really?"

"Yeah! I put them in the room, I forgot to show you. You should put them on, they're better than sneakers. I stole your shoe size last night!," he chuckled.

"Wow, thanks…" she smiled. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

She watched Trevor take off his cap and place it on Noah's head. "I have a couple of hats just inside the door hanging up, grab another for me and one for yourself when you come out, I don't want you getting burned either," Trevor called after her.

/

Olivia and Trevor and Noah on the back of Dolly walked toward the barn. Trevor helped Olivia's son off the saddle and opened the barn.

"Will Dolly run away?" Noah asked, worried about leaving her.

"No, it's okay, she'll probably follow us to say hello to her friends," he replied.

"Wooowww…." Olivia breathed as she saw the most beautiful, chocolate brown horse with almost a perfect heart of white just above his eyes. "Look how beautiful…"

"He's perfect for you, actually." Trevor remarked, "his name is Rusty and he's so sweet. He's a little slow but if you haven't ridden a horse before, or in a long time he'll be perfect."

"Will it be okay if I pet him?," she asked.

"Sure, just don't step behind any of the horses, you know that right?"

"Yeah, they kick," she replied. Trevor reached up and picked up Noah so he could see the horse over the barn stall doors.

"Did you hear that, Noah? Remember not to walk behind any of the horses okay? It scares them and sometimes they kick and it really hurts and can sometimes break your bones, so be very careful and try really hard to remember that."

Noah nodded. "No walking behind the horsies!"

Olivia turned to her son and smiled at him, "Do you want Mommy to ride this horse?," she asked, leaning over to pet him. The horse nuzzled in to her hand and enjoyed the scratch.

Trevor smiled at the horse immediately comfortable enough not to flinch away.

"Yesss Mommy, you will ride this one and I'll ride Dolly and Trevor can ride his horse."

"Ok-aaaay, you're the boss." She looked at Trevor, "I'm scared, if I'm a little honest."

"I promise it'll be okay, I'll keep my eye on both Rusty and Dolly and make sure they're calm with you both on them and if anything changes, we'll just get you guys off.

"You sure I can't just walk?," she tried to bargain with him.

Trevor just smiled and opened the stall door and grabbed Rusty's reign and saddle that was overhanging the wooden frame. "C'mon guys, let's go…"

/

"I don't think I have enough upper body strength Trev," Olivia told him, concerned.

"Its okay, I'll help you," he replied. He gave her a little boost, trying hard not to be distracted by her curvy ass wrapped in the tight denim of her jeans. She got a foot in a stirrup and threw the other leg over the horse and got comfortable.

Trevor smiled up at her as she concentrated on tying her hair back before readjusting the ten-gallon hat that she had borrowed from him. He glanced at Noah and back to his own horse, making sure everyone was safe. He guided the pony around by the side of his mare, Lila. He got on the back of his horse and wove the long lead line in to Lila's so that she could guide her company pony.

"Okay guys, we are gonna just slowly walk all the way down there," he pointed to the corral that was quite a distance away. "Remember to hold on tight Noah, okay? If you feel like Dolly is getting hard to manage you let me know straight away, okay?"

"Okay!" Noah replied, "but she's a very good girl!"

"She is," Trevor agreed and turned to Liv and reached over to her. Her horse was a little bit too close but neither horses seemed bothered. He leaned over and gently tapped the brim of her hat. She smiled and adjusted it. "You good?"

"Yeah, I'm good… it's been a very long time since I've been horseback riding," she remarked, "but I am in such good company, the weather is beautiful if not a little hot and I feel so far removed from all of my responsibilities, it's wonderful."

"Good, I'm having a great day too," Trevor winked at her. "we'll get down to the calf corral and I'll take care of the fox-proofing and you and Noah can see the other calves if you like and we might go for an S-W-I-M if you like, when we get back?"

Olivia smiled. "He will love that, we never get to do stuff like that."

They walked in some silence between Noah's ceaseless questions about Dolly and the farm and also his nephew Olly and if they would be able to play again soon."

"Isn't this nice?" Olivia asked with a content sigh, "you're right," she grinned at Trevor, "this isn't scary, this is actually incredibly relaxing."

He grinned back at her and gave her a wink. "And you really fit in well to ranch life," he remarked, "you look good…" he let his eyes wander over her brown, tanned arms. She was wearing a white camisole and he reminded himself to ask if she needed some suncream when they stopped, he worried about her skin burning. She had gone out of her way to slather the lotion all over her son, so much so he still had streaks of white on his little arms.

