Beautiful Mess (21 page)

“Yep,”
she smiled.  “She was my best friend.  We were total opposites, but
we understood each other.  And we did everything together.  If one of
us was going to rebel, the other would too, just as a show of support.

“So
when my dad and Summer got engaged it turned the world I’d spent the last
couple of years trying to rebuild, back upside down.  I wanted to find a
way to show my dad that I could knock his world on its side, too.  That’s
when Rosa came up with the tattoo idea.  Her cousin worked at a tattoo
shop, so she set everything up.  We went one night when her cousin was
closing the shop alone, and we both got tattoos,” Bri shrugged, pretending that
was the end of the story.

“Rosa
got one, too?”

“Yep. 
Hers was in a much easier to conceal place, though, so she could hide it from
her parents.”

“And
what did Rosa get?”

“A
small butterfly, low on the front of her hip.  She made sure her bikini
would cover it.”

“But
you weren’t worried about covering yours.”  Cole picked up Bri’s hand and
held it in his.  “So, why did you choose a lily?”

Bri
took a breath.  She’d been hoping he wouldn’t care about that part.

“Well,
my mom’s name is Lillian, and ironically, calla lilies were her favorite
flower.”

“Did
you choose it to remind your dad what he was forgetting?”

“No,
but that’s exactly what my dad thought at first,” she shook her head,
remembering her dad’s initial reaction.  It hadn’t been pretty.  “No,
I picked the lily because, well, I’d begun to forget things about my mom. 
Little things, like the smell of her hair, or the sound of her laugh.  So
I put the lily here,” she pulled her hair away from the tattoo, “because there
was something I wanted to make sure I always remembered.”  She paused a moment
when Cole reached up and softly stroked his thumb over the lily.

“What
did you want to remember?” he asked softly.

“My
mom would always tuck me into bed, every night.  She’d snuggle the sheets
tight around me and then lean down and give me a hug.  Then she’d turn her
head and give me a kiss goodnight, right there, before telling me she loved me
so much.  I wanted to make sure that no matter how old I got, I would
never forget that,” Bri smiled sadly.

Cole
leaned in a placed a lingering kiss on her tattoo.

“So,
was your dad angry?” he asked as he pulled away.

“Angry
would be an understatement,” she laughed.  “He was livid!  But when
he was calm enough to listen, I explained about wanting to remember Mom, and he
began to understand.  It took him a full six months, and a move across the
city, before he finally forgave me, though.”

“A
move?”

“Yeah,
my dad had decided that Rosa was the cause of my whole delinquency phase, and
was responsible for my tattoo.  I’d told him that it was all me, that Rosa
had nothing to do with it, but he didn’t believe me.  He decided that the
only way to get me “back on track” was to get me as far away from her as
possible.  Plus, he and Summer were wanting a house that would be theirs,
together.  So we moved to a different suburb of Dallas, right before my
sophomore year.”

“Did
you and Rosa keep in touch?”

“We
did for a while, but we slowly just drifted apart.  I never saw her again
after we moved.”

“Oh,
Bri, I’m so sorry.”  He looked as sad as Bri felt.

“Life
goes on, you know?” she shrugged.  “You have to move on with it.”

“So,
did it work?  Did moving snap you out of your hoodlum phase?” he smiled.

“Not
exactly.  For a while there, it kind of exacerbated it.  I didn’t
want my dad thinking he’d been right.”

“So,
what was it then, that finally brought you back?”

“I
guess it was my brothers.  I was so angry at my dad for getting
remarried.  But the minute the boys were born, something changed. 
I’d always wished for brothers and sisters, and finally I’d gotten what I’d
always wanted.  The boys were so tiny and perfect, I loved them
instantly.  The minute I held them, the anger I’d been feeling just
disappeared.  I mean, how could I be angry at my dad and Summer when
they’d brought these two little miracles into my life?  That’s not to say
I was all of a sudden happy with the whole situation.  I wasn’t.  But
the anger fueling me was gone, and I decided to focus on my brothers, and being
the best sister I could for them.  Everything just kind of fell back into
place after that,” she shrugged. 

Cole
hugged her.  “Thank you for telling me.”

“You
and Rosa are the only ones who know the whole story.  My dad doesn’t even
know everything,” Bri replied.  Then she remembered something else she
should probably tell Cole, before he found out from someone else.  “And,
in the spirit of full disclosure, there’s something else I should probably tell
you.”  She pulled back.

“Oh? 
What’s that?”

“Um,
I kind of agreed to go to Winter Formal with Nick Jacobs,” she winced.

