Lots of cool stuff and news in my author's note, check it out! Follow me on Twitter: @BlairHoldenx and on Instagram @JessGirl93 for daily news/updates <3 

Chapter Twenty-Three: Like A Zit, He Waits For The Worst Time To Pop Up

"Do you think Travis will still love me if I kill your dad? Come to think of it, with the way he's been acting lately, I think he might actually love me more." Beth's face is serious as she contemplates my dad's murder.

"Yes," Megan tells her dryly, "there's nothing more romantic than homicide, especially if the victim is your significant other's parent."

"Shut up smartass, I'm actually thinking this through. No father, no drama, no drama then both my best friend and my boyfriend are happy. I'm not seeing a downside here."

"How about handcuffs? And jail time and the risk of getting frisky with Maureen the Man-handler?"

"Woman-handling in this particular scenario but do go on," I tell Megan, "I really would appreciate someone talking me out of letting her kill my dad."

To say that my much looked forward to trip home had turned into long days of being cooped up inside and avoiding prying eyes would be putting it nicely. While I did appreciate the down time, I don't think cabin fever has the best effect on me.

Exhibit A, I wanted my best friend to kill my dad.

Well, I didn't necessarily want him dead but maybe an attempt on his life would show him the need to make more mindful decisions and you know, not engage in personal relations with women of questionable characters.

"Tessa," Megan plonks down on the bed beside me and I'm distracted from the spot on my ceiling that I've been staring at for the best thirty minutes. See? Cabin fever.

"You know he's sorry and I know that you know because the man has gone above and beyond to tell that to you. He said it's been years since it happened and he didn't expect it all to surface in the way that it did. He's embarrassed and ashamed and more than ready to make a public apology and..."

"I know, I was there when he made the speech remember? It doesn't change the fact that I can't walk into the local grocery story and not have people looking at me like I'll infect their children with the disease of sexual promiscuity just be breathing in their direction."

Beth snorts," You've only ever slept with one guy honey, I don't think you carry the promiscuous gene."

"Yeah, that one went to my brother."

Realising what I've just said I slap a hand over my mouth and sit upright. "I am so sorry, I did not mean to say that."
Beth, from where she's sitting in the chair by my desk seems to have gone a couple of shades paler, which is impossible given her already porcelain complexion. She doesn't let the hurt show though, just shrugs. "It's okay, that just means we're a good match."

I feel like I need to ask Travis if he and Beth are having problems.

"But back to your dad, I can't believe Mrs. Stone just uninvited you like that. Considering the fact that she knows as much about your family as she does, she should have kept you out of this."

I know I need to reign in Beth's mama bear tendencies before she attacks the sheriff's wife but it's good to have someone be upset for me. Childish as it seems, it is validation that what's happening to me is unfair and that it has been far too long that I've lived under the shadow of my parent's actions.

"You know she's called and apologised a thousand times. It's not her fault, the board of directors don't want any negative press and I would never want to ruin the night. It's for such a good cause and I'd feel terrible if I brought any drama with me."

"Right, because god forbid we actually go out like normal people and have a good time without the townsfolk pointing their pitchforks at us." Beth snorts and it hits me that this sucks just as much for her as it does for me. My brother must have been uninvited as well, given the O'Connell family ban and that by default means that Beth isn't going as his date. I feel so incredibly selfish for moaning about my own issues and problems when clearly Beth is just as unhappy as I am.

"Well, I for one am I glad that I wasn't even going in the first place. Alex couldn't make it back home this weekend and there's no point in going if you guys aren't. You know what? Screw them! Screw their fancy gala and their finger food and fancy drinks that taste like vomit. We don't need them."

I think this might have been the most passionate speech that proper little Megan has made in quite a well so I don't intrude on her moment. Whatever we can convince ourselves of right now is good but at the end of the day, I'm still pretty humiliated.

It's worse because I've somehow managed to persuade Cole to still go. Yes, he fought and yes I threw some tantrums but at the end of the day I know that it's important to Cassandra to have her entire family there for something she worked so hard for and I cannot be the petty one in this situation. It won't make me happy to know that Cole's stuck at home just like I am because at the end of the day it's just one night and in the grand scheme of things, it won't make much of a difference.

I think.

"Oh good, you guys stopped feeling sorry about yourselves. Is now a good time for pizza?" And like the massive jolt of energy that she is, Cami bounces into the room carrying two large pies in one hand and a convenience store bag in the other. She uses the heel of her foot to slam the door close and whispers conspiringly, "Do you think your dad heard that? That was angry, I hate the world and want to kill puppies door slam. It works best for extorting favours out of parents. I really hope he heard that."

