Certified Disaster (Beautiful Mess Book 2) (25 page)

Whether or not she could do that was
a whole other question.

It was the night of the student art
show in May, and Bri was getting ready to go meet Daymon when there was a knock
on her door.  Daymon had called the week before to tell her that both the
paintings he done of her were accepted and would be on display.  He’d also
asked if she would accompany him that night, not as a date, but just as
friends.  He’d assured her there would be a lot of people who’d want to meet
her and talk with her.  She agreed, glad she’d be there to see Cole’s reaction
in person.

The knocking sounded again, more
insistent this time.  Bri sighed as she put down her curling iron, and went to
answer the door.  Of course, when she was in a hurry none of her roommates were
home to do things like answer the door.  She pulled her bathrobe tighter around
her, opened the door a crack and peeked through.  Her mouth dropped in shock.

“Hi, Bri,”
Claire smiled shyly.

“
Claire
?”
Bri finally
managed, flabbergasted.  “What are you doing here?  How did you get here?  What…?”

“Can I come in?”
 
Claire asked
hesitantly.  “There’s something I really need to talk to you about.”

“Oh, yes, of course.”
 
She opened the
door, let Claire in, and followed her to the couch.  Both girls sat awkwardly
for a moment.  “It’s so good to see you.”
 
Bri finally broke the silence.  She hated the tension between them.  “It’s
been a long time.”

She hadn’t seen or spoken to Claire
since Christmas, when Claire caught her coming out of Seb’s room and assumed
the worst.  Since then, Claire had ignored all her calls and texts.  Despite
that, Bri had called or texted Claire at least once a week, hoping that maybe
one day Claire would forgive her.  Seeing Claire sitting across from her now
set Bri’s stomach tumbling.  For Claire to show up here, out of the blue like
this, something had to be wrong.  And that made Bri very nervous.

“So,”
she forced herself to smile  “What do you want to talk about?”

“I’m here to apologize.”
 
Claire looked up
at her, and Bri saw tears in her eyes.  “I’m so sorry, Bri.  It’s all my
fault.  I messed up everything for you.  I was stupid and wouldn’t listen, and
now look what’s happened.  I’m sure you must hate me,”
she finished in a rush.

“Claire, what are you talking
about?  Of course I don’t hate you!  What’s going on?”

“Okay,”
Claire took a deep breath.  “I’m sure
you know that I sent that picture of you and Seb to Cole.  I really wish I hadn’t,
but at the time I was so angry.  I couldn’t believe you would betray Cole like
that.  I was angry at Seb, but I blamed you.  And I felt that Cole had a right
to know what his girlfriend and his best friend were doing behind his back.  So
I sent him the picture and told him what I saw.  And then I didn’t even give
you or Seb a chance to explain.”
 
Tears started pouring from her eyes.  “I didn’t want to hear your
excuses, or listen to you try to justify what you did.  So I cut you both off. 
I haven’t talked to either of you for months.  I assumed the worst, I believed
you were guilty, and I didn’t want anything to do with either of you.”

Claire looked up at her with such
sad, torn eyes, Bri reached over and grabbed her hand without even thinking. 
Claire smiled gratefully at her.

“Then, Jimmy flew out here a couple
weeks ago to try and talk some sense into Cole about this whole NBA thing.  It
obviously didn’t work, and when he got home he told us that you and Cole had
broken up, for good.  Assuming that this was the opening Seb had been waiting
for, I called him to rip him a new one for causing this whole mess.  But, he
wasn’t happy or smug, like I’d thought he’d be.  Instead, he was devastated. 
It took me so off guard, that I finally let him explain what happened that
night.  He told me about how Cole had wanted to take a break, and how he
refused to even talk to you when he called for Christmas, brushing you off like
you didn’t matter.  Seb told me how upset and brokenhearted you were, how you
couldn’t face the rest of us, so he let you hide out in his room.  He told me
that he did kiss you, but you stopped him and set him straight.  He told me he
spent the night on the floor and let you have the bed, because you didn’t want
to feel alone.  And he told me that as he was getting ready to hop in the
shower the next morning, he saw your shoes and jacket and decided to run them
out to you.  And that’s where I found you.”
 
Claire looked Bri in the eye.  “Is that what really happened?”
she asked,
completely serious.

