Page 14 of Spark

KENDRICK

T urbulence jostles me awake, and I’m yanked out of a dream.

A sex dream.

About Ruby.

I look around, feeling disoriented, and remember I’m still on the plane to Vancouver, sitting next to the woman who was sucking me off in my dream.

I fell asleep? That’s a first. And so was that dream. At least, that was the first time in a long while. Thanks, Kai. I’ve probably got you to thank for planting the idea of a sex dream about Ruby into my subconscious brain.

An uncomfortable ache between my legs commands my attention.

When I look down, sure enough, I’ve got a raging, straining boner poking up behind my soft sweats—one Ruby will surely notice, if that turbulence woke her up, too.

I cover my tent pole with my hand, just in case, and then sigh with relief when it’s apparent Ruby is still dead to the world.

Taking care not to wake her, I tilt her slack body away from me, slide out of my seat, and head toward the back of the plane.

A few minutes later, after exiting the bathroom, I notice Savage and Laila hunkered together watching a show and head over to say hi.

Also, to make sure they’re both genuinely unbothered by Ruby reminding everyone about my embarrassing early crush on Laila.

“Hey,” I say, resting a forearm on the back of an empty seat in front of them.

After they both greet me warmly, Savage asks, “Did you forgive Ruby yet?”

“Yeah. I let her sweat it for a bit, though.”

The three of us chuckle.

“What about you and Kai?” Savage asks.

“No forgiveness yet.”

“Good,” Laila says with a laugh. “Let him suffer till at least Vancouver.”

“Agreed.” I shift my arm on the seat. “So, listen, I just want to double-check we’re cool. You know, because of what Ruby said.”

They both simultaneously wave at the air.

“That’s old news, KC,” Savage says, as Laila says something similar.

“Just wanted to be sure. Thanks.” I bite my lip and shift my position again, wrangling my thoughts.

I don’t think that’s why I came over here, after all.

I think maybe there was something else motivating me.

“Hey, would you two do me a favor? If Ruby asks to crash at your place for a week when we get back, could you make up some reason why she can’t?

” I explain the text Ruby got from her building manager and the fact that she didn’t leap at the chance to crash at my place, even though it’s way more conveniently located to Reed’s studio in North Hollywood.

“She said she doesn’t want to cramp my style,” I say.

“I’ve only got the one bed, and she’s convinced I’m going to be fucking half of LA in it when we get back. ”

“Sounds about right,” Savage says with a snicker .

“Not true.”

“KC, you always date like crazy when we first get back from tour. You settle down after that, but it’s definitely your pattern.”

Laila’s been looking at me suspiciously this whole time. With narrowed eyes, she says, “So, if I understand your motivations here, you want us to turn Ruby away?—”

“If she asks, yeah.”

“So she says yes to staying with you.”

“Right.”

“For no other reason than it’d be more convenient . . . for her ?”

“I told her it wouldn’t be a bother. That it might even be fun. But she’s being too polite about supposedly inconveniencing me.”

Savage and Laila look at each other, and it feels like they’re having a lengthy, nonverbal conversation about me.

“What?” I finally ask.

“Are you sure her convenience is the only reason you want Ruby to stay with you?” Laila asks slowly, her perfect eyebrow arched.

“Well, I mean, I also think we’d have a good time.

I rarely get to hang out with Ruby, just her and me, these days.

We used to do that all the time when she was at Northwestern, right after I dropped out of school.

I’d come visit her on weekends and sleep on the floor of her dorm room. But these days, it’s a rarity.”

Again, my best friend and his wife have an entire conversation without speaking.

“What?” I ask again, this time with a bit more oomph. “Whatever those looks mean, I’d appreciate you looping me in on it.”

“Why do you think you’re jonesing to spend more one-on-one time with Ruby?” Laila asks coyly .

“Because we’re almost always in big groups on tour, and when we get home, we don’t tend to hang out as much. Not sure why.”

“No?” Laila asks innocently.

“He’s not sure why,” Savage deadpans to Laila, making her chuckle.

“I’m gathering you both think you know why?”

“We definitely have a theory,” Laila concedes.

“Well, don’t leave me in suspense.”

When Laila motions to Savage to explain, he says, “Speaking for myself, I think it’s because Ruby usually starts dating someone when we get back, and you?—”

“Yeah, both of us get super busy, whenever we’re home,” I supply. But I say it at the same time Savage finishes his sentence with, “—can’t stand seeing Ruby with someone else.”

My jaw drops. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Tell me this, Kendrick,” Laila says. “How did it make you feel to find out Ruby’s never been ‘desperately in love’ with Kai, like you’ve been thinking for so long? Was that a neutral fact for you to learn, or did it cause you to have some kind of emotional reaction?”

“Of course it wasn’t neutral. I was pissed at my brother for telling me lies. That wasn’t cool.”

“But was it also a relief for you to find that out? Did it make you feel like a weight had been lifted off you?”

