Certified Disaster (Beautiful Mess Book 2) (3 page)

“Well, I’d better go make the
rounds.”
 
Cole
held out his hand to her.  “Are you ready?”

“Always.”
 
She took his hand, and followed him
through the crowd.

Sometime later, Bri was perched on a
barstool in the kitchen, while Cole chatted with a couple of guys she didn’t
know.  She was always amazed at how easily he could talk to anybody, even
complete strangers.  As she tried to feign interest in the conversation, she
felt someone slide up next to her.

“Hey, Bri Baby.  Having a good time?”
 
Matt smiled down
at her, his light blue eyes sparkling.

“Matt, I swear if you don’t stop
calling me that, I’m going to punch you in the nose.”
 
She eyed him warningly.

“But it’s the surest way to get a
rise out of you.  Why would I want to stop?”
he winked.

Choosing to ignore that comment, she
changed the subject.  “So, where’s your girl of the week?  What was her name
again?  Patty, Pippi…?”

“Poppy.  Her name is Poppy.  Don’t
ask,”
he held
up his hands, “her parents have to be hippies.  Anyway, last I saw, Poppy was
sitting on some soccer player’s lap, with her tongue half-way down his throat.”

“Oh.  I’m sorry,”
Bri grimaced.

“No worries.  I was already over her
anyway.  Way too granola for me.  Do you know she tried to get me to go Vegan? 
Ugh,”
he
visibly shuddered, making Bri laugh.  “Besides, who wants to be tied down when
there are
so many
beautiful women out there?”

Typical Matt.  On to the next girl
like nothing had happened.  Of course, nothing could really affect Matt when he
had the emotional capacity of a thirteen year old.

“Well, you certainly are working
your way through that pool awfully fast.  Just be careful you don’t exhaust it
all your first semester,”
she taunted.   

“Yes, well not all of us are as
lucky as your boy, Cole, over there.  We have yet to find that special someone
who makes our heart sing.  The rest of us poor schmucks have a lot of wading to
do.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re an
expert wader,”
she
smiled.  She liked Matt, despite the fact that he was a shameless man-whore. 
Though, she couldn’t blame the girls on campus for flocking to him.  With dark,
curly hair, and light blue eyes, Matt was definitely a looker.

“Who’s an expert wader?”
Cole sidled up to
Bri, wrapping an arm around her.

“Matt, here.  Wading his way through
all the girls on campus.”

“All of them but one,”
Matt winked at
her.  “Happy Birthday, Cole.  I was going to get you a present, but I figured
that knowing me is the greatest gift you could ever get.”
 
He slapped Cole on
the back.  “Plus, I can see that you already have everything you could possibly
want.”
 

“Thanks, man.  It’s the truth.”
 
Cole smiled down
at Bri.  “Well, Beautiful, ready to get out of here?”

“If you’re ready,”
she stood.  “Bye,
Matt.  See you around.”

“Have fun you two,”
Matt gave them a
knowing grin.

“Don’t hurry home,”
Cole grinned back. 
He took Bri’s hand and led her out to the car.  Since this was a date, he’d insisted
on driving.

“Remind me never to leave you alone
at a party again.  I turn my back for five minutes, and you start flirting with
another guy.”
 
Cole’s
voice was light and joking, but Bri knew from the tightness of his smile that
he was a little upset.

“I wasn’t flirting with anyone.”
 
She looked at him,
confused.

“Come on, you and Matt were totally
flirting.”

“What?  No were weren’t.  You know
Matt, he’s like that with everyone.”

“Yeah, everyone he wants to bang.”
 
Cole’s forced
smile finally faltered, and he looked at her pointedly.

“Are you serious?  Matt and I have
talked hundreds of times.  He’s always like that.  Why is this bothering you
now?”
 
She
couldn’t believe how ridiculous he was being.

“He’s never tried to hit on you
before,”
Cole
shrugged.

“Oh my gosh,”
Bri laughed.  “I promise you, Matt was
not hitting on me.”

“Well, that’s not what it looked
like to me.”
 
He
parked the Jeep outside Bri’s dorm, and crossed his arms indignantly.

“Hey, look at me.”
 
She waited for him
to finally meet her eyes.  “Even if Matt was hitting on me, which he wasn’t,
why would you think you have anything to worry about?”
 
Unable to answer, Cole turned his
head.  “Just because some guy tries, doesn’t mean it will work.  You can’t be
there to stop every guy from hitting on me, and I don’t want you to be.  I’m a
big girl, I can take care of myself.”
 
