Certified Disaster (Beautiful Mess Book 2) (26 page)

Matt gave him a sarcastic wave and
crossed his arms.  He looked pissed.  Seb didn’t look too happy, either. 
Great.  This was just what he needed.  Two people he really didn’t want to see,
let alone talk to, were camped out in front of his door, and it looked like
they both had an agenda.  Well, lucky them, Cole was already in a foul mood. 
He looked forward to talking out some of his aggression on these two pricks who
deserved it.

“We need to talk.”
 
Seb’s voice was
calm, but there was an undercurrent of anger in it.  “I was waiting for you,
and ran into Matt here.  We got to talking, and it turns out that we have a lot
in common.”

“Yeah, you both slept with my
girlfriend.”
 
Cole
glared at each of them.

“No, that’s what you
think
happened,”
Matt
piped in.  “And you have refused to let either of us explain the truth.  So, we
decided that we’re taking that option away from you.”

“That’s right.  We’re going inside,
and your dumb ass is going to listen to everything we have to say.”
 
Seb stepped up to
Cole, Matt flanking him.

“And if I refuse?”
Cole eyed Seb
dangerously.

“Then we’ll have to work out our
differences in other, more confrontational ways.  Believe me,”
Seb growled, “I’m
really hoping you choose option number two.  I’ve been dying to kick your ass
all day.”

The cold look in Seb’s eyes froze
Cole’s retort on his tongue.  Seb was serious.  The two of them hadn’t fought
often, but the few times they did had been vicious and bloody.

“Fine,”
Cole relented with a huff.  Hoping to
get this stupid thing over with as quickly as possible, he unlocked the door. 
Seb and Matt pushed past him and stormed inside.  “Make yourselves at home,”
he sneered
sarcastically, sitting on the couch and kicking his feet up like nothing at all
was wrong.  “So, what’s got your panties in a bunch?”

“First,”
Seb took the lead, ignoring his
sarcasm.  “Your treatment of Bri is appalling.  I don’t care what you think
happened, that doesn’t give you the right to be so cruel.”

“I haven’t…”

“Yes,”
Matt cut him off.  “You have.  You’ve been mean, and vindictive, and
gone out of your way to hurt her.  You’re angry at all of us, but you’ve been
taking it all out on her, and she doesn’t deserve any of it.”

“Of course
you
would stick up
for her.  You’ve always…”

“Okay, that’s it,”
Seb yelled, glaring
at him.  “You are no longer allowed to speak.  You are going to sit there and
listen, and if you even so much as open your mouth, I’m going to punch you in
the face.  I don’t know who this person is you’ve decided to become, and I have
no idea why you’d even want to be such a heartless little prick, but I don’t
like it.  So you’re going to keep your rude, uninformed comments to yourself,
and you’ll save yourself a couple of black eyes.  Got it?”

Even through his anger, Cole
paused.  He’d rarely seen easy-going Seb this worked up and angry.  But Seb was
furious, Cole could see it in his eyes.  Seb would literally beat the crap out
of him if Cole pushed him.  For the first time that night, a hint of doubt
began to creep into his heart.  Nodding, he leaned back and crossed his arms.

Maybe sensing Cole’s hesitation, Seb’s
voice was softer when he began.

“I know what you think happened
between Bri and I.  But I flew clear across the damn country to tell you that
you’re wrong.”

Seb proceeded to explain what had
really happened, not sparing any details, even about their kiss.

“Do you know what she said after she
pushed me away?”
Seb
looked at him, but didn’t wait for an answer.  “She said that there would never
be anyone for her but you.  Even though you had just treated her like shit, she
still believed in you.  Then she said that even if things were different, she
and I would never happen because she would never come between you and me like
that.  She couldn’t live with herself if she caused a rift like that between
us.  That’s how much she loves you, you freaking idiot.  And for you not to
know that blows my mind.”

“But,”
Cole chanced speaking.  “Even Claire could see what was going on.  She
sent me the picture she took of you two.”

“Claire was wrong.  She knows that
now, and it’s killing her because she thinks that this is all her fault.  She
blames herself for what happened with you and Bri, because she jumped to
conclusions and didn’t let us explain.”
 