"I could get used to it here…" her voice wandered off, thinking about whether retirement might bring her upstate with Trevor — or with him long enough to move in together and to steal away out of the city when life got too crazy,

"I hope you do…" he hinted casually but with a load of intention behind it.

She turned ahead with a smile on her face, enjoying the sunshine, the company and the silence save for the even, clip-clopping of the horses as they drew close to the corral.

Trevor got off the horse first and guided them close to the fence. He tied Lila's lead line to the fence and helped Olivia off and then Noah next.

"Look at the cows, Noah," Olivia pointed, "Trevor is going to take us to see the babies," she informed him, "exciting, right?"

"Yeah!" Noah smiled, finding his Mom's hand.

Trevor took a bag from the back of Lila's saddle. "Come on guys, follow me," he opened up the door of the calving barn and glanced around at the babies with a little smile. He loved the calves, they were like big, playful dogs and were curious but sometimes a little skittish.

"Okay we have to wash our hands really well before and after touching the calves because we don't want to give them any germs and we don't want to give ourselves any germs."

They washed their hands and sanitized at a basin and Trevor took Noah's hand and guided him inside the large fenced area that held the cows and their calves. "We have to move slow because they get scared sometimes."

Noah walked slowly behind Trevor, a little timidly, mirroring the hesitation of the calves to approach both him. "Its alright," Trevor urged Noah, "they won't hurt you, I promise. Just be careful of cow poop, you definitely don't want to stand in that."

Noah wrinkled his nose and made a face. Olivia stayed outside of the fence, happy to stand back and take pictures. Noah was holding his hand out waiting for a calf to be brave enough to urge forward to sniff his hand. "They're very curious," Trevor remarked, "they want to know who you are, but they're a tiny bit scared too."

Noah started giggling when the cow licked his hand, "Ohhhh Mommy, it's so spiky!," he announced.

"Yeah? Did it feel funny?" Olivia asked, slowly moving around to where Noah was. He petted the calf slowly beneath its chin.

"Yeah it was tickly!" Noah giggled.

Trevor got Olivia to pass him the bag he'd brought in with some tools and some wiring he could use to patch up possible entryways for foxes. "Do you want to come and help me with the fence, Noah?" Trevor asked gently.

"Yeah! I want to help!"

Olivia was full of contentment as she watched Noah get to his knees and do basic tasks for Trevor like passing him tools and holding bits of wire in to place while he hammered them in. She couldn't remember a time where Noah ever had the chance to help with any fix-it or handy tasks around the house.

Mark, the apartment maintenance man was kind and always on-the-ball about anything that was going wrong with her apartment, but neither Noah nor Olivia was comfortable enough to let Noah get too close. Sometimes her son watched from afar and whispered questions about tools, but that was all.

Trevor took a small battery-hand drill and put a screw on the end. Noah watched him while he pulled the trigger slowly to show Noah how it was going in to the wood. "Would you like to hold the drill with me?," he asked the little boy.

Noah nodded with seriousness. "Okay, don't touch the trigger bit, hold both hands around it. Trevor held the bottom while Noah wrapped his tiny hands around the handle. Trevor put his hands over Noah's and his own finger on the trigger to keep control of it. "Perfect, are you ready?," he asked looking at the wide-blue eyed little boy who grinned at him excitedly.

Trevor pulled the trigger and despite knowing he wouldn't be able to go back now, every screw he drilled in to the wood was going to have to be done slowly with Noah's help, but he didn't mind.

"Trev, let me know if he's in the way, okay?"

Trevor glanced up at Olivia and cocked his head at her reproachfully. "I just mean-"

"Its fine, Olivia, we're just here fixing stuff, aren't we Noah?"

"Yeah Mommy, we are fixing stuff!"

Olivia laughed, "Okay fine, maybe I'll go outside and take a little walk around and have a look, is that gonna be a problem?"

"Nope!" Trevor called over his shoulder, "but we won't be very long and we can head back for a snack and S-W-I-M."

"Sounds good," Olivia replied.

She left the shed and went outside and smiled to see the horse she had been riding nuzzling with the pony. She went up to Rusty and gave his muzzle an affectionate rub. "You are so pretty, aren't you?," she asked him rhetorically.

He nuzzled her, at first freaking her out a little but when she realised he wasn't trying to bite, but rather show her some affection right back.

