Certified Disaster (Beautiful Mess Book 2) (7 page)

“You’ll get your chance.  Just keep
working hard and it’ll come.”

“You think so?”
 
Cole was wondering
if he’d ever get a chance to start.  His whole team was crazy talented.  He
didn’t stand out like he used to.

“I
know
so.  Don’t let it
frustrate you.  Just focus on what you need to do, what your team needs you to
do, and everything else will work out.  This is your dream, you just need to be
patient. And don’t do anything stupid to jeopardize it.”
 

Man, she knew him too well.  She
always seemed to know just what he needed to hear.

“I love you, Bri.  More than
anything.”

“I love you, too, Cole.  Even more.”

They said goodnight, and Cole went
to bed feeling like the luckiest man in the world.

The last week of school before
Christmas break was loaded with finals.  No sleep, too much caffeine, and a
completely fried brain had Bri feeling like the walking dead by the time the
week was done.  She couldn’t wait to get away and relax at home with her
family.  The only thing bringing her down was the fact that Cole wouldn’t be
going home with her.  Due to the basketball schedule, he wouldn’t be able to go
home for Christmas.  Bri had offered to stay with him, but since he’d be
traveling a lot for games, he’d insisted that she needed to go home, and she’d
finally relented. 

Her flight left early Saturday
morning, but Cole had made her promise to stop by and say goodbye before she
left.  Like she would’ve left him for two weeks without stopping to say saying
goodbye first.  The sky was dark, the sun still tucked firmly below the
horizon, when she knocked on his door.

“Hey,”
Cole smiled sleepily as he opened the door and let her in.  He was
wearing a pair of pajama bottoms and nothing else, and his sexy, bed-ruffled
hair had Bri seriously reconsidering her trip.  He pulled her into his chest,
and the scent of his skin had her melting against him.  That was it, there was
no way she was going now.

“I can’t believe your leaving,”
he mumbled into her
hair.

“I’m not.  I’ve just changed my mind
and decided to stay.  Right here, with you, and we won’t leave your room for
the entire two weeks.”
 
She felt, as well as heard, the groan that tore through him.

“You have no idea how much I wish we
could.”
 
He
pulled back and cupped her face with his hands.  “What am I going to do without
you?”
 
He
leaned down and kissed her lightly.

“I know.  This was our worst idea
ever,”
she
whispered sadly and kissed him back.  She was by no means one of those girls
who were completely useless without their boyfriends, but she was beginning to
realize just how hard this was going to be. 

After a few minutes he pulled back. 
“You’d better get going if you want to make your flight.”
 
He tucked a lock
of hair behind her ear, before letting her go. 

“Okay,”
she replied, and even though she
really didn’t want to, she made herself walk to the door.  Cole followed, and
as she opened the door he grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him. 
Crushing his lips to hers, he gave her a goodbye kiss she knew she’d be
thinking about for days. 

“Bye, Bri.  Call me when you land,
okay?”
 
He
smiled down at her.

“Okay,”
she replied, still breathless.  “I
love you.  See you in a couple weeks.”

“I love you, too.”
 

Bri stepped out the door and forced
her legs to take her to her car, waving a last goodbye to Cole, who was still
watching her from his doorway.  Her heart fell as he waved back and closed the
door.  Taking a deep breath to hold back the tears that wanted to spill, she
was
not
that kind of girl, she headed off to the airport. 

Her family met her when she landed,
and the sight of her brothers running to greet her helped lift the despondency
that had settled over her that day.  Bending down, she caught them both up in a
huge hug, happy to be home.

“So, I have a surprise for you,”
her dad began once
everyone was in the car.

“Oh, really?”
Bri replied.

“Aunt Rachel and Carly are coming to
stay with us for a few days for Christmas.”
 
His voice was too cheerful, like he was trying to convince her to be
excited.  He should know better.

“Are you serious?”
she groaned.  She
hadn’t seen her cousin for over a year, and she’d like to keep it that way. 
The last time they’d talked Bri had finally told Carly off, and Carly wasn’t
known for her forgiving nature.  The idea of being stuck in the same house with
her, threatened to send Bri running right back to North Carolina.  “When is she
getting here?”

“Rachel is flying in from Phoenix on
the 23rd, and Carly is flying down from San Jose on Christmas Eve.  They’ll be
here until the 30th.”

Six days with her cousin.  There had
to be a way out of this.  She thought for a minute before a solution presented
itself.  She was pretty sure it would work, it was at least worth a desperate
try.

