Page 48 of Spark

KENDRICK

“ H ow many cards, KC?” C-Bomb asks, his green eyes trained on me.

“Three,” I reply, throwing down my discards, and C-Bomb slides over some replacements with one of his tattooed, insanely talented hands.

C-Bomb’s sandy hair is shaved close today, and he’s wearing his beard long.

He’s shirtless for this poker game, which means his muscles are on full display, along with the ink that covers every inch of him, literally, other than his face.

To top off his legendary-rockstar vibe, he’s got a blunt hanging out of his mouth and a bottle of Jack sitting next to him on the green card table.

I’ve known C-Bomb for years now, and he’s always been a friend and mentor to me and our whole band.

But even so, it’s hard not to stare at him in awe, even now, as he sits across from me.

The dude’s a legend. The guy we all want to be.

Minus his anger management issues, anyway.

Also, if you ask Ruby, his substance abuse and addiction issues.

Ruby’s been vocal she thinks C-Bomb needs rehab, badly, more than anyone we know.

But C-Bomb always scoffs at the idea, and he seems to be doing pretty well in life, so we leave him be.

But, yeah, other than those things, the man’s pretty much life goals.

A towering figure to all of us at this table—a beacon of what’s possible to achieve as a musician in this world.

“How many cards for you, Fish Taco?” C-Bomb asks the bass player of 22 Goats.

“Zero,” Fish says with confidence.

“You sure about that, kiddo?”

“I’m sure.”

C-Bomb arches an eyebrow and inhales from the blunt hanging out of his mouth.

“Very interesting, Fish Taco. Can’t wait to see how that pans out for ya, kid.

” He addresses Colin Beretta, Fish’s drummer, next.

“Colinoscopy? How many cards, my friend?” Those two have become particularly close lately, I’ve noticed, ever since Colin married C-Bomb’s favorite former PA, Amy.

“Three for me,” Colin replies, laying down his discards.

All discards handled, it’s finally time to play the game. Betting starts, and our usual, light chatter begins.

“Why couldn’t Titus make it tonight?” C-Bomb asks, after inhaling from his blunt.

“He’s meeting his girlfriend’s parents tonight,” Kai replies.

“Sounds serious,” C-Bomb mutters. “Is she cool?”

“We don’t know,” Kai says. “They met right before we left on tour, and she only came to visit him once. After that, they were long-distance the whole time.”

“He likes her a lot, though,” I interject. “He didn’t seem even tempted to break things off during the tour, even though she could only come visit him that one time.”

“What about you, KC?” C-Bomb asks. “Are you dating anyone these days?”

I shake my head. “Other than my fake relationship with Ruby for the show, I’m single as ever.” With Kai sitting here, and with me knowing C-Bomb’s little sister is Miranda, a close friend of Ruby’s, I’ve got no choice but to stick to the story.

“In that case, ask my sister out, would you?” C-Bomb says, as he throws some chips into the pot. “Miranda’s newly single again, and I don’t want her getting with another douchebag.”

Kai interjects, “I’ll ask her out.”

“Fuck no, you won’t.”

Everyone cracks up at C-Bomb’s clapback, even Kai.

C-Bomb adds, “I just said I don’t want my sister dating another douchebag , remember?

” As we all laugh again, C-Bomb returns to me.

“Seriously, though, are you interested in her, KC? Miranda’s always liked you.

And if I could handpick one guy to make an honest woman out of my wild sister, it’d be you. ”

“Sorry, C-Bomb,” Savage interjects. “KC can’t date your sister, when he’s madly in love with Titus’s.”

I glare at Savage with wide eyes that scream, “What the fuck, man?” But it’s a pointless exercise. He’s visibly drunk and stoned off his ass. Which means his filter is now gone, baby, gone.

“So, all that kissing you’ve been doing with Ruby on the internet has been real,” C-Bomb says with a chuckle. “I figured as much, but Miranda swore it was all an act to piss off Cooper or whatever.”

“It’s not necessarily real , but it’s not fake, either,” Savage says incoherently. “He’s madly in love, but Ruby thinks they’re only having a fling.”

“Wait, what ?” Kai blurts .

“Savage. Please, shut the fuck up now.”

“Ooooh, this is getting interesting,” C-Bomb says. “You’re flinging with your bestie, while secretly wanting more? Nice.”

“Oldest trick in the book,” Savage says. He raises his index finger. “But also, highly effective.”

“Kendrick, what the fuck?” Kai says. “You want Ruby for real ? Since when?”

I run a hand through my hair. “Guys, listen to me, this conversation can’t leave this room, okay? Please. I’m begging you.”

“Calm down,” C-Bomb says with a laugh. “Savage didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. We all know you’ve been love with that keyboardist of yours for years now.”

