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

“I pray for that day every night,”
he grinned. 
He knew she wasn’t going to change her mind about
coming up to his place, but that didn’t mean he was going to make it easy for
her.  He leaned across the armrest between them and kissed her slowly and
seductively.  He pulled back slightly, waiting to see what she’d do next.

Bri hesitated for about a second,
then her hand curled around the back of his neck and pulled him back to her. 
Cole couldn’t help the satisfied grin that spread across his lips as she kissed
him hungrily.  Before he knew what was happening, she climbed over into his
lap, her hands slipping under his shirt and up his back.  And heaven help him, every
last bit of self-control he had left went right out the window. 

He returned her kisses with his own
desperation, greedily taking everything she was giving him.  His hands,
demanding more of her, moved slowly down her back and up the front, cupping her
perfect breasts.  To his utter shock, and intense relief, she didn’t pull away
from him.  Instead, she moaned against his mouth.  A shudder ran through him,
and he set out to remove any and all barriers between them.  

He grabbed the hem of her cover up
and yanked it up and over her head.  His hands roamed her almost naked body,
eliciting more gasps and moans that nearly undid him right there.  The thin
fabric of her top was too much, he wanted to feel her.  So, as his lips made
their way down, his hands made their way up to the tie at her neck.  Just one
simple bow.  That was all that separated him from that chest he’d been dreaming
about.  He pulled the string, and paused, his breath catching. 

Later he would berate himself for
his hesitation, because that was all it took for Bri to come back to her
senses.  She gasped, this time in awareness, as reality hit her.  Her hands
flew up to the undone tie of her top, and quickly re-tied it.  Cole glanced at
her warily, worried he may have crossed a line.  Her head dropped against his
shoulder, her hair hiding her face, and he couldn’t see what she was thinking
or feeling.  There was a moment of
horrible
tension,
and then he heard the last thing he’d expected to hear in this situation. 

Bri laughed.

Not sure whether to be relieved or
insulted, Cole could only sit there. 

“Oh my gosh,” she managed through
her giggles.  “What is with us and cars?”

“Um,” he chuckled nervously, “I’m
not sure.”  He still wasn’t sure what was going on.

She finally lifted her head, and the
genuine amusement on her face sent relief flooding through him.  “I mean, here
we are, in the middle of the parking lot, where anyone could walk by and see
us, and we’re about ready to get naked and just go at it, and not for the first
time!”  She burst into a rolling fit of laughter.  Unable to resist, he found
himself laughing with her.  “There are probably security cameras out here, too,”
she squealed. 

“Yeah, we just gave any of the
guards watching quite a show.  We probably just made their night!” 

“Oh man!” she returned, and they
both broke down into hysterical laughter.  It took a few minutes before they
were able to calm themselves down, and then Bri removed herself from Cole’s
lap.  His body protested the loss of her. 

Sighing, she slipped her cover up
back over her head.  “This bikini is nothing but trouble.  I should go home and
burn it.”

“Don’t you dare,” he warned her.  “On
that glorious day when I finally get that little instrument of torture off of
you, I’m going to have it framed, hang it on my wall, and set up a shrine
around it.  I’m claiming it right now.  It’s mine.”

“Well, you can have it,” she
grinned, “but I think it’ll always look better on me.”

He gave a short laugh, before
sobering.  He ran his fingers through her hair longingly.

“Seriously though, how much longer
are you going to make me wait.  Even you have to admit this whole taking things
slowly deal has run its course.”

“I know,” she shook her head,
averting her eyes.  “And I’m sorry for being so difficult and lame... but I’m
not ready.  It’s a big step, and as much as I hate to admit it, I’m a little
scared.”

“Scared of me?”  He swore his heart
stopped. 

“No!”  Her eyes met his firmly.  “Not
at all.  I love you.  I trust you.  I’m just scared of what it means for us,
how it’ll change things between us.  It’s not something you can just come back
from, you know.  I just want it to be right.”

He ran his fingers along her jaw.  “
You aren
’t difficult, or lame.  I don’t want you to doubt
anything, or worse, regret anything.  I can wait until you’re ready.”  She
smiled up at him, and he couldn’t resist leaning down and placing a soft kiss
on her lips.  “But, just to be safe, you may want to retire that bikini until
you are ready.  Because it does all kinds of naughty things to me.”

She giggled.  “Well, I could cover
up more, if that would help.”

