The Worst Best Friend: A Small Town Romance

I only wish I could quit staring—gawking, really—or at least stop thanking everything holy that I arrived in time, shoving her away from the loader’s tires that would have surely killed her.

Hot anger lashes through me, mixed with a gratitude like nothing I’ve ever known.

Call me insane.

Right now, half of me wants to spank her senseless for endangering her life, while the rest of me never wants to let her fucking go.

Hercules has something to say about that. The beast jabs his muddy wrinkled snout between our faces, snuffling and screeching like a dying boat engine.

“Not funny, buddy. Not at all. Get the hell out of here, Herc!” I give him a firm shove with one hand.

I’ll never admit I’m almost as upset over the pig nearly dying as I am over Shel getting flattened right along with him.

He lets out an offended squeal and backs up on four wobbly legs.

Shel huffs.

The glare she’s been holding on me softens as she looks at Herc.

“Don’t mind him, you poor thing. That’s just West, grumpy and short-fused as ever.”

I bite back a smile.

She always called me West before it caught on with everybody else. That’s half the reason why I called her Shel. The rest of her family called her Shelly before, and at first it irritated her when I shortened it to Shel, Seashell, or even Clam. That last one really pissed her off.

“I always had a reason to be pissed, didn’t I?” I remind her.

She graces me with another hate-glare.

Curious, Herc trots closer again, his snout sniffing overtime. I shove at him again.

“Back off, you conniving little hog. You were almost a pile of bacon,” I grind out.

“Conniving?” Shel shakes her head. “He’s too cute for that. Pigs can’t scheme, West. People, on the other hand...”

Damn her mouth. Again.

Besides being prickly as I expected and on point, she’s too sweet for her own good, even when she’s trying to insult me.

“Same goes for stupid, Rachel. What the hell were you thinking, rushing out here like this?” I wave a hand at the loader’s tires, now stopped only a few feet away. “Karl couldn’t see you. You would’ve been slaughtered.”

“Well, he couldn’t see the pig, either, could he? I had to do something. Nobody could hear me over the noise. Should I have just stood by while your friend turned this little guy into shredded pork?”

“Yes. You should’ve stayed the fuck out of the way. I would’ve seen the pig and intervened,” I say sharply like it’s gospel truth.

My stomach twists with uncertainty.

She might have a point but that doesn’t excuse her antics.

Without her calling attention to Herc, I honestly have no clue what might’ve happened.

I hate how she affects me, even after all this time apart.

We’ve only been thrown together for a panicked minute, but it needles my body like it’s been far longer. Her soft weight ignites every blood cell in my body, turning my veins into lava tubes.

I should ask if she’s okay, but if she was truly hurt, I’d know it by now.

Instead, I grab her waist, helping her scramble up while I find my own balance.