He visibly winced. “Is that why you stopped touring with them?” he asked, obviously remembering our conversation from a month back.

I nodded. “They really hurt my feelings.”

“And that’s why you don’t like being around your brother when he’s been drinking?”

Damn, he was perceptive. “Bingo.”

“But you forgave them.”

“Of course. Besides my friend Laila that you met, they’re my best friends. Eli’s my twin. I’m kind of obligated to forgive him for all the stupid shit he’s ever done, but I told him before coming on this tour that I wasn’t going to do it unless he promised he wouldn’t drink around me like that again. It’s fine now. They’ll always get on my nerves and drive me a little nuts. It’s normal. I’m sure you know that.”

Sacha made a little humming noise in the back of his throat. “I go months without seeing them when we’re not on tour. Mat and Isaiah are roommates. Julian lives a couple blocks away from where they do, so they see each other often. I start to miss them sometimes when it’s been a while, but after a few weeks on tour, I remember why I don’t hang out with them when we’re home.”

He shook his head with an exasperated sigh. “There’s only so much you can take, being around the same people all the time.”

Well. Okay. That hurt a little.

I nodded, lowering my gaze to the ground. “Yeah, I get it,” I replied as the burn of what he’d said sizzled along my skin. I mean, he’d asked me to sit with him on the flight to Australia, hadn’t he? And he’d invited me to the soccer game, right? It wasn’t like I’d been chasing him around. No one had ever accused me of being terribly clingy or needy before.

But still. His words stung. A lot.

“Ah shit.” He sighed. “Gaby.”

“Huh?” I crouched to fiddle with my shoelace, trying to blink the rejection coursing through me away. Really, I hadn’t been trying to be a leech.

“Hey.” His voice was soft.

“Hmm?” I untied my shoelace and retied it, oblivious to the fact he was lowering himself to ground in front of me until his knees bumped mine. I could smell the spicy, clean scent of his shampoo and body wash. Why did I do this to myself? Why couldn’t I be attracted to someone that saw me as more than a friend?

More than anything, what I wanted in that instant was to not care that he’d just said he was tired of being around the same people all the time.

People like me.

I wished I could just walk off, give him the space he wanted, and not have it hurt my feelings. Because if it was Mason saying he was tired of having me around, I’d tell him to screw off and eat shit. Then an hour later, he’d probably give me a hug and ask me when we were going to have kids together.

But it was different with Sacha. Of course it was different with him, and that sucked.

“Hey.”

His knees kissed mine and I told myself to shake it off. To not let it bother me. I shouldn’t let his words matter.

“Gaby, baby,” he said in that same soft voice that was so different from the one he used onstage every night to sing to his fans. Those big palms curved over my shoulders unexpectedly, and I made sure to keep my chin down. “I didn’t mean you.”

Fighting the urge to clear my throat, I nodded and forced myself to glance up, a tight smile framing my mouth. “I know,” I said, but the words sounded as forced as they felt.

The smile that came over him said he knew exactly how full of shit I was. Those harsh features that made his face so attractive, softened instantly. “Hey, I’m serious. I put my foot in my mouth. I didn’t mean you.”