"Hang on," he said, lifting the phone yet again. This time, when he studied the screen, he gave a sigh of irritation. "Damn it."
"Why don't you just get closer?" I asked.
He gave me a look. "Why don'tyou?"
I glanced at the crowd, crammed shoulder-to-shoulder in front of me. The parking lot was huge, but the commotion seemed centered between the two buses, leaving only a narrow alley between them.
Unless I was willing to shove someone aside, this was as close as I'd be getting.
"See?" Shaggy said. "You don't wanna get your ass beat neither, huh?" He cleared his throat. "Besides, I already tried. People take this shit seriously."
"But you were the first one out here," I said. "How come you're not up front?"
"Because," he said, "I had to grab my phone out of the car." He glanced toward the restaurant. "You can thank my girlfriend for that."
He mimicked a high-pitched female voice. "You love that stupid cell phone more than me. Can't you leave it outsidejust onceso we can have a nice dinner?" His voice returned to normal. "So I leave it outside, and what happens?" He flicked his head toward the crowd. "This."
I looked toward the commotion. I still didn't know whatthiswas.
"She'd better be grateful," the guy said.
I'd seen the look on the redhead's face. When he returned, he was more likely to get a fork in the eyeball than anything resembling gratitude.
"Um, yeah," I said, as I craned my neck in a desperate bid for a better vantage point.
"Hey, I've got it," he said. His eyes were bright with excitement. "You wanna see, right? I know. Lemme give you a boost."
"A boost?"
"Yeah. Get you higher for a better look." He grinned. "For a price."
I narrowed my gaze. "What kind of price?" My skirt was almost obscene as it was. One lift above eye level, and I might as well be charginghim.
"Video." He thrust his phone into my hand. "Zoom in on the car, will ya?"
"What car?"
"You'll see." He licked his lips. "Oh man, this'll be great on my site. Total viral. You just watch."
I glanced toward the commotion. The lights were still flashing. A few paces ahead of me, someone laughed long and hard.
It had been a hellish night. If there was one thing I could use, it was a good laugh. Probably, so could Josie.
Still, this was beyond strange. I bit my lip. "I dunno."
"Aw c'mon, please?" He looked at me with puppy dog eyes. "I'm desperate. Help a guy out, will ya?"
He looked so ridiculous that I had to smile. The sensation felt utterly foreign after faking it far too long. Something inside me uncoiled, and I felt an odd surge of gratitude for the unexpected release.
"I can't believe I'm actually considering this," I said.
He grinned. "Just be careful of the phone, alright? I just replaced it last week." He smile faded, and he looked around. "Some psycho smashed the piss out of my last one. Can you believe it?"
Oddly enough, I could.
A second later, he leapt behind me and called out, "Ready?"
I didn't move. Sure, I owed Josie and all, but how would this work? I looked down at my skirt. It was way too short for what the guy was suggesting.
