Certified Disaster (Beautiful Mess Book 2) (13 page)

“Coleston!”  She squeezed him.  “That’s
amazing!”

“Yeah, I guess your plan worked. 
After the North Carolina game, they’d been watching me.  Coach said he’d been
impressed with me on the floor, and even more impressed at what a supportive
team player I’d been.  He said he knows I’ll always do what’s best for the
team, and that I’ll be a great presence and leader out on the court.”

“You will be.  I’m so proud of you. 
But why didn’t you tell me this earlier?  This is
huge
news.”

“I only had one thing on my mind
earlier, and it wasn’t basketball,” he laughed. 

“Yeah, I kind of got that,” she
replied wryly.

“I’m going to be a starter, baby. 
Do you know what this means?”  Excitement gleamed in his eyes.  “Not just filling
in, but being able to dictate what happens during the game.  The national
publicity, the NBA… The possibilities are endless.”

“You’re finally getting your chance
in the national spotlight.  It’s what you’ve always dreamed about.”

“Yeah,” he breathed.  “I want to
finish school though.  I promised my dad I’d make my education a priority, and
I owe it to him, and to myself, to get my degree.”

“Good.  I think it’s important,
too.  Plus, I’m glad to know you won’t be going anywhere anytime soon,” she
half teased.  She’d never really thought about Cole going pro; she’d always
assumed they’d finish school together, and then they’d tackle whatever the
future held after that.  She hoped that plan didn’t change.

“Yeah, but after that, if things go
well, I might be playing in the NBA.  It’s a long shot, but still.  Can you
imagine?”

What she couldn’t imagine was her
and Cole being separated by the NBA draft and graduate school.  If he went pro,
she’d have to wait who knew how long before starting her Masters, and she’d
have to pick a school where he was drafted.  It would be a huge sacrifice for
her, another huge sacrifice.  But, she didn’t want to think about that right
now.  They had a few years before they’d have to deal with that, so there was
no use worrying about it now.  Not wanting to detract from Cole’s happiness,
she brushed her reservations aside.

“That would be incredible,” she
smiled at him.

“With you by my side, we could
conquer the world,” he smiled back.  “I’d be able to give you the future you
deserve.”

“The only future I want is to be
with you.  The rest doesn’t matter.  As long as we have each other, I’ll be the
happiest woman on earth.”

“But still, I want to give you
everything you’ve ever wanted.  And now, that is actually a possibility.”

Something about his words didn’t sit
right with her.  She didn’t need money to be happy.  She didn’t need for Cole
to shower her with lavish gifts.  She wasn’t materialistic like that.  But not
wanting to ruin the happy moment they were having, she didn’t push it.  This
was a big day for Cole, and he deserved to be excited.

“You’ve already given me everything
I’ve ever wanted.”  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to
hers.  “You are everything I’ll ever need,” she promised him, meaning every
word.

Their month long vacation at home
flew by quickly.  Bri got to spend a lot of time with her family, and friends,
and the ocean, all of which she’d missed dearly, but all too soon it was time
to head back to Duke for summer practices.  

She returned to new roommates and
new team captains, and was a bit jealous that Stacie and Stephanie, being
juniors now, got their own rooms.  Her new roommates seemed nice enough, but
she didn’t bond with them like she had her old ones.  Luckily Addison,
Stephanie, and Stacie were just a few doors away, and it’s not like she didn't
see them every day.

Cole also got a new roommate.  Coach
thought it’d be a good idea for Cole and Jordan to room together, to build
trust and familiarity.  Matt, who got the other open starting spot, would be
rooming with Ben, the starting center.  Bri found she missed seeing Matt all
the time, though he and Cole still hung out a lot.  Jordan was too cocky and
arrogant for her to like much.  And he always had a backhanded compliment or
thinly veiled disapproval for her whenever she came over.  She hoped he’d get
over it quickly, because she was getting a little tired of it.

Even dance practice was different. 
They’d lost about a third of their old team, which meant that there were a lot
of new faces to get used to.  But one thing that hadn’t changed was Jillian’s
snideness and rudeness.  Jillian knew she couldn’t get Bri kicked off the team,
but that didn’t stop her from trying to make Bri’s life miserable.  She still
had no idea why Jillian hated her so much, but she was quickly returning the
favor.  This year, instead of taking it, Bri was determined to put Jillian in
her place.  Jillian, of course, didn’t seem to appreciate that, and the
animosity between them skyrocketed.