“Baby, you could dress like a nun
and you’d still be the sexiest damn thing out there.  I can’t wait until I can
have
all
of that sexiness.”

“I know,” she said softly.

“Well, I better let you go so you
can get your paper done.”
 
He leaned in for one last kiss.
 
“You are worth waiting for,”
he whispered against her lips, meaning every word.  He felt her shiver,
and smiled to himself.  He loved that he had as much of an effect on her as she
did on him.  Well, almost.  “Love you.”
 
He pulled back and climbed out of the car.

Bri waved at him before driving
away, and he watched her until her car was out of sight.  Yep, she was
definitely worth waiting for, and he could be patient... for now.

Who knew that patience would become
his greatest
virtue?

The irony of it caused him to laugh
as he walked inside. 

Bri sat at her favorite on-campus
eatery, taking in the beautiful fall foliage around her.  The weather was still
pretty warm, so she’d chosen one of the outdoor tables to eat lunch at, and as
she waited for Cole to join her, she couldn’t help but marvel at the scenery. 
She knew what fall looked like, but she wasn’t at all used to it on such a
grand scale.  The whole city was ablaze with reds, oranges, and yellows, with
each tree trying to outshine the next.

She let out a content sigh.  It was
one of those days when the world seemed so full of beauty and promise, and she
was just glad to be a part of it.  Smiling, she realized that she seemed to be
having a lot of those days lately.

Bri was still getting used to this
whole being in love thing.  It did weird things to her.  Her caution and
defensiveness were gone, and she felt like singing and dancing everywhere she
went.  Sometimes she could
n
’
t quite squash that
urge, and she actually did sing and dance, drawing some strange looks from
people passing by.  And since Cole occupied every spare thought in her brain,
she walked around campus with a
permanent grin
from her
face.  She was so happy, she couldn’t seem to contain it. 

She had been so determined not to
turn into one of those sappy girls in love from the cheesy chick flicks her
roommates loved to watch; but unfortunately, she was failing miserably.  It was
so bad, in fact, it was like she’d stepped right out of a Disney princess
movie; all smiling and singing, and so in love it just poured out of her.  She
may as well go prancing off into the woods right now and start singing with the
forest creatures.  Groaning, she dropped her head onto her arms, humiliated and
horrified that she had fallen so far.

“Asleep on me already?  I’m not that
late.”
 
The
cause of her Disney princess demise slid into the seat next to her and set his
down his lunch.  Looking up, she channeled all of the inner snarkiness she
could find, which wasn’t much these days, and gave Cole a very un-princess like
glare.  “Wow.  Okay, I promise never to be late for lunch again,”
he grinned, taking
a huge bite out of his cheeseburger.

Laughing, she shook her head.  She
paused, stunned, as he devoured his burger in five bites, and then picked up
another one.  It never ceased to amaze her how much that boy could eat. 

“Do you even taste any of that, or
do you just swallow it all whole?”
she teased, earning herself a fry tossed at her head.  “Hey!”
she laughed
indignantly, brushing the fry off her lap.  “So,”
she leaned forward excitedly.
 
“Big day on Friday.  Is there anything you want to do for your birthday?”

        His birthday was October
10th, just a few days away, and she couldn’t wait.  She hadn’t told Cole she’d
planned anything special, wanting it to be a surprise.  She’d been agonizing
over every detail for weeks, wanting this night to be perfect.  She’d missed
Cole’s birthday last year, and she was going all out this year to make up for
it.

She’d gotten them reservations at a
nice restaurant in Durham, and then she planned to take him out to Falls Lake,
their favorite getaway spot, for dessert.  Which may or may not include giving
Cole the one thing he wanted most for his birthday: her.

They’d been back together now for
two and a half months, and while taking things slowly had been the right
decision, moving things to the next level had become a silent weight looming
over them.  Not that he was pressuring her in any way, it was her own hormones
that were battling her brain for dominance.  And slowly but surely, her brain
was losing.  Cole’s birthday seemed like a perfect time to take that step. 
Sure, it would probably overshadow the awesome Casio G-Shock watch she’d gotten
him, but that’s okay.  Her body and soul should mean more than a present.  If
she was ready to give them.  Sometimes she had no doubt that she was, and other
times she didn’t think she’d ever be ready. 

“I don’t know.  Why, do you have
something in mind?”
he
eyed her.

“Maybe,”
she shrugged coyly.  “Guess you’ll
just have to wait and see.”

