Chapter Twenty-Four: Is That A Euphemism?

"I'm sorry officer but I think there's been a mistake. My girlfriend couldn't possibly have done that. She doesn't even know how to throw a punch the right way."

"Not for a lack of trying though, we're big supporters of women who want to learn self defence. My girlfriend for example could totally have done that."

"You mean the one in all black? Yeah I don't have a hard time believing that. It took us two lady officers to pull her off the co-ed. But she's not the one you should be worrying about since the girl she attacked isn't pressing charges. I bet she's too scared to even be in the same room as her again."

"That's my girl!" Travis whoops and someone, I assume it's Cole must punch him since the next minute he yelps in pain.

"About my girlfriend, what seems to be the problem here? We went to the club and we saw the security footage. It clearly shows that she was provoked. These girls came up to her and from what I could tell were trying to start an altercation. You can't be serious..."

"I understand where you're coming from and trust me, from the amount of drunk crying and pleading Ms. O'Connell has been doing I can tell that she's a very good girl who has never even gotten a parking ticket before."

"It's the truth!" I yell from the jail cell, my arms flailing outside the bars. "Officer you have to believe me!" I hiccup, "I didn't mean to break her nose or give her the shiner. She was just...she was being so mean." I whine and am mortified to find tears trickling down my cheeks again!

"Aw honey, come here. We made the mean girl go away remember?" I'm engulfed in a group hug. Given the events of the night, my friends have surprisingly remained calm and collected, even Megan. I would assume being locked up in prison would be the worst possible scenario in her mind, right up there with getting an A—

The love and support in our friendship is great, it's showing me that we can overcome anything even if it is a spontaneous staging of our own version of Orange Is The New Black. Sister solidarity for the win!

Or we could all just be hopelessly drunk.

Our hug is broken up by someone banging on the bars of the cell, "All right fabulous four, why don't you break it up and tell these gentlemen here what exactly happened." Behind the massive frame of Officer Graham stand two very confused yet angry men and one distant figure looming in the background.

"Wait is that Jay? Hey Jay Jay!" I wave to him, "I haven't seen you in so long!"

He gives me a tiny wave back and drops his hand immediately when his brother gives him a look. I can only imagine what the look is but it could be very similar to the one he gave Bentley when he volunteered to put sunscreen on my back, completely innocent of course.

"Tessa..." He begins and the girls let out a collective 'ooohh'.

"He called you Tessa and not that adorable nickname he has for you! I thin you're in trouble." Cami giggles and soon everyone is laughing, but not me.

"Cole," my lip begins to wobble and I can't believe that I'm about to cry for the 500th time.

"Hey, Shortcake don't cry. He clasps my hands in his through the bars, "Everything is going to be okay. We're going to talk to this girl and make her drop the charges. But you're going to have to tell me what happened okay? Right from the beginning. How did you get in a fight and whoa there tiger," he notices my bruised knuckles, "who taught you how to punch?"

I shrug, "Bentley."

He curses under his breath and I flinch. Beside us, Beth and Travis seem to be having a similar conversation but if it's possible theirs is going much worse than ours is.

"Focus Tessie, focus. What happened?"

"Oh I can help you out with that! I recorded the whole thing. See there was this one episode

of CSI where the friends don't..."

"Ms. Sharp, the phone please." Apparently Officer Graham does not take well to hiding evidence and hiding cellphones in your unmentionables. The one shred of proof that could help me forget this entire nightmare ever happened in the first place is confiscated and I can only hope that it was the fight she filmed and not the very scandalising and probably illegal sex worker trade that'd been going on. I mean the kind of club that accepts four extremely amateur fake ID's without even blinking an eye at them isn't going to be a very reputable institution in the first place.

"So right now we're looking at underage drinking, fake ID and an altercation." Travis hisses on the other side, "Do you think we really needed this shit right now?"

"Hey listen Mr. Holier Than Thou, don't you dare come in here and start lecturing us on model behaviour. Do I need to remind you of what happened last week? Or maybe Tessa here might have a better record of your history of problems with law enforcement."