Change was all around her, and Bri
had the feeling that this was just the beginning.  Her life from now on was
going to be in a constant state of flux.  And while some change she welcomed,
some of them she mourned.  Her brothers were starting kindergarten, and she was
sad that she wouldn’t be there to send them off on their first day of school. 
She felt like she was missing out on watching them grow up, but, there wasn’t
anything she could do about it.  She had to resign herself to the fact that
life was about choices and compromises, and she’d have to be content with
hers.  Which really, she was.  She loved her life, and with the start of her
sophomore year, she felt excited and hopeful for what the future might bring.

Cole couldn’t believe the difference
being a starter made.  He used to be able to walk around campus fairly
unnoticed.  But now, everywhere he went he drew attention.  People were always
watching him, coming up and talking to him, especially the girls.  He’d always
gotten plenty of attention from the ladies, but it seemed to have ratcheted up
a few notches.  He knew Bri noticed too, and even though he knew it had to
bother her, she hadn’t said anything, yet. 

Getting used to living with Jordan
was interesting, too.  Matt was always so laid back and mellow.  But Jordan had
an endless supply of energy, and a serious case of ADD.  He was constantly in
motion, and that included his dating life.  He was always giving Cole a hard
time about Bri.  He couldn’t understand why Cole would want to settle down with
one girl, when he could have his choice of the whole campus whenever he
wanted.  Cole had tried to explain it to him, but Jordan didn’t get it.  Not
that he really listened.  Needless to say, the first few weeks of the new
semester had required some adjustment.

Cole had just left Jordan at their
place and was heading over to pick up Bri, when he got an unexpected phone
call.

“Devon?  Hey man, what’s up?”
 
He and Devon had
remained good friends, despite the distance between them.  Being the boyfriends
of best friends, they’d kept in touch, helping each other out when advice or
support was needed.  But Cole was a bit surprised that Devon had actually
called.

“Cole,”
Devon answered, audibly upset.
 
“I need your help,
man.”
 

“What’s the matter?  What’s going
on?”
 
Cole
stopped dead in his tracks.

“It’s Layla.  I think she might have
broken up with me.  I’m not even sure what happened, but she started yelling
and kicked me out, and now I don’t know what to do.”
 
Devon rambled desperately.

“Whoa, hold up.  Why don’t you start
from the beginning and tell me what happened.”
 
Cole started booking it for Bri’s dorm.  He could tell this was going to
be bad, and he was going to need her help.

“Okay, so Layla and I were watching
one of her chick flicks, you know, the kind where they end up getting married
at the end, happily ever after and all that.  Well, after it was over I said
something to her like “That’ll be us one day”, and she totally freaked out on
me.  She went off about how she wasn’t interested in marriage right now, and
that she was going to finish school, and how dare I assume that she’d be
willing to just drop out and get married and start popping out babies and give
up all her dreams.  Honestly, I didn’t even hear everything she said, because I
was too busy trying to figure out where all this was coming from.  But she
yelled at me for about twenty minutes, and then said that she couldn’t do this
right now and kicked me out.  She won
’
t answer any of my
calls or texts, and I’ve been wandering around for the past hour, not knowing
what to do or where to go.  I’m going crazy here and I need you to talk me
down.”

“Okay, just hold on.”
 
Cole reached Bri’s
room and pounded on the door.  Luckily she answered quickly.  She looked at him
curiously as she let him in, obviously seeing the distress on his face.  “I’m
here with Bri now, and I’m going to put you on speaker phone.”
 
He quickly
explained to Bri what had happened, and her face paled.

“Devon?”
she asked, concern lacing her voice.  “Are
you okay?”

“No,”
he replied.  “I’m freaking out and I don’t know what to do to fix this. 
I don’t even know what I did wrong.”

Devon sounded like he was close to
tears, and Cole looked at Bri imploringly.  She had to know how to fix this.

“I know, it’s okay.  Here’s what we’re
going to do,”
she
took charge.  “You are going to go home and stay there.  I know that’s not what
you want to hear, but I don’t think you can do anything to make this better
right now, and we don’t want to make things worse.  I am going to call Layla
and see if I can find out what’s really going on, okay?  And I’ll call you as
soon as I know anything, I promise.  Can you give me a little time?”

