Beautiful Mess(21)

“Hmm... you and me, alone, at your house? I’m in!,” Cole teased.

Bri just shook her head. “Where did you park? Do you want to follow me?”

“Actually, I ran here. It’s only a couple of miles from my house.”

Bri looked at him like he was nuts.

“It’s a good warm up,” Cole shrugged.

“And here I thought I was keeping up with you! I guess I have a ways to go. Well, then I’ll just drive us. My car’s this way.”

Bri pulled into her driveway, and led Cole to the door.

“This is it,” she opened the door and let him in. “Living room, dining room” she motioned to the room on the right, and then the adjoining dining room. “The den is down there,” she pointed to the room off to the right of the living/dining room. “And the kitchen is this way, if you’re thirsty,” she led the way through the dining room to the kitchen to the left.

“Wow,” Cole took in the house. “This is nice. I see you have a pool.” He headed back to the sunroom off the back of the dining room and looked out at the yard. “Okay, I’m officially jealous!”

“Next time you come over, bring your suit and we’ll swim!” Bri tossed him a bottle of Gatorade. “So...” she suddenly didn’t quite know what to do. Having Cole in her house was throwing her off, making her nervous. “Do you want to go sit out back, or we could watch TV in the den?”

“Why don’t you show me your room?” Cole grinned suggestively. It seemed his new favorite pastime was trying to get a rise out of her. It was working on many levels. “I haven’t gotten the rest of the tour.”

“Okay, but don’t get any ideas,” she warned as she led him through the back of the kitchen and out into the hall. “My parents room is that way,” she pointed to the room down the hall to the right, before heading left down the hall. “This is the bathroom,” she pointed to the door on the right, “and that is my brothers’ room.” The hall turned left and then led back to the entryway and living room. “And, this is my room,” she stopped at the door on the other side of the twins’ room. Desperately hoping she hadn’t missed a bra or pair of underwear when she picked up this morning, Bri opened the door and let Cole in ahead of her.

“Ah,” Cole appraised her personal space. “Definitely girly, but with a bit of an edge to it.” He took in the white furniture, the queen sized bed covered in a black and white french design. The black rug on the floor, and the hot pink lamp shade and accents throughout the room gave it a splash of color. He walked over to the corner bookshelf and looked over the mass of books. “Quite the eclectic collection. You weren’t kidding when you said you like to read.” He then turned and flopped himself down on Bri’s bed. “Mmm, big and comfy! Care to join me?” he patted the bed next to him.

“Alright, that’s all the personal space invasion I can handle for today! Out!” Bri booted Cole off the bed and out the door. His eyes, indeed looking green against his vintage green Mountain Dew t-shirt, sparkled at her. He was definitely enjoying himself.

She led him out the back door of the sunroom. Straight ahead was a small changing house, and to the right was the pool. Bri pulled off her shoes and socks and sat, dipping her feet in the pool. Cole followed suit and sat down next to her.

“So, this is your last week down at the beach?” she asked.

“Yep. Next week we start two-a-day practices for football, and I won’t have time for much else.”

“Oh, football,” Bri grimaced, unimpressed.

“What, you don’t like football?”

“More like, I don’t like the guys who play football.”

“Oh? Why is that?” Cole seemed a little hurt by her words.

“It just seems like making the football team turns even the nicest guys into arrogant jerks. Football players think that they are all that, and they’d better get whatever they want. Especially with girls.”

“Wow, that seems kind of harsh.”

Bri shrugged. “I dated a football player once. It was such a wonderful experience that I swore off dating football players ever again.”

“Oh,” he dropped his head. “Well, just so you know, we aren’t all like that. I’ll admit, we have our fair share of d-bags, but you can’t lump us all into that category by association alone.” Cole was really hurt and upset. Bri instantly felt bad.

“You’re right, Cole. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lump you in with all the other jerks. I may not be ready to renege my dating ban, but I promise I won’t hold being a football player against you!” she smiled teasingly.