Beautiful Mess(12)

“Well, I guess I should talk to her. I just thought I could make a little money first. Plus, turns out she has a boyfriend. She can’t be too hung up on me. Maybe I can just ride this out until she leaves, without making her angry.”

Bri looked at him skeptically.

“Hey, all guys know that angry and crazy are a lethal combination! It’s probably better for my physical safety and well-being if I try to keep Psycho from blowing a gasket!”

She burst out laughing. “Well, by all means then, keep Psycho happy!”

Carly returned, beaming happily. “Well, I can’t tell you how excited Dalton is! The poor guy, he’s just lost without me. He’s so desperate for me to come home. I just hope he can make it through the next couple of days!”

“Um, okay. That’ll be twenty bucks, whenever you’re ready.” Cole wasn’t taking Carly’s bait.

“Oh, of course. Here you go,” she handed him the cash. “Seriously, though, sometimes I think Dalton wants me a little too much. I’m not sure I can return that level of commitment,” she pushed.

“Uh, yeah, good luck with that,” he replied uncomfortably. “So Bri...”

“Okay, that’s it!” Carly yelled, furious now. “What the hell is your deal, Cole? Can you just quit with all the mind games and crap? I don’t get you. I all but throw myself at you, and you like, totally brush me off! What exactly are you playing at here?”

Cole and Bri were stunned for a moment at Carly’s outburst.

“Uh, look, I’m not playing anything here. I’m just not interested. I’ve never done anything to lead you to believe I was.” Cole replied coolly.

“Not interested?” Carly fumed. “And were you ever going to mention that little bit of information, or were you going to let me keep throwing myself at you, over and over? Huh? Was this all just some freaking ego trip?”

“Hang on,” Cole was getting angry now, too. “I have done everything I can to let you know I’m not interested. I tried to let you down easy. Any other girl would’ve taken my lack of any reciprocation as the sign it was and moved on. It’s not my fault you can’t take a hint.”

Carly gasped, but before she could respond, Cole continued.

“Besides, don’t you have a boyfriend? What are you doing hitting on me when you’ve got a boyfriend back home waiting for you? I mean, what kind of person does that?” He was incredulous, but not as incredulous as Carly.

“How dare you! How dare you judge me!” Carly was about to go off on a tirade. Bri, who’d been watching the whole exchange with her mouth agape, decided it was time for her to step in before things really got ugly.

“Alright, you two,” she stepped in between Carly and Cole, holding up a hand to both of them. “That’s enough.” They were glaring at each other, but neither of them said anything else.

“Now,” Bri said, trying to calm them down and diffuse the situation. “Cole, Carly is right. You should have been more upfront with her from the beginning. You can’t expect a girl like her to understand subtlety.” She saw Cole’s lip twitch, as if he wanted to smile at her jab. “And, Carly,” she turned to her cousin, “Cole is right. You shouldn’t be hitting on another guy when you have a boyfriend. It’s not fair to Dalton, and it’s just plain wrong.” Bri had the satisfaction of seeing Carly’s eyes drop. “And just because a guy turns you down, doesn’t mean you get to go all crazy on him. Okay?” Carly shrugged. Bri turned to Cole, who nodded. “Good. So why don’t you both apologize, and we’ll all move on?”

Bri looked meaningfully at Cole, but he seemed disinclined to offer up any apology. “Crazy and angry,” She murmured to him, trying to get him to man up. He let out a sigh.

“Fine,” he relented. “Carly, I’m sorry I didn’t spell it all out for you. I’m sorry you entirely misconstrued the whole situation. And I’m sorry that subtlety is completely lost on you,” he finished sarcastically.

Choosing to ignore Cole’s less than sincere apology, Bri turned to Carly. “Okay, your turn.”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Carly scoffed. “You keep holding your breath Cole, because you will never get an apology from me!” She turned abruptly and stormed away.

“Carly!” Bri called after her, but Carly ignored her. She turned to Cole. “I can’t believe her! I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I promise you I’m not going to be losing any sleep over it. You should probably go after her.”