Page 22 of Drop Pass

His eyes seemed to light up. “Three. Tianna is sixteen and Yula and Samara are thirteen.”

“Twins?”

He nodded.

“That’s so fun. I can’t imagine having that many siblings.”

He looked up at me. “How many do you have?”

“Zero.”

His eyebrows went up for a second. “I can’t imagine not having them.”

“Are they in Russia?”

He nodded. “Yes, with my mama.”

“What about your dad?”

“He died nine years ago.”

My heart broke for him. How hard that must have been. He would have only been eighteen at the most and the twins would have only been four.

“I’m so sorry.”

He gave a half-hearted smile. “We miss him, but it’s okay. We have each other.”

I watched him. The only time I’ve ever seen him show emotion was when he talked about his family. “It must be hard being so far away from them.”

He nodded once. “It is. I want them to move here, but there’s a process we have to follow.”

“I hope they can.”

He didn’t respond, but stood up and collected our garbage before taking it to the trash. Then, he went to the fridge and pulled out the cheesecake he’d stored in there. After grabbing two forks, he returned to his seat and set it down between us.

“You’re going to share?”

He stared at me and nodded once. “Of course.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

He gave a small shake of his head before taking a generous bite. I followed his lead and nearly moaned when the rich, smooth chocolate touched my tongue.

“This is amazing.”

His eyes met mine and held a glimmer of humor. “It is.”

“I saw it on the menu and it sounded good, but this is out of control.”

He took another huge bite and I huffed. “Hey! You’re not being fair.”

I tried to take another bite but he pulled the container away. “I did save your life.”

“Hey!” That might be true, but this cheesecake was worth fighting over.

He laughed and finally slid it back between us. “Fine. I’ll share.”

I took another bite. I swallowed but it got caught in my throat. I coughed, but it didn’t move. I pounded on my chest just under my throat, but nothing.