I slept my way to Dubai, and somehow managed to make it to London without speaking more than twenty words to Sacha. Most importantly, I didn’t fall asleep on his legs and he didn’t nap on mine. When we caught our connecting flight, it turned out that he was sharing a seat with a stranger so I sat with my brother and Gordo instead. Gordo—who had heard the same conversation I had—didn't say a word. It was the red Starburst he gave me later on that really showed his sympathy.

When we finally landed in London, the promoter for the tour drove us in a Sprinter van to a hotel where we'd be staying for the night. A new tour bus would be picking us up the next day.

I made an effort to stand and sit away from my gray-eyed friend. My mood was pretty rotten, and I felt pretty groggy from the jetlag. As excited as I'd been about going to Europe, I didn't feel like doing a freaking thing on our first day off. Everyone was so relieved to be on land again, and I definitely wasn't going to be the party pooper in the bunch bringing everybody else down.

If my good mood were a raft named Gaby, it seemed like it was on the verge of sinking.

Eli had waved me off when I got settled in my room and said he'd be back for me later, regardless of whether I wanted to go somewhere or not. He knew something was bothering me, but he was smart enough to know not to ask about it until later. Even though he'd inherited the Barreto temper from our mom, bits and pieces of it were still etched into my chromosomes. He was well aware of what to expect when I was in a slump.

What I didn't take into consideration was that Sacha had gotten to know me as well.

When a knock sounded on my door a couple of hours after we'd been dropped off, I didn't bother asking who was there because I'd assumed it was Eliza. Only it wasn't.

"You didn't ask for the password," Sacha said with a frown when the door was opened.

I shrugged and held it wider for him to come in. "I thought you were Eli," I answered him simply.

"Oh." Sacha eyed me critically as he stepped into the tiny room. He'd showered since the last time I'd seen him, dressed in jeans and a white V-neck. He dropped his long body onto my bed, propping himself up with his elbows. "What are we doing today?"

Closing the door, I turned to look at him while attempting to ease the thunder going on in my heart. "I was planning on staying in."

"I thought you wanted to walk around?" He raised a dark eyebrow.

Another shrug. "Maybe tomorrow, I'm tired. I'm sure someone else can go out with you."

Sacha just blinked at me. “I want to go with you.”

No, no, no, no, no. I smiled at him. “I’m sure you’ll have just as much fun with someone else.”

He stared at me for so long in silence I wasn’t sure he was ever going to respond until he finally did. His question cool and controlled. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Gaby."

I gave him the weakest smile in existence. "I'm just pooped and groggy, and my head really hurts."

He blinked again. "When did it start hurting?”

My shoulders went up. “Earlier, before the first flight.” Right after I heard you tell another woman you cared about her.

He grumbled rolling up to sit on his bottom. He rubbed his hands up and down his pant legs. The look on his face was enough of a warning. “Tell me what's wrong. You're being weird."

"I'm fine," I pleaded. "I just want to be alone right now."

Those pale eyes twitched in disbelief and possibly hurt. "Don't do this to me again."

"What?" I asked him even though I already knew what he was trying to hint at.

"You're pushing me away. I don’t like it."

"Sacha, I'm not—" Damn it.

He grimaced. "See, you never call me Sacha." He pushed off the edge of the bed to stand. "Tell me what's wrong."

I shook my head and averted my eyes to the ceiling. Sure I’d teared up for a split second, but I'd swiped at them and that was it. "It's nothing," I muttered.

"You're lying," he replied.

I was, and I hated it. I wasn't a liar. Maybe sometimes I left things out by omission, but I didn't enjoy doing it. I was terrible at it. But what would I tell him? The truth? Hey Sassy, I realized I was in love with you last night, and then you told your ex that you care about her but that there isn't anyone else in the picture. Right. That sounded like the worst idea ever.

When he gripped my wrist with his warm fingers, I sucked in a breath. "Gaby baby."

Eli had told me once a very long time ago that you weren't living unless you took risks. The thing he never mentioned was that risks were scary. I didn't deal with rejection well. But what was four more weeks? It'd be easier for me to ignore him for that time than it would be for me to lie and pretend that I was fine when I wasn't.

"Tell me, Princess," he said with a squeeze to my wrist.

I'd never really considered myself very brave before. Usually I found my strength from my brother, who didn’t care enough what people thought to worry about consequences, or Laila, who wasn’t fazed of most things. My trust in others was usually the reassurance I needed to do things that made me nervous. I knew that they would never do anything to kill me.

All I had was four more weeks left.