Liv felt happy and thankful that she had decided to go against her initial reaction when Trevor had invited her. That was, which was to let them have time apart and figure out if distance was going to make him fonder, if he would make a step toward their relationship — or if eventually whatever it was, was going to fizzle out.

She was looking forward to some time alone with him once Noah went to bed so that she could cement her feelings and enjoy talking to him uninterrupted. She realised she had been spending so much of the past few months dating him and getting to know him and holding back because she was just waiting for him to trip up.

So far, everything had checked out. Perhaps he'd been slow to show her physical affection, but his explanation seemed rational and logical and she had told him many times that she had to take things slow because of her son, that she was desperate not to have her son attach himself to a father-like figure so she did her best up until the week that had gone by not to show Trevor any affection in front of her son, she didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

She stopped petting the horse and made her way over to a beautiful, old Elm tree, grabbing her water bottle from the back of the horse on the way. She was getting hot, unable to stand the heat on her skin any longer, she found herself a nice spot and sat down on the grass, leaning against the tree, feeling just a little bit faint.

She looked up at the pristine blue sky between the leaves in the trees and the gnarled branches that had twisted and overlapped one another from all the years that the tree had lived. It was beautiful and firm and she really was amazed at the idyllic little life that Trevor was setting up for himself.

She could get used to it.

She had no idea Trevor was so handy, that he was able to fix things and make fires and mend fences and was sweetened by his affinity toward his animals, so much so that he refused to eat any of the ones that entered on to his farm even if they were owned by his brother. It was endearing and she was glad because she couldn't imagine ever having to reconcile to her small son that the animals that he may have been attached to were going to the market.

She wished for a breeze, a light breeze, anything to combat the heat that she didn't really plan for. Her jeans were hot and the sun still hit her through the trees. She took a few mouthfuls of her water and sighed - a little dizzy as the beams of heat seemed to throw her a little off.

/

"Good job!" Trevor grinned at Noah, putting his tools away. "Hi-five!"

Noah slapped his hand as he got to his feet. "Trev, is my Mommy outside? Where did she go?," he wondered, looking around, noticing she hadn't come back yet.

"Yeah, I think Mommy wanted to just have a look around outside. She might have found somewhere a little cooler."

"Oh, yeah! It's so hot!," he informed Trevor.

Trevor opened the calving gate and let Noah out first. "Say bye to the baby cows, Noah," he warned him, "we might come back tomorrow and check on them."

"Byeeee!" Noah waved before they both washed their hands again and headed out of the corral.

Trevor spotted Olivia sitting down against the tree. Her face was a little red from the heat and he knew it was time for him to abandon his plans to take them on a ride that was a little further away.

"There's Mom, she's having a rest," he tapped Noah on the shoulder and pointed at Olivia to show him. He ran straight for her while Trevor tied the bag back on to the horse and grabbed his water.

He headed over to them both. Olivia was slowly getting to her feet. "Hey baby, do you feel okay?," he wondered, overlooking her with a little concern.

"Yeah, just hot, maybe I haven't had enough water. I just feel a bit light headed."

"Okay, we'll head back, can you please drink as much of that water as you can," he nodded toward her bottle.

She looked down at her bottle and realised he wasn't kidding around, he was genuinely concerned and she was a little too, she felt engulfed by the heat. She knew she had no one to blame after skipping out on breakfast and then feeling a little weak in the stomach after Noah had vomited on the way, that she had avoided food.

She took a few long mouthfuls of the water.

They walked back to the horses. "Are you going to be okay to ride? I can get on there with you if you like?," he suggested. "I don't want you fainting on me. It's a long fall."

She took another mouthful of water, considering. "I should be okay."

"Should isn't good enough. I'm gonna get Noah on Dolly and then I'll get you on Lila and jump up there with you. I don't want you to get hurt. We can ride again tomorrow or the next day," he reassured her.

"Okay thanks…"

Once Noah was on the back of his horse, Trevor pulled out a folded, clean handkerchief from his pocket and took his own bottle of water and poured some on it. He glanced at Olivia, "come here…" he reached for her hand and drew her toward him, "let me see…" he glanced at her, "your face is so red, what have you had to eat?"

He knew immediately as she glanced downward, that she hadn't eaten anything. "Liv, are you serious? You haven't eaten anything? It's after 3, are you crazy?"

