Certified Disaster (Beautiful Mess Book 2) (11 page)

“What offer?”
she asked him.  “What is she talking
about?”

“Hell if I know,”
he shrugged.  “That
girl is crazy.”

Recognizing the guilty gleam in his
eye, she pushed.  “
Cole
?”

“Alright,”
he gave in.  “Jillian sort of came on
to me a while ago.”
 
Her
eyes widened, he hurried to clarify.  “But I swear, nothing happened.  Ask
Matt, he was there.”

“It’s true, Bri,”
Matt nodded.  “Cole
didn’t even hesitate before turning her down.”

Stunned to hear that Jillian had hit
on her boyfriend, Bri felt her anger and hatred towards the girl spike to a
whole new level.

“I’ll kill her,”
she glared at
Jillian’s retreating form.  “I’m going to freaking kill her.”
 
She even stood to
go do it, but Cole grabbed her hand and pulled her back down.

“Whoa, hold on there.  Why don’t you
take a couple of deep breaths before you do something you’ll regret.”

“I won’t regret knocking Jillian on
her ass.”
 
She
glared at Cole for preventing her from doing just that.

“You will if someone calls campus
security and says you started a fight,”
he eyed her meaningfully.  “You promised me you wouldn’t risk your
future like that again,”
he pushed when she didn’t back down.

Letting out a deflating breath, Bri
forced herself to calm down.

“You’re right,”
she finally
relented, seeing the validity in Cole’s words.  Satisfied that she wasn’t going
to go jump Jillian, he released her.  “But I swear, if she ever hits on you
again, I’m chasing her down a dark ally and beating the crap out of her.”

“Okay,”
he chuckled.  “But you know you have
nothing to worry about, right?”
 
He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yes,”
she grudgingly replied.  “Still, popping her in the nose would make me
feel a heck of a lot better.”

Cole laughed, and the last of her
tension eased.  Seeing that the danger was passed, the rest of the group
relaxed.

“For what it’s worth, I would’ve
loved to see you take Jillian down a notch,”
Stacie smiled.  “Good job standing up to her, though.”

“Thanks.  I’m done letting her push
me around.  She can’t get me kicked off the team and she knows it.  I’m not
taking any more of her crap.”

“That’s right,”
Stephanie nodded,
and Addison leaned over and squeezed Bri’s hand.  “Plus we’ve got your back if
Jillian tries to start something.  If she messes with you, she messes with all
of us.”

“Thanks, guys.”
 
Touched Bri
settled back in her chair.  Looking around her small circle, she realized how
lucky she was to have such supportive and loyal friends around her.  It was a
blessing she was extremely grateful for.

Cole felt like he had been
constantly running for the past five months, with barely enough time to
breathe.  So he was able to give a small sigh of relief, amid his vast
disappointment, when his team lost in the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament.  The
race wasn’t over yet, not by a long shot, but he felt like he could at least
stop and catch his breath. 

He was also glad to be done
traveling.  He’d been on the road for the past three weeks, due to the
tournament, and had hardly seen Bri, let alone spent any time with her.  He was
very much looking forward to making up for all that lost time.  And
unfortunately, he did have a lot to make up for.  Bri had had a couple dance
team functions while he’d been traveling, and he felt terrible for missing
them.  She’d assured him they weren’t a big deal and he shouldn’t worry about
it, but he still felt like he’d really let her down.  So, as he stepped off the
bus, that had brought the very somber team home from the tournament, and made
his way back to his room, Cole promised himself he’d make it up to her somehow.

All of his inner intellection was
cut short however, as he came upon the huge crowd of fans gathered in the
commons outside his dorm.  It looked like the whole school had turned out to welcome
the team home, and despite their disappointing loss, the team was still given a
hero’s welcome. 

Cole stood, scanning the crowd, as
the rest of his teammates made it to the commons.  When everyone had arrived,
they moved as a team into the cheering crowd.  Looking for his favorite red
head, he finally spotted Bri making her way towards him.  A sudden urgency
overtook him, and he had to get to her.  Pushing his way through the dense
crowd, he called out to her.  Finally reaching him, she smiled brilliantly, and
he’d never seen anything more beautiful.  She threw herself into his arms, and
all of his guilt, disappointment, and sadness fled.  She was a balm to his
soul.  Calming, soothing, and uplifting him whenever he needed it most.

“Surprise!”
she yelled in his ear, trying to be
heard above the crowd.  “Welcome home.”

Unable to help himself, he picked
her up and twirled her around.

“I am
so
glad to be home,”
he pulled back and
smiled at her, completely content.

“I am so glad you are home, too.”
 
She smiled back,
and he couldn’t wait any longer.  He held her tightly and kissed the crap out
of her.

After being thoroughly good and
kissed, Bri pulled back, her cheeks flushed.  She glanced around,
embarrassed.  

“So,”
she cleared her throat, “want to go somewhere a little more private?”