Bri nodded, and cleared her throat. 
“I tried to explain things to you.  I hoped that if I could just get you to
talk to me, I’d be able to convince you of the truth.  But,”
she smiled at
Claire, “you were kind of hard to get a hold of.  Does this mean you believe
us?”

“Yes,”
Claire sobbed, and launched herself into Bri’s arms.  “As soon as I realized
the truth, Seb and I came up with a plan.  We had to do something to fix this. 
So, as soon as Seb was able, we both flew out to talk to you guys, to make Cole
listen to the truth, and hopefully get you two back together.”

“Oh, Claire,”
Bri sighed sadly, pulling back to look
at her.  “I don’t think…
Wait.  Does this mean Seb’s here, too?”

“Oh, yeah.  He’s waiting outside.  I
needed to talk to you alone first, to apologize.  We should probably let him in
before someone calls the cops on him or something.”

“Good idea,”
Bri laughed, bouncing off the couch
and throwing open the door.  Sure enough, Seb was just outside, a sheepish grin
on his face.  “Seb,”
she
smiled up at him.  “Get in here already.”

Seb slid into the room, and Bri
hugged him.

“Hi, Bri.  It’s good to see you.”

“You, too.”
 
She stepped back and looked between
Seb and Claire.  “I can’t believe you both are here.”

“Yeah, and it looks like we caught
you at kind of a bad time.”
 
He motioned to her bathrobe.

“Oh, yeah,”
Bri blushed, pulling her robe around
her.  She’d completely forgotten she was only half dressed.  “I was just
getting ready.  I’m going out with a friend tonight.”

“Oh.”
 
Seb’s face actually fell.  “Well, could you tell us where Cole’s room
is?  He and I are long overdue for a chat.”

“Of course I can show you where his
room is, but he’s not going to be there.  The student art show is tonight, and
that’s where we’ll both be.”

“That’s where you’re going on your
date?  Who is this guy, he sounds kind of lame.”
 
Seb smirked.

“It’s not a date, and Daymon isn’t
lame,”
she
refuted, eyeing Seb.  “We’re just friends.”

He actually perked up a little at
that.  “Good.  Well, I don’t mind waiting for Cole to be done with this thing
tonight.  I’ll camp outside his door all night if I have to.  We need to get
this cleared up now, so you two can move forward.”

“Okay.”
 
She gave him directions to Cole’s
dorm.  “But, you should probably know that, while I appreciate what you are
trying to do, it’s not going to change what happened between Cole and me.”

“What?  That’s crazy.”
 
Seb shook his
head.  “Once Cole realizes what an asshat he’s being, he’ll come groveling back
to you, and you can make him suffer a little before you take him back. 
Everything will go back to normal.”

“No, it won’t.”
 
Bri dropped her
eyes.  “This isn’t the reason we’re over.”

“But, I thought this is why you guys
broke up,”
Claire
said, confused.

“It is the reason we broke up, but
it’s not the reason why we’ll never get back together.”

“Oh no, what happened?”
 
Claire sank to the
couch, horror on her face.

Briefly, Bri told them about Cole’s
suspicions of her, and how he’d slept with Jillian to get back at her.  By the
end, Seb was cursing up a storm.

“I’m going to rip his effing head
off,”
he
seethed.  “How could he do that?  Change of plans, Claire.  You’re no longer
allowed to come with me to talk to Cole.”

“Why not?”
Claire protested.  “I have to tell him…”

“Nope.  Cole is getting his ass
kicked tonight, and it wouldn’t do for you to watch your big brother beat the
crap out of someone.  Can Claire hang out here for a while, Bri?”

“Um, yeah.”
 
She glanced at Claire’s pouting
face.  “I have to go in a little while, but she can stay here and watch movies
or something until I get back.  I shouldn’t be too late.”

“Okay.  I’m going to go wait outside
Cole’s door.  There’s no way he’s getting out of this.  I’ll stop by after and
pick up Claire.  Sound good?”

“But, I’m hungry,”
Claire protested.  “You
expect me to starve, waiting here by myself all night?”

“Fine,”
Seb huffed.  “We’ll go get some
dinner, and then you’re staying here.  Agreed?”

Claire and Bri both nodded. 

“Here,”
Bri removed her dorm key from her key
ring, and handed it to Claire.  “I’ll lock up before I go, but this will let
you back in.  I’ll leave a note for my roommates, in case they come back.  Feel
free to make yourself at home.”

