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"You look like it, too."
A soft laugh, followed by a wince. "You should see the other guy."
"I did."
"Damn."
I smiled and gave him more water.
"They had guns," he said. "Very unfair. They got one at my head before I could put up much of a fight. So I surrendered. Apparently, that wasn't any fun for them."
"Bastards."
"Hmm." His other eye opened. "Elena and Clay?"
"I didn't see them."
"Good. Means they weren't caught." He swallowed and I gave him more water. "Your mom?"
"I don't know. She was with us. Now she's not. So you came with Elena and Clay?"
"Yeah. Joined up in New Orleans. Keep an eye on you. Didn't go so well. Elena's smart. Knew we were outnumbered. Phone was blocked. Wanted us hanging back. I didn't listen. Had to play the hero. Paid the price."
I leaned over him and smiled. "I'd kiss you, but I suspect that would be painful."
He looked at me. Tilted his head and made my heart hammer. I told myself that I'd said it casually enough, if he wanted to think I was just kidding, he could and--
He put his hand on the back of my head, pulled me down and kissed me. It was a light kiss, our lips barely touching, but it was sweet and sexy and slow, and when it finally broke, I was the one pulling back, worried that I was leaning on him and hurting his ribs, but he kept me there, hand still in my hair, holding my face close to his.
"I guess that answers the question," he said.
"Was there ever a question?"
"Sure."
I lifted my brows. "I've had a crush on you since I was twelve. I'm sure you noticed."
"I did when you were twelve. And fourteen. And sixteen. But eventually . . ." He shrugged. "You grew up. We became friends."
"So you figured the rest just went away?"
"Faded, I guess. Changed into something else."
"No, I just learned to hide it better."
I leaned over and kissed him again. Just a quick one. "That hurts, doesn't it?"
"Not necessarily a bad hurt."
I laughed and unfolded the blankets. I got one under him and one over him. Then he pulled me against him.
There was so much I wanted to say. So much I wanted to ask. So much that was completely and utterly inappropriate and unimportant under the circumstances.
We talked about what was important, filling each other in. That meant I did most of the talking. When we'd finished, I went over to the bars again and craned to see what was out there.
"Really could use Jaime's mirror right now," I said. "I heard someone coughing earlier. But I have no idea where we are or what we're doing here."
"You've been misplaced," a man's voice said. It was smooth and strong, too close to be the coughing man from earlier.