She reached up and grabbed his cheeks, forcing his eyes back to hers.  “You
need understand, and
believe
, that there isn’t anyone else for me but
you.  You are all I want.  You have nothing to worry about, because no other
guy could ever compare to you.  You’ve ruined me, Cole,”
she smiled, and watched his eyes
soften.

“Really?”
he smiled back.

“Really.”
 
She leaned in and proved it with a
kiss.

Pulling back, Cole sighed.   “Sorry
I’m such an idiot sometimes.”

“You’re a guy.  It kind of comes
with the territory,”
she
teased.  “Want to come up for a bit?  I don’t think anyone else is home.”
 
She raised her
brow.

“Do you even need to ask?”
 
A huge smile
spread across Cole’s face, and he practically jumped out of the car to get her
door.

But, when Bri opened the door to her
room, Addison and Stephanie, two of her roommates, were in the living room
watching a movie.  Disappointed, she turned to Cole.

“Sorry, I thought they’d all be out
tonight.”

“That’s okay.  I could still hang
out for a while if you want?”

“Definitely,”
she reached for his hand and led him
inside.

“Cole!”
 
Addison and Stephanie cheered as he
walked in. 

“Come on in, we just started
Pitch
Perfect
,”
Stephanie
grinned as she and Addison made room for Bri and Cole on the couch.

“Oh yay, my favorite,”
Cole grimaced as he
sat, and pulled Bri down onto his lap.  Bri snuggled into him, and they spent
the rest of the night cuddled together on the couch, sneaking kisses in between
laughs.

Thursday night, Cole trudged into
his room after practice. Barely managing the energy to shower, he pulled on a
t-shirt and some warm up pants, flopped down on the couch, and mindlessly
started flipping through channels on the TV.  Matt had gone back to his bedroom
to study, and Cole was enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet.  He had
homework, and studying, and drawing he needed to do, but for right now he just
wanted to sit. 

A light knock on the door interrupted
his reverie.  Sighing, he pulled himself up and answered the door.

“Bri!”
 
He was shocked.  It was just past eleven o’clock, she didn’t usually
come over this late.  “Come on in,”
he moved to let her pass.

“Sorry, I know it’s late.  I didn’t
wake you, did I?”
 
She
smiled apologetically as she sat on the couch. 

“No, I was up.”
 
He sat next to
her, and eyed her curiously.  Her hands were clenched together, and her mouth
was a tight, grim line.  Something was bothering her.  “What’s wrong?”

“What?  Nothing, I’m fine.  I just
wanted to see you,”
she
tried to smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Bri, something’s wrong.  You don’t
usually show up at my door at this time of night.  Not that I’m complaining,”
he smiled, and
wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his chest.  “Tell me what’s
bothering you.”

“It’s stupid really, and I shouldn’t
let it get to me, but I just had a really bad night at practice.”

“Tell me about it.”

“One of the girls on the team
totally ripped me a new one tonight, in front of everyone.  And it wouldn’t
bother me so much if I deserved it, but I didn’t even do anything.  Granted,
she’s a total bitch to everyone, but for some reason, she’s had it out for me
since the beginning.  She seems to have made it her goal in life to berate and
humiliate me.”

“So, kick her butt back.  Why would
you let her treat you like that?”
 
He was surprised.  Bri was the toughest girl he knew.  She didn’t take
any crap from anyone, especially him, and he loved that about her.

“Because she’s the director’s niece,
and can do no wrong in Tanya’s eyes.  In fact, Tanya lets Jillian practically
run the team, even though she’s only a sophomore.  Did you know Jillian whined
and complained enough that Tanya gave her her own room?  Only the seniors get
their own rooms.  She’s like freaking
Frankenstein
, and if
I push back at all, she’ll get me kicked off the team.”

“Can she do that?”
 
He rubbed her back
soothingly.

“She has before.  Apparently last
year there was another girl she didn’t like, and she got Tanya to cut her. 
Jillian is freaking untouchable, and it really pisses me off.  Do you know how
hard it was for me not to let her have it tonight?  I was so angry, I almost
punched her.”

“Oh baby, I’m sorry,”
he squeezed her. 
He knew how frustrated she must be.  She’d always been able to stand up for
herself, and now she was forced to shut up and take it.  It was actually kind
of cute, seeing her all frustrated and
vulnerable
. 
He didn’t often get to see that side of her.  And while he hated to see her upset,
he couldn’t deny that there was something very appealing about her
helplessness.

“Anyway, I just really needed you to
make me feel better,”
she snuggled tighter against him.

