Beautiful Mess(88)
Chapter 19
Bri woke the next morning, a little sad that this was her last day in Catalina. She’d had a wonderful time with Cole and his “family” and she was sad her time with them was coming to an end. Shaking off her gloomy thoughts, she dressed quickly and joined the others for Sharon’s amazing breakfast burritos.
After breakfast, they all headed ashore. They walked along the pier, watching the orange-gold Garibaldi swimming beneath them. Cole rented a scooter and gave Bri an extended tour of the island. They spent the whole morning exploring, and then they picked up some lunch and drove over to a smaller, more secluded beach to eat. They had the whole place to themselves.
Wanting to stay a little longer and enjoy the peacefulness, Bri stretched out on the warm sand, using Cole’s leg as a pillow. She watched the waves lap against the shore while Cole played with her hair. They sat together quietly, and Bri couldn’t remember ever feeling more content.
“Thanks for inviting me here, Cole,” she finally broke the comfortable silence. “I can’t think of a better way to spend Christmas.” She turned her head to look up at him. “Can we come back again sometime?”
“Of course we can,” Cole gazed down at her. “We can come back anytime you want.” He leaned down and brushed her lips with his. “I would give you the world if you asked,” he whispered.
Bri’s heart stopped, and she sat up. Looking into his eyes, she knew he meant it. It was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever said to her, and she couldn’t help but fall a little more for the beautiful, black haired boy with eyes that seemed to change colors in front of her. She wasn’t sure how, or when, but Cole had managed to carve out a place for himself in her heart.
Bri reached up and held his cheeks for a moment, gazing into his eyes, before pulling his lips to hers. She kissed him deeply, forcing them both down on the sand. Cole pulled her on top of him and returned her kisses with the same desire and passion. She kissed him breathless, and was secretly satisfied when he was the one forced to come up for air.
“Ambria, if you keep kissing me like that I’m not going to have any self-control left.”
She smiled and rolled off him, understanding that she’d better be more careful in the future. They were on a public beach after all.
“Sorry,” she grinned, and they headed back to the scooter. They met up with the others and went back to the boat.
The guys wanted to go fishing one last time, and Bri decided to go with them, much to Claire’s dismay. Since she had never fished before, Cole showed her how to cast out her line, and reel it in slowly. She decided she’d have to find more things for Cole to teach her that involved him wrapping his arms around her.
“Would you two stop making out over there and let the rest of us fish already?” Seb grunted as he cast out.
Cole picked up a piece of bait, which Bri couldn’t imagine touching, and chucked it at Seb’s head. It landed with a loud slap against his face, causing everyone to laugh. Seb made to retaliate, but Jimmy cut him off.
“Alright you two, that’s enough. Just because there’s a pretty girl around doesn’t mean you have to act like a couple of five year olds,” he laughed. “Don’t make me throw you both overboard.”
They spent the next couple of hours casting out and reeling in fish. They released everything they caught, but it was still fun for Bri to see all the different fish they reeled in. She was admiring the vast ocean around her, when she felt a sharp pull on her line. Yelping, she clutched her pole and called to Cole for help. He quickly reeled in his line and reached around to help her hold her now violently jerking fishing pole. Following Cole’s instructions, she was finally, after what felt like hours, able to reel in the ugliest fish she’d ever seen. The whole group gasped as Cole lifted the line, revealing a long, dark, mean looking fish.
“I can’t believe it,” Seb laughed. “Her first time out and Bri reels in a barracuda!”
“That’s my girl,” Cole beamed at her, while trying to keep the line from jerking out of his hand.
“Quick Bri, go stand next to it so we can get a picture,” Jimmy grabbed the pole from her, and Scott grabbed the camera. Cole gave Bri the line, and Scott snapped a picture of her holding up her evil barracuda.
“One more,” Cole jumped in beside her and gave her a kiss on the cheek as Scott took the picture. “That one is definitely wall worthy!” He gave her a kiss, on the lips this time, and took the line from her. Looking down at the flailing, angry fish, he asked, “Now, how the heck do I get this thing off?”