Ouch, so I guess I'd been right, Travis and Beth are definitely having problems.

"Cut it out guys, we don't need to be at each other's throats right now. Just..." Cole takes a deep breath and I'm struck by an overwhelming sense of guilt. Here I'd been wanting this night to be drama free for the Stones, for the gala to be successful and free from the curse of the O'Connell's. I'd considered my dad to be the root of all our problems only to have turned the tables and ended up ruining everything.

I sniff, "I'm so sorry. I didn't want this to happen I swear. We weren't doing anything wrong but then this group of girls turned up and one of them seemed to know who I was or rather she seemed to know you. I...maybe I shouldn't have had so much to drink but there was Stephanie and Cassandra's no longer on my team and you were wearing a suit and I just couldn't handle it."

My embarrassingly shaky speech ends with Cole laughing across from me. I wipe at my tears while he continues to grin adorably at me.
"Why are you laughing? You shouldn't be laughing! I took some law courses this year okay? I know what the punishment for..." I begin counting my offences on my hand only to realise that I'm running out of fingers, which obviously does not bode well for me.

"I can't go to jail okay? I mean it, I really can't. Between the negative press and people thinking I'm suicidal and Dad's latest scandal, this is the last thing that should happen because there's only so much O'Connell drama the world needs right now."

"I concur." Travis adds and he and Beth go back to glaring at each other.

The corner of Cole's mouth lifts and he clears his throat. "So you're sorry? And you promise to never indulge in underage drinking or sneaking into clubs with a fake ID ever again?"

"Well, that's a really long period of time you know." I say nervously, "I can probably guarantee that I won't purposely do it but you know between her, " I jerk a thumb towards Cami, "and her," the second thumb towards Beth, "I really don't know."

Cole sighs, then hisses under his breath. "Just tell the officer that you'll be a model citizen from now onwards Tessie. Say it like you mean it, anything you remember from drama class would help right now too. He doesn't seem too convinced."

"Oh okay," On cue my lip begins to wobble and I turn to the man that arrested us, "Dear Officer..."

***

"I can't believe he just let us go like that!" Cami whoops from the backseat and then doubles over laughing. Even though I have sobered up quite the bit since nearly getting a prison sentence, Cami seems to have reached news levels of drunk. I call this stage, the hysterical sorority girl who dies in horror movies.

I lean my head against the car window and enjoy the cool wind of the air conditioning. My body feels hot, my hands clammy and my heart won't stop racing. Cole forces me to drink more water as he drives us back home. In the other car, Travis is driving Beth and Megan and I hope the three of them make it in one piece. Poor Megan looked scared for her life when a bickering Travis and Beth got into his car.

"So who do I need to thank?" I ask Cole without looking at him. Now that I'm feeling slightly sober, the embarrassment has hit an all time high. I can't believe that after promising him that I wouldn't interfere with his night, forcing him to take another girl to the gala, I ended up making him drive an hour out of town to get me from jail.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not that stupid you know? Despite the choices I made tonight, I pride myself on having a decent level of common sense. When you guys got there it seemed like the list of things I'd done wrong were endless and suddenly I'm being escorted out without any repercussions. So who did you sell your soul to or promise your first born child to in order to get us out."

"You mean our first born child?"

Although the phrase gives rise to a dozen butterflies swarming my stomach, I choose to ignore it because if Cole's avoiding my question, it means things are worse than what I'm currently imagining.

"Gosh you guys are cheesy, I love it!" Cami pops her head between our seats, "So where are we going now?"

"You, Cameron are going home to Tessa's where you will sleep off the alcohol. Then I'm taking my girlfriend away from you so that she doesn't make anymore rash decisions and we talk this out like normal, rational adults."

She bursts out laughing, "What? You think I'm the corruptive influence here? Have you ever met the girl you're dating? Or well, her alter ego? I like to call her Petunia because no one blooms like Tess over here after a shot or two of tequila."

I groan, "Can you please not remind me."

She shrugs, "I'm just saying that it's okay to let loose and have fun once in a while."