“But, the Hamiltons invited me out
to Catalina again this year.  I really wanted to go.”
 
She was almost positive she could
talk Claire into letting her tag along.  She’d have to call tonight and work
everything out.

“What about your family?  We don’t
get to see you very often.  I was hoping to spend some time with you.”
 
Her dad didn’t
sound like he was going to go for it.  Time to bring out the big guns.

“And you will.  It’s just that…
well, with Cole
back in North Carolina, this would be a way I could feel close to him, even
though he’s not here.”
 
She threw in a little pout for good measure.  Not that she didn’t miss
Cole, because she already missed him terribly, but she wasn’t above using that
to guilt her dad into letting her go.  “You’ll have me the rest of the two
weeks I’m here, I promise.  I’ll just be gone a couple of days. 
Please
?”
 
She hit her dad
with pleading, sad eyes.

Connor deliberated for a minute
before sighing.  “Alright, you can go.  But I want you here for Christmas,
okay?”

“Okay,”
Bri smiled, relieved she’d get a
little reprieve from Carly.  Now she just had to hope the Hamiltons didn’t mind
her inviting herself on their vacation.  

The minute she got a moment alone,
Bri called Claire, who was ecstatic at the idea.

“I so wanted you to come,”
Claire said, and
Bri could practically hear her bouncing.  “But I wasn’t sure you’d want to
without Cole.  But yay!  I’m so excited!  I’ll go talk to Mom and Dad, and I’ll
call you back in a bit.”

Scott and Sharon were happy to have
Bri come with them, and it was decided that she’d take the ferry out the day
after Christmas, like she had last year.  They were coming back on the 29th,
which left Bri with just three days to have to spend with Carly.  It was as
much as she could’ve hoped for.  

The day she’d been dreading arrived,
and Bri was forced to go with her dad and Aunt Rachel to pick up Carly from the
airport.  When Carly finally made her way to the baggage claim, Bri couldn’t
believe her eyes.

“Baby!”
Rachel squealed and rushed to gather the
girl that was supposedly Carly into her arms.  Bri stood there stunned, sure
her aunt had the wrong girl.

Carly’s unnaturally blond hair was
now a very unnatural shade of black.  It matched the huge raccoon-like circles
of eyeliner around her eyes, and her black dress and leggings.  She was now
sporting a shiny new eyebrow ring, and a few new ear piercings.  If Carly hadn’t
spoken, Bri would never have guessed it was her.

“Enough, Mom,”
Carly sighed,
rolling her eyes.  “You’re making a scene.”
 

“I’m sorry, I’ve just missed you so
much,”
Rachel
released Carly, wiping a tear from her eye.  Carly had moved to San Jose to
live with her dad earlier that year, and Aunt Rachel had taken it really hard.

“My bag is over here,”
Carly turned toward
the baggage claim.  As she passed Bri and Connor, Carly gave a small nod.  “Hi,
Uncle Connor.  Bri.”
 
And she passed by without another glance.

Bri was shocked.  She’d fully
expected Carly to be angry and antagonistic after their last conversation.  But
she was wholly unprepared for this leaden, apathetic version of her cousin, who
was usually so vocal and excitable.  Something had changed Carly, and Bri didn’t
recognize the stranger in front of her.

Carly retrieved her bag, and she and
Rachel led the way out to the car.

“What is with Carly?”
Bri whispered to
her dad, low enough her cousin and aunt wouldn’t hear.  “Did something happen
to her?”

“Rachel said she’s been having a
rough time lately.  Something about a bad break up, and an even worse break
down.  Maybe you could try to cheer her up a bit while she’s here.  She looks
like she could use it.”
 
Connor eyed his niece warily.

“She looks like she could use a mug
shot and a parole officer,”
she scoffed.  She duked her head at the disapproving glare her dad shot
her.  “Yeah, okay, I’ll see what I can do.”
 
Watching Carly sulk to the car, Bri found her animosity towards her
cousin waning after seeing her so sad and depressed.  Feeling bad, she decided
she’d do her best to be nice to Carly while she was there.  It was the least
she could do.

After arriving at home, Carly
trudged into Bri’s room without saying a word to anybody, and remained there
until it was time for Christmas Eve dinner.  Carly sulked all through the meal,
not bothering to acknowledge anyone who talked to her.  Worried, Bri’s dad
pressed her to try to talk to Carly, to help her out of her funk.  So when
Carly disappeared back into Bri’s room after dinner, Bri grudgingly followed
her.

