Page 27 of Spark

“What shit-talking would we do, even if I forgave you now? We both know you’re going to fall asleep right after they feed us.”

“No, this one time, I’d force myself to stay awake the whole flight and shit-talk Kai all the way to Vancouver, if I knew that was the price of your forgiveness.”

“My forgiveness doesn’t have a price tag. I just need some time to process. What you did was shitty, Ruby.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

She juts out her lower lip and hangs her head, and I swear, every cell in my body yearns to take her in my arms and kiss her pouty mouth.

“If I were you,” Ruby says, “I’d tell me to get the fuck out of my airspace and go sit with Titus because you can’t stand to even look at me.”

I snort. “That tactic isn’t gonna work on me, babe.”

Ruby bats her eyelashes. “What tactic?”

“Making yourmea culpaso over the top, I feel compelled to reassure you that what you did wasn’t thatbad.”

Ruby snickers. “You know all my best tricks.”

“And I’m ready for all of them. You can sit here next to me, if you want. In fact, that’s what I want, as part of your penance. But just so you know, I’m not going to forgive you for a while.”

Ruby’s eyes go wide. “For how long?”

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

“Will you still be mad at me after we get to Vancouver?”

“Maybe.”

“Kendrick!”

“At least till we land. The rest is a wait-and-see kind of thing.”

“Kendrick Cook! Vancouver is six hours from now. I won’t survive anything beyond that.” She bats my shoulder. “You’re entitled to be annoyed with me, but don’t becruel.”

Goddamn her. How does she do this? I’m smiling from ear to ear, against my will. “Well, maybe next time you’ll think twice before throwing me under a double-decker bus to save your own embarrassed ass.”

“I will. I promise.” She pinches my shoulder. “Will you still be my pillow for the flight, even if you’re annoyed with me?”

“Nope.”

Ruby gasps. “Cruel.”

“There have to be consequences for your bad behavior, Miss Connolly, or you’ll never correct it in the future.”

“The punishment has to fit the crime, though. Not being my pillow is the equivalent of sentencing me to death for a misdemeanor.”

“You really think what you did was a misdemeanor?”

“We were all there when you saw Laila at Reed’s party and called dibs, Kendrick. It’s not like it was some kind of state secret you were interested in her.”

Yeah, and only a half-hour before that happened, I had to watch Ruby in an extremely flirtatious conversation with Finn, one of the many musicians at Reed’s party, which then led to Finn pulling me aside to ask if Ruby was seeing anyone. In that moment, I was once again reminded of the fact that Ruby is, always has been, and always will be a non-starter for me. Because she wanted my brother over me. Finn over me. Cooper over me. Hell, anyone and everyone over me.

The pilot’s voice erupts over the speaker with an announcement: the doors have closed and we’re heading to the runway. But when he’s done giving us his spiel, Ruby pokes my forearm and asks, “At least admit you’re more annoyed with Kai than me. Give me that if nothing else.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine. Yes.”

Ruby fist-pumps the air. “Progress, again!”

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