Chapter 6
“I’m hungry,” Jason grumbled as he stared down at the empty plates on his small coffee table.
Brad groaned, “You practically ate both plates of cookies. How in the hell are you still hungry?”
Jason shrugged as he leaned back in his chair to watch the game. “I just am. Leave me the hell alone! I’m a growing boy, damn it!”
“Yeah, a growing twenty-eight-year-old boy,” Brad mumbled.
“I’m still growing, damn it, so shut the hell up and feed me!”
“Order something and stop bitching!” Brad snapped back.
“You order something. I’m too weak to move.”
Brad rolled his eyes. “I don’t know how Haley puts up with you. I would have killed you by now.”
“Haley worships me,” Jason said with a snort.
“Yeah, okay,” Brad said, laughing. “That’s why she dates other men and screws you over just to laugh at you.”
“Exactly.”
Brad looked over at him. “You are a seriously fucked up man, aren’t you?”
“Probably,” Jason said, unconcerned.
“I thought so.”
A soft knock at the door drew their attention, making Brad cringe. “This isn’t another one of your girlfriends coming for revenge, is it?”
Jason rolled his eyes as he reluctantly stood up.
“I think calling any of them my girlfriend is a bit of an exaggeration. I rather you stick with referring to them as ‘the women who agreed to having a good time with no strings attached who got really pissed at me when I got bored and left them for someone hotter.’”
“Wow, that’s a mouthful,” Brad murmured. “And surprisingly, none of them has killed you yet.”
“It is, isn’t it,” Jason agreed.
He opened the door, already knowing that there wouldn’t be any pissed-off women waiting to scream at him. It had been a while since he’d taken a woman to bed and to the best of his knowledge, all the previous mistakes had already told him off. So, at least for now, he was good.
Jason damn near groaned when he found Haley standing outside his door, wearing a cute pair of cut-off jean shorts and a tank top.
Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun and some of the strands had escaped, teasing her nape.
It didn’t hurt that those glasses of hers made her look like a sexy little bookworm.
Haley smiled sweetly when she saw him. “I’m so glad you’re here!”
He couldn’t bite back the smile from that declaration. Maybe it was time to forgive her. It had been pretty funny after all and those cookies had been so damn good, not to mention that smile she was giving him made him happy.
“Brad, do you think you could give me a hand? I could really use some help from a man for a few minutes,” Haley announced, making his jaw drop.
“I’m right here if you need a man!” Jason snapped when he heard Brad struggle to bite back a snort of laughter, the bastard!
Haley blinked and then blinked again. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t think of you. I need a guy with muscle and you...” she said, letting her voice trail off while she looked him over and then shrugged. “Well, you know,” she said innocently.
“Know what?” Jason demanded.
She ignored him and focused back on Brad. “Do you think you could give me a hand? I’m having company over and I can’t get the grill out by myself. It’s kind of heavy.”
Brad chuckled as he came to the door. “Sure. I was on my way home, but I can give you a hand since there’s no one around here strong enough to help you,” he said, sounding amused.
“The hell you will!” Jason snapped as he grabbed Haley’s arm and practically dragged her back to her house.
Haley threw Brad a wink over her shoulder, making him chuckle as he strolled to his car while Jason gave her a lecture on his manliness and something about her being a bad grasshopper, whatever the hell that meant.
He looked back over his shoulder in time to catch Jason giving Haley’s ass an appreciative look without breaking from his lecture. His buddy might not know it yet, but he’d met his match in that little lady. If any woman could bring Jason to his knees, it was Haley.
“That’s not enough,” Jason said, sighing heavily as Haley tried to put the hamburger patties and hot dogs back in the freezer.
“There are only three of us. How much food do you think we’ll need?” Haley asked as she tried to sidestep him to put the food away, but Jason swiped the packages from her.
“What the hell?”
He shrugged. “I’m hungry.”
“You’re not invited.”
“Since when do I need an invitation?” he asked as he doubled the amount of hot dogs on the plate.
“Three weeks and we already have a set history? For five years, I contemplated manslaughter.”
He shrugged.
She growled.
He smiled, making her knees tremble. Damn him.
