Beautiful Mess(62)

“What the heck?” Bri shrieked, still half asleep, as Carly flipped her bedroom light on.

“I have to get ready. Don’t whine, I’ll only be a minute,” Carly replied. Bri threw one of her throw pillows at her.

She pulled her covers over her head and tried to go back to sleep, but she swore Carly was trying to be as loud and obnoxious as possible, just to annoy her. Finally, Carly flipped the lights off and left. A minute later, Bri’s dad, looking like he’d just been pulled out of bed, walked in.

“Hey Pumpkin,” Connor yawned. “Summer wants to know if you’re sure you don’t want to go this morning. She thinks it’ll be more fun for Carly if you’re there.”

“Well, why doesn’t Summer come in and ask me herself, then?” Bri quipped grumpily. “Besides, she just doesn’t want to have to deal with Carly herself. She just wants me to go as a buffer.”

“Okay, then. I’ll let her know that it’s a resounding no from you.” He patted her head. “Why don’t you get back to sleep. You’re downright unpleasant this early in the morning!” he smiled.

“Well, you all are dumb enough to keep waking me up,” Bri grumbled. She snuggled down into her blankets, and drifted off to sleep.

The girls were still out shopping when Bri woke up, at a much more reasonable hour. So she spent the morning with her boys, sandwiched between Liam and Logan, watching cartoons. Her dad sat at the other end of the couch, working on his laptop. It was a perfect morning.

Bri was in such a good mood, she even offered to make everyone lunch when Summer, Rachel, and Carly finally returned around noon. She reheated the Thanksgiving leftovers, and after they were done eating, the crazy shoppers trudged off to take a nap.

It was getting close to 1:00, and Bri decided it was time to make her escape.

“Hey, Dad?”

“What, Sweet Pea?”

“Would you mind if I headed over to Layla’s for a little while?” Her dad looked at her doubtfully, so she continued quickly. “It’s just that she and Devon had a bit of a fight yesterday, and she’s freaking out about it. I’m worried that if I’m not there to talk her down, she might do something crazy, like break up with him.”

“What about your cousin? She’s only here for a couple more days.”

“Yeah, and she’s sleeping right now. I promise I won’t be longer than a couple of hours. Please?” She gave him her sweetest smile.

“Oh, all right. But you need to be back by 4:00, okay?”

“Thanks, Daddy!” Bri kissed his cheek and then grabbed her keys before he could change his mind. She felt a little bad lying to him, but she didn’t think he’d agree if he knew she was going over to Cole’s. Plus, she really didn’t want Carly to find out where she was going.

She knocked on Cole’s door, and waited anxiously. A moment later he answered, a huge smile on his face.

“Ambria!”

“Hi,” Bri smiled, glad he seemed as happy to see her as she was to see him.

“You know,” he closed the door behind her, “I had my doubts about whether or not you’d be able to sneak away. You must be more devious than I give you credit for!”

“That’ll teach you to underestimate me,” she teased back.

Just then Cole’s dad walked out of the kitchen.

“Bri! So lovely to see you, my dear!” Jimmy leaned toward her conspiratorially. “Did Cole tell you he’s been moping around the house the past two days? Did you finally take pity on him and come over?”

“Thanks for that, Dad. And I have not been moping.”

“Sure you haven’t.” Jimmy winked over at Bri, and she stifled a laugh. “Well kids, I’d love to stay and chat, but a friend of mine is having a slight car problem, and I’ve got to meet him down at the shop.”

“Do you need any help?” Cole politely volunteered.

Jimmy glanced at Bri, before turning to Cole.

“No. Thanks though, Sport. I can handle this on my own.” He winked at Cole before heading out the door. “You kids have fun!” he yelled as he left.

Bri turned to Cole, her eyebrows raised playfully. “Sport?”

“Ugh, I think it’s that man’s mission in life to embarrass me at every opportunity,” he groaned.

“No, it’s cute! I’m just glad my dad isn’t the only parent incapable of letting go of childhood nicknames!” She laughed.

“Okay, how about I go get you a drink, and we forget this whole conversation ever happened?”

“Sounds good.”

“Good,” he let out a sigh of relief. As Cole left to get her drink, Bri took the opportunity to peek into the office/studio and see what he was working on.