“Anytime,”
he kissed the top of her head.  He
beamed inside knowing she had come to him for comfort.  Not her best friend,
Layla, or her roommates, him.  He felt a huge swell of pride knowing that he
was what she needed, and the alpha male inside him beat his chest in pleasure. 
Now, he just needed to figure out a way to make her feel better.  He hoped that
distracting her would help take her mind off her problems and get her in a
better mood.  “Oh, while you
’
re here, I have a couple
things to ask you, if that’s okay?”
 
When she nodded against his chest he continued.  “We are having a team
dinner, a week from Saturday, and I was hoping you’d be my date?”

“I’d love to,”
she pulled back and
smiled at him. 

“Good.  Now before I ask this other
thing, I want you to promise me you’ll keep an open mind, okay?”

“Okay,”
she replied warily.

“You know I have my weekly clinics
for my drawing class on Wednesdays.  Well, we need models for those clinics,
and we get extra credit if we bring in someone.”
 
He paused nervously.  He wasn’t sure how Bri was going to take this.  “So,
I was wondering if you’d be willing to come in and model for us?”

She sat frozen for a moment.  “Um,
this wouldn’t require nakedness, would it?”

“Why, do you object to nakedness?”
he grinned.  Man,
what he wouldn’t give to see that.    “No, no nakedness,”
he continued when
she just glared at him.  “For our next unit, my professor is looking for some
ballerinas to come in and pose for us.  You would be fully clothed, I promise.”
 
Unfortunately. 

“Oh, okay then.  Um, sure, why not?”

“Really?  Because you don’t have to
if you don’t want to.”

“No really, I think it’d be kind of
fun,”
she
smiled. 

“Okay.  I’ll let Professor Bailey
know, and he’ll have his assistant call you to schedule a night.”

“Sounds good.  Well, I guess I’d
better get home, and let you get to sleep.”
 
She went to stand up, but Cole pulled her back down.  Now that he had
her here, he was going to take advantage of it.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t go quite
yet,”
he
grinned wolfishly at her.  “I haven’t seen you all week, and I’m not letting
you get away that easily.”
 
He captured her lips, and made up for all the time he’d missed that
week.

On Friday night, Cole was in the
locker room after practice.   A couple of the guys were talking about who they
were bringing to the dinner the next night, when Jordan sat down next to him.

“Cole, my brother from another
mother!  Tell me, who is that fine piece of ass you’ve been hanging with
lately?  Are you bringing her tomorrow night?”

Cole smiled tightly.  He knew Jordan
was just being Jordan, trying to razz him a bit, but it still set his teeth on
edge to hear him refer to Bri like that.

“Her name is Bri.  You’ve met her
before, at my birthday party, remember?”
he replied stiffly.  “And Jordan?  No offense, but if I ever hear you
talk about her like that again, you and I are going to have a problem,”
he finished
seriously.

Jordan held up his hands.  “No
problem.  I apologize, I didn’t realize it was that serious.  I thought you
were like these other idiots here, just chasing some tail.  But, I see how it
is now,”
he
gave Cole a knowing smirk.  “Please give
Bri
my warmest regards.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that,”
Cole shook his
head, grinning.  “What about you, J?  Anyone special caught your eye yet?”

“Plenty have caught my eye, and I
fully intend to pursue each and every one.”
 
He smiled smugly.  “That’s what you should be doing, too.  You’re a
basketball star.  You should be taking advantage of all the benefits that come
with that.”

“Yeah right,”
Cole scoffed.  “I’m a second string
bench warmer.  I doubt anyone on campus even knows who I am.”

“Oh trust me, they know,”
Jordan winked at
him.  “Well, I’ll see all you suckers tomorrow.  Peace!”
he yelled and swaggered out of the
locker room.  Only Jordan could pull off an exit like that.

 And for a moment, Cole found
himself jealous of him.  His starting position, his notoriety, his confidence. 
But then he thought about Bri, and how lucky he was, and set himself straight. 
That player lifestyle may suit Jordan, but Cole had something so much better.

Deciding he needed a little
pick-me-up, he headed down to Bri’s place.  If he was lucky, he might be able
to catch her in the shower.  Hey, a guy could dream, right?

On Saturday night, Cole knocked on
Bri’s door.  He wore his charcoal suit with Bri’s favorite dark blue shirt.  He
was feeling pretty confident in his appearance, until she opened the door.

Bri wore a gray knee length dress,
that draped from her shoulders to a conservative, but definitely sexy, scoop
neck, and hugged her curves all the way down.  She had a silver ribbon tied at
her waist, and gray suede heels.  Her auburn hair, a glorious shock of color
against her dress, fell in long waves over her shoulder.  She smiled up at him,
and Cole felt his heart stutter.   

