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She shoved him upright, but when he listed to the left and started to crumple, she shoved her shoulder back under his armpit. So gross. “You stink. Literally.”
“My nose is too swollen for me to tell.”
“Idiot.”
“Aww, c’mon, Den. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
She slipped his phone into his jeans pocket.
“Hey there.” He jerked his hips and turned toward her. “All you had to do was ask.”
“You wish.” Her belly filled with a flight of hornets. Not butterflies, nope, that was too pretty and sweet for how she was feeling. She was angry and buzzy in the worst way. Fear had been ramping up for the last hour, and now with no place left to go, her body was looking for something else. Something she’d been trying to ignore for weeks now, but the hornets were getting louder and angrier.
She jammed her flashlight into her jacket pocket, then hooked her fingers into his belt loops to hold him against her before she hauled him away from the wall. He was about as graceful as a marionette with his strings cut. She dragged him down the alley to the brightly lit street and shoved him against a graffiti-clad brick wall under a streetlight.
She finally got a good look at him and wondered if he really had gotten mugged. “What the hell did you do to yourself?”
“It’s not a big deal.” He stepped away from the wall and instantly his knees buckled. She lurched forward to catch him. “Let’s just get back to the bus.”
“Like this?” She peered up at him. “Do you know how far away from the bus we are?”
He shrugged. “A few blocks.”
“Idiot. More like miles. I’ve been chasing you around the city for an hour.”
“On foot?” He frowned down at her. “Are you nuts? You could have gotten hurt. Where the hell are we, anyway?”
“You’re such an asshole.”
“Stop swearing at me. I know you love me.”
She snarled. “You’re usually my best friend, but lately you’ve been a freaking pain in my ass. Who knows what could have happened to you if I didn’t tag your phone.”
“Tagged my what? You bugged me?” His voice spiked up in outrage.
“Don’t be so dramatic.” She peered up at the street sign and then down the block. “I just used a parental app on your phone.” She calculated the streets and figured they were in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen. Awesome. Welcome to New York City. She blew out a breath and stared at him. “You know, GPS.”
He frowned and pushed his curls out of his face. “When did you do that?”
She shrugged. “While I was playing Angry Birds on it.”
“Huh.” He pulled his phone out and tried to turn it on, but gave up when his fingers fumbled over the thumbprint scanner. He shoved it back into his pocket. “Sneaky. I’d be mad, except I’m kind of impressed.”
“If you didn’t keep disappearing, then I wouldn’t have had to.”
“My question is how did I not notice this app?”
“If I tell you, then you’ll find it.”
“I’m going to find it anyway.”
“Maybe. Then again you shouldn’t have a zillion apps on your phone.”
“I know what each of them does, thank you very much.” He shook his head and squinted.
Maybe he’d been more rattled than she thought. “Yeah, about that.”
He rolled his eyes. “I have a mother, you know.”
