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)
“Yep. We can’t wait.”
The crowd roars its approval.
“And will you be serenading anyone in particular?” Sunshine asks. She puts up one palm vertically and points at me behind it with a comical expression on her face, while stage-whispering, “Another guest mentor, perhaps?”
The audience explodes with laughter and cheers, and Laila covertly takes my hand underneath the table and squeezes it.
“It’s possible,” Cooper says coyly, and the audience chuckles. But when he glances over at me, pointedly, the audience explodes, like they’ve been hit with a nuclear bomb.
“Fabulous. Can’t wait for that.” She turns to Kendrick next and smiles at the man like he’s currently camped out between her legs, licking her pussy.
“Mr. Kendrick Cook,” Sunshine purrs. “Welcome back to the show, you gorgeous, talented, hunk of a shirtless man.”
The crowd erupts with catcalls, laughter, and applause. That’s the culture on this show—the audience is encouraged to be boisterous and reactive. The bigger the reaction, the better.
“You’ve been causing quite a stir on the internet lately, sir,” Sunshine continues. “What do you have to say for yourself about all that, young man?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Sunshine.”
Again, the audience loses their shit. And just this fast, it’s clear Kendrick’s won the battle for the audience’s heart over Cooper. Cooper might have the number-one song in the world right now—the pop-culture phenomenon everyone is talking about. But it’s Kendrick Cook they’d rather sleep with, given the chance. Kendrick Cook they’d pick to be their boyfriend, over Cooper, the same way I supposedly did, based on that video package.
And you know what? I can’t blame them for falling head over heels in love with him. Especially in this moment, with Cooper sitting a few seats down from Kendrick, the impulse to compare and contrast is a deeply human one—and there’s truly no contest. Even when he’s smiling and trying to be charming, Cooper’s underbelly is coated with anger and caustic energy, while everything about Kendrick feels warm and authentic. Confident, safe, and strong. Kendrick is a warm, crackling fireplace on a snowy day, while Cooper is the hipster, edgy T-shirt with holes in it you stupidly wore outside during a blizzard because you thought the slogan on it was cool.
As she did with the first two judge-mentor pairings, Sunshine engages Savage and Kendrick in some light banter about their team’s chances, and how they plan to guide them to victory. And through the exchange, both men radiate so much swagger and confidence, I’m equal parts impressed and scared by them. Truly, two mortal men shouldn’t have that much charm. God only knows what they could do with it if they decided to use it for evil.
“Thank you, guys,” Sunshine says to Savage and Kendrick, signaling she’s now moving on to Laila and me. But Kendrick has another idea.
“Hey, Sunshine,” he says. “Real quick. I just want to say that video package of Ruby was misleading. She never dated me during her brief, so-called relationship with Cooper. The video made it look like that, but that’s not the way it happened at all. Not even close. Just thought I’d mention that, in case anyone got the wrong impression.”
Laila looks down to hide her smile, but I can’t hide mine. True, his comment confirmed I had a relationship with Cooper, which means I’ve got to be Ruby Tuesday. But at this point, that cat’s completely out of the bag. No turning back. And since that’s the situation now, then I’m elated Kendrick came to my defense.
“Good to know,” Sunshine says brightly. But that’s all she’s willing to say before turning to me with a wide, sparkling smile. “Hello, Ruby! Ruby Tuesday?” She giggles. “We’re thrilled to have you here, either way. Sorry if it’s uncomfortable to be here with your ex and your boyfriend. I mean, if rumors about a certain song are to believe, it seems there’s some bad blood between the three of you.”
“There’s no bad blood on my end,” I say evenly. “And not on Kendrick’s, either, I don’t think.”
“None here,” Kendrick confirms, and the audience applauds and nods and makes it clear they think he’s the better man.
I flash Kendrick a huge smile. “I think things turned out for the best. I’m nothing but happy.”
“Good for you. How wonderful.”
I let my eyes drift to Cooper. “You know what they say is the opposite of love? It’s not hate. It’s indifference. And that’s what I feel about a certain very brief relationship I had once. Honestly, it’s like it never even happened.”
The place explodes with a cacophony of human sounds, including discernible laughter, hissing, boos, and cheers. Based on the ruckus, at least some of the audience is rooting for Cooper. Or at least, they feel sorry for his poor, jilted heart. Would they pick Kendrick, too? Hell yes. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want Cooper to find love, too. Also, based on that smattering of boos, at least some of them are enthusiastically villainizing me for breaking poor Cooper’s heart.