"Apparently," she replied. He reached behind her and lifted her hair from her neck. He pressed the cold, wet bit of fabric at her nape. "This should help cool you down a little," he remarked.

"Thanks," she murmured.

He poured some water in his hands and smoothed her cheeks and forehead. "Okay, let's get you back and get you fed and watered and in to the air conditioning for a little while."

He helped her on the back of his own horse and got up on top of Lila. "Do you think you can scoot forward?" Trevor asked, "without feeling squished?"

"I should be okay," she agreed. He mounted the horse too after untethering the other two. He was very aware of just how his pelvis had crushed in to Olivia's back. "Is that okay? If you're not comfortable tell me," he appeased her.

"I'm fine, Trev, are you fine?" She asked, turning her head, giving him a little cheeky smile, realising he was the one who was finding more discomfort than she was.

"Okay okay, don't smile at me like that, you're feeling faint and you haven't eaten," he reminded her — or maybe it was more a reminder to himself.

They shared a chuckle as he wrapped his arms around her and took the reigns, "are you ready Noah?"

"Yes! Is Mommy okay? I don't want her to fall either."

"I've got Mommy, she's not going anywhere," Trevor promised.

They clip-clopped back to the house where Trevor helped Olivia and Noah off the horses. "Go inside, go and sit by the air," Trevor told her, "I'll just put the horses back in their stalls and I will come inside and get you some food."

"I can get food, it's okay," she told him.

"Olivia, please just do what I ask, I'll be about five minutes, go and put something cooler on, those jeans must be hot."

"I don't know that I have anything cooler to wear," she replied, "I wasn't really expecting it to be this hot."

"Well…. I'm sure you have underwear," he shrugged and gave her a little wink. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Olivia laughed to herself and took Noah's hand and guided him inside.

/

Dressed in a pair of shorts that she remembered she had packed, Olivia laid back on a big, cosy floral-patterned couch which looked a little old, but was still very clean, if a little worn. She wondered how long he'd had it and if he'd snuggled any other women on it.

She shook her head to get rid of her stupid insecure thoughts and let her eyes close for a moment, enjoying the cool air. She had tied her hair back in a top knot and had settled Noah on the couch too, putting the TV on a cartoon channel so that he could just relax. He was hot as well, but some how more resilient to the heat than she felt.

"Love, how are you feeling?" Trevor asked, letting the door close after him, holding on to the door frame so he could reach down and take his boots off. He put them beside Olivia's and smiled. It was just a nice little feeling, placing his boots beside hers — signifying another person to consider, another person waiting for him at home.

"I'm okay, I've cooled down a little, it was stupid of me not to eat."

"You made sure Noah ate breakfast and lunch and then he had a snack after you guys arrived, so I know you know how to take care of him, but when are you going to take care of you?," he asked pointedly.

"I know you'll take care of me," she winked.

He laughed, "You're not wrong about that. What can I get you to eat?"

Olivia shrugged, "surprise me? You've been dating me for long enough to know what I like to eat… this may be a test."

Trevor laughed. "I could make you a sandwich, or… a salad? Or, I could make you a cheese panini,"

"Oh yeah, that sounds good, the cheese panini…" she smiled, "I can come and help?"

"No, you stay there, I won't be long. Do you think Noah will eat too?"

Olivia considered it for a moment, "Probably not," she glanced at her son who was entirely absorbed in the cartoon, sitting cross-legged in an over-stuffed recliner that matched the couch she was sitting on. "Look at him," she chuckled, nodding at his hands tucked leisurely behind his head, watching the TV without a care in the world.

Trevor laughed, "how about I just get some grahams with peanut butter and he can pick at them if he wants."

"Thanks, baby." Olivia smiled. "Are you sure I can't come and help?"

"I'm sure."

/

Trevor came out, setting down a plate of crackers on a little side table beside the couch he was sitting on. "Here bud, here's some snacks if you get hungry, alright?"

Noah looked up as if just noticing the tall man. "Thanks Trevor!," he smiled, "Ooooh Mommy, Graham crackers!"

She raised her eyebrows with delight for her son, "that's exciting, Trevor knew your favourite snack," she fibbed. She wasn't sure if he knew or not, but Noah was happy. She was pleasantly surprised to see the man she liked dressed down too. He wore a black tank and a pair of long shorts. He was now barefoot and his hair was wet and slicked back. He looked gorgeous, she thought. He was so tall and so lean and muscular and his biceps popped in a way that made it very, very hard for her to take her eyes off.