“I didn’t know that,” Kai insists.

“How is that even possible?” C-Bomb says to Kai. “He’s not subtle. The kid wears his heart on his sleeve.”

“How long have you been feeling this way, KC?” Kai asks, looking legitimately shocked.

“Fuck.” I’m panicked. Reeling. C-Bomb’s sister, Miranda, is close friends with Ruby, and everyone sitting at this table is also good friends with Titus.

Oh, god. Fish’s and Colin’s wives are friendly with Ruby, too!

And both of those women are close friends with Violet, who’s one of Laila’s closest friends.

Fuck me. With all those connections, Savage’s drunken slip of the tongue will definitely get back to Ruby, one way or another, and ruin everything for me, if I don’t lock this shit down right fucking now.

“Guys, listen to me,” I blurt in a panic. “This conversation seriously can’t leave this room. Please. My life’s happiness depends on it. This is life or death for me.”

Everyone promises, looking like they’re waiting with bated breath for whatever I’m going to say next. Kai, especially, looks like he’s on tenterhooks.

“You can’t tell anyone,” I repeat. I look at C-Bomb. “Not even your sister.” I look at the other guys. “Not even your wives.”

Everyone assures me they won’t say a word to anyone, not even the women closest to them; and slowly but surely, I start to genuinely believe them and calm down.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Kai says. “How long has this been going on?”

“For me? Since day one. For Ruby, only recently. But like Savage said, Ruby thinks we’re only flinging for the fun of it—and with a firm expiration date.”

Kai looks flabbergasted. “So . . . When you asked her to audition for the band . . .?”

“You were right. I wanted her.”

Kai’s jaw drops. But apparently, he’s too floored to form words.

“To be honest,” Fish says, breaking the thick silence between my brother and me. “I’ve often wondered why you and Ruby even bothered dating other people. Your chemistry has always been so damned obvious.”

I do my best to explain the history of our close friendship.

“That’s why I told him, he’s got to be a Doberman now,” Savage says.

“Kendrick, fuck that,” Fish says. “Fuck being a Doberman. You’re a golden retriever, man. Through and through. Just tell her how you feel.”

“I don’t know, Fish,” Colin says. “Amy had some diabolical tricks up her sleeve at the very beginning. You know, when I had my head up my ass. And it was only thanks to her scheming that I was able to figure out how I was feeling about her. I needed a wake-up call, you know? And I needed time. And that’s what I got. ”

“That’s exactly what Ruby needs,” Savage says confidently. “A wake-up call and some time. And Kendrick’s providing both.” He snickers. “One bribe of her building manager at a time.”

“Savage! What the fuck, man?”

Not surprisingly, everyone jumps in to ask what Savage means, at which point he gleefully tells the story of how I’ve bribed Ruby’s building manager, twice, in order to keep her at my house long enough to allow our forced proximity to work its magic.

“All’s fair in love and war,” C-Bomb grumbles.

“That’s exactly what I told him,” Savage says proudly. “Sometimes, the ends justify the means.”

I look at C-Bomb and Savage and suddenly realize neither man is a paragon of emotional maturity. If they both think what I’m doing is A-okay, maybe that’s a surefire sign . . . it’s not ?

“Are we sure about this, guys?” Fish asks, giving voice to what I’m thinking myself.

“Well, whether what he’s been doing is right or wrong,” Savage says, “there’s no turning back now. He’s in it to win it, baby, so he might as well keep going now, till she’s madly in love with him.” He smiles at me. “Or she hates your guts forever for lying to her.”

“ What ?” I shout. “You never said she could wind up hating me!”

“Well, I mean, it’s common sense. Nobody likes to be lied to.”

I thwap Savage’s head, and he laughs.

“I was joking,” he says, rubbing his head. “Ruby could never hate you. She thinks you walk on water.”

“She could absolutely hate me, Savage. Shit. What have I done?” I lean back in my chair and rub my forehead. “I should go home and come clean to her.”

“Absolutely,” Fish agrees, while the rest of the table speaks over him to disagree. To say the time for that is not yet upon me. To stay the course.

“It’s not like I can keep her at my place indefinitely,” I say. “At some point, I’m going to have to let her leave and accept her feelings for me, whatever they are.”

“Okay, but is that moment now ?” Savage asks. “You’re so close, KC. Even Laila thinks so.”

“You told Laila?”

“Yeah.”

“Savage.”

“She’s my wife . You knew I would. I told you that.”

He’s right. He did. But I can’t resist teasing him about it, anyway. “You keep telling me to be a Doberman, but you’ve turned into as big a golden retriever as me.”

“Yeah, because she’s my wife now. Being a Doberman only applies when you’re trying to get the girl. Once she’s your wife, all bets are off and you have to be completely honest with her, always.”