Certified Disaster (Beautiful Mess Book 2) (8 page)

“You’re worth it.  You’re too good
for me as it is, I have to find some way to keep you around,”
he joked.

“Yeah, I’m pretty high maintenance,”
she quipped back.  “So,
are you doing anything fun today?”

“Since we’re all stuck here for
Christmas, Coach is having the whole team over for dinner at his house
tonight.  It’ll be a perfect opportunity to wear my new jacket.”
 

“Well, good.  I’m glad you won’t be
alone today.”

“Yeah, and I’ve got Matt here to keep
me company.  We’ve been playing Xbox all day.”

“Hi, Bri!”
Matt yelled in the background.

“Matt says hi, and that you’re the
worst girlfriend ever for abandoning me like this,”
Cole teased.

“Well, you can tell Matt he wouldn’t
know a good girlfriend if she fell into his lap, so he has no room to talk,”
Bri laughed back. 
Cole passed on the message, with a little embellishment, and she heard Matt’s
indignant “Hey!”
though
the phone.  “Well, I’d better let you get back to your gaming.  I’m hoping we’ll
be able to get your basketball game out in Catalina.  If we can, know that I’ll
be watching and cheering for you.”

“Thanks, baby.  I miss you.  I can’t
wait until you’re home again.”

“Me, too.”
 
Cole’s words stuck her, and she
realized it was true.  Home wasn’t California anymore.  It was wherever Cole
was.  “I miss you so much, you have no idea.  Let’s do ourselves a favor, and
never be apart like this again.  Okay?”

“Deal,”
he replied.  “Love you, Bri.”

“Love you, too.  Bye.”

Bri hung up the phone, feeling both
better and worse than she had before calling Cole.  This was going to be a
very
long week and half.

Bri woke the next morning, packed
her bag, kissed her family goodbye, and boarded the ferry to Catalina.  Claire
met her with a huge squeal and a hug as she got off the ferry.  Pulling back
from Claire, Bri was surprised to see Seb there, too.

“Claire can’t be trusted to drive
the dingy yet,”
Seb
smiled his explanation.  “We figured you’d like to make it to the boat in one
piece.”

“Thanks,”
Bri smiled and stepped in to give him
a hug.  For a moment she felt a little weird about hugging another guy, but she
quickly reassured herself that Seb was her friend, sort of, and she hugged all
of her friends.  There was nothing wrong with that.  Still, she pulled back
from him quickly.

“Let’s get back to the boat.  Mom’s
making fajitas for lunch.”
 
Claire grabbed Bri’s arm, leaving Seb to carry her bag, and began
peppering her with questions.  Seb followed behind as the girls chatted all the
way to the dingy, and he drove them to Scott and Sharon’s beautiful boat.  It
looked just like Bri remembered, and as she walked into the cabin, she was
enveloped in a round of welcoming hugs.  After greeting everyone, including
Jimmy, and stowing her things in the bow, Bri sat down and made herself a plate
of Sharon’s delicious fajitas.

“Wow,”
Jimmy sighed after downing more fajitas than Bri could count.  “That was
fabulous, Shar, as always.”
 
He then nudged Bri with his shoulder.  “I’m glad you’re here,
Barracuda.  It’s been a little lonely without Cole, and you being here is like
having a little piece of him here with us.”

Bri smiled, so moved by Jimmy’s
words that she didn’t even groan when he resurrected her nickname.  “Thanks,
Jimmy.  And thanks for letting me come.  I was worried I’d be imposing.”

“Not at all,”
he reassured her.  “You’re one of the
family now.  You are always welcome.”

Bri smiled in reply. 

After lunch they all went ashore,
and Claire and Bri spent the afternoon shopping.  After meeting up for dinner,
they all returned to the boat and Claire instigated a game night.  Many hours
later, after Claire had played to her heart’s content, Bri snuck out to the bow
to call Cole before bed.  It was two in the morning back east, so she wasn’t
surprised when his phone went to voice mail.

“Hey!  Sorry this is so late, but I
just wanted to call and say goodnight.  Good luck at your game tomorrow.  All
of us will be watching and cheering for you.  I miss you terribly, and can’t
wait to see you.  Love you, Cole.”
 
She hung up and crawled into the bow with Claire, and quickly fell
asleep.