“Yeah. Sure. Because now I don’t have to walk on eggshells, worrying I’m rubbing salt in Ruby’s teenage wounds every time Kai’s name comes up.”

Laila looks at her husband and snickers.

I roll my eyes. “What are you not saying?”

Laila smiles. “You want to know what I said to Savage when he first told me what you’d told him about Ruby supposedly being secretly in love with Kai? ”

“You’re such a fucking blabbermouth, Adrian Savage.”

“She’s my wife .”

Laila’s smile broadens. “I said, ‘Wow, I would have bet any amount of money on that exact same story being true about Ruby and Kendrick , not Ruby and Kai.”

My heart stops. “W-what made you think that?”

Laila stares at me for a long moment, like she’s expecting me to answer my own question. But since I don’t know what the fuck she’s expecting me to say, I simply wait for her to speak again with bated breath.

“Just a feeling, I guess,” Laila finally says, with a shake of her long, blonde hair.

My heart is crashing against my sternum now. “Did Ruby say something to make you think that way?”

Laila shakes her head. “No, it just seems to me, from being around you two, that you have insane chemistry together. A million times more so than she’s got with Kai. Or anyone else, for that matter.”

My spirit sinks. “Yeah, that’s because Ruby thinks of me as her best friend.”

“You don’t think of Ruby the same way?”

My cheeks feel hot. “No, I do. She’s one of my best friends. Savage and Kai, too.”

Laila looks skeptical. So does Savage. Which is weird, because I’ve never once told him about my feelings for Ruby.

“Have you ever felt anything but friendship for her?” Laila asks.

Panicking, I turn and look around, making sure nobody can overhear this conversation.

When the coast is clear, I return to Laila and whisper, “I mean, I might have had a small crush on her when I first met her. But those feelings are long gone now that we’ve been such close friends for so many years. ”

Savage and Laila exchange another look. One that makes Laila return to me with a wicked smile.

“I just had a brilliant idea,” she says.

“Right before we boarded, I got an email from Nadine, requesting my top three choices for guest mentors this season.” She’s talking about Nadine Collins, the executive producer of the reality TV singing juggernaut that pays Laila and Savage a king’s ransom to appear as judges.

“What if I put Ruby as my number-one request?”

“Holy shit, Laila. That’d be a dream come true for her. Please, yes. She deserves so much more credit and recognition than she gets in the industry.” The very thought of Ruby getting an opportunity like this makes me feel like my heart is beating out of my chest.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Laila says. “Which is why I thought of it.” She smiles mischievously. “Not to mention, it’d give you and Ruby more time to hang out together after we get back.” She’s referring to the fact that I’m already booked to appear as Savage’s guest mentor this season.

“Thank you, Laila. Ruby’s gonna lose her shit when she finds out about this.”

“Don’t tell her yet. It’s not a sure thing I can make it happen, since she’s not a big name yet. But I promise to do my best to convince Nadine to give her a shot.”

I’m not a big name, either. I’m just a drummer in a band.

Not even a vocalist. But during Savage’s first season on the show, he demanded me as his guest mentor as one of his dealbreakers.

And since the ratings that season broke records, no thanks to me, Savage didn’t have any trouble getting the green light for my return.

“Well, thanks for even thinking of her,” I say. “Fingers crossed.”

The pilot’s voice blares, announcing we’ve started our descent into Vancouver, so I say my goodbyes and ask them to keep me posted.

“Will do,” Laila says. “And keep us posted if you happen to think of any other reason you want Ruby staying at your place, besides her convenience and wanting to hang out with your BFF for a week.”

When Savage snickers, I flash both of them a look that says, “Mind your business,” before heading down the aisle to return to my seat. When I get there, I discover Ruby’s awake, though groggy and rubbing her eyes.

“Hey, cutie,” I whisper as I slide past her into my chair.

“Hey, hot stuff. Are we landing?”

“Almost. Sorry if I woke you. I had to use the bathroom.”

“The pilot woke me up.” She yawns so big, I can see her tonsils. “Did you sleep?”

“No. But you know I never sleep on planes.”

“Damn. You’re so sleep-deprived lately, I thought there was a chance.”

“I thought so, too. But no such luck.”

I’m not normally a liar. In fact, I pride myself on my integrity.

But sometimes, little white lies are justifiable, when they do no harm and serve a greater purpose.

In this case, the greater purpose being the fact that Ruby mentioned she’d take a nap with me at our hotel if I didn’t happen to catch any ZZ’s during our flight.

To be honest, I don’t fully understand the weird cocktail of emotions that erupted inside me when I found out Kai and Ruby were never a thing, right after finding out Ruby had finally kicked Cooper to the curb.

All I know is I’m feeling a near-maniacal need to spend as much quality time with her, one-on-one, as possible.

Even better if I get to do that while lying in a bed with her, even if it’s only for Ruby to test her silly theory.