And while the three of us stare at her, she puts her loot onto my desk and starts handing out paper plates. "I had to rely on the reviews on Yelp to help me figure out where to get the best stuff since you've been moping around in the house all day but I think I did good. First we eat pizza and then ice-cream, later we'll come up with a diabolical scheme to gate crash this gala because no body puts baby in a corner."

Beth looks slightly dazed she chews on her pizza, extra cheese. "Have I mentioned that I think I love you?"

Cami waves it off, "Everyone thinks they love me until they discover that beneath all this perfection lies even more perfection and they just can't handle me. But I'll take your word for it."

"Cami, what's going on? You have a look on your face and I'm scared of that look. What could you have possibly done in the twenty minutes you've been outside of the house?"

"I'm so glad you asked!" She sits down on the floor, crossing her legs and rubs her hands together. "So while I was out, I got a Twitter alert from Cole's agent..."

"Dick," Beth mutters under he breath and I concur but don't understand what that has to do with anything.

"...So as I was saying I got a notification and it just about proved the fact that the man would sell his own grandmother if it would profit him in some way. And because of what he's just done, we've got to sneak into the gala."

"B-b-but we can't. That's a bad idea," Megan stutters, always the voice of reason. "I mean if either Tessa or Travis show up, it could go really badly for Dr. Stone. The hospital needs to raise a lot of money tonight, I would know since I've been volunteering at the children's ward since I was fourteen. I...I wouldn't be saying this unless it was absolutely necessary. They don't need the drama."

My heart sinks at the pleading tone in my best friend's voice. The cause is so important to her, she's personally invested in the lives of the children that the gala will be raising money for. But she's a good friend as well and I know that the only reason she isn't going herself is because of me.

"Oh," Cami blinks and then seems to deflate. "Okay, if you put it that way then I guess operation rescue Colessa is a fail." Her face drops and it's almost hilarious if not for what she's just said.

"Excuse me? Colessa what?"

Cami bites her lip and the three of us wait for the next bomb she's about to drop. "So the thing is, this notification that I got, you know the Dick's tweet was about Cole getting ready for the gala with his lovely date Stephanie..."

My jaw literally drops, "Excuse me?"

"Yeah," she vehemently shakes her head, "that was my reaction exactly. i mean who the fudge-sticks is Stephanie and why is she Cole's lovely date? But then he tweeted a picture next and there ya go, the two of them standing side by side like it's frikkin prom night."

My hands shake as she passes me her phone and right there, in HD quality is Cole in a tux and a striking brunette next to him. Being a girl, my first instinct is to compare her to myself and she's the absolute opposite. She's dark headed, taller even than my 5'7, willowy where I have curves and has an olive complexion. In the photo she's wearing a gorgeous knee length red satin dress and one of her manicured paws rests on Cole's arm as they face each other. It's not exactly a prom photo, they look like they don't even know if they're being photographed.

"Who the fuck is she?" Beth hisses and I realise that I've missed both Megan and Beth crowding around the phone to look at the photograph as well.

"I don't know, I haven't gotten that far along in my stalking yet but give my a few minutes and I can try and find out."

"Or," I say dryly, "I can just call Cole and find out what's going on. He never mentioned a date to me."

In fact, persuading Cole to go alone had been a task in itself. It took a lot of convincing and a lot of bribing for him to agree and I know that he's angry for me. So the fact that he now suddenly has a date, a date I don't know anything about has left me shocked.

"Right," Cami nods her head, "you do that."

As I grab my phone to call him, I realise that the three of them are watching with way too much attention.

"Guys? Can I be alone when I ask my boyfriend why in the world is he standing next a teenaged Cindy Crawford?"

They get the message quick enough, snarky Tessa is kind of a bitch.

***

Ten minutes later my bedroom door opens again but this time no one comes bearing pizza, but maybe what I see is something or rather someone looking even more delicious and sinful. Cole in a tux should be illegal, especially if the tux is not rental and is custom made to fit his body. It's not fair that he looks like this and I'm in sweatpants but if we're going to wait for an even playing field to have our arguments then we'll be waiting a long time because even now, some old insecurities surface which make me question why someone who looks like Cole is even with me. But those times are few and far in between. Now for example, the one strong emotion I feel is anger and insecure is taking a hike.

