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It’s the main reason I haven’t swallowed my pride and extended an olive branch to Laila yet. Simply because I’m so shocked and appalled and downright pissed she’s still giving Malik the time of day. What’s wrong with her? But suddenly, now that I’m drunk again, for the first time since New York—only this time, thankfully, a happy kind of drunk—a birthday boy kind of drunk—I feel ready to swallow my pride and finally bury the hatchet with Laila. Now that Kendrick is sleeping with Tracy, and he’s finally out of my way, I’ve decided to go for it, in earnest. I don’t care if she’s still with Malik. Mr. Basketball isn’t here. And I am.
“Goodnight, brother,” I reply to Kendrick, waving to him. “See you at the buses at nine.”
Kendrick exhales. “Eight!”
“That was a joke.”
Kendrick rolls his eyes. “You never know with you. Seriously, don’t be late this time, Savage. Everyone is starting to get annoyed with you for being late so much. Not just Laila.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll stop being an asshole. I was actually thinking of extending an olive branch to Laila.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I was actually surprised, now that she’s probably single, she didn’t stop by the party. But—"
“Laila’s single?” I blurt, my heart lurching into my mouth.
“Well, I’m assuming. I can’t imagine she’d stay with Malik after that video of him leaked tonight.”
I feel like I’m having a stroke. “What video?”
“You didn’t see the video of Malik getting blown in a strip club? It’s all over the internet! Everyone was passing it around at the party tonight.”
Every molecule in my body feels like it’s exploding, all at once. “Nobody showed it to me!”
“Hang on.” Shaking his head, Kendrick reaches into his pocket. “I saw you looking at something with Kai on his phone, laughing your asses off. I assumed—”
“He was showing me Alessandra’s funny music video that just released!”
“Okay, calm down.” He quickly cues something up on his phone and hands it to me. And a second later I’m watching dark, grainy footage of what looks like Malik Wallace getting head from a woman kneeling between his legs who’s wearing nothing but a thong.
My heart is crashing. “Has it been confirmed this is him?”
Kendrick nods. “There’s other footage of him walking into the place, in those same clothes. And in that footage, you can clearly see his face.” Kendrick takes his phone from me while I walk in tight circles, flailing my arms and breathing hard. After a moment of watching me act like a lunatic, Kendrick lets out a long exhale. “Stop, Savage. It’s okay. You’ve got my blessing.”
I stop moving and stare at him. But I don’t speak.
“Go get her, man. She’s all yours. I know how much you’ve been wanting her. I’ve known for a long time. So, go for it.”
I can barely breathe. “I’m sorry,” I say, a mixture of relief and guilt and excitement flooding me. “I’ve tried my best not to want her, KC. I’ve tried to keep my distance and push her away, as best I could, so you could take your shot with her. I swear, I’ve tried.”
“I know you have, brother. Thank you.”
I run my palm down my face. “I don’t understand my obsession with her. She makes me crazy. I haven’t even fucked anyone else since I laid eyes on her at Reed’s party.”
Kendrick’s jaw practically drops onto the ground. “But I thought—”
“No.”
“The waitress in New York?”
I shake my head. “No. Nobody.”
Kendrick processes that for a long moment. “So, you thought making Laila hate your guts would make you want her less?”
“I guess so.”
He narrows his eyes. “Or maybe you figured her out, even if it was subconsciously. Maybe, you realized making Laila hate your guts would only make her want you more.”
“No.”
“Yes. Don’t you see? I’ve been nothing but nice to that woman since the second I met her. I’ve been her best friend. And where am I now? Irreversibly in her friend zone. While you’ve been nothing but an asshole to her from day one. And where are you? Firmly in her ‘I want to fuck you to death!’ zone.”
My earlier mixed emotions streamline and converge into nothing but excitement. If that’s what Kendrick sees, then it must be true. Because Kendrick Cook is fantastic at reading people, unlike me. I say, “I swear I wasn’t trying to cockblock you.”
“Not consciously.” He exhales. “It doesn’t matter. There was no other ending to the story for me. Even if you weren’t here, she still wouldn’t want me. I realize that now. Clearly, she likes flaming assholes who treat her like shit. Look how long she’s hung in there with Malik! I can’t compete with that, because I can never be that. But you can.”
I think maybe he’s insulting me. But I feel nothing but complimented. “You think?”