“Okay.  I guess I’ll see you later. 
Have fun on your date,”
Seb teased as he hugged her goodbye.

“It’s not a date,”
she grumbled, but
pulled back smiling.  “See you in a couple hours, okay?”
 
She hugged Claire.

“Just don’t keep me waiting too
long.  We have way too much to catch up on.”
 
Claire gave her a small smile as she slipped out the door.

Bri rushed to finish getting ready,
and ran out to meet Daymon.

Cole was smiling at a couple of
girls checking him out from across the room, when he saw her walk in. 

He hated to admit it, but Bri looked
hot.  Like,
really
hot.  She was wearing a short, navy blue and white
polka dot dress, that dipped to a low v in the front, showing off just hint of
that glorious cleavage.  Her red belt emphasized her small waist, and her hair
hung down her back in those loose waves he used to love to run his fingers
through.

Derailing that train of thought, he
took a deep breath.  He couldn’t let himself get caught up in the past like
that.  No matter how good she looked, those memories were best left buried.

He noticed that his wasn’t the only
attention Bri had drawn when she entered.  Every guy around her was subtly
checking her out, including her date.

Cole’s brows drew together angrily,
as Daymon smiled down at Bri and led her through the room.  It looked like Bri
was continuing her ploy to spite him, dating his friends to get back at him and
hurt him.  Not that he and Daymon were even close to being friends.  In fact,
Cole really couldn’t stand the guy.  He’d known Daymon had a thing for Bri ever
since she first showed up to model for him, and now it looked like Daymon had
finally gotten what he’d wanted.

As if sensing his eyes on her, Bri
turned and looked at him.  Her expression remained blank and unaffected, but a
small blush crept up her cheeks as she looked him over.  Cole glanced down at
his clothes, worried he’d missed a button or something, but everything seemed
to be in place.  He then realized he was wearing one of Bri’s favorite shirts
with his tie and charcoal trousers; a royal blue striped dress shirt that she’d
always said made his eyes look like sapphires.  It seemed Miss Unaffected wasn’t
exactly as stoic as she let on.  He gave her his cocky smirk, and her eyes
narrowed at him angrily before she turned her attention to whatever it was
Daymon was whispering in her ear.

Cole’s smirk vanished, and his own
eyes narrowed as Daymon led Bri around the various student displays, and to the
back of the room.  They quickly moved out of his line of sight, and when they
didn’t return a few minutes later, he let his jealousy and curiosity get the
better of him.  His own display forgotten, he set off after them.  There was no
way he was going to let Daymon steal his girl while he stood there and
watched. 

Okay, so Bri wasn’t his girl
anymore.  He knew that.  But he’d be damned if he was going to let her be
Daymon’s. 

He wandered back to where the grad
students had their work displayed, and assumed that Daymon had taken Bri back
here to try and impress her.  Finally finding Daymon’s display, Cole came to an
abrupt halt.

Bri was staring back at him from the
wall.  But it wasn’t the Bri he was used to seeing.  This Bri was a goddess, in
every sense of the word.  He sucked in an involuntary breath as he took her
in. 

The painting was titled
Venus
Descending,
and he could tell that Daymon had used
The Birth of Venus
by
Botticelli
as his inspiration.  Reluctantly, Cole had
to admit that Daymon had outdone himself with this piece. 

Bri, or Venus, was rising out of the
water half naked, the sky and clouds shining in glory behind her.  Her auburn
hair blazed around her and hung in waves over her bare chest.  Thankfully, it
covered everything important.  A translucent skirt, which appeared to be the
ocean itself, was fastened low on her hips, leaving her legs bare as she
stepped out of the sea and onto the beach.  But it was the look on her face
that sent Cole into what he swore was a minor case of cardiac arrest.

The alluring tilt of her full lips,
the sultry look in her eyes, the confident, regal tilt of her chin…
He was about to
have a crisis right there.  Coupled with her mind boggling curves, the goddess
emanated sexiness and desire, but also complete and knowing confidence in her
ability to trap any man who crossed her path.  She was absolutely glorious.

Unbidden, all those memories he’d been
repressing came rushing back to him.  He could remember, acutely, what it felt
like to hold that glorious body, to feel all that soft skin pressed against
him, the sound of her voice whispering his name…

Shaking his head, he quickly shut
those thoughts down. 