"And for you…" he smiled, he presented her with a golden brown cheese panini, "with my secret ingredient to make it a thousand times better than any other panini that you may have ever had."

Olivia cocked her head, "well, I don't know about that because Blasko's on 48th avenue make some pretty special paninis, so I hope you know I have very sophisticated taste buds when it comes to grilled cheese."

Trevor laughed at her teasing. "Yeah, Blasko Schmasko, we'll see who the real winner is." She took the plate and he went back to the kitchen to get his own plate. He came back and sat down beside her just as she was taking her first bite. He waited with a little smile, anticipating whether or not she'd like it.

She chewed slowly and swallowed looking up at him, "okay, okay… this is really good," she admitted. Trevor grinned at her. She looked so sweet with a little bit of crumb stuck to cheek. He reached over and brushed it off, letting his thumb graze over the smooth skin of her face.

"Oh, please tell me I haven't had something on my face all day," she laughed, drawing her own hand up to feel the spot where his had just vacated, a little rose pink seemed to bloom upon her with embarrassment.

He shook his head as he drowned in her deep brown eyes, "nope, just a little crumb…". He couldn't help himself, he leaned over and kissed her temple, really wanting to kiss her mouth, but he had Noah in the back of his mind who seemed blissfully unaware of either of them in his periphery.

"I want to kiss your pink lips," he announced, "but… little eyes."

"He is watching the television, he's one of those kids who act like they've never been given screen time in their life. Right now a brown bear could walk past him and he wouldn't notice…" She paused, letting her eyes wander over his own lips, thinking about them grazing against hers. "So, kiss me, go ahead…"

He didn't waste any time, happy for the green light. He wasn't looking to make out with her on the couch, just a brief encounter, enough to tide him over until her son had gone to bed - and then making out on the couch may not have been so out of the question.

But what he was really hoping for was to sit out in front of the fire with her after dinner when the weather would turn instantly from hot to the kind of fresh and chilly that sometimes required a blanket or if he was lucky, a snuggle with the detective that he'd been pining after for months.

She watched as his lips got closer, his face was only an inch or so from hers when she looked up in to his pale-green eyes that searched hers. He angled his face slightly, tilting upward to meet her mouth. Olivia parted her two, soft crimson pillows to allow him the briefness of tasting her tongue.

He pulled away very slowly, wanting more, feeling a little tingly in all of the places he wasn't supposed to, but it got a little like that after dating without a lot of physical affection. Suddenly with the barrier broken, his brain was constantly thinking about her naked, or kissing her, or letting his hands trace the contours of her body.

"I'm so glad I came," she admitted to him, "I had so many reservations, but now that I'm here, I realise that they were just … insecure thoughts and this is perfect, this whole day has been perfect — maybe not the part where Noah was sick all over you or in the car, but you know…"

"I'm so glad you came too. I have been thinking about it for awhile," he admitted, "the things we can do here that we can't do in the city is kind of endless and it's so good to have a break," he added.

"Yeah," she leaned back a little looking down at her panini thoughtfully, "and a real break too," she echoed, "if I was at home and Noah was at daycare, I would definitely end up checking in at work and hanging out and helping, I can't help myself."

He nodded. He took a bite of his own panini and watched as she did the same. She looked back up at him and smiled, "this is really good, Trev, better than Blasko's, I'll admit."

He laughed smugly, "For real? Or are you just saying that to make me feel good?"

"Well, I want to make you feel good, but also I'm being honest," she replied, smiling at him adoringly. "What can't you do?"

He shrugged, "I am not really that good in the kitchen, not like you, anyway. I'm trying to figure out if Joey and Jen are gonna come hang out for dinner, what I should put together because I'm not great at anything but the meat part…"

"I'll help, I can have a look in the cupboards and see what we can put together. Do you have salad stuff?"

"Yeah, we have a lot of produce thanks to Joe's garden."

"Okay, we could do salad, I can make some garlic bread… maybe roast potatoes or jacket potatoes?"

"You are the best," he smiled, leaning in, kissing her again. "What about the kids?"

Olivia thought for a second, realising her son was probably the fussiest. "Do they eat well? Your nieces and nephew?"

"Yeah, they like vegetables but if there's something better going on…" he laughed.

"So I'll just make the kids some vegetables on a stick and you can grill them, the thing I've learned with Noah, is that he will eat anything if it looks fun."