Cole
went completely rigid.  “What?” 

“Well,”
she began, trying to soften the blow.  “First, let me just say that I only
agreed to this to get Layla off my back.  She set the whole thing
up.  She’s become some crazed matchmaker who won’t take no for an
answer.  And second, you weren’t going to take me anyway.”

“So...
you’re going to the dance... with
Nick Jacobs
?”  Bri had been
right, Cole was
not
 happy.

“Yes.” 
She reached up and cupped his cheeks with her hands.  “But
you
are
the only one I want
to go with.  I wish it was you taking me to the
dance.”

He
let out his breath and pulled her back into his arms.

“I
wish you were going with me, too,” he whispered.  “But maybe this can be a
good thing.”

“What?” 
Now it was Bri’s turn to be incredulous.

“I
just mean that we can use the dance to get Serena used to the idea of me dating
other people.”

Bri
raised her eyebrow at him.

“Not
that I want to date anyone except you!”  He held up his hands to ward her
off.

“Okay,
then,” Bri relented with a small smile.  “So you’re going to ask someone
to the dance?  Who are you thinking?”  She was doing her best not to
get jealous.  After all, she was going with another boy.  But the
thought of Cole’s arms wrapped around some other girl made her feel sick.

“I’ll
probably just take one of the girls from the cheer squad.  Try to make it
as impactful as I can.”  Cole must’ve seen the distress on her face,
because he tucked her head under his chin and squeezed her tight.  “Will
you save a dance for me?” he murmured into her hair.

“Wouldn’t
that kind of give us away?”

“It’s
worth the risk.”  He kissed the top of her head, and Bri smiled.

“Then,
of course I’ll save a dance for you.  I’ll save them all for you, if you’d
like.”

“I
just might hold you to that.”

“Alright,”
Bri pulled back to look at Cole.  “Are we done with this whole talking
thing?  Because I’d like to put your lips to a different use.”  She
grinned mischievously at him.

Cole
was only too happy to oblige.

The
first basketball game of the season arrived, and though he tried to hide it,
Bri could tell Cole was excited.  True to his word, Cole had two tickets
for Bri’s brothers and two tickets for her parents waiting for them at the
door.  The Dance Team was performing at halftime, so it was the third
quarter by the time Bri entered the gym.  She sat by Layla and Devon and
the rest of their friends, who had saved them seats.

Intuitively,
like he knew she’d finally arrived, Cole looked up from his timeout huddle and
found Bri in the stands.  A huge smile crossed his face and Bri couldn’t
help but beam back.  The official blew his whistle, signaling the timeout
was over, and Cole snapped his attention back to his team.  Cole played
point guard, and Bri could tell he was good.  She was sure he’d played
with the same level of intensity in the first half, but watching him, she got
the impression he was trying to impress her.  It was working.  She
couldn’t take her eyes off him.  He was amazing to watch.  The Tigers
ended up winning by almost twenty points, the crowd cheering wildly.  Bri
cringed as she watched Cole receive an excited hug from Serena, who had been
cheering.  He quickly extracted himself, giving Serena a disapproving
look, before he went over to talk to another of the cheerleaders.  Bri
assumed the petite blond was who he’d be taking to the dance next Saturday, and
she tried to push down her jealousy.  Cole glanced up at her, giving her
an apologetic smile, before heading off to the locker room.

Bri’s
family found her in the stands.

“Hey
Sweet Pea!” her dad beamed at her.  “You were amazing!”

“Thanks,”
she smiled before drawing her brothers in for a hug.  “Did you guys have
fun at the game?” she asked them.

“Yes!”
Logan yelled excitedly.

“We
want to come watch Cole every day!” Liam agreed.

“Well,
we’ll see,” Connor mussed Liam’s hair.  “We’re taking off now.  We’ll
see you at home after your dinner.  Have fun!”

“I
will.  Bye, Dad!  Bye, Monkeys!”  Bri watched them walk over to
where Summer was waiting by the gym door.  Just then her phone vibrated in
her pocket.  She pulled it out, grinning when she saw it was Cole.

Hey
Beautiful!  Any chance I can stop by and see you tonight?  I’m in
desperate need of a victory kiss!

Bri
laughed to herself before texting him back.

I
think that can be arranged!  I’m going to dinner with the Dance Team, but
I should be home around 10:00.  Does that work?

Sounds
perfect.  Oh, and you should wear your sexy dance pants for me!

If
you’re lucky! ;)

“Ready
to go?”  Layla caught Bri’s attention.

“Yep,
let’s go.”  She followed Layla out to her car.

