Page 43 of Outlier

“Guys, listen,” I said. “Vicky’s a little different, okay?”

Vicky’s eyes shot from her menu to me, and I really hoped I wasn’t fucking this up.

This was hers to share, and I was being the typical bulldozer I always was. But I couldn’t sit there and let the guys treat Vicky like I had treated her when it wasn’t bloody necessary if they just had an honest explanation.

“She takes a little while to warm up to people, and she needs some warning before you touch her. And if any of you have a problem with that or upset her, then I’ll be dealing with you outside.”

“Mike!” Vicky snapped, and my heart sank.

Was she angry that I revealed all of that? I really should have checked with her first, but I couldn’t let all the awkwardness and misunderstandings carry on when I could see how upset she was.

“Are you threatening to physically harm your friends?”

My eyebrows went up. “Well… yeah, if they piss me off.”

Her eyes went wide. “You can’t do that. They all seem like very nice gentlemen, and they’re yourfriends.”

There were a couple of chuckles from the lads, which quieted when I glared at them.

Pete joined us from the bar then, carrying a couple of beers, his head tilted to the side as he surveyed the scene.

“They’re dickheads is what they are,” I told her. “And Mark shouldn’t have put his hand on you.”

Vicky sucked in a shocked breath. “He didn’t know I’d react like a freak, Mike.”

“You’re not a freak. And he can keep his hands to himself. I don’t care if?—”

“Hey, Vics,” Pete said in a soft voice as he crouched down next to the table so that he was eye-level with her, but still at a safe distance so she wouldn’t flinch.

Vicky stopped glaring at me to turn to Pete and then blinked in surprise. “Oh, hey, Pete,” she said in a quiet voice.

It was clear they knew each other.

“Mike’s a pain in the arse sometimes,” Pete said, and it would have pissed me off had it not coaxed a small smile from Vicky.

“He can be, but I still like him a lot. Even though he’s high-handed,” she told him.

“No accounting for taste. Listen, the hogs are doing okay now. We get regular visits, though, and Emily’s still putting down the food you recommended.”

Vicky’s face transformed from wary caution to unbridled enthusiasm. “How many babies did she have in the end?”

“We’ve counted four, but Jimbo thought he saw a fifth the other night. We spoke to Mrs. Gibbs about the slug pellets she was using, by the way, and she’s agreed not to put them out anymore.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Vicky said with real feeling.

I’d had enough of this. “What the fuck are you two talking about?”

Vicky turned to me, and I was relieved to see all her previous tension was gone. “Hedgehogs.”

Chapter 16

“I really really like you, Victoria Harding.”

Mike

“Hedgehogs?”

“Vics here is Little Buckingham’s resident hedgehog expert,” Pete said. “We found a hog out during the day, and Emily heard from Lucy about Vicky’s website and Facebook group. To be honest, we were expecting just a bit of advice over the phone. Not for Vicky to book it straight out of London and arrive in that fancy car with driver in under two hours.”