Beautiful Mess(74)

“Not exactly. For a while there, it kind of exacerbated it. I didn’t want my dad thinking he’d been right.”

“So, what was it then, that finally brought you back?”

“I guess it was my brothers. I was so angry at my dad for getting remarried. But the minute the boys were born, something changed. I’d always wished for brothers and sisters, and finally I’d gotten what I’d always wanted. The boys were so tiny and perfect, I loved them instantly. The minute I held them, the anger I’d been feeling just disappeared. I mean, how could I be angry at my dad and Summer when they’d brought these two little miracles into my life? That’s not to say I was all of a sudden happy with the whole situation. I wasn’t. But the anger fueling me was gone, and I decided to focus on my brothers, and being the best sister I could for them. Everything just kind of fell back into place after that,” she shrugged.

Cole hugged her. “Thank you for telling me.”

“You and Rosa are the only ones who know the whole story. My dad doesn’t even know everything,” Bri replied. Then she remembered something else she should probably tell Cole, before he found out from someone else. “And, in the spirit of full disclosure, there’s something else I should probably tell you.” She pulled back.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Um, I kind of agreed to go to Winter Formal with Nick Jacobs,” she winced.

Cole went completely rigid. “What?”

“Well,” she began, trying to soften the blow. “First, let me just say that I only agreed to this to get Layla off my back. She set the whole thing up. She’s become some crazed matchmaker who won’t take no for an answer. And second, you weren’t going to take me anyway.”

“So... you’re going to the dance... with Nick Jacobs?” Bri had been right, Cole was not happy.

“Yes.” She reached up and cupped his cheeks with her hands. “But you are the only one I want to go with. I wish it was you taking me to the dance.”

He let out his breath and pulled her back into his arms.

“I wish you were going with me, too,” he whispered. “But maybe this can be a good thing.”

“What?” Now it was Bri’s turn to be incredulous.

“I just mean that we can use the dance to get Serena used to the idea of me dating other people.”

Bri raised her eyebrow at him.

“Not that I want to date anyone except you!” He held up his hands to ward her off.

“Okay, then,” Bri relented with a small smile. “So you’re going to ask someone to the dance? Who are you thinking?” She was doing her best not to get jealous. After all, she was going with another boy. But the thought of Cole’s arms wrapped around some other girl made her feel sick.

“I’ll probably just take one of the girls from the cheer squad. Try to make it as impactful as I can.” Cole must’ve seen the distress on her face, because he tucked her head under his chin and squeezed her tight. “Will you save a dance for me?” he murmured into her hair.

“Wouldn’t that kind of give us away?”

“It’s worth the risk.” He kissed the top of her head, and Bri smiled.

“Then, of course I’ll save a dance for you. I’ll save them all for you, if you’d like.”

“I just might hold you to that.”

“Alright,” Bri pulled back to look at Cole. “Are we done with this whole talking thing? Because I’d like to put your lips to a different use.” She grinned mischievously at him.

Cole was only too happy to oblige.





Chapter 17




The first basketball game of the season arrived, and though he tried to hide it, Bri could tell Cole was excited. True to his word, Cole had two tickets for Bri’s brothers and two tickets for her parents waiting for them at the door. The Dance Team was performing at halftime, so it was the third quarter by the time Bri entered the gym. She sat by Layla and Devon and the rest of their friends, who had saved them seats.

Intuitively, like he knew she’d finally arrived, Cole looked up from his timeout huddle and found Bri in the stands. A huge smile crossed his face and Bri couldn’t help but beam back. The official blew his whistle, signaling the timeout was over, and Cole snapped his attention back to his team. Cole played point guard, and Bri could tell he was good. She was sure he’d played with the same level of intensity in the first half, but watching him, she got the impression he was trying to impress her. It was working. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He was amazing to watch. The Tigers ended up winning by almost twenty points, the crowd cheering wildly. Bri cringed as she watched Cole receive an excited hug from Serena, who had been cheering. He quickly extracted himself, giving Serena a disapproving look, before he went over to talk to another of the cheerleaders. Bri assumed the petite blond was who he’d be taking to the dance next Saturday, and she tried to push down her jealousy. Cole glanced up at her, giving her an apologetic smile, before heading off to the locker room.