Certified Disaster (Beautiful Mess Book 2) (16 page)

She knew he was trying to seduce her
into agreeing, but that didn’t stop the shiver from running through her.

“I don’t know,”
she protested
softly.

“Please?”
 
He sucked on her tattoo behind her
ear.  Dang it, he knew just how to get her to agree to anything.

“Fine,”
she relented, pulling back.  “Dinner
starts at 7:30, so be at my place tomorrow by seven. Do not be late.”

“Deal,”
he smiled.  “I’ll be there at seven on
the dot.  You’re the best, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah.  You can stop buttering
me up, you got what you wanted.  Just don’t make me regret this.”
 
She eyed him
pointedly.  “And you will be making this up to me, and then some.”
 

“I look forward to it,”
he grinned.  As he
leaned down and kissed her, Bri hoped he wouldn’t let her down.

At 6:55 the next evening, Bri walked
into her living room to wait for Cole.  She was five minutes early, he should
be impressed.  She took a moment to check her reflection in the mirror above
the couch.  Her black, fitted cocktail dress accentuated her curves and her
auburn hair, which she’d left down in long waves.  She quickly applied some red
lipstick, and sat down to wait.  

Twenty-five minutes later, she was
still sitting.  Feeling she’d been patient enough, she pulled out her phone. 
Still not seeing any texts from Cole, she dialed his number.  It rang for a
minute and went to voicemail.  She left him a message, telling him they were
going to be late if he didn’t get there soon, and hung up.  Anxiously, she
watched the clock tick by another five minutes before she tried calling him
again.  Again, it went to voicemail. 

She knew he’d gone out with the guys
on the team, so she decided to try calling Matt, to see if he could get Cole to
call her.

“Sorry, Bri,”
Matt replied.  “I met the guys earlier
for a drink, but Stacie and I have plans tonight, so I left early.  I’m not
sure if they’re still there, but they were at The Stonewall Bar when I left. 
You could call and see if Cole’s still there.”

“Thanks, Matt.  Sorry to interrupt
your date.  Tell Stace hi for me.”

“No worries.  Talk to you later.”

Bri hung up and immediately called
the bar.  After waiting on hold for a few minutes, she was informed that the
basketball team from Duke had left some time ago, and no one knew where they’d
gone.  She hung up, and looked at the clock again.  Anger bubbled up in her
when she saw it was 7:45.  They were missing dinner.  She tried calling Cole
again, knowing it was probably useless.  As his voicemail picked up, she
debated what to do.  She could stay there and wait for him, or she could head
to the museum by herself, and at least get to see the exhibit.  Still holding
out some hope that Cole would show up, or at least call, she decided to stay
home and wait.

She was still waiting two hours
later.  She’d thrown a frozen dinner into the microwave, and changed out of her
dress when it became apparent Cole wouldn’t be back in time to go to the
museum.  She kept trying to reach him, but each time it went to voicemail, and
he didn’t answer any of her texts, so she eventually gave up.  She oscillated
between being hurt and angry that he’d blown her off like this.

Sometime around 11:30 there was a
knock on her door.  Bri turned off the movie she’d been watching and went to
answer it.  She tried to compose herself, knowing who was probably out there,
but her anger simmered just below the surface.  Taking a deep breath, she
opened the door.

Cole stood just outside, if you
could call it standing.  It was more like swaying and stumbling.  He smiled
brilliantly as she answered.  Taking in his disheveled appearance, her brows
creased in confusion.

“Hi, Beautiful,”
he slurred.  “I’m here
for our date.”

“Are you kidding?”
 
She was
incredulous.

“No, I’m here to pick you up.”
 
He glanced at her
pajamas.  “Though you don’t look like you’re ready yet.  That’s okay, I’ll
wait.”
 
He
stumbled in past her and practically fell onto the couch.

“Cole, are you
drunk
?”

“What?  Don’t be silly,”
he waved her off.  “I’m
not drunk.  I’m just really happy to see you.”
 
He smiled warmly at her.  He considered her attire for a moment.  “On
second thought, let
’
s
just stay here tonight.  Come here,”
he patted the seat next to him.  “Come snuggle with me.”

“Okay, I think it’s time for you to
go.”
 