When he could think coherently
again, Cole’s attention was drawn the other painting in the piece.  He’d been
so stunned and captivated that he hadn’t even noticed there were two of them. 

This one was titled
Venus
Ascending
.  Taking it in, Cole’s mouth literally dropped.  It was sunset,
the sky a brilliant yellow-orange, and a fully nude Venus was descending back
into the sea.  Her hair was twisted up loosely, which left nothing to detract
from the graceful lines of her back, and her perfect rear end.  As she stepped
into the sea, Venus threw a satisfied smirk over her shoulder.  She’d had her
fun toying with the hearts of the mortals on earth, and was now ready to return
to the realm of the gods.  But the playful, wicked gleam in her eye promised that
she would be back, and mankind had better watch out.

For a full five minutes, Cole could
do nothing but stare.

Indignation, anger, and a deep
rooted jealousy, set in as he finally came back to his senses.  He couldn’t
believe Bri had done this, and with Daymon, of all people.  Even though she
wasn’t his anymore, he didn’t want her flaunting herself for everyone to see. 
And the fact that she’d flaunted for Daymon was worse than anything.  Unable to
stand it any longer, he stormed away.

He took a few minutes to calm
himself down.  Needing to keep himself from dwelling on the paintings of Bri
across the room, he returned to his own painting that had been accepted.  He
kept his mind occupied as best he could by talking with everyone who came by to
see it.

It was a painting of one of the few
memories he had of his mom from when he was little.  A young Lynette sat in a
rocking chair, holding a much younger Cole in her arms, reading him a story. 
The two were looking at each other, laughing together at something in the
story, and while he may have embellished the emotion a bit, the love shining in
both of their eyes was unmistakable. 

Cole had done it as a surprise for
his mom, and was planning on giving it to her as a gift.  He had told her what
a big deal the student art show was, and she had promised that she would be
there.  He couldn’t wait for her to see it. 

An hour and a half later, Lynette
still hadn’t shown up.  The show was closing in fifteen minutes, and Cole was finally
having to accept the fact that she wasn’t coming.  He stood, and moved to the
window behind his display, trying to tamp down his anger and disappointment. 
He’d told her what a big deal this was.  She knew how important it was to him
that she be there.  But, his mom hadn’t come.  Clenching his jaw, he glared out
into the darkness.  This night couldn’t get any worse.

“Hi, Cole,”
a soft voice said behind him.

Inwardly cringing at her timing,
Cole smoothed his features and turned to face her.

“Bri,”
he nodded curtly, his eyes narrowing.  What was she doing here?  Was she
here to gloat or something?  If she was, he wasn’t going to give her the
satisfaction.  “So, you and Daymon now, huh?”
he smirked.  “You sure are making your way through my inner circle, aren’t
you.  Who’s next?  Are you going to fly out and hook up with Devon?”

Her eyes widened with hurt, and Cole
felt a flare of satisfaction.  But then her anger came rising up, fury burning
in her eyes like a phoenix.

“First of all, you are a heartless,
selfish bastard for saying that,”
Bri seethed.  “And if you ever insinuate something like that again, I’ll
knock you freaking head off.  Second of all, I am not dating, or doing anything
with Daymon.  We are here together as friends, not that it’s any of your
business anyway.  And lastly, I am not, nor do I have any intention of “making
my way through your inner circle”.  My love life no longer revolves around you,
so get the eff over yourself.”

“Yeah, right.  Like I’m supposed to
believe you and Daymon aren’t shacking up after the paintings he did of you.”

“You’ve seen them?”
 
A satisfied gleam
shone in her eyes.  “Good.  But just because I posed for him doesn’t mean we’re
dating.”

“Dating, screwing…
Whatever you want
to call it.”

She shot him a withering glare, full
of venom, and he saw her hands clench.

“I am
not
sleeping with
Daymon,”
she
ground out between her teeth, trying to keep from drawing attention.  “There
isn’t anything going on between us, and I really resent your implication
otherwise.”

“Come on, Bri,”
he hissed back.  “He’s
seen you naked.  You can’t tell me he isn’t trying to get some…
If he hasn’t
already.”
 
He
looked at her with disgust.  He wasn’t quite sure why he felt the need to goad
her like this, but he was beyond angry and hurt, and he felt an overwhelming
desire to hurt her.