Dinner
with the team was basically a big pep talk from Belinda with food.  Their
first competition was tomorrow, and she was trying to get them all psyched
up.  Luckily it didn’t take long, and Layla dropped Bri off at her house
with a few minutes to change before Cole got there.  The boys were in bed,
and her dad and Summer were watching TV in their room, so she was able to sneak
out the front door undetected.  She was waiting on the porch when he
pulled up on his motorcycle.  Bri couldn’t help herself, she hopped up and
ran over to him. 

Cole
removed his helmet and smiled as he stepped off the bike.  He caught her
and pulled her to him, his lips crushing hers.  They remained that way for
several minutes, before Bri had to come up for air.

“Now,
that was
definitely
worth the wait,”  His eyes sparkled.  “How
was your dinner?”

“Good,”
Bri grabbed his hand and led him to the porch steps where she pulled him down
beside her.  “But I would’ve much rather been with you.”

“Well,
I’m here now.”  His eyes darkened.  “Damn, I’ve missed you,” he
murmured against her lips,

“Mmm,
I’ve missed you more,” she smiled before initiating a kiss of her own. 
Very aware that they were sitting out in front of her house, Bri pulled back
far sooner than she would’ve liked.  “You were really amazing tonight,”
she nudged him with her shoulder.

“Why,
thank you.  I have been told my kissing prowess knows no equal,” he
grinned at her, causing Bri to laugh.

“While
I’m not disputing that, I was talking about the game.  Are you looking
into any basketball scholarships?  Because I can’t imagine that there
aren’t a ton of schools who’d be interested.”

“Um,
I think my dad’s pretty set on me playing football.  It’d disappoint him
if I didn’t,” Cole shrugged.

“But,
what do
you
want?”  Bri looked up at him, genuinely curious.
 “If it was just up to you, which would you choose?”

“If
only it were that simple.”  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and
pulled her in close.  “If it were just up to me... I’d choose you,” he
kissed the top of her head.  “Every time.”

Bri
warmed at his declaration, and wrapped her arms around his waist.  They
talked for a few more minutes before she decided she’d better get back
inside.  The competition tomorrow was an hour and a half away, and she had
to be at the school at 6:00 the next morning to get on the bus. 

“Goodnight,
Cole,” Bri waved from the door.

“Good
luck tomorrow, Bri.”  Cole got on his Ducati and drove off.

Five
AM arrived far too soon for Bri’s liking.  There was something
fundamentally wrong about being up that early on a weekend.  She showered
and got ready, snuck in and said goodbye to her dad, and threw her dance bag
into her car.  She stopped by and picked up a very energetic Layla, which
did nothing to help Bri’s less than stellar mood.  Of course Layla would
be a morning person.  She parked her car in the school parking lot, and
the girls all boarded the bus that would take them to their competition. 

“Too
bad this thing is so far away,” Bri yawned to Layla.  “It’d be more fun to
have some support in the stands.”

Someone
had brought bagels for breakfast, and Layla snagged one before passing the bag
to Bri.

“Yeah,
but a lot of the parents will be there,” Layla replied around a bite of
bagel.  “And Devon was trying to get a group of guys to carpool and come
watch us.”

“Really? 
That’s pretty cool of him.”

“Yeah,
he’s amazing,” Layla sighed, looking all dreamy. 

“It’s
not like he’s just trying to score bonus points with you or anything,” Bri
teased.

“Shut
up,” Layla pushed her.  “He doesn’t
need
bonus points!”

The
team arrived at the school the competition was being held at, unloaded their
stuff in the classroom that was assigned as their dressing room, and got ready
for the long, busy day ahead of them.  Bri was in all six of the team’s
routines, and she was excited to get out on the floor.

The
Dance division was up first, and Bri and the team walked out onto the floor to
a chorus of whooping and whistling from the fans sitting smack dab in the
middle of the front row.  As Bri took her beginning position, she scanned
the boisterous group in front of her.  She spotted Devin hollering along
with some other guys from school she recognized.  Then, on the other side of
Devon she saw the biggest surprise of all.

Cole
smiled and winked at her as Bri’s eyes met his.  Her heart picked up a
beat, amazed that he was here.  She beamed back at him before returning
her focus to the coming routine.  The music started and instinct took
over.  Bri danced like she’d never danced before, caught up in her own
frenetic energy.  It was her turn to impress Cole, and she was going to
astound him.  The routine ended, and the entire gym erupted in
applause.  But Bri’s attention was immediately drawn to the dark haired
hottie jumping and screaming for her.  Bri threw Cole a wink of her own as
the team left the floor.