She was
completely flustered.  She was pissed as hell at him, but he was so sweet and
ridiculous that she wanted to laugh.  But then she remembered that she’d been
waiting for him for four hours, and her ire spiked.

“Why do I have to go?”
he pouted.  “You
have such a nice couch.  Maybe I can just lie down and take a nap.  Then we can
go do…
that
thing you planned.  It was for my birthday, right?”
 
He grinned up at her.  “Let me take a
nap, and then you can give me my birthday surprise.”
 
He began tipping sideways to lay
down, and Bri rushed over to stop him.

“Oh, no.  You don’t get to sleep
here.  If you want to take a nap, you have to go home.”

“But I want to stay with you.  You’re
so pretty.”
 
He
reached a clumsy hand up to her face.  “What’s a boy like you doing with a girl
like me, anyway?”
 
His
eyes rolled closed, and Bri thought he was going to pass out.

“Cole?  Cole!”
 
She slapped his
cheeks, waking him up.  “Alright buddy, you’ve got to stay awake for me, okay?”
 
He nodded, and she
slipped her shoes on.  Even though she was still angry at him, it wouldn’t do
her any good to yell at him now.  He wasn’t going to remember anything in the
morning.  “I’m going to help you walk home.  Do you think you can walk for me?”
 
She felt like she
was talking to a three year old.

“For you, I’d do anything.  I love
you so much, Bri.”
 
He
tried to grab her face again, but she caught his hands, and instead used them
to pull him to his feet.

“Yeah, I love you, too.  Though
maybe not as much tonight.  Come on, time to go home.”

“But we haven’t had sex yet.  That’s
why I’m here, birthday sex, ‘cause it’s my birthday.”
 
He gave her a broad grin and smacked
her on the butt.

“Oh my gosh, Cole,”
she grumbled.  “I
swear, if you weren’t so drunk I’d give you a black eye.  Now, come on.  You’re
not getting any sex tonight, and maybe not ever again.  Let’s go.”

She managed to get him out the door
and down the stairs.  Slowly they made their way to Cole’s dorm.  Finding his
room key in his pocket, she opened the door and helped him into bed.  She took
off his shoes, got him a bottle of water, and pulled his blankets up over him. 
Knowing it was pointless to ask, but unable to help herself, she sat on the
edge of his bed.

“Where were you tonight, Cole?”

“Hmm?  Oh, I went out with Jordan
and his friends,”
he
replied sleepily.  “We went to a couple of bars, and a couple of clubs, and
then he brought me home to you.”

And left him drunk on her doorstep. 
Bri’s anger at Cole was second only to her anger at Jordan.  He’d probably kept
Cole out all night on purpose, getting him too drunk to realize he was standing
her up.  Jordan probably thought it was hilarious. 

“And then you brought me home,”
he smiled up at
her.  “You should stay.  I have plenty of room,”
he slid over to make room for her in the bed.  “Plus, we can get naked. 
I like it when you’re naked.”

“Cole, give me your phone,”
she demanded,
holding out her hand.

“Why?”
he asked, his face full of confusion.

“Because you aren’t going to
remember this tomorrow morning, and I need to make sure that you never do
anything like this again.”

“Okay,”
he shrugged, and gave her his phone.

Holding his phone so he couldn’t
answer it, she pulled out her own phone and called his number.  When his
voicemail picked up she left him a message.

“Hello, Cole.  You probably won’t
remember this, but it’s Saturday night, and I’m in your room, looking down at
your drunk ass that I just had to walk home and put to bed.  I did this after
waiting all freaking night for you to show up for our date, a date I planned
especially for your birthday, or for you to at least call and let me know you
were still alive. 

“Instead, you showed up at my door,
four and a half hours late and drunk off your ass, looking for some birthday
sex.  I swear, if you ever do anything like this again, I’ll drop you so fast
you won’t know what hit you.  I am not a midnight, drunken booty call.  And if
you ever stand me up like this again, you won’t ever be calling me again,
period.  I’m serious.  I’m so freaking angry at you right now, I don’t even
know what to do with you.  I guess I’ll have to figure that out tomorrow,
assuming that I’m still talking to you tomorrow, which doesn’t seem very
likely.  So go ahead and sleep off your massive hangover, and just know that
you are a total jackass.  Oh, and just so you know, I’m going to punch Jordan
in the face the next time I see him.”

