Page 56 of Spark

“Remember how Kai accused me of inviting her to audition because I had a crush on her? He was right. I hadn’t even heard her play yet.”

Savage throws his head back and belly laughs. “What the fuck, KC? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know.”

“I had a feeling you were into her that first night. But then you kept denying it and swearing you only wanted to help the band, so I eventually took your word for it. And then you two became such close besties, I figured . . . Damn, KC.”

“I know. It’s been torture. I mean, the friendship has been real. But I’ve loved that girl for as long as I can remember.”

He shakes his head. “Jesus, Kendrick. I’m sorry.”

“When I dropped out of school, I was determined to come back home and finally tell her the truth. But that’s when Kai told me she’d been desperately in love with him from day one,and not only that, she’d asked him to have sex with her at her birthday party, so . . .”

“Fucking Kai.”

“When that domino fell the other night, combined with her ditching Cooper, I started to feel this crazy electricity, Savage. Add in my kiss with her, and I can’t go back to the way things were. I have to have her, Savage. There’s no other option for me now.”

“Hell yeah. Get your girl.”

“It’s tricky, though. Ruby’s never felt anything but friendship for me. Not once in twelve years. So, the last thing I want to do is get rejected and mess up one of my closest friendships.”

“Yeah. No pressure, but the band would never be the same again.”

“Fuck the band. Sorry, but all I care about is figuring out how to make Ruby want me the same way I want her, without messing up our friendship. The band is secondary to that mission now.”

“I get it. If me having Laila meant I’d fuck up the band, then the band would get fucked.”

I exhale. “Thank you for understanding. I want Ruby. Period. But I don’t know how to make it happen. We’ve got too much history. If she was even capable of wanting me the way I want her, wouldn’t she have shown signs by now?”

“Maybe the stars have never been aligned, like they are now. Also, I wouldn’t count yourself out completely. My guess is Cooper’s lyrics—and the jealousy that inspired them—didn’t come out of nowhere.”

My heart races. “God, I hope you’re right about that, because I’ve got the perfect window of opportunity when we get back. She finally agreed to stay at my place for a week while her condo is getting repaired.”

“That’s perfect. She’ll be sleeping in your bed, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve only got the one bedroom.” I don’t need to explain further. Savage knows I’ve converted my other two bedrooms into a gym and a recording studio. I continue, “If I can’t make it happen while Ruby’s sleeping next to me for a whole week, maybe I’ll have to accept she really does see me like a brother, the same way she sees Titus.”

“No, KC. Failure isn’t an option, like you said. But also like you said, after twelve years of friendship, you have to be strategic here. You can’t be too aggressive with her, or she’s going to wonder what the hell you’re doing.”

“I agree.”

“You have to make Ruby come to you. Seduce her in a way that makesherwant to seduceyou.”

“Awesome. Yes. This is exactly why I came to you. I need all your fuckboy wisdom.”

He laughs. “You can do this. I know you can. But I think one week to pull this off is bit of a tight squeeze, honestly. Two would be much better. A slam dunk.”

“Well, no shit, Sherlock, two weeks would be better than one. But my hands are tied; her building manager said the work on her place will only take a week.”

Savage pulls a face. “So, call the building manager and bribe him to say he found some mold or something, and the work will take a week or two longer than expected. Easy peasy.”

For a moment, I’m stunned into silence with my jaw hanging open. Finally, I manage, “I couldn’t possibly do that.”

“Why not?”

“Savage, you just made a big deal about how you never keep secrets from Laila.”

“Because she’s my wife. Before that, while I was seducing her, I kept a shit-ton of secrets from her, and she did the same thing to me. And do you know why? Because seduction inherently requires manipulation. Seduction is war.And when itworks, that’s the end of the war—the moment when both players lay down their swords and start a whole new game: the actual relationship, which requires full honesty.”

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