"You guys got arrested."

"Oh come on Stone! I thought you were all about the silver lining life."

My head starts to pound, a clear sign of the monster headache I'll be getting tomorrow so I let the two children banter. Once Cami is dropped off at my house and everyone goes their separate ways, Cole drives me to Rusty's, the diner where I used to work during high school. He orders us cheeseburgers, chilli fries and milkshakes and I think his aim is to either increase my cholesterol levels or feed me so that any remaining affects of alcohol vanish.

I play with the filthy salt and pepper shakes as the aged waitress slowly moves out of earshot after taking our order.

"I wish you'd let me change at least. I'd like to be a little more covered up before getting a lecture."

He gives me once over, not judgemental or a sexual one, just an observant one as if only now taking in the scrap of black cloth that Beth forced me into.

"That's not your dress is it?"

I shrug, "After you left, I didn't really feel like sitting around in my pyjamas feeling sorry for myself. So we decided to go out and it was all going fine until those girls..." Rage courses through me as I think about them, a group of drunk co-eds who seemed to take your average football groupie to a horrific new level.

"Yeah about them...the video was intense. I couldn't make out what she was saying but Jesus, Tessie the only thing that's stopping me from taking a swing at her myself is the fact that she's a girl."

That's when I notice his shaking hands as he grips the table. I also notice that he's still wearing his tux, the jacket of which he now takes off and gets up to drape around me. Instead of going back to his side of the booth, he simply lifts me up and then settles me sideways in his lap.

"Tell me so that I can stop coming up with the worst scenarios possible in my mind."

I play with a button on his shirt and rest my head on his shoulder. I'm probably stinking of alcohol and jail but Cole doesn't flinch at our nearness.
"It was my fault I guess, who drives only an hour away to escape a certain situation. They knew me, or well they'd heard of my family. But that wasn't the big deal, they didn't seem like the type to care about politics. They did on the other hand know you, well one of them did." Cole's body stiffens beneath my touch, his arms locking around my waist and I know he realises that whatever I'm about to tell him won't make him happy.

"Before you get it in your head that everything bad that happens to me, happens because of you just take a step back. You're somewhat famous in the college athlete arena or whatever, " I shrug to try and break the tension. "Besides, she knew you from military school but you know, not in the biblical sense."

What is with me putting my foot in my mouth? The minute I say this, Cole's face is masked by anger.

"What I meant to say was that she must either have gone to school with you or know someone who did because she definitely knew who I was. She came up to me and started spewing all this nonsense about how you were so much better off without me. Now I may have my share of insecurities but no one gets to fill my head with self-destructive ideas unless it's me. And I'm not about that anymore, I don't engage in that kind of self harm and I've worked so hard...," my voice breaks as I find myself getting emotional again, '...I've worked really hard to make sure that I don't doubt myself, that I feel good about who I am and nobody gets to take that away from me."

"Shortcake," Cole gasps and grasps my chin roughly with his palm before kissing me into submission. It's a kiss of acceptance, of the acknowledgement of my pain and my struggle and of frustration, his frustration that somehow, someway he ends up being the reason why the demons inside my head keeping popping back up.

"I don't know what to say, " He tells me between kisses, his lips lingering, his arms secure around me and cradling my body to his, "but the fact that I'm glad that you keep me around."

"Hey, stop. Neither of us are doing this, there's no self-blame here. The only thing I regret is getting violent, I shouldn't have let her get to me but she seemed to uh...'

"What?" He hesitates before asking, like maybe the information I hold is like a ticking time bomb and maybe it is.

"She seemed to be quite familiar with your sexual preferences," I blush from head to toe, my face reddening at an alarming pace and for a minute there even Cole looks gobsmacked.

"What does that even mean?"

I clear my throat, "She seemed really confident that a plain Jane like me couldn't keep you interested because you were secretly..." I lower my voice so that no one hears me because everyone working here right now is pushing sixty and I don't want them to get scandalised. They already think my family and I work for Satan so let's not give them more of a reason to call the priest.