She hung up and placed Cole’s phone
on the nightstand next to his bed.

“Don’t touch this until tomorrow,”
she warned him, but
he was already passed out.  “Goodnight, Cole,”
she murmured, and left him to sleep it off.

As she walked home, she tried to
decide how she was going to handle him tomorrow.  But she was too exhausted,
emotionally and physically, to deal with that right now.  Instead she walked
into her dorm, and went straight to bed.

Cole woke up to a pounding headache. 
For a moment he didn’t know where he was.  But then he recognized his own bed,
and his momentary panic abated.  He snuggled deeper into the covers and fell
back asleep before his head could burst wide open. 

Sometime much later, he opened his eyes
and forced himself to sit up.  His head still ached, but he managed to climb
out of bed and take a shower.  As he walked back into his room, feeling
marginally better, he spotted his phone on the nightstand.  He didn’t remember
putting his phone there last night.  Come to think of it, he didn’t remember
how he got home, or even where exactly he’d been last night.  He remembered
meeting Jordan and the guys for a drink, but everything after that was hazy. 
He shuffled over to the nightstand and picked up his phone.  Underneath were
two tickets to the art museum.  Confused, he picked them up and saw “Happy
Birthday, Cole”
written
across the top. 

He paused as it dawned on him that
this was what Bri had planned for his birthday.  But he didn’t remember going
to the museum.  Had something happened?  He looked down at his phone, and his
stomach dropped when he saw the list of missed calls.  Panic set in and he
scrolled through the slew of calls and texts from Bri.  He also had two
voicemails, and his heart began pounding as he played them.

By the end of Bri’s second message,
which she’d left late last night, he was in a cold sweat.  Forcing his
reluctant brain to cooperate, he tried to piece together what had happened last
night.

Fear pulsed through him as bits and
pieces finally started coming back to him.  He quickly threw on some clothes
and burst out of his room.  The sunlight hurt his eyes, but he didn’t even
pause as he ran to Bri’s room.  He pounded on the door until someone answered,
but it wasn’t who he was hoping.

“Hi, Kendall,”
he greeted Bri’s
roommate.  “Is Bri here?”
 
He tried to seem casual, not sure if Bri’s roommates knew what had
happened.  Judging from the scowl Kendall gave him though, Bri had obviously
filled them in on his utter stupidity.

“Nope, and I have no idea where she
is or when she’ll be back,”
Kendall replied tersely. 

“Could you at least give her a
message for me?”
he
pleaded.

“No.”
 
She shut the door, but he stopped it with his foot.

“Please, Kendall,”
he begged.  “I know
I screwed up last night.  I just need you to tell her I’m sorry, and that I’m a
complete idiot, and she has every reason to be mad at me.  All I’m asking for
is a chance to apologize.”

Kendall’s face softened at his
desperation.

“Look, Cole, I really don’t know where
she is.  She was pretty pissed this morning.  Just give her some time to cool
down.  She’ll call you when she’s ready.”
 
She smiled sadly at him and shut the door.

Completely dejected, and not knowing
what else to do, he trudged his way home to wait for Bri to stop hating him.

He waited for three days before he
tried calling her, but she never returned any of his calls or texts.  And she
was never home, or so her roommates said.  He was getting desperate.  He knew
she was furious with him, but he needed to see her, talk to her, make sure that
they would still be okay.

That Saturday, he was sitting in his
room, not wanting to admit to himself that he was seriously freaking out, when
there was a knock on his front door.  He jumped up to open it, and found Bri
standing outside.  A weight lifted off his chest just seeing her, and a hopeful
smile formed on his lips.  But the look on her face killed it almost instantly.

“Hi,”
he said nervously.

“Can I come in?”
she asked flatly.

“Yeah, of course.”
 

He swallowed thickly and let her
in.  She walked in, but didn’t sit.  Unsure what to do, he sat hesitantly on
the couch.  They stayed that way, in strained, awkward silence for a moment. 
When she didn’t say anything, he decided to try.

“Bri, I’m so sorry about last weekend,”
he looked at her
with all the regret and sincerity that was in him.  When she didn’t stop him,
he continued.  “I’m a total asshat, and you have every right to hate me.  I was
rude, and inconsiderate, and stupid, and a million other terrible things.  I
deserve the silent treatment, and worse.  I just want you to know that I feel
sick about what happened, and I swear to you, it’ll never happen again.”
 
