Page 25 of Spark

“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 makes her want to seduce you .”

“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 it works, 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. ”

I stare at him in disbelief. “I don’t even know how to respond to that.”

He shrugs. “It’s how it works. Believe me or don’t. It’s up to you.”

“I just want Ruby, Savage. But I don’t want to manipulate her like that. Help me. Tell me what to do.”

“Well, I can tell you what not to do. The exact same thing you’ve been doing for twelve fucking years. You can’t do that and expect to get a different result. Ya feel me? That’s the very definition of insanity.”

I pull a face that concedes he’s got a point. But what I say is, “What do you suggest I do, then? Specifically. Other than bribing her building manager, because I’m not going to do that.”

“I think you should.”

“I’m not doing it.”

“How about I do it for you? That way, you’ll have plausible deniability.”

“Never say ‘plausible deniability’ in my presence again. You sound like a psychopath when you say that, man.”

Savage laughs, while I lean my head back and exhale.

“Just tell me what to do to get a different result than the one I’ve gotten for the past twelve years.”

He exhales. “It’s pretty simple, really.

You have to make things feel sexually charged between you.

Show her some skin, every chance you get.

Work out shirtless. Come out of the bathroom after a shower, wet and wearing nothing but a towel.

Show her the merchandise, man. Remind her you’re Kendrick fucking Cook.

Show her why every other woman on the planet wants you. ”

“That’s not going to work. ”

“Kendrick, have you seen yourself?”

“Dude, Ruby’s seen me. A million times. She’s been looking at me for twelve years, including countless times half-naked in a bathing suit.”

“It’ll be different when she’s staying with you.

When it’s just you and her, and she’s sleeping in your bed every night.

” He winks. “Make things feel sexual, whenever you can, and when you show her some skin, it’ll hit different for her.

I guarantee it. Especially if you touch her a lot, too.

You know, brush hair out of her eyes. Scoot past her in the kitchen and make contact when you do.

Oh, and talk about sex with her, however you can squeeze it into conversation.

Do all that, and she’ll eventually give you an obvious green light.

I promise you. And when she does that, you need to be ready to go for it without hesitation.

Without over-thinking it. Just go for it.

Seize the moment when she serves it up to you. ”

My heart is racing. “This could work.”

“I know it will.”

“Add to the list, I’ll pretend to have insomnia every night, so she’ll cuddle me.” I explain the whole thing about Ruby’s theory, and Savage agrees it’s a fantastic addition to the overall plan.

“I have to play it really cool with her, though,” I say. “After her breakup with Cooper, she made a huge thing about never wanting to date a friend, ever again. Actually, she made a thing about not wanting a relationship, period. Only a fling.”

“Now, see, that’s some great intel. When Ruby gives you that green light, let her know it’s got to be a fling. A ‘best-friends-with-benefits fling.’”

“I want more than that, though.”

“I know. But trust me, that’s all you can offer her.

Tell her it’s gonna be like a tour fling: it ends when she moves out of your place.

But then, during the fling, you’re gonna give her so many amazing orgasms, while still being the bestie she loves so much, that she’ll be the one who asks to keep things going for real. ”

“You’re a genius.”

“I know.”

“I really think this could work.”

“It will. The key is, you’ve got to go through Ruby’s ‘meaningless fling’ door, so she doesn’t feel like getting down with you is such a major life decision.

You can’t make her feel like she’s got to take a huge leap of faith to have sex with you—a leap that might fuck up her closest friendship forever.

Hell, no. ‘This is nothing but fun, Ruby! A fling. And everything will go back to normal after you move out!’ That’s how you’re gonna play it, man.

And she’s gonna eat it up.” He waggles his eyebrows.

“She’ll be in love with you in two weeks or less. ”

I frown. “I’ve only got a week, like I said.”

Savage shrugs. “I mean, that could work. Just saying, after twelve years of friendship, that’s a tight squeeze. But, hey, if anyone can do it in a week, you can.”

“Hell yeah. I’m a man on a mission, baby. Failure isn’t an option.”

“Atta boy.” Savage fist-bumps me. “You’ve got this, brother.”

“Thanks for the strategy sesh. I feel confident now.”

Laila appears in the aisle, and Savage and I immediately shut up and smile.

“Hey, KC,” Laila says. “Do you want to sit here for the rest of the flight? I’d be happy to grab my stuff and?—"

“No, I’ll go back to sitting with Ruby. We were just shooting the shit.” I slide out and Laila slides in. “Good talking to you, Savage.”

“You, too, KC.” He winks.

I start walking back to Ruby. But then I remember I wanted to talk to my brother to let bygones be bygones.

Kai might very well have changed the trajectory of my relationship with Ruby, but he didn’t do it on purpose.

Plus, now that I’ve got my plan in place, I’m choosing to believe everything happens for a reason.

As it should. That when Ruby finally falls in love with me this week, her love will arrive right on time.