Cole’s heart picked up.  “What did
you have in mind?”

“My room is completely empty right
now.  If you can pull yourself away from your adoring fans.”

“Are you kidding?  Why aren’t we
already there?”
 
And
not stopping to even drop off his duffle bag, he grabbed her hand and led her
out of the throng. 

They practically sprinted back to
her room.  He dropped his bag by the door as a warning to any of her roommates
that might decide to come home, and pulled Bri up against him.  He let his lips
pour over hers, and was rewarded with a soft moan.

Smiling, he whispered against her
lips, “God, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you more,”
she breathed before
devouring his mouth.  Then she began pushing him back towards her bedroom.

Cole’s heart began pounding in
earnest as Bri kicked the door shut behind her and, never breaking their kiss,
backed him onto her bed. 

“Bri…”
he trailed off, not sure whether he was asking permission, or giving her
a chance to back out.

“Shh,”
she placed a finger on his lips.  “We don’t have a lot of time.”
 
Then to his utter
shock and delight, she pulled off her Duke sweatshirt, leaving her in just the
tight, white tank top she wore underneath.

Trailing her curves with his eyes,
he couldn’t wait to get her glorious body beneath him.  Carefully, there wasn’t
much room on her twin bed, he flipped her under him and gazed down at her. 
Unabashedly, she grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up over his head. 
She then reached for her tank top, but he stayed her hands.

“Let me,”
Cole whispered, his heart pounding in
anticipation.  Looking deep into his eyes, Bri raised her arms up over her
head.  Slowly, he lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor. 
His eyes took in her sexy lace bra before she pulled him down to her and
captured his lips.  The feel of her bare skin against his was the sweetest
thing he’d ever felt.  A part of him couldn’t believe this was actually going
to happen.  He’d imagined this moment so many times, and it still didn’t seem
real.  This was
Bri,
after all.  The woman he loved, the only woman he
ever would love.  She was all that was good, and right, and beautiful in the
world, and he wanted to give her the best of everything.  She
deserved
the best of everything. 

Which, he realized with a sinking
feeling, meant that he couldn’t do this, not now.  He could not deflower her in
the back of a ratty dorm room, like some inconsequential nobody.  That wouldn’t
be fair to her, and he’d never forgive himself for doing that to her.     

Oblivious to his inner battling, Bri
reached back to undo her bra, and it took every ounce of self-control he had to
stop her.

“Ambria, wait,”
he heard himself
say.  For a moment he couldn’t believe what he was about to do.  But looking
down into her beautiful, golden brown eyes, he knew it was the right decision. 
Even if his entire body was protesting angrily.  “This…
this isn’t right.”

“What?”
 
He saw confusion and hurt in her
eyes, and he rushed to reassure her.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that.  It’s
just…
I want
to make this special for you.  I don’t want our first time to be in some crappy
dorm room where we have to rush because we don’t know when one of our roommates
will come bursting through the door.  You deserve so much better than that. 
You deserve candles, and flowers, and the whole nine yards.  And I want to give
that to you.”
 
He
released a silent sigh of relief when the hurt left her eyes, and she smiled
lovingly at him.

“Really?”
she asked.  “That all sounds great,
but how are we going to be able to do that?  We don’t exactly have a lot of
options.”

“You leave that to me.  I promise
you I’ll figure something out. 
Soon
,”
he smiled down at her.  “So do you think you can wait, just a little
longer?”

“Do you?”
she returned coyly. 

He leaned down to nuzzle her neck.  “No. 
But I want to do this right.  You deserve the best of everything.  Besides,”
he pulled back to
grin at her, “we don’t exactly have a lot of room to uh, maneuver here.  I want
to make sure you’re getting my best effort, and not having to settle for less
due to space restrictions.”
 

“Well, when you put it like that,”
she laughed and
wound her arms around his neck.  “So, the boundary lines have been drawn.  What
do you want to do now?”

Not trusting himself or his
hormones, Cole rolled to the side, and snuggled Bri up against him.

“Can we just lay here for a while?”
he murmured against
her hair.  “I’ve missed you, and I just want to feel as close to you as
possible.”

“Sounds perfect,”
she replied, and
placed a soft kiss on his lips.  She then pulled the blankets up around them. 
Loving the way her warm body felt against his, Cole’s eyes drifted shut.

The end of the semester was fast
approaching, and Cole’s time was consumed by catching up on his classes and
turning in his submissions for the student art show.  He was surprised and
ecstatic when one of his paintings was selected for inclusion.  It wasn’t often
that freshmen pieces were selected.  Having learned his lesson the hard way the
last time, he met Bri after class one day to tell her about it.

“This is a pleasant surprise,”
she smiled.  “What’s
up?”

“One of my pieces was selected for
the student art show next week,”
he replied as they began walking.

“Oh my gosh, Cole!  That is amazing.”