"I'm secretly what? Shortcake, I have to admit, this is one of the weirdest conversations I've ever had and that's including the one I had with Nana Stone when she tried to give me the sex talk. There were pie charts and graphics. I think it took me a year to recover."

"Shh! Don't say the s-word here."

"What sex? What's wrong with saying sex?"

I push against his chest, "Would it kill you to listen to me for once? What if I want the diner people to think I'm saving myself for marriage? Don't you think that'll help my reputation."

He rolls his eyes, "Well you didn't save yourself for marriage, I'm way too irresistible for that to happen and you're hardly wearing the scarlet letter."

"You're right, this really is a weird conversation. But what I was saying was that this girl seemed to think that you were into," I close my eyes and say it in one go, "BDSM and that you stole your dad's handcuffs and ran a secret club back in military school."

I'd squeezed my eyes shut when saying this and when I open them, for a minute the only sound I hear is that coming from the kitchen. Cole and I stare at each other, I'm mortified of course. If he admits to hit, I don't think I'll ever look at him the same way ever again?

"Handcuffs?"

I nod.

"Secret BDSM sex club?"

I nod again.

It took him thirty minutes to stop laughing and I ate his food as well as mine as a form of revenge.

***

I don't go back home, Cole is insistent that I stay the night with him despite my reservations about Cassandra or Sheriff Stone not wanting me there. He calls me out on my bullshit and all but drags me inside. Once he stopped laughing, he'd told me that he in no way is into those things but then added that he'd be open to try it if I was.

I haven't stopped blushing, I think my face could permanently turn red if he doesn't stop dropping hints.

Inside his parent's house, I'm hit with a strong smell of freshly baked good. Someone's pottering about in the kitchen but I can't see anyone else which is a relief. I'm too ashamed to face Cole's parents, now knowing that they were the ones who pulled some strings to get me and my friends out of jail without actually serving time. We're doing community service instead which I'm all up for. I need things to occupy my mind before I over-think myself into an early death.

"Shit, I think I left my wallet in the car." Cole pats down the back pockets of his slacks. As always, despite the fact that he's had to chase me down and rescue me, he looks as handsome and breathtaking as always. There's something about a man who can pull off a suit that just speaks to all women out there and makes them swoon.

"Why don't you go upstairs and I'll be over in a minute, I'll also try and steal whatever's being made in the kitchen because I can literally see the hearts in your eyes."

"I can smell the chocolate, Cole. It's speaking to me."

He chuckles, "Okay Barefoot Contessa, I will sleuth and serve you in just a minute."

"That was a terrible pun but I can't believe I've never thought of it before."

Kissing my forehead, Cole leaves for his car and I'm just about to head up the stairs when Jay walks in from the direction of the kitchen, carrying a plate of goodies.

"Cookies?"

I know I shouldn't be embarrassed that my former crush slash current boyfriend's step brother had to come bail me out of jail but I am. My relationship with Jay is complex in the way that to me he represents everything that was once wrong with me. If Cole thinks that he drudges up my insecurities then he has nothing on the kind of person I was when I'd liked Jay. Looking at him now makes me remorseful for being so hard on myself, for always trying to measure up to girls like Nicole, for trying to be someone I clearly wasn't. I don't want him seeing me while I hit my lows and still go back to being that messed up person.

But he doesn't seem like he's treating me with contempt or pity, as usual he's the aloof, clueless Jay he's always been. I'm not exactly comfortable being around him when I've got on what looks like just Cole's buttoned up jacket.

"You bake?" My hands are drawn towards the goodies.

" I don't, uh Stephanie does. She says it's her favourite way to de-stress."

"Wait Stephanie like Cole's date Stephanie?"

To his credit, Jay's cheeks colour and he averts his eyes, "Yeah her. He sort of ran out on her when he got the call about you. That was a dick move, she didn't know anyone so I had to..."

"I understand and that was really nice of you Jay. But then what were you doing at the station."

"After I told Stephanie what was going on and introduced her to a couple of people she could hang out with, I followed Travis and Cole. Dad told me to, just to make sure he didn't do