“So, want to tell me what’s up with
you?”
Bri
began, flopping onto her bed.

“Nothing’s up.  I’m fine,”
Carly bit out.

“No you’re not.  You look
miserable.  What happened?”
Bri tried again, doing her best to sound concerned.

“Nothing happened.  Guys are just
pigs, that’s all.  They just want to use you and then lose you.  They are all
scumbags who don’t care about anyone but themselves,”
she snipped, sounding all too like her
old self. 

“No they aren’t.  There are good
guys out there, too, if you look hard enough.”
 

“Yeah, right, you mean like Cole?”
Carly scoffed,
eyeing Bri.  “He’s a perfect example.  He totally treated me like crap, too. 
He made me think that I had a chance and then threw it back in my face.”

“Hey!”
 
Bri’s anger surged.  “That is
not
what happened, and you know
it.  Cole didn’t use you.  He’s not like that.”
 
Anymore, she amended silently.

“You keep living in that fantasy
world of yours, Bri.  He’ll use you up and spit you out, just like the rest of
us.  Just you wait.  Do yourself a favor, and get out while you can, before he
crushes every last piece of you.”
 
The venom in Carly’s words was unmistakable, and Bri leaned back,
shocked at her hostility.  Underneath that sad, pathetic exterior, Carly was
still the same selfish bitch she’s always been.  She hadn’t changed, she’d just
been wallowing in her own misery.

“You’re wrong about Cole,”
Bri seethed.  “He’s
good, and kind, and he loves me.  And no matter what, he would never hurt me. 
Maybe the reason guys keep using you and leaving you is that you keep hooking
up with the wrong kind of guy.  Maybe if you expected more from yourself, you’d
expect more from the guys you date.  Just something to think about.”
 
Bri, frustrated
and angry, walked to the door, leaving Carly to her pity party.  “Oh, and if
you ever say anything like that about Cole again, you will regret it.”
 
She slammed the
door behind her. 

That night, Bri opted to spend the
night on the floor of the boys’
room, rather than share a room with Carly. 

Christmas morning she was
unceremoniously woken as Liam and Logan jumped on top of her. 

“Bri, wake up!  It’s Christmas!”
 
The boys bounced
on her until she was awake and up.  Then they scampered off to wake up Connor
and Summer, before they ran excitedly into the den, waking a rather annoyed
Rachel.

The family spent the morning opening
presents, and Summer whipped them up a fabulous breakfast.  Full and content,
Bri slipped into her room to call Cole.

“Hey sexy,”
she smiled into the phone.  “Merry
Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Bri,”
he returned,
sounding a little sad.  “I wish you were here with me.”

“You have no idea how much I wish
that, too.  This is officially our worst plan ever.  Not only are you thousands
of miles away, but Carly and Aunt Rachel are here for a few days, and you can
imagine how much fun that is.  I am counting the minutes until I can get out of
here tomorrow.”

“Where are you going?”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?  I’m going
to Catalina tomorrow.  Scott and Sharon were nice enough to let me crash their
family time, so I can escape mine.”

“Oh,”
Cole said flatly.  “You’re going without me?  Won’t that be a little
weird?”

“Maybe a little,”
she admitted.  “But
it’s not like Claire and I aren’t close friends or anything.  It’ll be like
hanging out with Layla’s family.”

“Yeah, I guess,”
he didn’t sound
convinced.

“I wish you and I were going
together.  I think we could’ve made really good use of that beach again, public
or not.”

“Mmm, I remember that,”
his voice warmed.  “I
also remember you getting that fabulous swimming suit of yours there.  You
should find yourself a new one and surprise me.”

“You need a new instrument of
torture?”
she
laughed.  “I’ll see what I can find.  So, have you opened your presents yet? 
Did you like what I got you?”
 
She’d gotten him a new light brown blazer to wear to his team functions,
and hopefully future interviews, along with a couple of shirts and ties, and an
art book he’d been eyeing at the bookstore.

“It’s perfect, thank you.”
 
She could hear his
smile through the phone.  “You always know just what I want.”

“I pay attention,”
she shrugged,
feeling all warm inside.  “Thank you for my present, too.  I’m wearing them
right now.”
 
Cole
had gotten her a pair of dangly butterfly earrings to match the necklace he’d
gotten her last year.  “You spent way too much on me again, though.  You’d
better be careful, you’re spoiling me.”