He pleaded with
his eyes for her to forgive him.

“What happened last Saturday, Cole?”
 
She didn't sound
angry, which gave him hope, but her emotionless voice was almost just as bad.

“Well, I went out for a drink with
Jordan and the guys like I told you.  We had a beer or two, and then I was
getting ready to leave to come get you, when Jordan stopped me.  He said he
wanted to buy me just one more, for my birthday, and I said okay.  But there
was something else in my beer, and pretty soon, I wasn’t thinking very
straight.  I don’t remember everything that happened, but I do remember Jordan
and I, and a bunch of his friends, bar and club hopping for a while before they
dropped me off at your place.  I remember walking up your stairs, but I don’t
really remember what I said or did after that.  Judging from the voicemail you
left me though, I was pretty much an ass.  I’m so sorry, Bri.  You know I would
never treat you like that.  I just…
I don’t even know where that stuff came from.”

“Well, to be fair, you weren’t
really an ass.  You were actually kind of ridiculously sweet…
drunk booty call
aside,”
she
smiled grudgingly.

“Good,”
he smiled back.  “I’m glad to know I’m
not a mean, obnoxious drunk.”
 
He’d tried to joke, but her face fell and he knew it was too soon.  “Sorry,
I shouldn’t joke about this.”

“No, you shouldn’t, because the
problem is I don’t know quite what to do about it.  I’ve been thinking all
week, and I’m not any closer to an answer.”
 
She looked at him meaningfully.  “I do know that I do not ever want you
showing up at my door drunk like that again.  I will not put up with that kind
of behavior, and I won’t be treated that way.  Got it?”

“Completely,”
he nodded.  “I agree, you shouldn’t
have to put up with that.  You deserve better, and I promise to be a better
boyfriend, and friend, in the future.  And I can promise you, I’ll never drink
like that again.”
 
He
rubbed his still aching head.

“Okay,”
she nodded simply.

“Okay?”
 
He asked hopefully.  Was he really
off the hook that easily?  “Does this mean we’re good again?”

“I believe you that you
’
re sorry, and I know that you won
’
t do it
again.  I also know it wasn’t totally your fault.  I think you
’
ve
been punished enough. So yes, we’re good.”

Elated, he jumped off the couch and
pulled her into his arms.  “I’m so sorry.  It won’t happen ever again,”
he whispered.

“I know.  But I’m serious when I said
you won’t be calling me again if it does.”

“I know.  And by the way, not seeing
you for a week, and worrying about what happened, and what would happen, and
all the uncertainty…
It
was the worst thing you could’ve done to me.  I’ve been going crazy with
anxiety.”

“I’m sorry for that.  I just really
didn’t know what to do.  Then I finally realized that you’d made a mistake.  I
could tell it was eating you up inside.  And as soon as I got over my anger, I
just felt empty.  The truth is, I’ve been going crazy without you, too.”

She looked up at him, love and
forgiveness shining in her eyes, and Cole felt his heart swell.  He didn’t
deserve this beautiful creature in his arms.  She was too good, too loving, too
perfect for his flawed, fallible self.  He would never be good enough for her,
but he was going to do his best to be worthy of her love. 

Her eyes darkened with desire as she
gazed up at him, and his body responded joyfully.  He captured her lips, and
proceeded to show her how much he loved her and how much her forgiveness meant
to him.  Their kissing intensified, and he felt her love and mounting desire. 
Unable to bear anymore separations between them, he lifted her and carried her
to his bed, where he proceeded to make up for all of his stupidity.

Bri stayed all afternoon, since they
had the place to themselves, and Cole relished just spending time with her. 
But eventually she had to go, and after walking her home, he headed to Jordan’s
frat house to confront him.  He hadn’t said anything to Jordan yet, he’d been too
worked up about Bri to focus on anything else.  But now that he could think
straight, it was pretty messed up of Jordan to sabotage Cole’s plans, and even
more messed up to just leave him wandering around drunk.

Of course there was a party going on
when Cole walked up to the house.  Pushing his way inside, he finally found
Jordan sitting on a couch, sandwiched between two girls.

“Cole!”
Jordan waved him over happily.  “Come
to have a little fun?”