"You just have to trick him?" Trevor pressed with a little laugh.

"Exactly," Olivia replied, "And I can make them some fries, it's no big deal…"

"I'll text my brother after we finish and ask him what time he wants to come on over. And Liv, please, if this is too much for you or too much too soon, let me know, okay? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"Trev, we've been dating for a long time, I feel like this is a slow burn and I'm ready for things to just … burn," she admitted, "so this feels like a nice healthy step in the right direction."

He nodded, feeling slightly guilty about how she had to wait for him, for her not feeling comfortable enough to speak up and to show him that she was ready for more. He picked up his panini but seems to change his mind. He put it back down again, Olivia noticed, realising he wanted to say something, "Liv, I'm really sorry that I got in my own head and took everything you said a little too literally, I didn't realise that you wanted more or that I was moving too slowly. I may have second guessed your feelings for me a little too which made me less inclined to power forward because like you, I always have Noah in the back of my mind too."

She raised her hand up to his forearm and curled her fingers around his muscle, "Oh, no, I don't want you to feel sorry for that, I think it was perhaps a miscommunication on both of our parts. I think we've both had shitty past experiences with love where we've been left with a bit of insecurity and problems being too vulnerable — we both could have been more direct, this is not on you," she reassured him. "But it doesn't matter much, because you're here and I'm here and you look…" she appraised him, her eyes following his stature from head to foot as a smile tugged upward at each corner of her mouth, "you look intimidatingly gorgeous," he loved the way her compliment escaped from her mouth in an almost breathless tone, as if she was genuinely taken by his good looks, overwhelmed, even.

It made him feel very good.

He was very aware of her hand that grazed down his forearm and back up again, causing the hair to stand on end.

Embarrassed, he chuckled, "don't be crazy, you are the intimidatingly beautiful one. I keep wondering how I got to be this lucky. You are incredibly hot, Liv…" he glanced at her bare knees and wondered how it would feel to run his hand over her thick thighs and down her legs to her shapely calves as she lay almost naked before him. "You are beautiful inside and out and I can't help but think about how…" he lowered his voice, "how fucking crazy any other man would have been to walk away from you. I'm not going anywhere and not only do I get you, but this sweetheart little boy comes as a bonus and I just adore him too."

"Watch it…" she warned him, "keep talking like that and backing it up with actions and I might end up falling in love…" she said softly. She thought about not saying it, but she meant it and she was trying very hard to say things out loud rather than holding them in.

"Well…" he took a deep breath, "I'm happiest when I know that you and Noah are happy and content and I feel like… I could… also be in love with you," he exposed his feelings like raw nerves just waiting for something to brush along them to either alert them and bring them pleasure, or to graze them too harshly, bringing pain.

It was make or break.

He watched her eyes crinkle at the corners and her mouth turned upward again with a tight-lipped smile; a sweep of blush crept its way across the smoothness of her cheeks. "I hope you mean that," she uttered, her throat going a little dry as she heard his admission.

"I do," he insisted, "I mean that… no games, no riddles, just honesty, I promise."

A knock at the door made Trevor almost jump out of his skin. He looked up and then glanced back at Liv reluctantly. "I'll bet that's my brother," he muttered, "here, finish your panini," he paused, kissing her forehead.

She watched after him with the smile fading from her mouth with the security of her strong feelings for him, feeling safe and at ease with him at last. There was no guesswork, no puzzles to try to figure out — it was just him and he had openly confessed how he felt. She felt relieved and relaxed as she took the last few bites of her panini before setting her plate on the coffee table beneath his.

It had gone cold but she didn't care. It had been worth it for the conversation between them.

"Uncle Trevor," the little voice at the door began, "am I allowed to play with Noah?"

"Olly!" Trevor smiled, almost laughing to see his shy five and a half year old nephew looking past him to spy if he could see the little boy in his house. Trevor looked past him and realised he had ridden his bike from his brother's house. "I'm not sure if Noah wants to play, but come inside, you can ask him for yourself."

He stepped aside and let the little boy inside.

Noah sat up, noticing the friend he'd made outside earlier in the afternoon. "Hi!" He greeted him.

"Hi Noah, would you like to play with me?," he asked. Olivia hid a smile, loving the simplicity of how children made friends. There was no politics involved, just straight up, intentions laid out. She wished she could be more like that.

"Yeah!," he looked up, "Mommy can I play with Olly?"

