The Vigilante's Handbook (Misfits #1)

Twenty Seven: What Broken Nose?

When we were a safe distance from the store, I finally pulled Miguel into a side alley. "What happened?"

Instead of answering what seemed like a very pressing question, he asked one of his own. He mimed smearing face paint around his eyes.

"Yeah, she was one of the kids I busted our first night patrolling. I don't think she's made that connection yet." It was a good excuse. Miguel hadn't been part of that bust, so of course she wouldn't recognize him. But my vocal cords felt like they were tying themselves into a knot when the lie left my lips. "But that's not important right now. Why did you come get me?"

His whole body stiffened like he had forgotten that there was a reason he had searched town only to find me in a seasonal ice cream shop. Without so much as a telling glance, he grabbed me by the wrist and took off running.

If I wanted to avoid face planting--and avoiding tripping face first into the sidewalk is a goal of mine--I was forced to run after him. Because of our height difference, it wasn't enough to match him stride for stride. I had to sprint to keep up with his loping jog.

"Miguel, what's going on?"

I pulled on our linked hands. He must have known what I meant by it, but we were halfway across town when I finally managed to tug him to a stop again.

"I'm all about blind trust, but I need to know what I'm walking in on. Should I get ready to freeze something or punch someone?"

He rolled his eyes, but I couldn't imagine why. What other options were there than freeze or fight. Maybe smooth talk?

Then Miguel did that dumb thing where he spoke and threw my whole world off its axis. All he had to say was, "Julien."

The mention of my ex-boyfriend was enough to knock me over, but having Miguel say it made my legs turn to stone. When he tried to pull me along again, I didn't even try to catch myself before I fell over. It wasn't quite a face plant, but it was close.

He paused only long enough to help me up and brush some dirt off my clothes before starting his crazy person run again, this time with a warning tug on my wrist.

We made it to our apartment in record time. What was a twenty minute walk from one side of town to the other had become an eight minute run, and I wasn't even panting that bad. All those superhero exercises Lucia was putting us through were really paying off.

But I was in no shape to face the person standing at the door of our apartment building. Really, it was awkward running into your ex anywhere, but seeing him staring longingly up at your apartment was one of the worst places.

Like he sensed our arrival, Julien turned to watch Miguel and I jog the last few strides toward him. The first thing his eyes focused on was Miguel's hand wrapped around my wrist, which he promptly released like I was burning, not that I had successfully used that ability since the Academy dropped us off. Then Julien was looking only at me.

"Please tell me you aren't here for another date."

He looked a little guilty but didn't respond.

"You can't ask your ex-girlfriend on a date by stalking her and finding her new house after you blew up the last one!"

A family out on a stroll gave me a weird look. Maybe this wasn't a conversation we should be having in public, but I sure wasn't inviting him inside.

"My ex-girlfriend?"

Oh sweet superheroes, give me strength. He really was a pretty boy without a brain sometimes. "You used our last date to find out where we were staying and then destroyed it the next day! I thought Stitch shooting your team with lightning made the point clear. I can't date someone who used me like that."