Seb eyed him meaningfully.  “Call her, if you don’t believe me.  She’ll
tell you the truth.”

Unable to deal with the possibility
that Seb was telling the truth, Cole turned to Matt with a glare.

“What about you?  Are you going to
tell me nothing happened with you and Bri, too?”

“I’m going to tell you the truth. 
Something you’ve never given me the chance to do.”
 
Matt pinned him with a determined,
sad stare, and a flutter of panic stared in Cole’s chest.

“Nothing happened between me and
Bri, and that is the truth.  Yes, Bri and I have always teased each other, and
maybe flirted a little back and forth, but I know she’s never been interested
in me like that.  We are friends, and that’s all we’ve ever been.  That morning
you saw us…”
 
Matt
took a deep breath before continuing.  “That night was the worst night of my
life.  I had finally worked up the courage to tell Stacie that I loved her, and
instead of saying it back, she broke up with me.  She told me things were
moving too fast, and she wasn’t ready for anything serious.  She said that she
didn’t feel that way about me, and probably never would, so it’d be best for
both of us if we just ended it.  I was devastated.”
 
Matt’s eyes glazed over as he got
caught up in the memory.

“I’ve never been in love before, and
I didn’t know how to deal with that rejection.  And I didn’t deal with it.  I
kind of lost it, in fact.  I started drinking, and didn’t stop until they
kicked me out.  I ran into Bri on my way home.  She saw what a mess I was and
took me home.  She stayed with me, and helped talk me down.  I was so freaking
wrecked, I was in danger of doing something really stupid.  She made sure I was
okay.  And yes, she stayed the night, but she stayed on the couch.  Mainly just
to keep me from escaping and running back to Stacie.”
 
A small smile lifted his lips and he
shook his head.  “We didn’t really even sleep.  We spent most of the night
talking, mainly about you and how much she hoped you two would be able to get
past your misunderstanding.  And yes, the next morning she gave me a hug
goodbye and a kiss on the cheek.  She promised we’d both be okay, that we’d
make it through this, and then she left.  That is all that happened.”

“But,”
Cole swallowed thickly.  “I know how you are with girls.  You sleeping
with Bri to forget your broken heart doesn’t sound too far-fetched.  I’m
supposed to believe that you didn’t?”

“Things are different now,”
Matt sighed.  “Yes,
in the past, me breaking up with Stacie wouldn’t even have phased me.  I’d move
on to the next girl, no problem.  But, I’ve changed.  I saw what you and Bri
had, and I realized that
that
was worth more than hundreds of meaningless
hookups.  I wanted that, that love and contentment you two had.  I thought I’d
found it with Stacie, but I was wrong.”
 
He dropped his eyes and cleared his throat.

Looking back and forth between Seb
and Matt, Cole felt his stomach bottom out.  He could see it on their faces. 
They fully believed that what they were saying was true.  They weren’t trying
to lie to avoid blame.  They weren’t trying to cover up what they’d done.  They
were telling the truth.  He never would have believed it if he hadn’t seen it
with his own eyes, but…

“Are you guys serious?”
Cole asked.  “Are
you telling me the truth?  Because if you are messing with me, I swear to God,
I’ll…”

“Cole,”
Seb broke in firmly.  He sat next to
Cole, put a hand on his shoulder, and looked him right in the eye.  “You are
like a brother to me.  You
are
my brother.  I would never lie to you
about something this important.  Bri is innocent.  She didn’t do anything
wrong.  She didn’t betray or abuse your trust.”

Matt walked over to stand behind Seb.

“It’s true, Cole.  I’m sorry this
whole thing got so screwed up.  She loves you, and anyone who’s seen you
together knows how much she does.  All Seb and I want is for you and Bri to
work this out.  You need each other.  You have to find a way past this.”

Cole sat, staring blankly, as
reality crashed into him.  Bri had tried to explain, tried to tell him, but his
anger and pride had refused to listen.  He had been so sure she was guilty,
that she had been lying to cover up what she’d done, that he hadn’t even let
himself consider the possibility that she had been telling the truth.  But now,
the past few months came rushing back to him, and he saw everything in a new
light.  A new light that cast a dark, damning shadow on everything he’d done
and said to her.