The next morning, Bri was up early,
before anyone else.  She quietly dressed in the faint, early dawn light,
grabbed her yoga mat and iPod out of her bag, and climbed up onto the bridge. 
Disappointed at the lack of room, she turned to the large deck behind her and
smiled.  Perfect.  Bri had taken a yoga class last semester and fallen in love
with it.  She got up every morning and practiced.  She climbed down to the
deck, set out her mat, popped in her ear buds, and cued up her normal morning
routine.  She had to compensated for the bobbing of the boat on the water, but
quickly became accustom to it, and moved through her poses.  After she was finished,
she looked up, startled.  Seb was sitting at the top of the deck, watching
her.  A little embarrassed, she felt herself blushing.

“Oh, hey.”
 
She felt like an idiot, and had no
idea what to say.  “What are you doing?”

“I was just watching you.  You know,
Coach had us take yoga classes, the whole team.  He said it was good for our
flexibility, and for calming and focusing our minds.  I didn’t know you were
into yoga.”
 
Seb
quirked a smile at her.

“Oh, yeah.  I took a class last
semester and got addicted.”

“Well, would you mind if I worked
out with you next time?  Tomorrow morning?”
he asked hesitantly.

“Um, sure, I guess.  You’re probably
more advanced than me, but I’m sure we could make it work.”
 
She wasn’t sure
why she was agreeing.  Yoga had always been something she did alone, her one
moment of solitude.  But for some reason she couldn’t tell him no.

“Great,”
Seb smiled.  “Same time tomorrow then.”
 
He stood and
headed back downstairs before she could change her mind.  Shaking her head, she
gathered her things and went down to get ready.

They all gathered around the TV that
afternoon to watch Cole and the Blue Devils trounce the poor school they
played.  Bri wore her favorite Duke sweatshirt, one of Cole’s that she’d stolen
from him, as she cheered for her man and her team.  Cole didn’t get much
playing time, but when he was out on the floor he looked great.  And when he
wasn’t out on the floor, Bri kept watching for him on the bench.  She didn’t
even notice the score until the game was over.  She wished that she could’ve
been there with him.

The next couple of mornings, Seb
joined her for her morning yoga.  He was surprisingly good, and Bri found she
actually enjoyed having him there.  They didn’t speak, except to announce the
next pose, and they let the sounds of the water, the birds, and mother nature
be their soundtrack. 

Bri also noticed that Seb spent a
lot more time with her.  They spent many hours up on the bridge reading,
something she could never do with Cole; he got bored way too easily.  And as
much as she loved spending time with Claire, she started to enjoy her time with
Seb just as much.  Underneath his tough, sardonic demeanor, he was kind and
funny and they had many common interests.  So Bri was only slightly surprised
when Seb offered to accompany her on the ferry home.

“Really?  You want to take the ferry
with me?”
 

“Sure, why not,”
he gave her half a
smile.  “Besides, Cole would kill me if I let you go all by yourself and
something happened to you.”

“Nothing is going to happen,”
she huffed.  “What
is with you guys and the damsel-in-distress thing.  I’ll be fine.  I can more
than take care of myself.”
 
She raised a brow at him.

“Oh, I know you can.  I just thought
you might like some company is all.”
 
He raised a brow back.

“Who might like some company?”
 
Claire came
bounding into the conversation. 

“Bri, on the ferry back,”
Seb sighed.

“Oh.  That would be so much fun! 
Can I take the ferry back with you, Bri?  Please?”

“Sure,”
Bri replied.  “You can come too, if
you want,”
she
told Seb.  “The more the merrier, right?”

“I guess,”
he eyed his sister warily.  “Well, I’ll
go tell mom and dad.”

Bri grabbed her bag, and gave Jimmy,
Scott, and Sharon hugs goodbye.

“Thanks again for letting me come,”
she told Shar. 

“Anytime, honey,”
she smiled.  “Have
a safe trip back.  And you two,”
she turned to Seb and Claire, giving them both a hug.  “I’ll see you
when you get home.”

Jimmy drove them to the dock, and
the three of them headed off to the ferry that would take them back to the mainland. 
It actually made the trip back much more fun having Seb and Claire there.  Bri
laughed at Seb’s jokes and Claire’s teasing, and before they knew it they were
all piling into Bri’s car, and she drove them home.  Claire gave her a huge hug
before climbing out of the car with a promise from Bri to call her.  Seb waited
until his sister was gone, and turned to Bri.

