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)
“Gotcha.”
Kendrick clears his throat. “Hey, Eli, do you think the producers might want Ruby and me to live together, like they required of Savage and Laila their first season?”
“Nah. That made sense for Savage and Laila because they were judges. With two guest mentors, I doubt they’ll want to pay all the extra expenses to make that happen. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled with you two looking cozy at the press conference, and then again during Mentor Day and at the finale.”
Kendrick exhales. “Okay. Cool.” He presses his lips together. “That’s a relief.”
“I’m guessing I’ll have an answer for you within an hour. Don’t tell anyone about this yet. Wait for the deal to be finalized.”
“Can I tell Savage and Laila, so I can thank them? We’re all headed to the airport in a few minutes.”
“Yeah, you can tell them, since they’ve already signed an NDA with the show.”
“What about Titus? I swear he won’t say a word.”
Eli chuckles. “Tell the whole band, Ruby Duby. That’s fine. But that’s it.”
We say our goodbyes, and Kendrick disconnects the call.
“Thank God you’re going to be there with me,” I say to Kendrick on a sigh. “With Cooper there, I doubt I would have said yes, if not for you.”
Kendrick smiles and bites his lip. For a moment, his eyes drift to my mouth. Ever so briefly. Or maybe I’m imagining that. “I’m gonna head to my room to shower and pack before they come get us for the airport.”
“I need to do all that, too. Thank you again for everything.”
“Anything for you, Ruby. Always.”
He slides out of bed and saunters toward the door. But as he opens it, Titus is standing in the doorframe, his fist raised like he’s about to knock.
“Oh!” Kendrick blurts, as both men take surprised steps backwards.
“I know what this looks like,” Kendrick says quickly. “But nothing happened last night between Ruby and me. We crashed right after we got here.”
“Okay,” Titus says. But his raised eyebrow makes the word sound more like he’s saying, “Bullshit.”
“It’s true,” I say. “Not that it’d be any of your business, either way.”
“I never said it’s my business. All I said was I didn’t want you two doing something shitfaced you wouldn’t have done sober.”
I vaguely remember Titus saying something like that, now that I think about it. But last night is kind of a blur for me, thanks to the copious amounts of booze and weed in my system. The only two things I remember with perfect clarity from last night, now that I think about it, are the following: one, I definitely kissed Kendrick last night, as a ‘fuck you’ to Cooper, and, two, somewhere in there, while my lips were still connected with Kendrick’s, I thought: This is the best kiss of my life. Sadly, I don’t remember the physical sensations that prompted that shocking thought. Honestly, I don’t remember what it felt like to kiss Kendrick at all. But now that I’m remembering I had that surprising thought, I can’t deny I’m deeply curious to kiss Kendrick again—while sober the next time—to try to find out exactly what prompted it.
15
KENDRICK
“It’s official!” Ruby shouts, looking down at her phone. “They accepted my demands. I’m going to be Laila’s mentor!”
I high-five her and whoop. “Congratulations, sweetheart!”
We’re sitting together on the airplane to LA, so Ruby tilts her screen toward me to show me Eli’s exciting text.
“The press conference announcing the cast is so soon after we get back,” Ruby says, referring to the timeline contained in Eli’s text.
“Yeah, they always do it the night before the season starts taping.”
As Ruby taps out a reply, it occurs to me this is a good opportunity to try to persuade her to stay at my place while they’re doing repairs at her condo.
“So, have you figured out where you’re going to stay? You know, while they’re making those repairs on your place?”
“A hotel. It’s only a week.”
“Don’t do that. Stay with me.” I wiggle my eyebrows. “Your fake boyfriend.”
“They’re not requiring us to live together. I don’t want to inconvenience you.”
“Would you stop with that? It’ll be fun. Like when I used to visit you on weekends at school. We’d also save the world by carpooling to the press conference together.”
“Well, that’s true. I certainly wouldn’t want to be a bad global citizen.”
I smile. “It’s settled, then.”
“Only if you’re sure I won’t cramp your style.”
“Ruby, I’m not Kai or Savage before Laila. Like I keep telling you, I’ve got no style for you to cramp.”
Ruby giggles, and I feel a rush of adrenaline to be able to make fun of Kai without worrying I’m rubbing salt in an old wound. For so long, I’ve avoided all mention of Kai’s sexcapades, thinking I was saving Ruby from memories of her rejection at Kai’s hands. But now, it’s like all the guard rails between us are down. The eggshells I’ve been tiptoeing around for so long, vanished.