Page 148 of One Touch

Get ready to be grossed out so badly you puke your pants.

Unsurprisingly, I passed on the novel, and my pants remained un-puked.

As I was about to dig into novel number two, Elara’s name flashed up on my phone, and saved me from what the author had described as a “taut psychological thriller exploring the terrifying consequences when a child discovers her teddy bear is possessed by an ancient, malevolent, devil dog hellbent on revenge.”

“El! I’m so glad to hear from you!”

“Lily!” Elara’s voice was tight, strained. “I’ve got some news for you!” I could hear traffic in the background. Where was she? Was everything all right?

My stomach clenched. “What’s up? Is the baby okay?”

“The baby’s fine,” she assured me quickly. “All totally normal on that front, although, let me tell you, the third trimester is a bit of a buzzkill.”

“You’re not a sex machine anymore?”

“More like a wetting myself every time I sneeze machine.”

“Damn, I’m sorry. So, what’s up?”

“It’s Vlad. There was a fire in his apartment.”

I sat up straight. “A fire? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, thanks to a certain trainee firefighter.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Wait? Ethan?”

“He saved Vlad’s life, Lily.”

The world seemed to tilt on its axis. “Ethan . . . saved Vlad?” Instantly, an image of Ethan grumbling about having to save Vlad shot through my head. “He must be furious.”

“You know,” she said, “he actually wasn’t. He was weirdly cheerful about the whole thing. You know he carried Vlad out of the building? And shielded him from flying debris with his own body? It was like something out of a romance novel, except, you know, in the novel, it would beyouhe’d carry out of the building, not your nemesis.”

“Is Ethan okay?” I managed to choke out.

“He’s fine. He got a cut on his head and needed stitches but nothing serious.”

My heart pounded. “Is he there? Can I speak to him? Is Ava okay?”

“He’s honestly fine, but he’s . . . uh, not in town. Nor’s Ava. They’re away.”

I frowned. “Out of town?”

“Yeah. On a trip.” She definitely sounded suspicious.

Of course, my mind went to the worst place possible. “He’s seeing someone new?”

“No! Nothing like that.”

“Then what?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Probably a vacation. Anyway, I wanted to let you know about the fire and I also wanted to tell you that if he calls or texts, you should answer. Or, like, take him seriously and do as he asks.”

“Do as he asks? What are you talking about?”

“Just . . . wait for him to call you, I think?” There was a sudden, weird noise. Was that a neighing horse? Elara continued, “Okay, right, gotta get back to the baking!”

There was no way I was going to leave it, so I tapped out a message to Ethan.

---