As
they made their way down the hall, Devon came rushing out of the gym.

“Layla!”
he called.

As
Layla asked Belinda for approval to go accost her boyfriend, Bri saw Cole leave
the gym, too.  He motioned with his head that she should follow him as he
turned a corner and headed down an adjacent hall.

“Alright,”
Belinda relented, “you have five minutes.”

“Belinda,”
Bri saw a chance for escape.  “Can I, um, run to the bathroom?  I
won’t be long, and I promise to drag Layla back with me.”

“Okay,
but hurry!  We don’t have much time before our next routine.”

Bri
nodded, and Belinda led the rest of the team back to their dressing room. 
Layla ran to Devon, jumped up, and wrapped herself around him with a smoldering
kiss.  Avoiding their PDA, Bri moved passed them, and turned down the hall
where Cole had disappeared.

Cole
saw her approaching, and rushed to meet her.  She threw her arms around
him.

“How
are you here?” she breathed in his ear.  She pulled back to look at
him.  “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?  When...”

He
cut her off with his lips.  She melted into him, all questions forgotten.

“Mmm,
that’s better,” Cole smiled a few minutes later.  “Now, what were you
saying?”

“I
can’t remember,” Bri laughed.  “But really, why didn’t you tell me you
were coming today?”  She refused to let go of him, keeping her arms locked
around his neck.

“I
wanted to surprise you,” he shrugged.  “I’d heard Devon was getting a
group together to come up, and I decided to tag along.”

“Why?” 
Bri was still shocked.

“What,
I can’t come support my girl?  Plus, I’ve never really gotten a chance to
watch you dance.  I wanted to come.”  He leaned down and gave her a
quick kiss.

“Oh,”
she smiled, flattered.  “So, what did you think?”

“All
I can say is wow!  You are freaking amazing, Bri!  I couldn’t take my
eyes off you, and not just because you’re wearing my favorite sexy dance
pants!  You were incredible!”

She
leaned up and kissed him.  It felt good having Cole there, and she wanted
to savor it before she had to get back.  If only they didn’t have to hide.

“Too
bad we have to be careful,” she leaned her forehead against
his.   

“Believe
me, I was dying to chase you down the hall, shouting your name.  I
promise, one day soon I will.”

Bri
nodded and gave him one more kiss.

“I’d
better get back,” she squeezed him goodbye.  “I’m really glad you’re
here.”

“Can
I take you out tonight?  To celebrate?” he asked in her ear.

“I
would love that.”  She stepped out of his arms reluctantly.  “I’ll
try to find another chance to sneak away, okay?”  Cole nodded, and Bri
started down the hall.

“I’ll
be out there cheering for you,” he called after her.

Bri
turned.  “And I’ll be out there dancing for you.” 

She
turned the corner and extracted a very unwilling Layla from Devon’s arms, and
rejoined the team in the dressing room.

The
rest of the day passed surprisingly quickly.  Bri felt like she was
running a marathon, rushing between routines.  Each time she took the
floor, she found Cole’s eyes in the crowd.  It made her heart skip to see
how intently he followed her every move.

Finally,
all the routines were done, and it was awards time.  Most of the crowd had
remained to see how their teams fared.  Bri and the Dance Team took first
place in five of the six categories, and then took first place overall. 
The girls were ecstatic.  She saw Cole beaming from the crowd and wished
she could run to him.  All in all, it had been a great day.

As
the team boarded the bus to head home, Bri noticed Cole watching her from the
parking lot.  She paused and mouthed a “thank you” at him before giving
him a final wave goodbye.  As she took her seat on the bus, she felt her
phone vibrate and pulled it out.

Congratulations,
Beautiful!  I think you’ve earned yourself a victory kiss this time! 
See you tonight.

I
think technically I’ve earned six victory kisses, and I’m definitely going to
collect!
  She texted back. 

Bri
couldn’t help her grin as she settled into her seat for the long ride home.

The
next week of school was full of finals and midterms, as the end of the semester
approached.  By Friday, Bri felt like the walking dead due to so many late
nights studying.  But she had survived the week.  Now, she just had
to survive the dance.  That was going to be a bit more difficult seeing as
how Saturday was also Bri’s birthday, and this was not exactly how she had
wanted to celebrate it.

Layla
did her best to make sure it was a special day for Bri.  She started by
taking Bri to breakfast, and insisted that Bri, Jess, and Maddie come get ready
for the dance at her house.  It actually turned out to be a lot of
fun.  The girls chatted and laughed and helped each other with their hair
and makeup.