Page 44 of Spark

Shit.

That didn’t occur to me before now. But I think she’s right: I’ve just handed Rex a viral video on a silver platter. Fuck.

“Kiss me!” Ruby screams above the music, right before she double-fists the front of my T-shirt and pulls my lips to hers.

When our lips collide, my drunken brain can’t make heads or tails of what’s happening for a second, but my body sure can. Instinctually, I slide my arm around Ruby’s back, pull her closer, and kiss the hell out of her, like I’m a soldier returning home from war. The result, at least for me, is fireworks.

As my tongue swirls with Ruby’s, my entire body explodes with elation, love, and lust. Euphoria that the kiss I’ve waited so long to experience is finally here—and it’s better than my wildest dreams. And best of all? Ruby’s unmistakably returning my kiss, her body making it clear she’s every bit as?—

The song abruptly cuts off, right before it reaches its now-infamous line: “Why do you want to fuck your brother?” Apparently, someone got to the iPad and turned it off in the nick of time. And suddenly, it’s like a spell has been broken.

With our blaring soundtrack no longer goading us on, we’re suddenly surrounded by nothing but whoops and cheers, all of which are mingling with the loud thumping of my heartbeat in my ears.

Reality sets in again.

Abruptly, Ruby breaks free of my lips and lurches back, like she’s been zapped by an electric fence.

Flustered, I open my mouth to confess that kiss was better than my wildest fantasies about it—fantasies I’ve been having since age sixteen. But, thankfully, Ruby speaks first.

“That was perfect,” she whispers with a snicker. “Now, drag me out of here like you’re taking me somewhere to fuck me.” She grabs my hand and shouts, loud enough for everyone at the party to hear, including Rex, “Come on, baby!I can’t wait to give you your birthday present in private!”

[Click here to hear “Hate Sex High” in full]

11

KENDRICK

“Guys, hold up!”

It’s Titus, shouting down the length of the hallway after Ruby and I barreled out of the party. Ruby’s riding on my back. She immediately hopped aboard, like she always does, when moving from one drinking location to the next. It was a tad demoralizing—confirmation that nothing’s changed between us, despite that amazing kiss. For her, anyway.

As I come to a stop with Ruby on my back, Titus shouts, “Seriously, guys, don’t do this.” When I turn around, he adds, “You’re both shitfaced and might regret it in the morning.”

Ruby scoffs, and her breath flutters against my ear. “Are you serious? T, we kissed for Rex’s camera. He’s obviously going to send that video to Cooper, and I knew kissing Kendrick would give him the biggest possible ‘fuck you.’ Thankfully, Kendrick knew to play along.” When Titus looks skeptical, Ruby adds, “It’s like Dad always says: ‘If they’re running you out of town, get out front and make it look like a parade.’ So, that’s what I did.”

Titus narrows his eyes. “That kiss looked awfully real, Ruby.”

“What would have been the point, otherwise?” She pokes my shoulder. “Tell him, KC.”

“Yup. All for show,” I choke out, barely able to command my tongue. I feel deflated, confused, and embarrassed. My brain understood the situation, I think, when Ruby first planted her lips on mine. I saw the camera. I knew Cooper’s song was blaring. I mean, I didn’t fully get her logic, but I knew something was up. Something she’d explain later. But then, somewhere along the line, my body convinced my brain Ruby was kissing me for real—that she was feeling every kilowatt of electricity in that moment that I felt. I was such an idiot.

Titus says something I don’t catch, because my mind has been racing and spiraling. But Ruby’s reply to her brother draws me back.

“You honestly think if I was truly kissing my best friend, for real, for the first time, I’d do it in front of you and the rest of the band? Not to mention, in front of everyone at the party, and possibly the whole world, if I’m right and Rex is going to post that video?”

Well, there it is.

Drunk or not, I was most definitely a fool.

“Come back to the party,” Titus says, motioning toward the door behind him.

“We can’t,” Ruby says. “We made it seem like we were running off to hook up. If we come back now, everyone will think Kendrick jizzed in his pants before we ever got to his room.” Ruby snickers at the idea, but the scenario doesn’t seem that far-fetched to me. It’s never happened to me, thank God, but after twelve years of pining over and fantasizing about this girl, I wouldn’t call it out of the question if Ruby ever kissed me for real and gave me the green light for more.

“Kendrick, come on. We haven’t even playedBirthday Truth or Dareyet.”

“We played the other night at the emergency band meeting.”

Titus scoffs. “That one question didn’t count. And we never play with Truth as an option, anyway.”

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