 Devon let out a slow breath.  “Yeah,
okay.  Just please, try and hurry.  If I lose her, I…
I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“I know, sweetie.  We’ll figure this
out, okay?”
Bri
consoled him.

“Do you really think we can fix
this?”
he
asked desperately.

“I know we can,”
she replied.  “I’ll
talk to you soon.”

“Okay.  Thanks, Bri.”
 

“Bye, Dev.  Hang in there, okay?”
Cole cut in. 

“I’ll try.  Thanks, Cole.”

Cole hung up the phone and looked at
Bri helplessly.  He didn’t have the slightest idea how they were going to help.

“It’s okay,”
she smiled reassuringly.  “I’ll call
Layla and talk some sense into her.  I think she just got scared and
overreacted.  I know we were going to go out tonight, but I don’t think this
can wait.”

“You’re right.”
 
He pulled her into
a hug and kissed the top of her head.  “Will you call me when you’re done and
let me know how it went?  It doesn’t matter how late.”
 

“Definitely.”
 
She sighed, pulling back to look at
him, worry creasing her forehead.  “I’ve never even considered the possibility
of them breaking up before.  They were always such a constant, you know.  What
if they can’t work things out?”

“They will.”
 
It was his turn to reassure her.  He
leaned down and kissed her.  He began to pull away, but she brought him back,
pulling him close and kissing him deeper.  He could tell this thing with Layla
and Devon had shaken her, and he was happy to give her all the time she needed
to ground herself again.

“I love you.”
 
She finally pulled back and looked up
at him.  He could see how upset and worried she was about her friends.  It was
one of the things he loved about her.  When she decided to love, she did it
with her whole heart.  He didn’t know how this amazing creature had come into
his life, but he would be forever grateful. 

 
“I
love you, too.”
 
He
smiled, trying to reassure her.  “Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”
 

He gave her one more quick kiss
before letting himself out, leaving her to call her friend.  He really hoped
Devon and Layla worked it out.  He didn’t want to admit it, but the thought
that Layla and Devon could break up unsettled him as well.  They’d seemed like
such an indestructible force; like they’d be together forever.  He really hoped
that was still the case.

Not having anything else to do, Cole
trudged back to his room.  Jordan, surprisingly, was still there when he got
back.

“Hey man, what happened to your
date?”
Jordan
smiled smugly at him.

“Something came up,”
Cole replied and
flopped down on the couch. 

Jordan either didn’t notice Cole’s
melancholy mood, or chose to ignore it.

“Well then, come out with me
tonight.  Some friends and I are gonna go do a little clubbing,”
Jordan bounced his
eyebrows suggestively.

“Thanks, but I’m going to pass.”

“Oh, come on.  Just because your
girl ditched you doesn’t mean you can’t still have some fun.”

“I think my definition of fun and
your definition of fun are two very different things.”

“No, they’re not.  You just think
that because you’re part of a “couple”
you can’t do anything without your other half.  You’re wrong, you know. 
What harm could it do to come out with the guys for a while?”
Jordan pushed.

“Another time, J.  I’m not in the
mood for it tonight,”
Cole replied tiredly.  This wasn’t the first time Jordan had tried to
get him to go out with him.  But Cole didn’t feel like watching Jordan and his
frat brothers hit on girls all night.

“Okay, man,”
Jordan replied, disappointed.  “But
one of these days you’ll realize that commitment is for suckers, and you’ll be
begging me to take you out.”
 
He flashed Cole a knowing smile, grabbed his jacket and left.

Shaking his head, Cole headed to his
bedroom.  He knew Jordan was just trying to get a rise out of him, but he still
got on Cole’s nerves sometimes.  Instead of dwelling on it, he decided to get
some homework done to keep him occupied.

A couple of hours later, he put away
his books.  He hadn’t expected to hear from Bri yet, but it was getting late. 
He decided to call and check in with Devon, to make sure he was holding up
okay.  After assuring Devon that Bri was talking some sense into Layla right
then, he hung up and fell asleep.

He awoken sometime later to the
ringing of his phone.  Knowing there was only one person who’d call in the
middle of the night, he answered.