“Ahh, I knew you’d had that scheming
look lately.”
 
A
huge grin spread across his face.  “Well, I can’t wait to see what that devious
brain of yours comes up with.”

“I can guarantee you won’t be
disappointed,”
she
smiled.  “Now, you’d better finish the rest of your lunch before you starve to
death.”
 
She
watched in awe as he finished his mass of food.  In his defense, it took a lot
to maintain all that muscle.  She eyed his arms and chest appreciatively.  Cole
had been lifting weights for basketball, and she couldn’t help but admire the
results. 

On Thursday night, Bri was trying to
decide which dress to wear the next night when her phone rang.  Smiling, she
answered.

“Hey sexy!  How was practice?”

“It was good.  I’m freaking
exhausted, but it was good.  Hey, I don’t know what all you have planned for
tomorrow, but the guys on the team found out it was my birthday and they are
throwing me a little party.”

“Oh,”
she stiffened. 

“Is there any way we could go?  We
could still do everything you wanted, and then stop by after?”
he asked
hesitantly.

“Um, yeah, I guess.  It’s your
birthday, you should do whatever you want.”
 
Disappointment coursed through her as Bri saw all her carefully made
plans crumble.  “I’d just planned dinner, and then a trip out to the lake, but
we can go to the party instead, if that’s what you want.”

“Are you sure?  You don’t sound too
happy.”

“It’s fine,”
she replied stiffly, trying not to
feel betrayed and hurt that her plans were less important than some party.

“Bri…
If it’s a big deal to you, we don’t have to go,”
Cole sighed wearily.

A big deal?  Why would her weeks of
planning be a big deal?  Why would losing her
virginity
be a big deal? 
She tried to reign in her escalating anger. 

“No, Cole, it’s fine.  We can go to
the party.  It’s good.”

“Okay, if you’re sure?”
 
He didn’t sound
convinced.

“Yep,”
she replied curtly.  “Okay, I’m gonna let you go.  I have to finish up
some homework.  I’ll see you at the game tomorrow.”

“Okay, I guess.  Bye, Bri.”

“Yeah, bye.”

Bri hung up the phone, trying not to
feel upset and disappointed.  Well, that took the whole sex dilemma out of her
hands.  She wouldn’t be turning in her V-card this weekend after all.  But she
couldn’t help but feel a little passed over, like Cole’s teammates and their
plans were more important than her.  Trying to distract herself, she pulled out
her books to study, but she couldn’t shake her frustration. 

A few minutes later there was a
knock on the door.  Startled, she opened it and found Cole standing there.

“Hey, what’s up?”
she asked flatly.

Cole immediately pulled her into his
arms.  “You know you are the only one I want to spend my birthday with, right? 
And knowing you, you’ve probably put a lot of thought and effort into whatever
it is you’re planning.  You probably have spread sheets and flow charts and
every last detail accounted for,”
he joked, and Bri laughed, relaxing against him.  “We don’t have to go
to the party.  I want to do what
you
want to do tomorrow night.  I am
all yours.”

Touched by his concern and his
sweetness, Bri’s frustration dissipated, and she realized she was being a bit
unfair.  She squeezed him tight before pulling back to look at him.

“It’s okay, really.  We can go to
the party.  They’re your team and your friends, and it’s great that they care
about you enough to do something like this for you.  It’s important that you go
and spend some time with them, too.”
 
She smiled up at him earnestly.

“Are you sure?  Because you are the
most important thing in my life.  There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you. 
You know that, right?”
 
His eyes, green tonight thanks to his old Mt. Dew t-shirt, bore into
hers.

Suddenly teary-eyed, she nodded. 
When Cole said things like that, she couldn’t help but fall a little more in
love with him.  “I’m sure,”
she replied before pulling his lips down to hers.  After a few minutes,
she finally released him.  “I’ll pick you up for dinner after the game
tomorrow.  Wear something sexy.”

“You, too,”
he laughed.  “Goodnight, Bri.  I love
you.”

“I love you, too,”
she smiled, and
closed the door. 

After over two months, she still
wasn’t used to saying those words, or hearing them in return.  Every time she
did, a little thrill shot through her.  It was the best feeling in the world. 
Enter the prancing, singing, animal laden Disney musical number.  Oh, man, when
had she become this person?

  Beaming, and feeling one hundred
times better, she gave up on her homework and danced off to bed.