“Tell me who’s coming? It can’t be any of your friends because you wouldn’t care if I was here since they all think I’m a prick and you get a kick out of watching them bitch me out.”
She sighed dreamily. “It entertains me so.”
“As it should. I’m a very entertaining guy,” Jason said with a smile as he stole a forkful of the potato salad she’d made yesterday. She’d considered bringing it with her today, but she knew how it would have been received and decided to leave it at home.
“Damn, that’s good, woman,” Jason practically growled.
“I’m glad you like it,” Haley said casually, but in truth, it was really nice to have someone to cook for.
Her friends were constantly on diets and glared at her whenever she offered them baked goods.
It seemed that Jason hadn’t found a food that he didn’t like.
She really was surprised that he wasn’t fat.
“So?”
“So what?”
“So, tell me why you stayed less than an hour at a barbecue only to come home to have one of your own? Food suck or something?” he asked while sneaking another bite of potato salad before she returned it to the fridge. “Or was there a family smackdown?”
“It’s complicated,” she finally said.
“What’s so complicated about a family barbecue?”
“Just drop it. My grandmother is coming here with her helper. Actually, she should be here by now, but knowing her, she probably stopped at the grocery store to buy all her favorites.”
His brows arched at that. “Your grandmother’s coming here? I didn’t think any of your family ever came to visit you.”
She gave him a sly smile. “Been spying on me, have you?”
“I’ve picked up on a few things over the years,” Jason said, shooting her a wink.
“Well, my grandmother comes here several times a year. I usually invite her when I know that you’ll be out of town.”
“Afraid I’ll embarrass you?” he asked teasingly.
“Nope. Afraid she might kill you.”
“Puhlease, she’ll love me. Every woman loves and wants me,” Jason said, nodding sincerely.
“I’m glad to see that you’re so humble,” Haley said, chuckling.
“That, I am,” Jason said as Haley began to load his arms with plates of food to take out to the grill. “So, you mentioned inviting her over. I’m guessing that the two of you are close.”
“I am. She raised me off and on until I was ten and then took over full-time,” Haley said, opening the screen door for him. “Anyway, I decided to cut my visit to my parents’ house short today.”
“Why?”
“Because I told her to. That’s why,” a woman’s crisp voice answered.
Jason looked up to see an elderly woman in a wheelchair being pushed towards them by a thin man with thinning gray hair. By the looks of the man, he was Haley’s grandmother’s helper.
“Are you my Haley’s boyfriend?”
Haley felt her face burn as she waited for the earth to open up beneath her and drag her under. Prayed for it.
“No, Grandma, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s my friend from next door,” Haley quickly explained, hoping that would be the end of it.
Grandma’s eyes narrowed on Jason. Haley was about to tell her grandmother to cut it out. That look had sent many friends and boyfriends running, but to her complete surprise, Jason didn’t cower.
He reached over and shook her hand. “My name is Jason Bradford. I’m the neighbor from hell.”
Grandma’s lips twitched. She looked over at her companion. “Chris, be a dear and go get the items we picked up.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Chris said, leaving Grandma alone with them. He sent Haley a warm smile before he hurried off. No doubt, he was expecting Grandma to tear into Jason. Hell, that’s exactly what she was waiting for.
“You also work with my granddaughter, Mr. Bradford. Isn’t that correct?”
Without asking, Jason pushed Grandma to the small patio table and locked the wheels for her. “Yes, I make her life a living hell there as well.”
“You sound proud,” Grandma noted.
Jason walked over to the grill and started placing the meat on it. “I am,” he said, smiling.
Grandma did something she’d only heard when it was just the two of them. She laughed. It was soft and musical and immediately brought back memories of a happy childhood to mind, making Haley smile. Jason caught her eye and winked.
“I like you,” Grandma announced.
“Thank you, Mrs.-”
“You may call me Grandma,” she said in a tone that let him know that she would not tolerate being called anything else.
Haley sat there, stunned. She was the only one allowed to call her Grandma. The rest of her grandchildren called her Grandmother once they’d started to take after their parents.
“Okay, Grandma, it is,” Jason said with an easy smile. Wow, the man really did have a way with women, Haley thought, shaking her head in wonder.