“Not exactly.  I need to talk to
you.”

“Can’t it wait?  It’s a party, go
grab a drink and join us.”

“This can’t wait, Jordan.  I need to
talk to you, now.  Outside.”
 
Cole cocked his head towards the door, demanding that Jordan follow him.

“Okay, okay.  Excuse me, ladies, I’ll
be back shortly.”
 
Jordan
disentangled himself from his admirers and followed Cole outside.  “So what’s
so important that it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”

“What you did last Saturday was
seriously messed up, man.  You knew I had plans with Bri, and you deliberately
sabotaged them.  We could’ve broken up over this.”

“You didn’t?”
 
Jordan looked surprised.  “Hmm. 
Well, look, I’m sorry I ruined Bri’s precious plans.  It was your birthday, and
I just wanted to show you a good time.  That’s the kind of good time that guys
without girlfriends get to have all the time.  I just wanted to make sure you
weren’t missing out.”

Cole eyed him incredulously.  “You
mean you did that on
purpose
?  What kind of friend does that?”

“A
good
friend.  You have the
world at your feet, man, and you don’t even realize it.  You could have
whatever you want, whoever you want.  But you’ve got your mind stuck on this
one chick, and it’s going to ruin you.  You should be living it up.  This isn’t
going to last forever, you know.  You have to take advantage of it while you
can.  Look at me.  I’m having the time of my life.  I don’t want you missing
out, that’s all.”

“Jordan,”
Cole sighed.  “Not all of us want that
kind of lifestyle.”

“Yeah, right. 
Everyone
wants
that kind of lifestyle.  And when we get to the NBA, it’ll only get better.”
 

Cole shook his head, and Jordan held
up his hands.

“Look, I’m sorry about messing
things up with Bri, okay?  I won’t interfere again.  But I’m not going to stop
trying to show you that there is more to life out there, if you’ll just reach
out and grab it.  I’d be a terrible friend if I gave up on you.”
 
Jordan smiled
engagingly, and Cole couldn’t help but laugh.

“Whatever, man.  Just do me a favor
and lay off Bri.  I really like this one, and I don’t need you screwing it up
for me, okay?”

“Okay,”
he conceded.  “Plus, you’ll find a way
to screw it up all by yourself.  And when that happens, your old buddy Jordan
will be there to make everything better.”

“Shut up,”
Cole laughed.  “But seriously, no more
sabotage.”

“Yeah, I got it.  Now are you coming
inside for a drink?”

“Not tonight, but you go have fun.”
 

“One of these days you’ll take me up
on my offer.”

“Don’t hold your breath.  Later,”
Cole waved him off
and headed home.  He really hoped that the coming week would be much better
than the previous one.

Cole had gotten his wish.  He’d made
it through a whole week without any problems or crises arising.  He was even
surprised to get a call from his mom. 

“Hi, sweetie, how are you?”

“Good, Mom.  How are you?”

“Oh, I get a greeting this time.  I’m
moving up in the world,”
his mom quipped.

“Mom,”
he warned.

“I’m kidding.  I’m calling to see
how you’re doing.  How’s practice going?”

“It’s good.  We start our full time
practice schedule next week, so things are going to get really busy, but it’s
good.”

“Good, glad to hear it.  How is
everything else going?  Dating anyone new?”

“No, Mom,”
he sighed.  “I’m still with Bri, and I
will be the next time you call, and the time after that, and the time after
that.  You know that, so I’d appreciate it if you’d made an effort to get to
know her.  You might find you actually like her.”

“Well, you know how I feel about you
two getting so serious already, but if it will make you happy, I’ll give her a
chance.  How’s Jordan doing?  Are you guys getting excited for all those
nationally televised games?”

“Jordan might be, I don’t know.  We
don’t really talk about it.  I, for one, am focused on this season, and taking
it one game at a time.”

“Of course.  That is what’s
important now.  Maybe Carl and I can come watch one of your games.  Could you
get us some good seats?”

Cole was momentarily taken aback. 
His mom had never wanted to come support him before.

“Um, yeah, I could probably work
something out.  Why don’t you look at the schedule online and let me know what
game you want to come down for, and I’ll get the tickets.”

“That would be wonderful.  Oh, I’m
so excited!  I’m going to go start looking right now.  Maybe we could all go
out to dinner after or something.”