"Sure babe, looks like Olly came especially to see you! Isn't that nice?"

"Yeah!," he smiled happily.

"I brought some toys that we could play with," Olly said, "but I have more at home if we want to play with something else."

Trevor smiled at the kids and glanced back at Olivia. "What do you think, Noah, do you think I can turn the television off?," he asked as Noah climbed out of the couch and met Olly in the middle of the living room. Noah looked at Trevor and nodded. "Why don't we move this table out of the way to give you guys a little more room on the floor."

"Thanks Uncle Trev," Olly replied.

He smiled. Olivia picked up the plates and watched Trevor move the coffee table out of the way. He picked up his phone to see that he head a text from his brother.

"Hey, if Olly is in the way, send him home, but he wouldn't be quiet about playing with Noah. He's so excited to have another boy to play with. Do you want us to have dinner or not? Jen said you guys might want privacy and I guess that's fair. We really like Liv, she's so nice and very Trevor Langan compatible."

Another text,

"Jen here, Olivia is gorgeous, lovely to talk to, very interesting and her little boy is such a little angel. If the kids want to come and play here, they're also welcome, especially if you guys would like a moment to yourselves."

Trevor laughed chuckled and handed his phone to Liv. She read over the two messages and laughed too, "that's so nice, tell them dinner is totally fine and so are the boys."

Trevor hit the reply button; "The boys are fine, Noah is happy to play too, they've got their toys out in the living room under the air-conditioning, you guys should definitely come for dinner. Liv and I have everything organised, just let us know when you're ready. We'll probably start getting dinner ready about 5:30ish."

Trevor glanced at Olivia, "do you think we should start getting dinner ready at 5:30?"

"Yeah," she smiled, "sounds good… I'll get up and start peeling some potatoes soon," she told him.

"I'll help, you're not doing this on your own. I'm not inviting you upstate for you to cook for my family," he laughed, taking the plates off her. She followed him in to the huge kitchen which she was actually looking forward to cooking in it.

"Yeah, but I like cooking when I have the time…" she replied. He picked up the last bite of his sandwich and finished it off before taking the plates to the sink. Olivia looked around at the country-style kitchen with oak cupboards and and overhead units. She noticed the hooks for the pots and pans were empty and wondered if he maybe was running a little low on cooking equipment.

"Trev, where's all your pots and pants and stuff?," she asked curiously.

He followed her line of vision and laughed, "do you really think that this 6'5 giant needs to have pots and pants hanging off things? It is just asking for head injuries."

Olivia cracked a smile, "Oh yeah, sorry, I always forget my giant is…. Well, you know, giant."

He began rinsing his plates as Olivia came up behind him and slid her arms around his waist. It felt nice, he thought, to be shown affection without any prompting at all. He felt her cheek resting on his shoulder blade. "That feels nice," he said it out loud, wanting her to know that he liked the small bits and pieces of affection, "I like it when you give out affection," he continued, setting the dishes on the dish rack to drip-dry. He wiped his hands on the dish towel and turned to face her.

He reciprocated her embrace and kissed the top of her head. She enjoyed his arms around her and the level of comfort he was able to provide. "I feel like I haven't been hugged this good in years… not until you came along," she admitted.

He pulled away slightly, "what? Really?"

"Yeah… I am really affection-hungry, so I hope that won't annoy you," she continued with a little laugh, trying to take the weight away from the comment she made.

"Never. Here's a secret," he began, "I am also really affection-hungry. We didn't do a lot of affection when I grew up, so maybe I make up for it in a super annoying way in a relationship or with friends," he responded thoughtfully. "I mean we all loved one another," he defended his own words quickly, "but you know, affection comes difficult to some."

"It was the same in my house, my Mom loved me in her own way, but she showed more affection to the bottle, I'm sorry to say. I grew up looking for validation and affection wherever I could find it, that's probably why I've ended up with some many dicks for boyfriends."

"Hopefully I won't fall in to that category. I just want our relationship to be healthy and healing from all the ones in our past — we are old enough to be honest and to be able to communicate better despite how hard it might be for both of us."

She looked up at him, meeting his eyes, surveying his sincere eyes and slight smile. He was always smiling at her. Previous to them dating, when she witnessed him at work, he rarely smiled, he was so serious and so focused that it was nice to realise that he had an entirely different side to him.

"I honestly can't wait til I put my son to bed tonight and then I get to hang out with you, hopefully outside by the fire where we can share a blanket and snuggle up close," she told him.