I sighed and looked everywhere except at him. "I looked into something more than I should have and now I just feel stupid. That's all."

"What was it?" he asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

Balls. I had invisible balls and I could do this. "I thought that someone liked me, but I realized that maybe it wasn't the same kind of attraction that I was hoping for," I told him slowly, meeting his eyes in the greatest act of bravery I'd ever accomplished singlehandedly.

His beautiful face swept into a clouded, dark expression. "Who?" His question was asked slowly.

Jesus F. Christ. I swallowed hard. "Who what?"

"Who doesn't like you?"

Oh brother. "You're a nice guy, Sassy. I know that. Everyone knows that. Hell, I think Eli has a crush on you.” I smiled at him just a little, reminding myself that it wasn’t his fault he was so likable. “It's not in your nature to be a complete dick, and that's okay. I get it. I like that about you a lot, but you don't have to pretend. At least don't pretend with me."

Sacha's eyebrows furrowed before he scowled at me, confusion marring the planes of his features. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh my God," I moaned and went to take a step back but he held my wrist tight.

Men. Idiot, idiot men.

I must have stared at him long and hard enough that it finally hit him. His hand went up to that favorite part of his skull he was always rubbing, and he scoffed in disbelief at the same time. "You think I don't like you?"

And I wanted to die. "I think you like me in a different way than I like you, if you insist on knowing." Kill me. Kill me now.

"What?" he hissed, taking a step forward. "Why would you think that?"

My eyes went to the ceiling again. I didn't want to have this conversation. Every fiber of my being was revolting against me. "Everyone in the van heard your phone conversation, Sassy. No one special. You care about your ex-girlfriend but you don't want to get back together with her." I tugged my arm back uselessly. "I get it. It's fine."

But it wasn't.

Sacha let out a long breath. "You heard what I told Liz, and you think that what I said changes anything?" He took another step toward me. "You really think that I don't like you?"

When I didn't say anything in response, he tapped at the corner of his mouth with the tip of his tongue. "Gaby, I can tell you that I hate you. I can tell you that I think you're the worst person I've ever met. The ugliest girl on the planet. I can tell everyone in the audience tomorrow that I'm gay, but do you think that changes a single thing?

“You make me happier than anyone else ever has, and if you knew how many people I’ve met, you’d understand what that means. I know you don't know Liz, but that was the only way I knew I could get to her. If I'd told her that I thought you were the best thing on the planet, it would've made her relentless. She doesn't know what ‘no’ means. And it's no one's business but mine how I feel about you," he said quickly.

As much as his words warmed me, they weren't what I wanted. They weren't a fleck of a confirmation. They were an explanation that made complete sense to me, but that didn't ease my worry enough. "I get it. I think you’re great too," I told him with a sigh. "But that's not—"

"Is the sun the biggest object in space?" he asked me in an even, determined voice.

I had to think about that one for all of a split second before I shook my head, confused at what he was asking. "No."

"How do you explain to the sun that there are stars far away that dwarf it?" He lowered his face to mine. "I’ve liked you from the moment I met you.” He blinked, his eyebrows knitting together in surprise. “Damn, Gaby. I’m fucking crazy about you.”

Say what?

His eyes bore right into mine, drinking in the confusion that I’m sure was apparent in them. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“You’re—you—” I—what—

His fingers pinched my earlobes. “You haven’t been single for long. I didn’t want to rush you into anything, and I wasn’t about to let you out of my life even after the tour ends,” he explained in a low, even cadence. His voice was hypnotic and I was hooked. A small, frustrated smile covered his mouth. “You're an idiot if you think that you're no one special to me. You're the most special." His lips hovered over mine. "The most."

Dead. I was dead and this was the afterlife.

He slowly pulled me forward. His hand cupped my cheek; his soft lips were filled with purpose when they covered mine so tenderly I couldn't think to breathe. Sacha's mouth opened slowly, coaxing mine to do the same. Just as gradually, he angled his lips to kiss me as deeply as possible. He tasted faintly like mint.

Two hands cradled my face suddenly as he held us in one piece, like he was worried I'd try to pull away. He moaned deep in his throat when I kissed him back with the same intensity he kissed me. One of his palms drifted to the back of my neck, gripping it strongly while his other arm wrapped around my waist and brought my lower body flush against his. Every lean muscle of his upper body pressed against mine, bunching and flexing with the force of his actions.

Then he pulled away a fraction of an inch to give my cheek a wet, open-mouth kiss. "Do you need me to spell it out for you?"

I shivered and nodded, tilting my head more openly toward him. "I think so."