Can't Touch This (Can't Touch This #1)

What was it that she wanted to talk to me about? Had she had enough of working together? Did she want to trade me in for another bestie?

What?

“I’ll be whatever you want me to be.” My heart raced. “You’re scaring me, though. Are you okay?”

Thoughts of her being diagnosed with something, or hurt, or homeless, or all manner of things filled my head. Then guilt squatted with pressure and remorse. I’d become so wrapped up in myself, I hadn’t even thought to ask how her life outside Tales of Tails was faring.

Twisting to face her, I kept hold of her hand while she hugged Visa. “You can tell me anything. And I’ll do everything I can to make it better.”

My phone decided to cock-a-doodle-doo at me, vibrating on the couch where I’d thrown it. I looked down, too disciplined with work and emergencies to ignore it. I was the vet on call tonight.

However, it wasn’t a call out. It was Ryder.

My heart flipped to answer it.

But common decency made me ignore him.

He would understand.

Polly was my first priority tonight.

She narrowed her eyes as if expecting me to pick up. When I didn’t, her face contorted with a torrent of confession. “When you slept with Ryder that first time, I knew something had changed. I saw how happy you were and I was ecstatic for you. You’ve been on your own for so long. Your parents are jerks and I always wanted you to be loved like I loved you. So I wanted to give you space. I wanted you to feel like you could move on with him without worrying about me.”

When she didn’t continue, I encouraged. “And you were the best in giving that support.”

She sucked in a deep breath. “I didn’t want you to feel pressured to split your time with me, so I decided to put myself out there.” She gulped. “I went back on that dating website. I made a new profile. I met someone. I wasn’t stupid, and we chatted a bit at first then I arranged a public date. Seeing as this is such a small town, I had to drive two hours into the city to meet him.”

Her eyes glazed, taking a trip back to the past. “When I got there, he was sweet. We made small talk. We ordered. It was going okay. But then…something happened.”

My heart sprang out of my chest and scurried to hide because as a woman—as her best friend—I already knew where this was going.

“Oh no, Pol. No.” Tears pricked my eyes. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?” I clutched her hand. “Did he—did he rape you?”

Her lips thinned; her body shuddered.

Then she exploded with cackles. “I love you for leaping to the worst. And I’m so sorry for making you jump to that conclusion. That’s very poor form of me. But you should see your face!” She snickered. “You’re ready to murder someone.”

Temper raced through my blood. “Damn right, I’m ready to murder someone. If anyone touched you wrong. Bang. He’d be dead. Dead as a dead.” I mimicked firing a gun with my thumb and forefinger. “So what happened? Why the hell are you laughing? Is this one of those things where you’ve repressed the bad and become hysterical?”

My mind tripped over itself, trying to remember what to do in cases such as these. We’d had rape rallies at university. What to do. What doctor to see. What police report to fill out. I’d hoped to God none of us needed to know such awful information.

However, Polly was scaring me.

What the hell happened?

She patted my hand that’d curled into a fist. “I’m being dramatic and milking this stupid story for all it’s worth. Nothing bad happened. I’m just having fun. I want you to ooh and ahh and go along with me, okay?”

I scowled. “Okaaaay.”

“Oh my God!” Pols flung up her hands. “It was awful, Ves. Dating is the worst.”

“Oh no!” I played along. “Tell me! I just can’t take it.” My heart rate slowly stopped trying to pulverise my ribs. “Go on, spit it out. You’re annoying me.”

She laughed again. “You’re adorable.”

“You’re being a tease.”

“Okay, okay. I didn’t want to moan because you’ve found the most perfect male specimen in history. I didn’t want to share my disaster in case I sounded jealous.”