When Trevor said he was going to do things right, he wasn’t kidding. Every night for the last week and half, he’s done something special. The night after our trip to the pier, he took me to my favorite restaurant, Giovanni’s, and the night after that we ended up an hour away at a mom-and-pop diner where we ate our weight in homemade chicken-n-dumplings and apple pie.

The next few nights he had to work, and that wasn’t easy for me. I worried about him, wondering what types of calls he was getting and if he was okay, but Trevor made sure to let me know I was on his mind. Not only did he text me regularly, he had a gorgeous bouquet of wildflowers sent to my house on Saturday night, and on Monday night, half an hour after I came home from Animal Haven, he had a pizza delivered from Sal’s Pizzeria with a note attached: You mentioned going straight from work to Animal Haven, and I wanted to make sure you got something to eat. I hope you like pepperoni.

I legit curled up on my couch with the box of pizza and cried as I sent him a text.

Sal’s is my favorite.

His reply was immediate. I know.

I don’t remember telling him, and we haven’t eaten there in the short time we’ve been together. How did you know?

I manage to eat an entire slice while I wait for him to answer.

The summer of your senior year, Coop let me tag along with you guys to the movies, and afterward we had Sal’s. You said it was your favorite.

You remember that?

I remember everything.

I swallowed my bite and stared at my phone in awe. Trevor?

There was a short pause, and then his reply came through. Yeah?

Thank you.

You’re welcome, Red.

Trevor had the next few days off, and rather than spending them with our friends like we’d normally do, we chose to stay in and lay low. I skipped girls’ night, he skipped drinks with his brothers, and instead we curled up on my couch and watched movies. Trevor cooked, and we used the time to just relax and get to know each other. It’s not that we want to keep our relationship from everyone, we just want to revel in the newness for as long as we can.

Tuesday he helped his dad on the ranch, and after work I helped Mo at Animal Haven. Then that night he and I ordered Chinese and binge-watched the Fast and the Furious movies. I fell asleep after the third one, and I have no idea when Trevor fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning to a steaming cup of coffee, a warm cinnamon roll from the local bakery, and a note: Had to go help Dad. Have a great day at work. I’ll stop by this evening on my way home.

Trevor is proving to be a man of his word. Either that, or he’s as smitten with me as I am him, because he did stop by that evening—after I was done tutoring—as promised. I had lasagna in the oven, and he had a movie, and the evening couldn’t have ended on a more perfect note.

Okay, that’s a lie.

It could’ve ended with us between the sheets. Trevor and I have found ourselves in many heated situations over the last few days, but each time he’s stopped things before we got too far.

“We’ve already slept together,” I argued.

Wednesday night, Trevor had me so worked up, my body was ready to explode if he didn’t touch me. It was bad. Bad enough that I was prepared to strip down and beg if I had to.

“Anticipation is one of the greatest aphrodisiacs,” he reasoned. “We’ve spent the last week getting to know each other on a different level. Imagine how intense it’s going to be when I get you back under me.”

“There’s no need to wait. I’m ready to get under you now,” I said, dragging him down the hall.

But Trevor had other plans. Instead, he laid me out on the couch and gave me three of the best orgasms I’ve ever had. He walked away that night with a smug smile on his handsome face, and I was way too sated to chase after him.

But tonight—tonight is going to end much differently.

I pull up his number on my phone. He’s worked a forty-eight-hour shift and is scheduled to get off tonight. He’s planned to come over afterward.

I hit the green button, and he answers on the third ring. “I was just thinking about you.”

“You were?” I ask, thumbing through my closet. I’m looking for something that will make Trevor swallow his tongue.

“Have you eaten? I was thinking I’d run by Dirty Dicks when I get off and grab us some dinner.”

“Well, there’s been a slight change of plans. Mo asked me to meet her for drinks, and I felt bad telling her no because I’ve been brushing her off for the last week.”

“That actually works perfectly,” he says, yawning through the phone. “It’s been a long couple of days, and I’m exhausted. I’ll just head home and catch up on some sleep.”

Well, shit. That’s not what I was hoping for. “Rhett and Coop are going to be up there. I thought maybe you’d want to join us.”

There’s a pause. I pull a blouse and a skirt from the closet and shut the door.

“Are we…you know…telling everyone now? Because I can’t be around you and not touch you.”

Bingo! That’s what I was looking for. “I’m ready to tell everyone if you are. They’re going to find out eventually anyway. We can’t hide it forever.”

“I don’t want to hide it,” he says. “I just wasn’t sure if you were ready, and we haven’t talked about it before now.”

“I’m ready.”

“Okay. I’ll go home after work and get cleaned up, and then I’ll meet you there.”

“I’ll see you there.”

I hang up the phone and do a happy dance around the room. I’m a little too excited about putting my plan in motion and accidentally step on Milo. She yelps, and I pick her up.

“I’m sorry,” I coo, setting her on the bed while I change. “I just got excited.”

Milo turns in three circles on the middle of my bed before plopping down. My hair and makeup are already done, and it only takes a second to slip into a fresh outfit.

I slide my heels on, look at myself in the full-length mirror, and smooth my hands down the front of my skirt. “Perfect.”

Milo barks, clearly agreeing with me.

“You be good tonight,” I say, bending down to give her a kiss. She licks incessantly at the air, every few swipes hitting the side of my face. “If I come home to find something destroyed, you’ll be spending tomorrow in your kennel.”

Ten minutes later, I’m climbing into Mo’s car.

“You look hot,” she says, giving me a onceover. “What’s the special occasion?”

“Nothing.” I shrug. “Just felt like dressing up. You never know when Mr. Perfect might walk into your life, and I need to be prepared, right?”

She flips on her turn signal and sighs. “I’m glad to hear you say that, because I sort of invited someone to meet us at Dirty Dicks tonight.”

“You didn’t.”

“I did.” Mo gives me a nervous glance. “Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad; I’m furious. You promised no more blind dates.”

“It’s not a date. It’s just someone I know, and he doesn’t have a ton of friends in the area, so I figured it would be nice to invite him to hang out with us.”

“And by us you mean me?”

“No.” She shakes her head and then scrunches her shoulders. “Okay, maybe, yes.”

“No, Mo.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is. You just said you never know when Mr. Perfect might walk through the door, and Everett is as close to perfect as you’re going to get.”

“Everett.”

She looks at me and smiles. “He’s tall, handsome, and super nice. Oh, and he’s a doctor so he falls within your occupational guidelines, and he’s a foster dad to two of my rescue dogs.”

I want to tell her that my rules are not being very well enforced right now, and my version of perfect is tall, handsome, and super nice, but also a firefighter and a rancher and every time he walks into a room I get butterflies.

“I’m not going on a date with Everett. I’m not going to sit by him or talk to him or flirt with him—”

“You don’t have to be mean.”

“I’m not going to be mean, but I’m also not going to encourage something that will not happen.”

“Okay, fine.” She takes a hand off the wheel, holding it up. “But I have a feeling you’re going to change your mind once you see him.”

“And I have a feeling you’re going to be eating your words later tonight,” I mumble.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Just drive. The sooner I get an appletini the better.”