“I had fun hanging out with you
these past couple of days,”
he smiled. 

“Me, too,”
she smiled back.

“I know you have family stuff, but maybe
we could hang out again sometime next week?   I mean, only if you want to,”
he finished
nervously.

Bri laughed.  Somehow she and Seb
had become friends, actual friends, over the past couple days.  And she found
that spending time with him took away a little of the sting of missing
Cole.      

“Of course I want to.  Here,”
she smiled and took
his phone, plugging in her number.  “Give me a call, and we’ll go do something.”

“Okay,”
he beamed.  “Well, talk to you later
then.  Bye, Bri.”
 
He
climbed out of the car.

“Bye, Seb.”
 
She waved as he went inside, and then
she headed for home.

Cole sat in front of his locker
after the game, fuming.  He was seriously wondering if this whole thing was
worth it anymore.  He wasn’t sure he could handle an entire season watching
from the bench, especially on nights like tonight.  He’d gotten to play a
whopping eight minutes tonight. 
Eight minutes
.  And worse, he’d had to
sit and watch as Jordan almost single-handedly lost the twenty point lead they’d
built up, because he’d gotten cocky and lazy.  And even after Coach called a
time out to chew Jordan out for his sloppy passes and showboating, Coach still
didn’t pull him.  So Cole had to sit on the bench, frustrated and angry, and
watch as what should’ve been an easy win came down to the final minutes.  There
were only a couple of pre-season games left.  If they could only barely beat
these teams, they were going to be in serious trouble when regular season
started and they started conference play.  But, no one else seemed to share his
concern, they were just happy for another win.  He’d never felt so frustrated
and useless in his life.

As he made his way out of the locker
room, he forced himself to smile, and even exchange a high-five with Jordan as
he passed, being careful to hide his anger at the cocky SOB.  But the minute
Cole left the building his scowl returned, and he glowered all the way back to
his room.  There was a party that night that the guys from the team were going
to, but he was not in a partying mood.  What he really wanted was to vent some
of his frustration.  He needed to rant and rave, and get it all out, and have
someone tell him that it was okay, that things would get better.  But as he
flopped onto his bed, he realized that there really wasn’t anyone he could talk
to.

He couldn’t go to his coaches or
teammates because he’d just look like he was whining, or trying to steal Jordan’s
starting spot.  Either way, that wasn’t how he wanted the team to view him.  He
could call his dad, but he knew that Jimmy, ever the optimist, would just tell
him that he was making a big deal out of nothing, and not to worry about it. 
And unless he wanted another guilt trip of the century, he couldn’t talk to Bri
about it.

He’d tried once before to talk to
her about his frustrations: how he felt like he wasn’t contributing anything to
the team, how hard it was to sit by and watch the other guys get all the
playing time.  He was used to being the star, and now he was a second string
nobody.  But all she’d said was that this was his one chance to live his dream,
to accomplish everything he’d wanted, and he needed to be patient and not do
anything to screw it up, because this was the only shot he’d get.   

He’d also heard what she hadn’t said
in words, but had implied loud and clear.  She was basically telling him that
he had to suck it up and make this work, because she’d given up her dream to
support his and she didn’t want to have done that for nothing. 

Bri would never come out and say
that to him, but she didn’t need to.  He’d been feeling the pressure of it ever
since he found out she had transferred to Duke for him.  Not that he wasn’t
extremely grateful and happy she was here, because he was and he wouldn’t
change that for anything.  It just added a layer of pressure he still wasn’t
sure how to deal with.

And now, when he could really use a
listening ear and some good advice, he had no one to turn to.  He’d have to
work through this on his own.

So that night, when Bri called, he
didn’t tell her how angry and frustrated he was.  How he had been
this close
to giving Jordan the beat down of his life, verbally at least.  How he wanted
to go ask his coach what the hell he was thinking leaving Jordan in to almost
lose the game for them.  No, instead they talked about what a great win he’d
had that night, and how Bri was surviving her cousin being in town, and how her
trip to Catalina went.  He managed to keep her talking, so that he didn’t have
to.

