Certified Disaster (Beautiful Mess Book 2) Read Free Page A

the outdoor tables to eat lunch at, and as
she waited for Cole to join her, she couldn’t help but marvel at the scenery. 
She knew what fall looked like, but she wasn’t at all used to it on such a
grand scale.  The whole city was ablaze with reds, oranges, and yellows, with
each tree trying to outshine the next.
    She let out a content sigh.  It was
one of those days when the world seemed so full of beauty and promise, and she
was just glad to be a part of it.  Smiling, she realized that she seemed to be
having a lot of those days lately.
    Bri was still getting used to this
whole being in love thing.  It did weird things to her.  Her caution and
defensiveness were gone, and she felt like singing and dancing everywhere she
went.  Sometimes she could n ’ t quite squash that
urge, and she actually did sing and dance, drawing some strange looks from
people passing by.  And since Cole occupied every spare thought in her brain,
she walked around campus with a permanent grin from her
face.  She was so happy, she couldn’t seem to contain it. 
    She had been so determined not to
turn into one of those sappy girls in love from the cheesy chick flicks her
roommates loved to watch; but unfortunately, she was failing miserably.  It was
so bad, in fact, it was like she’d stepped right out of a Disney princess
movie; all smiling and singing, and so in love it just poured out of her.  She
may as well go prancing off into the woods right now and start singing with the
forest creatures.  Groaning, she dropped her head onto her arms, humiliated and
horrified that she had fallen so far.
    “Asleep on me already?  I’m not that
late.”   The
cause of her Disney princess demise slid into the seat next to her and set his
down his lunch.  Looking up, she channeled all of the inner snarkiness she
could find, which wasn’t much these days, and gave Cole a very un-princess like
glare.  “Wow.  Okay, I promise never to be late for lunch again,”he grinned, taking
a huge bite out of his cheeseburger.
    Laughing, she shook her head.  She
paused, stunned, as he devoured his burger in five bites, and then picked up
another one.  It never ceased to amaze her how much that boy could eat. 
    “Do you even taste any of that, or
do you just swallow it all whole?”she teased, earning herself a fry tossed at her head.  “Hey!”she laughed
indignantly, brushing the fry off her lap.  “So,”she leaned forward excitedly.   “Big day on Friday.  Is there anything you want to do for your birthday?”
            His birthday was October
10th, just a few days away, and she couldn’t wait.  She hadn’t told Cole she’d
planned anything special, wanting it to be a surprise.  She’d been agonizing
over every detail for weeks, wanting this night to be perfect.  She’d missed
Cole’s birthday last year, and she was going all out this year to make up for
it.
    She’d gotten them reservations at a
nice restaurant in Durham, and then she planned to take him out to Falls Lake,
their favorite getaway spot, for dessert.  Which may or may not include giving
Cole the one thing he wanted most for his birthday: her.
    They’d been back together now for
two and a half months, and while taking things slowly had been the right
decision, moving things to the next level had become a silent weight looming
over them.  Not that he was pressuring her in any way, it was her own hormones
that were battling her brain for dominance.  And slowly but surely, her brain
was losing.  Cole’s birthday seemed like a perfect time to take that step. 
Sure, it would probably overshadow the awesome Casio G-Shock watch she’d gotten
him, but that’s okay.  Her body and soul should mean more than a present.  If
she was ready to give them.  Sometimes she had no doubt that she was, and other
times she didn’t think she’d ever be ready. 
    “I don’t know.  Why, do you have
something in mind?”he
eyed her.
    “Maybe,”she shrugged coyly.