Cheering at football games was not
one of Bri’s favorite things to do.  In fact, it ranked highly on her list of
most despised activities.  She did it because she was required to, but she
lacked that natural peppiness that most cheerleaders seemed to possess, a
peppiness she found difficult to fake.  And at times like this, when the Blue
Devils were losing by seventeen points with five minutes left and no hope of a
victory, she absolutely loathed cheering.  It was practically impossible for
her to feign hope and excitement as she tried to urge the team and the fans
on.  No, she much preferred dancing, which didn’t require nearly as much pep or
faking.

Unable to help herself, she glanced
up at Cole, who was sitting in the front row and watching her more than the
game.  His roommate, Matt, sat next to him.  Matt was a sophomore on the basketball
team, and he and Cole had become easy friends.  Sometimes she thought they got
along a little too well.  Like today, as they both kept making faces at her
while she cheered.  It made it difficult to focus on what she was supposed to
be doing when they were trying to make her laugh the whole time. 

Finally the game ended, and Bri
walked up to Cole in the stands, her hands on her hips.

“You two need to cut it out, or I’ll
make sure your ticket buddy, Melanie, puts you up in the nose bleed section next
time.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking
about,”
Cole
replied innocently, while Matt grinned at her.

“Whatever,”
she shook her head.  “I’m going to run
home and change, and then I’ll be by to pick you up.  See you in a bit.”
 
She waved before
running off to pick up her things from the locker room.

Running a little behind, she hurried
up the steps to Cole’s room, which was no easy feat in her stilettos, and
knocked.  Excitement and anticipation swirled through her as she waited.  Cole
answered the door, looking especially fabulous.  He wore his charcoal gray
sport coat over a white pin-striped button up, and Bri’s favorite butt
accentuating jeans.  His black hair was styled in that sexy, messy way she
loved, and she was suddenly very disappointed that they wouldn’t be going to
the lake tonight.

“Wow,”
he smiled as he took in her in.  “I like your dress.”
  

“Thank you,”
she beamed, smoothing her lace dress. 
It was a cream, sleeveless, A-line dress, with a black belt that accentuated
her waist.  “You look amazing, too.  Now,”
she grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her.  “We have to hurry or we
’
ll miss our reservation.”

“Reservation, huh?  But with you
looking that beautiful, maybe we should skip dinner and stay in tonight.”

Bri paused and considered it for a
moment.

“Nope, we’re going to dinner.”
 
Shaking her head,
she led him towards the stairs.  Something she’d planned was going to work out
tonight.  “Now run!”

They arrived just in time for their
reservation at the fancy steak house she’d found.  After they were seated and
their orders taken, Bri pulled out Cole’s present.

“Happy Birthday,”
she smiled.

“You got me a present?”
 
He took it eagerly
and began unwrapping it.

“Of course!  What kind of girlfriend
would I be if I didn’t get my man a birthday present?”

“The starving-college-student kind. 
Really, Bri, I wasn’t expecting anything.”
 
He smiled as he opened up his watch.  “You remembered!”
 
He had been eyeing
that watch for a while now.  He leaned over and kissed her.  “But really, this
is too much.  It’s way too expensive.”

“I wanted to get you something nice,”
she shrugged.  “Plus,
you’re worth it.”
 

“Thank you.  I don’t deserve you.”
 
The love shining
in his eyes made her catch her breath.

“Yes, you do,”
she smiled back.

After finishing up their delicious
meal, they headed back to campus and to Cole’s birthday party.  One of Cole’s
teammates belonged to a fraternity, and persuaded them to let them have the
party there.  Like frat boys need much persuading to have a party. 

As Cole walked in, a huge cheer
spread throughout the house, and Jordan, the other freshman on the basketball
team, came walking up with a huge grin.

“Cole!  Happy birthday, man!”

“Thanks, J.  And thanks for the
party.  This is great.”

“No worries.  We newbies have to stick
together, right?  And who is this?”
Jordan turned his eyes to Bri.

“Jordan, this is Bri.  Bri, this is
Jordan.  He’s the only freshman starter this year.”

“Nice to meet you, Jordan,”
Bri smiled.

“Likewise,”
Jordan looked her over.  “Well,”
he turned back to
Cole, “I’ll let you go enjoy yourself.  If you need anything, let me know.”
 
And with a slap on
Cole’s back, Jordan sauntered away.