Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 121916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
With a keening moan, Ruby arches her back and comes underneath me, and I release inside her with my fingers lodged in her hair.
I love you, Ruby Connolly.
I love you, I love you, I love you.
After a moment, my body calms down, and I slide off her and kiss her cheek.
I hand her a tissue box, and as she cleans herself up, I lie on my side next to her, smiling broadly. “I was terrified you’d read those words and reject me.”
Ruby laughs. “So, you let me believe they were for a song called ‘Spank,’ instead?”
I laugh. “You’re the one who said it was called ‘Spank.’ Not me. I just didn’t correct you.”
“That’s not true. You added fuel to that flame. Repeatedly.”
I shrug. “The idea clearly turned you on, so I gave it a little fuel and let you run with it.” I shake my head. “Much to my ever-increasing anxiety.”
“I can only imagine how stressful that must have been, every time I brought it up.”
“It was fun, too. Sometimes. But mostly stressful.”
She laughs. “Why not just write a song called ‘Spank’ and give it to me? Problem solved.”
“I tried. But you know me. I don’t write lyrics the way you and Savage do. I don’t even know how I wrote ‘Spark,’ in the first place. It came to me in a trance, and, unfortunately, it turned out that trance was a one-off.”
Ruby giggles. “I’d love to read a song called ‘Spank,’ written by you.”
“Yeah, no shit, Ruby. You’ve made that abundantly clear.”
She laughs again. “Sorry.”
“Trust me, anything I might have written to try to satisfy your curiosity would have been a major let-down for you. So, why show you something anti-climactic, you know?”
“Literally.”
“That’s the same joke I made to Savage.”
She rolls her eyes. “You told Savage about all this?”
“I had to tell him. I was going crazy. Plus, I needed his advice about what to do.”
“You needed Savage’s advice?”
“That’s how desperate I was.”
We both laugh.
“So, that’s what all those furtive looks at our songwriting session were all about, huh?”
I nod. “When that motherfucker brought up ‘Spank’ as a song idea, I seriously wanted to murder him.”
“Savage could have written a song called ‘Spank’ for you in fifteen minutes.”
“Yeah, he offered.”
“Ew. I was joking, Kendrick.”
“Don’t worry, I told him no. I said that would be gross—like him seducing you into my bed.”
She makes a gross-out face. “What’s wrong with that man?”
I chuckle. “He was only trying to be helpful. I mean, you can’t deny his version of ‘Spank’ would have been smoking hot and extremely effective.”
“Who does he think he is? Cyrano de Bergerac?”
“Who’s that?”
Giggling, Ruby explains it to me, and I have to admit it’s a perfect reference.
“See, that’s why you’re so much better at lyrics than me. I’m a former football player who bangs on his drums for a living. But you know all these obscure literary references and shit.”
Ruby bursts out laughing. “Babe, Cyrano De Bergerac isn’t obscure. Modern movies steal from it all the time.”
“See? I don’t even know that. You’re still the smartest person I know.” Smiling, I run a fingertip across the curves of her breast and nipple. “I have a confession to make. The first week you were staying here, I took off my shirt a thousand times more than I ever would have if I’d been alone in a pathetic ploy to get you to notice me and think of me in a sexual way. I don’t really work out shirtless.”
Ruby screams with laughter. “You wanted me to notice you?”
“Desperately.”
“Kendrick, I noticed you so damned much, I couldn’t even look at you, or I knew a gushing river of drool would come out of my mouth and give me away. Especially when you came out in that towel. I was a goner.”
“That’s exactly what Savage said! He said you not catcalling me when I was in that towel was proof you wanted to fuck me.”
“Wow, you’ve talked to Savage quite a bit about all this, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
We both giggle.
“I was obsessed,” I admit, tracing her belly button with my fingertip. “So, what finally did it? What lit the spark for you to finally see me as something more than a friend for the first time?”
Ruby bites her lip.
“Come on, baby. I’ve told you my timeline. Now, tell me yours. Was it when we kissed at my birthday party? At Reed’s party? Fess up.”
Ruby blushes. “It happened a little bit sooner than all that, I’d say.”
A thought occurs to me. “Wait, were all Cooper’s lyrics about me true?”
Ruby nods slowly. “I’m only assuming about the ‘you said his name twice’ thing, though. I honestly don’t remember moaning out your name over and over again in my sleep like he said I did. Although, come to think of it, I’m sure he was right about that, since I was definitely having a sex dream about you.”