He licked his salty lips, looking at me intently. “Where do you live?” he asked out of the blue.

“In Dallas. You?”

“San Francisco.”

“That’s cool,” I thought for a second. “Aren’t we stopping there next week?”

The quick, enthusiastic nod he gave me in response made me smile. Excitement radiated through his pores. “Yeah. You can meet my friends.”

“Okay.” I smiled and nodded, remembering a prior conversation. “What about your family? They don’t live there?”

“Not anymore. My mom lives in Australia now; my dad is back in Russia—”

“Are you Russian?” I finally asked. I mean, I’d been wondering where he got his name from and I’m surprised I held off asking for so long.

Sacha nodded. “My parents are. My two older sisters were born there but the rest of us were born here.”

I set my elbow on the armrest and looked at his face. “Huh. That’s really neat. What’s your last name?”

“Malykhin.”

“Spell it.”

He did.

“And your sisters?” I asked.

“They’re everywhere. One is in Africa, one is in the UK, one in Alaska, and another in Hong Kong.” He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t get to see them much anymore unless I go visit or we meet up somewhere for the holidays.”

“Do you miss them?” I was well aware of the fact I had no right to ask, but I did anyway.

Surprisingly, he answered without even thinking about it. One single shoulder going up in a fraction of a shrug. “A lot, but I’ll get to see my mom soon.”

“That’s nice.” I nudged his elbow with mine. “If you ever want a brother, feel free to borrow Eli. You can keep him too.”

His lips fluttered with a raspberry before he laughed. “That’s very generous of you.”

“Just saying. If you’re craving being terrorized, made fun of and farted on, he’s yours.”

Sacha slid me a look out of the corner of his eye. “I already get two of those three.”

He did? I tried to think about the way he was with the TCC guys but they all seemed to get along really well, if a little distantly, and they were more mature than GO’s morons were. “From who?”

He nudged me again. “You make fun of me on a daily basis… I fear for my safety when I’m around you…”

“Oh, shut your trap!” I started laughing.

“All I need is for you to start farting on me—“

“I would never do that!”

He made a face that made me laugh harder.

“I would never do it on purpose, at least!”

Sacha gave me this huge grin, his straight white teeth on display. “That sounds more like it.”

Oh God. I shouldn’t think it was funny that he would think I’d fart on him— because I wouldn’t—but I did. Especially when he started nudging me with his elbow. I just nudged him right back.

The next thing I knew, we were both elbowing the other, each of us trying to aim for the other person’s thigh until he hit his target and I squealed like a pig, making him laugh so loud the people in the rows in front of us turned to see what the ruckus was about.

I smacked his shoulder with my open palm. “You ass.”

With another big grin, he grabbed my hand with both of his much larger ones. His fingers were cold. “Do you think I’m mean to you?”

“Yes,” I said it but I really had my attention focused on the fact that he was holding my hand between his. Did I try to pull away? No, as stupid as it was.