“It's hard to concentrate on answers with you looking like that.”

“I tilted my chin up a fraction. "You can't f-force me to stay here." I'd only agreed to come this far because I didn't want to stand out in the downpour, for one, and I had high hopes of finding a phone, for two. "That sounded more like a question than a statement," said Patch. "Then ans-s-swer it."His rogue smile crept out. "It's hard to concentrate on answers with you looking like that."I glanced down at Patch's black shirt, wet and clinging to my body. I brushed past him and shut the bathroom door between us.”

“Mr. Green Sweater looks normal, but his wingman looks hard-core bad boy,” said Vee. "Emits a certain don’t-mess-with-me signal. Tell me he doesn’t look like Dracula’s spawn. Tell me I’m imagining things.”

“One last thing," he said. "Stop looking for me.""I'm not looking for you." I scoffed.He touched his index finger to my forehead, my skin absurdly warming under his touch. It didn't escape me that he couldn't seem to stop finding reasons to touch me. Nor did I miss that I didn't want him to stop. "Under all the layers, a part of you remembers. It's the part that came looking for me tonight. It's that part that's going to get you killed, if you're not careful."We stood face-to-face, both of us breathing hard. The sirens were so close now."What am I supposed to tell the police?" I said."You're not going to talk to the police.""Oh, really? Funny, because I plan on telling them exactly how you rammed that tire iron into Gabe's back. Unless you answer my questions."He gave an ironic snort. "Blackmail? You've changed, Angel.”

“His were the kind of eyes that held secrets. The kind that lied without flinching. The kind that once you looked into them, it was hard to break away.”

“You sound worked up. Really worked up. No, that's not it. You sound agitated...flustered...aroused." I could feel her eyes widen. "He kissed you, didn't he?"No answer."He did! I knew it! I've seen the way he looks at you. I knew this was coming. I saw it from a mile away."I didn't want to think about it."What was it like?" Vee pressed. "A peach kiss? A plum kiss? Or an al-fal-fa kiss?""What?""Was it a peck, did mouths part, or was there tongue? Never mind. You don't have to answer that. Patch isn't the kind of guy to deal with preliminaries. There was tongue involved. Guaranteed.”

“I know you followed me. Don't look so surprised. It's called a rearview mirror.”