The sliding patio doors opened, drawing their attention just as Chris stepped outside from the kitchen, where he’d probably just put away an insane amount of groceries that had nothing to do with a barbecue.
It was one of Grandma’s sneakier ways of helping her out since Haley refused to accept financial help from her family.
Grandma was always looking for ways to help her, whether she wanted help or not.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, ma’am, but it seems that some of the guests from the last barbecue followed us here,” Chris said softly.
“Who is it?” Haley asked, unable to help but frown as she tried to figure out how many burgers she should add to the grill. Not that they’d eat anything she made, she thought, biting back a sigh.
“Your cousins, a few aunts, and I believe both of your sisters came as well, Miss Haley,” Chris said.
Grandma waved a dismissive hand towards the front of the house. “Well, they can leave because there isn’t enough food,” she said even though she hadn’t looked at the grill.
“I can throw more food on if you want,” Jason offered.
“That won’t be necessary,” Grandma said, shaking her head.
Chris cleared his throat. “They’re rather insistent about joining, ma’am.”
“Tell them to go away or I’ll write them out of my will in the morning,” Grandma said firmly.
Chris hid his smile as he turned around to do just that.
Jason gave them all a curious look before shrugging it off.
Apparently, he really didn’t care enough to be bothered, which was a good thing for her.
She’d earned her way in life and didn’t want anyone thinking any differently.
All of her friends knew that she came from money and none of them cared.
She was just Haley to them and she planned to keep it that way.
“What did you think of your father’s birthday gift, Haley?” Grandma asked.
Jason frowned. “I missed your birthday?”
“It was months ago,” Haley said with a shrug.
“And he just remembered today?” Jason asked, frowning.
“It’s no big deal,” Haley said, giving him a tight smile.
Jason scoffed. “If you say so.”
“I do.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Ah, children? If I may interrupt? Haley, have you looked at your gift?” Grandma asked.
“Not yet.” There was no rush since she already knew what she would find inside the card, twenty-five one-hundred-dollar bills for the twenty-fifth birthday.
“Well, go get it,” Grandma said, gesturing for her to move her butt.
With a sigh, Haley went inside, rolling her eyes at the overfilled bags of groceries that covered her kitchen counters and table, and retrieved the envelope from her purse. She carried it outside and sat down.
“Well, open it!” Grandma said with a pointed look at the card.
“Why are you so eager for me to see this gift?” Haley asked, narrowing her eyes on her grandmother.
“Because I’m the one that suggested your gift,” Grandma said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Haley bit her lip so that she wouldn’t cry. Not only had her father forgotten her birthday, but Grandma had to be the one to finally remind him and was most likely responsible for whatever was inside.
She opened the card and wasn’t all that surprised to see the card wasn’t signed, which wasn’t exactly a surprise since he never bothered signing her cards.
Her eyes shifted to her gift and froze there.
It was a full minute before she began breathing again.
In another ten seconds, Haley was up and around the table, hugging her grandmother and kissing her.
“You are the best grandmother, ever!” Haley said between kisses.
Grandma laughed. “I’m glad you like it. I wanted to give those to you, but you’re so damn stubborn, so I used your father’s stupidity. Now, you have to accept them,” Grandma said with a firm nod, making Haley smile.
Jason stood up and flipped the burgers before he added the hot dogs. He turned back in time to see Haley jumping up and down and giggling like a schoolgirl.
“Well, don’t leave me in suspense,” he said, earning a loud squeal from Haley.
Apparently, she was beyond words, so she pushed the card in his hands.
He looked down, blinked and blinked again before stumbling back into a chair.
Did he just wet himself? Ah, who cared? He was holding four tickets to the Yankees vs.
Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium for this Friday and they were without a doubt the best seats in the stadium.
His eyes shifted from Haley to the tickets and back again before he made a split-second decision and made a run for it. He didn’t make it five feet before his little grasshopper tackled him to the ground and ripped the card from his hands as he was forced to spit grass out of his mouth.
“Fine. You can come with me, I guess,” Jason said, making sure to sound put out only to grunt when the vicious woman kneed him in the ribs.