A grin spread across his lips with her admission, "Yeah?"

"Yeah, you promising that yesterday on the phone really planted it in my brain and it just seems like… the cosiest, simplistic thing that I really wan't wait to do." She paused, becoming suddenly self-aware, "oh shit, that's actually the lamest thing I've admitted to, isn't it?"

Trevor laughed, "No baby, it's really sweet. I'm looking forward to that too. I might even… kiss you or you know…"

"No, I don't know?," she pushed him with a little smirk. "What else?"

"I don't know… maybe I can make out with you," he suggested, feeling a little backed in to a corner with his words.

"I thought you wanted to communicate what you wanted," she continued, pushing him a little more. She knew he wanted to say more but was a little concerned about her not wanting the same.

"Maybe you'll want to get a little more comfortable with your hands on me," he paused and winced, "no, no… that sounded sleazy, I'm sorry!"

"No," Olivia laughed. She took his hands from around her neck, she guided them down, "maybe you can get to know me a little better," she spoke slowly and deliberately wanting him to realise she was okay with his words. Trevor liked her guiding his touch around her waist, but he was shocked when suddenly his hands were covering the two tight, soft mounds of her backside.

She smirked at him, raising her eyebrow and he couldn't help but to chuckle at her forwardness. "Olivia!," he mockingly reproached her.

"What? You don't wanna grab my ass?" She could tell by the little crinkle in the corners of his eyes and the gorgeous, stifled grin that crossed his beautiful mouth.

"I definitely do," he replied simply, letting his hands caress her backside. He leaned right over until his face hovered over hers, studying her, treasuring the look of amusement mixed with lightness that seemed to take over her features, relaxing the tension that was sometimes took up residence on her face. "You want to grab my ass too?," he asked playfully, letting his lips graze hers, before pressing them in for a soft, lingering kiss.

"Mmmhmmm," she agreed as their mouths parted. She reached down, taking a handful of his round backside over the thick material of his jeans, "I want to grab more than your ass… but this will have to do for now," she murmured, flicking her eyes up to meet his before looking away again coyly.

He let out a little puff of air as the denim fabric seemed to immediately tighten. "Me too," he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers, "me, fucking, too," he could hear her breathing, as he let his mouth make contact with the bridge of her nose and then her forehead. She lifted her head to catch his mouth, tasting his tongue, stroking it with her own, pulling his backside toward her, giving him a little squeeze, causing a little peel of laughter to erupt from his mouth. She broke off the kiss, laughing too, feeling a lot lighter and a lot more familiar with him now that things had definitely become far less congenial and held back.

"But there's time…" he said finally, swallowing hard, trying to regain some moisture in his dry throat. "If you need some…"

"I think you wanting me, me wanting you… that's healthy and I need to know it," she told him, "I just need you to tell me and make me feel it, like this now… this is perfect. Whether or not we do it tonight or another night in two weeks time, I just need to feel wanted and I know that you probably feel the same."

He nodded with agreement, "I've realised in the past few days that you need physical re-assurance, not just words. You want me to be passionate and not hold back that part of me and I'm glad because now I can unleash myself on you and you will be shrugging me away and telling me 'hands-off' in no time," he told her, kissing her again on the mouth, brief, as if to prove a point.

"I won't," she shook her head with a smug smile, "nope, not a chance, I will be like… come over here and hold my boobs for me while I wash dishes…" she informed him bluntly.

He started to laugh, "don't tease me because I really will hold you to that…"

She giggled, biting the inside of her lip as she concentrated on the chain that she just released he was wearing beneath his shirt. She lifted her hands from his backside and ran her finger along the fine silver, "I'm not teasing… I'll be holding your hands to it," she winked.

He shook his head in disbelief, "you need to stop… we have kids in the next room and my brother is coming around in about an hour and a half so…"

"So… you should get your hands off my ass and I should ransack your kitchen to find some food."

He did exactly that, reluctantly. He took her face in his hands and pressed his mouth against hers, making a loud, comical smooching sound. "I friggin' love this face," he told her, looking down in to her eye, holding her gaze for a second, letting a meaningful stare pass between them so that she could see the sincerity within him. "Oooft," he sighed, "Love it!," he repeated loudly, with an air of finality before kissing her again, breaking away from her.

She grinned to herself as she turned her back, her cheeks hot with a dizzying feeling that seemed to take over.

It was going very well.