He had no idea how she could afford
a new outfit every time they went out.  He had a sneaking suspicion that she
probably spent his total monthly living allotment on clothes alone.  Things
were tight as his dad’s auto shop, and Jimmy didn’t have a lot of extra money
to send Cole.  Fortunately Cole’s athletic scholarship covered all of the
important things.  But still, it must be nice having a rich daddy.  Shame
immediately flooded him, and he chased away that thought.  He knew Bri’s dad,
and Connor was a good man.  Cole didn’t know where that sudden surge of
bitterness came from, but he quickly shot it down.  The fact that Bri was well
taken care of was nothing to complain about.  Especially when it produced
results like this.  She was breathtaking.

She smiled, and her amber eyes took
him in, obviously liking what she was seeing.  He couldn’t help the satisfied
smile that crossed his face, knowing she was as proud that he was hers, as he
was that she was his.  After a moment of awkward gawking, Cole cleared his
throat.

“Hi,”
he smiled reaching for her hand.  He was suddenly desperate to touch
her.  “Are you ready?”

Nodding, she took his hand and they
headed out to her Jeep.  She handed him the keys, and he helped her into the
passenger seat.  Pulling out of the parking lot, Cole glanced sideways at her.

“You look beautiful tonight.”

“Thanks, so do you,”
she smiled back.

“No, really.  You look absolutely
stunning,”
he
pressed, and was rewarded by a blush in her cheeks.

“So, I finally get to meet the rest
of your team.  This should be interesting,”
she grinned.

“Yep,”
he replied, unable to keep his eyes off her.  This posed kind of a
problem while he was trying to drive.  Shaking himself mentally, he returned
his focus to the road.  “Hopefully dinner won’t last too long, and we can do
something fun after.”
 

“That’d be great.”
 
She eyed him from
her seat, and Cole wished more than anything that they could forget dinner, and
head back to his room.

Coach had reserved a banquet room in
one of the nicer hotels in Durham, and as Cole and Bri entered, dozens of eyes
snapped up to watch them.  Cole quickly led Bri over to a table, and most of
the eyes moved on.  Most, but not all.  Cole glared pointedly at a couple of
his teammates before they finally dropped their eyes.  Satisfied that Bri was
no longer being ogled, he turned to her and smiled.  But the expression on her
face stopped him cold.

“What?  Ambria, was is it?”

Bri looked like her worst nightmare
had just come to life.

“Jillian.  Jillian is here.”
 
She nodded towards
a girl at a nearby table with long, dark brown hair and narrowed blue eyes. 
That icy stare was aimed right at Bri.

“That’s Jillian?”
 
Cole recognized
the girl, though he hadn’t known her name.

“Unfortunately.  I just hope she
doesn't try to embarrass me or anything.  She looks like she’s trying really
hard to come up with something.”
 
Bri tried to smile, but her distress came through loud and clear. 

Cole was shocked.  He hadn’t
realized that Jillian worried Bri so much, that things were that bad. 
Thinking, he hoped he had something that would take her worry away.

“That is Jillian.  Hmm.  All the
guys on the basketball team call her something else.”
 
He grinned wickedly at Bri, and her
lips turned up hopefully.

“Oh really?  What do they call her?”

“Well, they call her a lot of
things, but the nicest is a lap bunny.  I don’t know if anyone even knows her
real name.”

“A lap bunny?  Why?”
 
An adorable crease
appeared between Bri’s eyebrows.

“Because she hops from one lap to
the next, attaching herself to whoever is popular at the time, or whoever will
give her attention.  She worked her way through the second strings last year, I
hear, and now it looks like she’s making a play for the starters.”
 
He shook his head
sadly.  “She thinks she’s playing them, trying to latch onto their fame and
popularity in order to further her own, but what she doesn’t get is that no one
has any intention of keeping her around.  They all know she’s a gold digging,
fame riding, self-absorbed opportunist, and they drop her after she’s outlived
her usefulness.  But, she doesn’t get it, or seem to care.  She just moves onto
the next guy that’ll take her.  It’s actually quite sad.”

“She’s sloppy seconds.”
 
A satisfied smirk
crossed her face.  “Oh, I can’t wait to shove
that
in her face.”

“Whoa.  I didn’t tell you that so
you could start poking the beast.  I just wanted you to know that you don’t
have to let her intimidate you.  She may think she’s invincible, but she’s not
nearly as important as she thinks she is.”

Bri turned to look at him, her eyes
shining.

“Thank you,”
she leaned over and kissed him.  “You
always know just how to make me feel like myself again.  I don’t know what I’d
do without you.”

“Me too, baby.  And I don’t ever
want to find out.”