“Yeah,”
he smiled, a swell of pride filling
his chest.  “It is kind of amazing.  But in the interest of preventing history
from repeating itself, I wanted to make sure it was okay with you if they
displayed it.”

“What is it?”
she asked warily. 

“It’s a painting I did of one of
your ballet poses.  Daymon had thought my sketches were good, and pushed me to
capture one of them more fully.  Apparently, the committee liked it.”

A committee that Daymon himself was
a part of.  Cole wasn’t convinced that Daymon hadn’t chosen the painting
because he had a thing for Bri.  Cole was trying not to let it bother him, but
knowing that your TA had a crush on your girl was a little disconcerting.

“Oh.  Okay.”
 
She still seemed hesitant.

“Would you like to see it first?”

“Yes, if you don’t mind.  I think
that’d be a good idea.”
 
She relaxed a little, and he couldn’t help but smile at her insecurity. 
How a girl like Bri could be insecure about anything was beyond him, but he
found it awfully endearing sometimes.

“This way then.”
 
He took her hand
and led her to the art building.  All the pieces for the show were being stored
in one of the larger studios.  Cole wove through the maze until he came to
his.  He heard Bri’s sharp intake of breath and turned to her.  “What do you
think?”

“Coleston, it’s beautiful.  It
seriously reminds me of those classic ballerina paintings.  I can’t believe
that’s me.”

“Thank you.”
 
He pulled her against him and kissed
her head.  “So, can they display it in the show?”

“Of course.  I would be honored,”
she smiled up at
him, and he couldn’t resist beaming back at her.  

As finals loomed ahead of them, Cole
was still trying to find a good getaway for him and Bri.  He didn’t have a lot
of money, and borrowing money from his dad to take his girlfriend away for the
weekend wasn’t something he wanted to do.  He’d even gotten desperate enough to
ask Matt for some suggestions.  Of course, he’d told Matt that his dad was
coming out to visit and they were looking for a cool place to stay.  But when
the two of them put together couldn’t come up with anything, Cole began to
wonder if he’d be able to pull this off after all.

And then, one afternoon, after their
team shoot-around was over, Matt sat down on the bench next to him and
grinned. 

“What?”
Cole asked as he changed his shoes. 

“I have a solution to your problem.”

“Really?”
Cole sat up, giving Matt his full
attention.  “What is it?”

“My family has a beach house out on
the coast.  I called my parents and told them about your dilemma, and they
totally offered to let you and “your dad”,”
Matt even did the air quotes with his fingers, “borrow the beach house
for the weekend.”

“Seriously?”
 
Cole couldn’t believe it.  He felt a
smile spread across his face.

“Yep.  We are going to my cousin’s
wedding the weekend after finals, so no one will be using it.  It’ll be perfect
for whatever you have planned.”
 
Matt gave him a knowing grin.  He obviously wasn’t buying the whole
family vacation cover.

“And your parents are really okay
with this?”

Matt handed him a padded envelope.  “My
mom even overnighted the keys.  There are some instructions on how to turn on
the water and stuff, and how to turn everything off before you leave.  She even
threw in a list of some fun things for you to do while you’re there.  Not that
you’ll need it, I’m sure.”
 
He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

Cole was overwhelmed.  “Matt, this
is…
Seriously,
I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Really, it’s not a big deal.  Just
send my mom a thank you note, and she’ll be thrilled.  But do me a favor.  For
the love of all that is holy, never,
ever
tell me about what actually
happens there.  For once in my life, I do not want to know the details.  As far
as I’m concerned, this is just an innocent family vacation, and I don’t want to
know otherwise.”

“Of course it’s just a family
vacation,”
Cole
grinned.  “What else would it be?”

“Yeah, right,”
Matt laughed.  “Sorry
it’s such short notice.  Do you think it’ll work?”

Finals were in a week and a half,
which didn’t leave much time for planning. 

“Oh, it’ll work.  Thanks, Matt.”

A week and a half later, Cole and
Bri packed up her Jeep.  All of their finals were done by Thursday, so they set
off on Friday morning.  He had purposely kept their destination a secret,
wanting it to be a surprise, but had told Bri to pack for a weekend at the
beach.  He hoped that meant nothing but bikinis. 

Bri had been excited about their
weekend away together, but as they drove, she was unusually quiet and a sort of
awkward tension settled in the car.  Cole did his best to lighten the mood and
keep her talking, but he could tell that she was nervous.  Doubt began to creep
into him, and he began to second guess his plan.

They arrived at the North Carolina
coast that afternoon, and as they pulled up to the beach house, Bri gasped.

“Wow,”
she breathed as they both took in the picturesque house and the
sprawling beach beyond.  “This is amazing.”

“Come on,”
he got out and opened her door.  “Let’s
go check it out.”
 

He unlocked the front door, and they
spent a few minutes looking through the house, before wandering out to the
large deck in the back that looked out over the ocean.  He put his arm around
her and pulled her into his side.  Kissing her temple, he could feel the
tension running through her.