He still wasn’t sure how he felt
about her going to Catalina without him.  It had kind of become
their
place, and the thought of her going there without him upset him a little,
especially since Seb was there.  He knew that Seb secretly had a thing for Bri,
and while he knew that Bri had no idea, and nothing would happen between them
anyway, it still grated on him a little.  Yet another frustrating thing about
his basketball season so far.

“Cole, is something wrong?”
Bri asked as their
conversation wound down.

“What?  No,”
he tried to scoff.  “Why would you
thing that?”

“You just seem a little down tonight
is all.  I thought after your win, you’d be a little more excited, but you
sound a little sad.  You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

The girl was too perceptive for her
own good sometimes.

“I think I’m just missing my girl
tonight,”
he
replied softly, and it was the truth.  What he wanted most in that moment was
to hold her in his arms and absorb all of the comfort and warmth she provided. 
She’d been gone for a week, and it seemed like a month.  Already he felt like
he was floundering without her, and she wasn’t going to be home for another
week.  It didn’t look good for him.  “I’m going crazy here without you.”

“I know, me too.”
 
The longing in her
voice warmed his heart.  He was glad to hear that she missed him as much as he
did her.  “I’m counting down the days until I come home to you.  Are you doing
anything fun to keep yourself occupied while I’m gone?”

“Some of the guys were talking about
maybe going snowmobiling this week.”

“That sounds fun.  Although, I bet
you’ll enjoy it much more than I would.  Better you than me out there in the
cold.”

He smiled.  Bri was definitely
having a hard time adjusting to the colder temperatures.  She was a sun bunny,
through and through. 

“What about you?”
he asked.  “You
have any big plans this week?

“Not really.  Carly leaves tomorrow,
and then Seb and I were going to hang out sometime.”

He froze, his heart stopping.  “You
and
Seb
?”
 
He
tried to keep the edge out of his voice, but failed.  Multiple images of what
Bri and Seb “hanging out”
would entail flashed though his mind, and most of them involved kissing
and nakedness.  Trying to tamp down his paranoia, he gritted his teeth and
asked, “What, you two are friends now?”

“Well, yeah,”
she bristled.  “Is there a problem
with that?”

He knew that if he pushed her it’d
just start a fight, and he really didn’t have the energy to fight with her
tonight.  But still, he remembered the way Seb would look at Bri, especially in
her bikini, and he felt his anger rise.  Doing his best to remember that he
trusted her, that she loved him and barely even liked Seb, that rationally he
had nothing to worry about, he pushed down the jealous, possessive monster inside
him and forced his voice to even.

“No, not at all.  It’s good you have
someone to keep you company,”
he managed to say, but the monster inside him roared in protest.

“Good, because we are just friends,”
she emphasized.  “Seb
and I hanging out is practically about you anyway.  I miss you, he misses you,
we’re basically just commiserating together.”

“As long as that’s all you’re doing,”
he ground out
before he could stop himself.

“Coleston Marra!”
she snapped, and he
couldn’t stop his smile.  He loved it when she used his full name.  It probably
shouldn’t turn him on like it did, but he couldn’t help it.  “You are being
ridiculous,”
she
chided.  “You have absolutely nothing to worry about, because I’ve told you
over and over that there isn’t anyone else for me but you.  You’d better watch
it, because I’m going to be furious if you don’t trust me enough not to go
snogging every boy I come across.”

“Snogging?”
he chuckled.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m reading Harry
Potter with Liam and Logan.  Those English euphemisms are kind of catchy.”
 
She paused as he
laughed again.  Man, the things that came out of this girl’s mouth.  There was
never a dull moment with her around.  “But anyway, stop being stupid, okay?”

“Okay,”
he promised, shaking his head at how
easily she could rile and then diffuse his anger.  The girl was a force of
nature.  “Hey, do me a favor and go check on my motorcycle for me.  I miss my
baby and want her to know I’m thinking about her.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that,”
she quipped before
laughing.  “I swear you spend more time pining for that bike than you do for
me.”

“Not even close,”
he assured her.  “I
hardly pine for you at all.”
 
She let out an affronted snort, and he burst out laughing.  Luckily for
him, she quickly joined.  “Aw baby, you know that nothing else consumes my mind
like you do.  Speaking of which,”
his voice dropped to a sexy rumble, “when you get home, I’ll prove to
you just how much I think about you, and all the naughty things I want to do to
you.”
 
He
could practically hear her face flush.