Nausea roiled in his stomach, and he
broke out in a cold sweat. 

No. 
No, no, no, no,
no
. 

This wasn’t happening, this
couldn
’t
be happening.  His breathing hitched, and panic began building in his veins. 
He had been so ruthless, so cruel and vindictive.  He had been a heartless,
selfish bastard, just like she’d said earlier.  The things he’d done…
The things he’d
said…
 
This
couldn’t be all his fault…

 He rushed to the bathroom, where
his stomach heaved up everything in it, and then kept heaving for minutes
afterward.  When it finally relented, he slumped back against the bathroom
wall.  Dread and self-loathing flared up, and he was unable to focus on
anything but the pain in his heart and the bottomless pit in his stomach.  He
was vaguely aware of Seb and Matt speaking to him from the bathroom doorway,
but he was being sucked into the black hole of his despair and fear, and couldn’t
acknowledge anything else.

One thought kept spinning though his
head.  Bri would never forgive him for this.  He had lost the only thing that
had ever meant anything to him, and it was all his fault.

Oh God, what had he done?

After rushing out of the art show,
Bri had walked aimlessly around campus.  She knew that Claire was waiting for
her back home, but she couldn’t bring herself to face anyone right now.  She
hadn’t even bothered to let Daymon know she was leaving.  She felt bad about
waking out on him, but it was probably better that Daymon stay away from her
from now on anyway.  She wasn’t someone worth pursuing.  She didn’t have even a
scrap of a heart left to offer anyone, not anymore. 

No, she was just a hollow shell of
herself now.  She reached up and put a hand over her heart, trying to stop the
pain that was pounding there.  The traitorous organ continued to beat like she
hadn’t just been ripped into pieces by the only man she’d ever loved, and she
had the strongest desire to rip it from her chest and be done: done with the
confusion and vulnerability, done with the pain, done with life.

Collapsing onto a bench, she
squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the buildup of tears from releasing. 

She had given Cole what he’d asked
for, every last, little piece of her.  And he’d trampled those precious pieces
to dust under his feet.

Thinking about him just threatened
more tears, and she refused to cry over him anymore.  His sorry ass wasn’t
worth it.  Her one consolation was that at least Cole would be leaving Duke. 
He’d be drafted somewhere far away, and she wouldn’t have to see him ever
again.  She would get over him, and move on with her life, and this time, she’d
be more careful.  She wouldn’t waste her time on someone as selfish and
undeserving as he again.

A buzzing from her purse had her
pulling out her phone.  Hesitantly, she checked the caller ID, and was relieved
to see who it was.  Shaking her head to clear it, she forced some happiness
into her voice as she answered.

“Layla!  Hi, what’s up?”

“Bri, you are never going to guess
what just happened!”
 
Layla’s excitement was barely held in check, and Bri felt herself
smiling at Layla’s contagious enthusiasm.

“Are you going to keep me hanging
here, or are you going to tell me?”

“Devon proposed!  We’re getting
married!”
 
Layla
squealed excitedly.

Bri froze, shock and something like
jealousy preventing her from responding.

“Well, aren’t you happy for me?”
 
The hitch in Layla’s
voice brought her back.

“Yes, of course I’m happy for you. 
This is amazing.”
 
She
forced herself to match Layla’s exuberance. 

But as Layla gave her the details
about how Devon had proposed, Bri’s chest felt like it was caving in on
itself.  Not that she wasn’t happy for her best friend, she was.  Layla and
Devon deserved every happiness.  But she couldn’t help but feel jealous that
Layla was so blissfully happy, while she was so completely miserable.  It just
didn’t seem fair that Layla was getting her happily ever after, and Bri never
would.

“We’re planning the wedding for next
summer, after school gets out, so
do not
make any plans.  I’m going to
be doing a lot of planning this summer.  I want to get as many details covered
as possible, before I head back to school.  Could you help me?  I don’t think I
can do this alone.”
 
The
plea in Layla’s voice actually drew a small chuckle from Bri.

“Of course, I’ll help you.  You can
consider me your personal assistant, there at your disposal whenever you need
me.”