"We could've just done this over the phone," I tell him as soon as he walks in. "If you feel like you need to turn up the charm in person then I think we're in trouble." I'm still sat on my bed, still in sweats, my hair loosely braided and thrown to a side and I didn't even bother putting makeup on. Still I see him all dressed up and remember the girl he's going with tonight and it makes me want to pull my blanket over my body and hide.

"There's not going to be any trouble Shortcake because we don't have a problem. I wanted to do this face to face because I want you to look at me when I tell you that I had no idea I was taking someone until an hour ago."

"I would've believed you over the phone. You're just being dramatic."

"Fine, if that's what you want to believe but I'm not taking any chances." He kneels at the side of the bed and takes my hand in his. "You know that I'm telling the truth right? I had no idea that I was going to take Stephanie to the gala but she showed up at my door with her dad and he seemed really important to Cassandra so I didn't want to put her in a spot."

"Who is she?" I twiddle my thumbs and begin having doubts about Cassandra having moved on from Team Tessa. I know that in their last days, she didn't really like having Nicole around Jay so much and that she helped Cole and I get together. If something similar is happening now, if she no longer thinks that I'm good enough for Cole, for her family then I could be in trouble.

"She's the daughter of someone on the board, an important someone who brings in a lot of money and influence to the hospital. He's uh, he's a big football fan and apparently so is Stephanie."

That name is really starting to bug me now.

"So this is like a favour for your mom?"

"Yes," He stresses, "exactly that. She feels horrible about the fact that you can't come and she knows that making me take her colleague's daughter instead of you isn't making the situation better. But she's in such a bind, I..."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, you know that. Just...a little warning would've been nice. If it weren't for your agent's tweets I wouldn't have found out, now would I?"

"I was going to come see you in person before leaving, you know I'd never have done that. Then Dick showed up out of nowhere and began bullshitting about good PR and being associated to a good cause. All everyone saw was a great photo-op for the gala and suddenly I was being mobbed by a bunch of people to pose with a girl I've never met before in my life."

"Well, she clearly doesn't mind."

He sighs, "Scoot over,"

"What?"

"I said scoot over. This no contact thing isn't really working for me. I told myself that I would deal with this situation rationally, without touching you. Because if I touch you then we're both pretty close to losing control and therefore, losing the ability to think rationally."

"Wow, well clearly you have no problem in the self esteem department."

"Wise ass." He basically ambushes me to a corner of my bed and gets in, stopping only to take off his suit jacket.
"You're wrinkling expensive clothing." I say in a sing song voice that reminds me so much of my mom. Whenever my brother and I were forced to wear fancy clothes, we'd find some excuse to destroy them. As a kid, I mostly ended up breaking the zipper because my mother would always buy clothes that were a size or two too small.

"I don't care," Cole sings back and then sidles up next to me, laying me down and wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"So here's the thing," He looms over me and I hate the fact that I hate that's he's wearing my favourite cologne but for Stephanie. Okay so maybe he didn't wear it for Stephanie but she shouldn't get to smell my man.

"If you don't want me to go just say the word and I won't. Cassandra's feeling sorry enough that she'll agree and her stupid board of directors can shove their propriety up their asses. If I don't get to take my girlfriend to the gala then I don't have to take anyone else, that was my condition. They shouldn't have ambushed me the way they did so right now if I back out, it won't be a problem and even if it is, I don't care. I know you're hurt Tessie and I know how excited you were. It kills me that they did this to you so I don't owe anyone anything."

I break, my anger evaporating in an instant and I realise that the entire day has been ridiculous, all of it. So I start laughing, crazy laughter bubbles out of my throat until I've got tears streaming down my cheeks and Cole's shaking me because he's obviously confused whether I'm laughing or crying.

I bring my hands to his face and kiss him to give him the answer. It takes him a second to catch up before he's kissing me back but he makes the most irresistible sound which tells me that he's all in, not thinking about the million and one things we should be worried about. Soon the kiss progresses from something sweet and romantic to one that may require parental consent to continue watching and just like that someone's banging against my door forcing us to break apart.

Settling on our backs, both trying to catch our breaths we ignore Beth when she yells through the door to keep our pants on because my dad is downstairs.

"So I take it you're not mad."

"Take this Stephanie wherever you need to take her. Have Dick go social media crazy, pose for the cameras and talk to the right people. Help your mom earn some money and then come back to me. But if you touch her even once and I get to hear about it, your dad's entire armed force won't be able to keep your alive."