Something shattered in Bri’s eyes,
and her face fell.  Whatever she had felt for him died in that moment, and he
watched it happen.  He felt a pang of guilt and remorse, but his anger had
taken control, and he refused to back down.

“Well, you’ve seen me naked, and you
obviously aren’t trying to get some.  So it’s not so far-fetched after all.”
 
She looked at him
with cold contempt.
 
“Do
you know why I even came over here?  I came over because I’ve been watching you
tonight, and you have been alone.  All night long.  On a night you should be
celebrating, surrounded by your family, you are alone.  And I actually felt bad
for you.  Even as angry as I am, I couldn’t stand to see you all alone.  That’s
why I’m here.  I shouldn’t have bothered.  You’re not even worth my time.”

“I don’t need your pity, Bri,”
he huffed,
humiliated that she would feel sorry for him.

“No, I can’t imagine you do.  Where’s
Jillian tonight?”
she
smiled nastily.  “This seems like the sort of thing your
girlfriend
should show up to.  You two are attached at the lips whenever there are cameras
around.  But no,”
she
glanced around, “I don’t see any cameras here tonight.  Pity.  I guess being
here wasn’t worth her time, was it? 

“And what about your mom?”
 
She stepped
closer, taunting him.  “Where is she, Cole?  Where is your mom, who wants
so
badly
to be a part of your life again?  You’ve been waiting for her all
night, and she didn’t show up.  Why?  Have you asked yourself that yet?  Have
you figured out the answer?”

He ground his teeth together,
refusing to answer.

“Maybe the reason she’s not here is
because, like Jillian, there was nothing for her to gain by being here.  She’s
been at every press conference and interview; she’s been to your games and
tournaments.  But why won’t she come to something that is obviously so
important to you?  Because this art show doesn’t forward her agenda at all. 
She doesn’t care about your art show, because all she really cares about is you
getting into the NBA, so that she can get some money out of you.  That’s all
you are to her, Cole.  Dollar bills.”

“You shut your lying mouth,”
he growled,
stepping into her intimidatingly.  His anger was roiling beneath the surface,
and he was just barely keeping it contained.

“You can deny it all you want.”
 
She stood her
ground, not cowering under the force of his gaze.  “But one day you’ll see that
I’m right, that I’ve always been right.  The people you’ve chosen to surround
yourself with don’t give a damn about you.  They only care about themselves,
and what they can get out of you.  And then, when you’ve served your purpose,
they’ll leave you behind and not even look back.  And when that day comes, I
won’t be around to say I told you so.”

She stepped back away from him.

“Do yourself a favor, Cole.  Don’t
let Lynette anywhere near your money.  I know she had this idea about being
your manager or assistant or something.  But please, for your own sake, don’t
give her that much control over you.  Trust your dad.  Jimmy has always put you
first; he’s always done what he thought was best for you.  He’ll give you good
advice, and he’ll tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.  I
hope for your sake that you’ll listen to me on this, but I know you probably
won’t.  Good luck, Cole.  You’re going to need it.”

Unable to respond, Cole watched as
Bri turned and walked away.

Through the haze and density of his
anger, he felt his hardened heart crack and disintegrate under the pressure. 
Deep down he knew that this was the end of him; that he would never recover
from the hatred in Bri’s eyes as she walked out of his life.  But the stubborn
part of him refused to admit she had affected him at all, and instead buried
all those painful emotions under the anger and betrayal that were so much
easier to feel.

He walked back over and stood in
front of his painting. As he stared at the manufactured emotion on his mom’s
face, he was horrified to find that there was a part of him that knew Bri was
right: about his mom, about his life, about everything.

Finally giving release to his anger,
he pulled back and punched a hole through the middle of the painting.  Without
another glance, he turned and stormed out of the building.

As Cole wearily climbed the stairs
to his room, he was startled to see two figures lounging outside his door. 
When he got close enough to see who was waiting for him, his mouth dropped in
shock.

“Seb?”
 
He couldn’t believe it.  Seb was the last person he expected to find
outside his door.  Apprehension started gnawing at him as he wondered what
would bring Seb clear across the country to see him.  “What are you doing
here?  And with Matt?”
 
Cole’s expression darkened as he eyed his two former best friends.