“Hey, baby.  How’d it go?”
he asked sleepily.

“It went good,”
she sighed.  “It
took a long time to talk through everything, but I think we got it all worked
out.  Layla’s going to talk to Devon tomorrow.  I think they’ll be okay.”
 
She paused while
she yawned.  “I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow, but I just wanted to call
and say goodnight, and I’m sorry our plans got cancelled tonight.  I’ll make it
up to you.”

“It’s totally fine.  But I’ll let
you make it up to me whenever you’d like,”
he smiled. 

“Cole?”
she asked with a catch in her voice.  “Will
you promise me something?”

“Of course.”
 
His pulse picked up at her tone.

“Promise me that this will never
happen to us.  Promise me that we’ll be able to work through anything, that
nothing will come between us and tear us apart.”

He could hear the tears in her
voice, the worry and anguish, and he rushed to comfort and reassure her.

“I promise.  Nothing will ever come
between us.”
 
And
he meant every word.  “I have no intention of ever letting you go.  You’re kind
of stuck with me now,”
he smiled.

“I have no intention of ever letting
you go either,”
she
replied softly.  “I love you, Cole.”

“I love you too, Ambria.”
 
His heart swelled
in his chest.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He hung up, and drifted back to
sleep, marveling at how truly lucky he was.

Apparently it was the week for
strange, unexpected calls.  Sunday afternoon, Cole’s phone rang again, and he
was shocked when he saw who was calling.  He debated for a few moments whether
or not to answer.  She hadn’t called him in over a year.  Why should he answer
just because she finally remembered he existed.

He went back and forth for another second,
and then reluctantly his thumb hit the accept button.

“Hello,”
he greeted flatly.

“Cole, sweetheart, how are you?”
 
His mom’s voice
sounded forced and overly cheery. 

“Hi, Mom,”
he sighed.  “What do you want?”

“Is that anyway to greet your
mother?  Who says I have to want something to call?”
she replied lightly.  He could hear
the annoyance in her tone, even though she tried to cover it.

“Come on, Mom.  You don’t ever call
just to chat.”
 
He
tried to temper his impatience, but he didn’t have much patience to begin with
when it came to his mom.  She’d pretty much ignored him his whole life.  Not to
mention what she’d done to his dad.  “So what is it?  Why are you calling?”

“I guess that’s fair.”
 
All of the
lightness left her voice, and she let out a sigh.  “But I really am calling
just to talk.  You’re dad told me a few weeks ago about school, that you were
going to be a starter on the basketball team this year, and I just wanted to
call and tell you congratulations.  I know you don’t believe me, but I’m really
proud of you.”

Right.  If she was so proud, why did
it take her a few weeks to call him?  But still, this was more of an effort
than she’d made for a long time. 

“Um, thanks, I guess,”
he managed to
reply.

“Yeah, your dad also told me that you’re
dating a girl.  He said you two were pretty serious.”
 
Her voice held a note of concern.

“I’m not getting married anytime
soon,”
he
sighed, “so you don’t have to warn me against it, again.  I still remember all
your cautionary tales.”

“I just don’t want to see you make
the same mistakes I did.  I want you to take things slowly, that’s all. 
Anyway, how is everything else?  How’s school going?”

“School’s good, Mom.  Why don’t you
just come right out and tell me why you called.  This small talk is nice and
all, but I’m actually kind of busy.”

“Alright,”
she sounded disappointed, and Cole
hated that he felt bad about that.  “I’m calling because Carl and I want to
come down and visit you sometime.”

“What?”
 
Shock and something suspiciously like
hope warred for dominance inside him. 

“Your stepdad and I want to come see
you.  We just want to spend a little time with you.  You’re practically a man
now, and I want to get to know you again.”

“Really?”
 
He was skeptical.  His mom had never
taken an interest in his life before, ever.  Why now?

“Really, honey.  I feel terrible
that I haven’t been there for you before.  I’m trying to make some changes in
my life, you know, good changes.  And I want to start with you, Cole, if you’ll
let me.”

Cole was dumbstruck.  He honestly
didn’t know what to say.  On the one hand, he knew it was stupid to believe
what his mom said, because she would just let him down again.  But, there was a
small part of him that really wanted to believe her, that jumped at the thought
that his mom finally wanted to be a part of his life.