He laughs and kisses me again, his lips moving down my neck and resting at the juncture between my neck and shoulder. "I don't want to leave this bed." His voice is low and gravelly, far too much for me to resist. I'd love to keep him here, hold him hostage until this situation with my dad has normalised and I can be out with him in public or at least until we leave this town again.

But I can't. I see Megan's face as she talked about the children at the hospital and we couldn't do anything to ruin their chances of getting some much needed funding.

"You should go. I don't like that you have to take Miss Perfect with you but I'll live. I mean I can survive a Stephanie if I've survived a Nicole, a Kimmy and an Erica."

Yup, we can joke about that now.

Cole grimaces but I know he sees my jibe for what it is, a joke. "If it helps, I think she's way more into Jay than she is into me. It didn't help my case that I jumped five feet away whenever she tried to touch me. Jay, on the other hand...well I think he just broke up with the girl he was seeing and he wouldn't mind a rebound."

"Well then, when you put it that way. I know I've taught you enough about playing matchmaker, think you can handle all that by yourself tonight?"

He gives me a salacious grin, "Oh you bet."

***

After basically forcing Cole out the door, the girls and I decide to have a chill movie night at home. It's just us here minus my dad and Travis and we're all trying really hard to pretend that we're not bored out of our minds. Since coming out of my 'I got uninvited' funk, I've realised that I've been cooped up in my room for way too long so just another night at home makes me want to pull my hair out. Most of the people in our small town are at the gala, so if I ventured out there wouldn't be as many people staring, just some college and high school students working during the summer.

"You know I love Channing Tatum and all that but this..." Cami, my Ivy League angel does the job for me.

"It's boring okay? I'm bored. I'm so bored. I've spent the entire week helping my dad with taxes. He refuses to accept that I'm not even doing an accounting degree and all this sitting around and staring at the screen makes me want to hurl heavy objects at your TV, Tessa. I'm sorry I know we're all supposed to be sad that we missed out on the event of the decade but can we just do something fun?"

We all stare at Megan and then everyone bursts out laughing. Switching the TV off and ditching our ice-creams, everyone stands and I know we all have the same idea. But of course it's Beth who's brave enough to voice it.

"I knew I'd kept your fake ID's safe for a reason. Cami, you have one right?"

"Got it when I was sixteen. Hi, I'm Sasha Giroux, twenty-six and I work in advertising." She flips her hair and pouts.

"Great, everybody get your sexy on. So what if we can't go to some fancy dance where they serve foie gras. Let's go to a club and get trashed on cheap alcohol and beer nuts."

You know, I do have a good feeling about this. Sure, my boyfriend is out perhaps having fun with the Harvard girl (yes, I Googled) and maybe she's wowing his entire family by her lack of controversial family members and drama but I refuse to sit here and conjure up scenarios where Dick drugs Cole, smuggles him and Cindy, Jr. to Vegas and has them married by a Cher impersonator. Trapped into marriage, they'll have no option but to wait out a certain period for annulment and in that time he'll fall in love with her and I'll have no one to cry to except Jason because, like a zit he waits for the worst time to pop up.

You realise why I need to go out and get some fresh air right? 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys! How've you all been? I have a list of announcements to make for you all so I better get started, right?!

First up, inserting a photo of the gorgeous cover for the published Italian edition of TBBG. If you speak/read Italian or know a friend who'd appreciate an Italian version of the book, this one's for you! Huge thank you to my wonderful publisher Sperling and Kupfer for the opportunity. 

Some of you may also know that my books have also been published in Spanish!! Book 1 and 2 are out and I'm currently working on book three, eeep so excited! 

For my English readers, which I know the majority of you are: Thank you so much for your love on the note that I wrote. I cannot tell you how much that means to me. For you guys, I've decided to self-publish. It will start with an ebook and I'd love to know if you guys are willing to buy and e-book, even if the Wattpad version of TBBG stays up? That's my one big condition, the Wattpad version will always, ALWAYS be available for free! Also, news for you guys: TBBG is being adapted into a visual story on the Episode app by Pocket Gems this month. That is so, so exciting because that means the world will literally come to life and you guys will have an interactive experience and I'm just JFSAHGFASGJH. Check out the app to get more of an idea about how TBBG will fit into it all. 

-Lastly, I'm going to be playing around with the format of this book a little. So if I split it into parts or jump ahead in time in it, please bear with me. It's something I need to  do for the third part in the published Spanish series but I swear it won't be too confusing! 

Lots of love!

Blair