“Mmm, I’ll be looking forward to
that,”
she
replied in a sexy timbre of her own, and it nearly undid him.

“Hurry home,”
he pleaded softly, his whole body
aching with longing.

“I will,”
she promised, and cleared her throat. 
“Well, I think I’d better go before this conversation takes a very
not-appropriate-for-my-family’s-ears turn.  I love you, Cole.  See you soon.”

“I love you too, Ambria.  Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Cole lay there for a moment
contemplating the implications of her parting words, and a huge, smug smile
spread across his face.    

Cole was flipping through channels
on his couch a few days later, when his phone buzzed in his pocket.  He pulled
it out and opened the text he’d gotten from Seb.  He took one look at the
picture and dialed his friend.

“Tell me that’s not the sexiest
thing ever!”
Seb
answered.

“What the hell are you thinking?”
Cole yelled.  “You
taught Bri to ride a motorcycle?”
 
He couldn't believe it.  Seb was a freaking idiot.  An idiot who was
going to get his faced punched in for this. 

“What?  Chicks on bikes are hot.  I
thought I was doing you a favor.  Bri looks good on your bike.”

Yeah she did.  She looked
damn
good. 
But that wasn’t the point.

“It’s dangerous, Seb.  She could
crash and be seriously hurt, or worse.  Not to mention, I’m sure her dance team
director would love to hear that she’s zooming around on a motorcycle.  She
could get kicked off her team for this.”
 
Plus, if Bri could ride on her own, she wouldn’t need to snuggle up
behind him.  “This is bad for so many reasons.”
 
Not the least of which being that if anyone was going to teach Bri to
ride, it should be him, not Seb.  That, and he still wasn’t too thrilled about
his best friend and his girlfriend hanging out, especially when Seb was
obviously checking her out.

“Come on, man, she’s thrilled. 
Here, talk to her and see for yourself.”
 

Bri picked up the phone, sounding
breathless.  “Cole?  Oh my gosh, that is the best feeling ever!  It’s even
better when you’re driving!”

The excitement in her voice made him
smile.  “I can’t believe you did it!”
 
He made himself sound excited for her.  He wasn’t going to ruin this
moment for her.  It wasn’t her fault Seb was a moron.  “That’s awesome.  I’m
glad you’re keeping my bike company for me.”

“Yeah, maybe next time we’re here, I’ll
take you for a ride,”
she laughed. 

Just as long as she didn’t take Seb
for any rides.  “Definitely.”

“So, what are you up to today?”

“Not much, just counting down the
days until you get home.”

“Less than four more days.  And you’d
better be ready to spend all of Sunday with me, because we have a lot of lost
time to make up for.”

“Yes, we do,”
he smiled.

“Okay, well here’s Seb again.  I’m
going to go take another spin around the block.”

“Be careful, Bri, please.  If
something happened to you, I…”

“I know.  I will, I promise.  Love
you.”

“Love you, too.”

She handed the phone back to Seb.

“I’m so going to kill you,”
Cole said
pleasantly.

“Dude, I’m going to send you a video
of her riding, and I promise you’ll thank me.”

“Yeah, I’ll be thanking you when she
breaks her neck on that thing.”

“Stop being so negative, and just
accept this gift I’ve given you. 
Ooh
, we should get Bri
some leather.  She’d look killer in some of those tight leather pants.”
 

“I’ll get you back for this one day,
Seb.”
 
Cole
rubbed his forehead wearily.  “Seriously, you’d better be watching your back.”

“Whatever, I’m your favorite person
right now, and you know it.  Just keep staring at that picture I sent you.”

“
Whatever, man.  Just
don
’
t let her kill herself.  I’ll talk to you
later.  Oh, and Seb?”

“Yeah?”

“Stop checking out my girl.”

Seb laughed and hung up.  A few
minutes later, he sent Cole the video he’d recorded of Bri.  Cole had to admit,
it was pretty damn sexy.  He watched that video many times during the next few
days, but he didn’t know if it made the ache in his chest better or worse.  

That Friday night, after winning
their game, a bunch of guys from the team decided to go get a late dinner to
celebrate.  They went to a pizza joint just off campus, and they managed to
find a couple of tables to push together to fit them all.  Cole was surprised
when Jordan came and sat next to him and Matt.

“And where is your lovely girl
tonight, Cole?”
Jordan
grinned at him.