Chapter 7
“I love you, Derek!”
Jason tried to drag Haley back to her seat, but she fought him every inch of the way. “I love you, Derek!”
“He knows, woman! He’s known since the first inning. Let the man focus,” Jason said, finally managing to drag her back a foot when that bastard Derek Jeter went and waved to Haley. That did it. She tried to break free and make a run for the field.
Trying not to drop her as he burst out laughing, Jason readjusted his grip and pulled Haley back with him until she was sitting on his lap. He kept one arm around her waist as he retrieved his beer.
Brad threw him another triumphant grin. For three days, Jason had taunted the man with the two extra tickets.
He already knew that he was going. There’d been an unspoken understanding between him and Haley.
If she’d tried to leave without him, he would have burned her house down, plain and simple.
This was a Yankees/Red Sox game, after all and there was no way in hell that he wasn’t going.
On the third day of taunting, the betraying bastard had his wife call Haley.
Fucking tattletale. Since Haley’s friends hated anything to do with sports, she’d invited Brad and another friend of his.
Mitch was a good buddy and had an obvious crush on Haley, one that she didn’t seem to return.
That was fine with Jason because Mitch wasn’t good enough for his sweet little grasshopper.
“Come on! He was safe! Get your head out of your ass and pay attention!” Haley screamed as she bounced on his lap, desperate for freedom, no doubt to rip the umpire’s head off.
Okay, Jason thought, chuckling, maybe sweet was a bit much. His little grasshopper was a little demon.
“Calm down before you get us kicked out of the stadium,” he said, laughing.
With a huff, Haley crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned back against him. “Cheating bastards,” she muttered.
“Because they’re winning?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes!”
“Relax and I’ll buy you a foam finger,” Jason said, absently caressing her flat belly with his thumb while she thought it over.
Today, she wore a tight pink tank top under an open Yankees jersey and a pair of shorts that gave him, and every guy here, a look at those golden beauties that she called legs.
“I already have a foam finger at home,” Haley pointed out with an adorable pout.
“Then what would my little grasshopper like?” he asked, fighting back the urge to press a kiss against the back of her neck.
She glared over her shoulder at him. “I’m not going to call you Mr. Miyagi, you know.”
“Yes, you will, but that’s not important at the moment. What do you want?” Jason asked as his eyes dropped to her pouty little lips. What the hell? He pulled his gaze away in time to catch Mitch’s dirty look and Brad’s smirk.
Haley stole his beer and took a sip. She returned it to him with a grimace. “That’s warm.”
“Well, it did take me over twenty minutes to drag you back here to prevent you from jumping the wall,” Jason pointed out.
“Whatever, you’re just messing with fate,” Haley said as she moved to stand up.
He reluctantly let her go, but he was ready to pounce and drag her back if needed.
Judging by the looks the security guards around them were sending them, they were ready as well.
Damn, his little grasshopper was making him proud.
“Where are you going?” Jason asked, wanting her to sit back down.
He’d been comfortable, damn it!
Haley rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to start a riot. I have to use the bathroom and I need a cold drink.”
“Oh,” Jason said, sighing heavily as he moved to stand up at the same time Mitch did. Jason shot Mitch a glare, but the man ignored him and jumped to his feet.
“Want some company?” Mitch asked, giving Haley his best smile.
Haley laughed softly. “No, I’ll be fine.”
Mitch reluctantly sat down. The two of them watched her walk away as Brad sat there smugly. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Jason spoke.
“Don’t even think about it,” he said firmly.
Mitch snorted. “Just because you think you own Haley doesn’t mean that you speak for her.”
Jason took a sip of his drink, nodding slowly before he placed his cup on his knee. “How about this, then? I know you and there is no way in hell that I’m letting an asshole like you near her.”
“So, let me get this straight. I’m good enough to be your friend, but not good enough to go out with Haley?”
“Exactly. Glad we’re on the same page.”
“Why is that exactly? You don’t like the idea of some other guy swooping in and getting her first?”
“Because you sleep around, don’t care about any of the women you fuck, and you treat them all like shit. I’m not letting you do that to Haley. She deserves a nice guy,” Jason informed him with a look that told him that he wasn’t kidding.
“Oh, like you?” Mitch snorted. “You treat women worse than I do.”
Jason barely held back his temper. “No, not me. I’m not interested in her like that. She’s a friend, nothing more.”
“Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself that, buddy. Anyone with two working eyes can tell that you’re getting ready to pounce.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. If I wanted her, I would have had her by now,” Jason bit out through clenched teeth.
“Yeah, whatever,” Mitch mumbled. “She’s a grown woman. If she wants to go out with me, she can. You have no say in the matter.”
“We’ll see,” he said, knowing if Mitch tried anything that he’d beat the shit out of him.
“See what?” Haley asked as she squeezed into the small aisle, juggling her beer and a tray full of food in her arms.
“If the Yankees can get this game back under control,” Jason said smoothly.
“They will,” Haley said firmly. Jason had a funny feeling that if they didn’t, she would go beat the shit out of someone.
When she sat down next to him, he placed his piss-warm beer on the floor and grabbed hers while she settled the tray on her lap. He took a sip of her cold beer while she took a bite of her hot dog topped with sauerkraut. She closed her eyes as she savored the treat.
“That is really good,” she nearly groaned in delight.
“Give me a bite,” Jason murmured, watching her lips as she savored the treat.
Haley nodded absently while she watched the game. She held out the hot dog for him. He took a big bite. While he chewed, he sat back and couldn’t stop smiling when Mitch frowned at him. For the next ten minutes, he held the beer for her to sip while she held food for him.
Jason wasn’t even sure if she realized what they were doing. Her focus seemed to be on the game. When their cup was empty, he put it down and turned to find another beer vendor.
“Oh, shit!” Brad yelled as he jumped to his feet the same time Mitch did.
Jason turned in time to see Haley jump to her feet and then jump onto her seat, holding her hands out as she mumbled, “Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no!” He jumped to his feet at the same moment that something white slammed into Haley’s hands.
She held onto the thing for dear life as she lost her footing from the impact of the ball as several men tried to grab it from her.
Before he could push the bastards away from her, Haley was jumping up and down on her seat while hugging the ball against her chest. Her smile was intoxicating when she looked down at him and proudly showed him the ball.
“Look!”
He placed his hands together in front of him and bowed. “Very good, grasshopper,” he said, straightening in time to catch her in his arms. He whirled her around as she hugged him.
“I can’t believe I caught it!”
“You did great!” Jason said, kissing her cheek.
The action was so sudden that it startled him.
He carefully placed a very happy Haley on the ground.
Still grinning hugely, she sat down with a satisfied sigh while he sat down next to her, trying not to think about just how badly he wanted to pull her back into his arms.
After a few minutes, Haley said his name tightly.
“Yeah?” Jason said, glancing over to find Haley staring straight ahead, worrying her lip between her teeth and-
“I think I broke my hand.”
“Are you sure that you don’t want to go with us?” Mitch asked, looking hopeful.
Haley forced herself to smile. She liked Mitch, but she didn’t see it going any further than friendship. Unfortunately, Mitch had become rather persistent over the past week and it was getting kind of annoying.
She held up her icepack-encased hand. “Thank you, but I think I’m going to go relax. You guys go have fun. Hit the clubs or bars or whatever you guys do. No doubt Jason’s going to want to hit the all-male review.”
While the other men laughed, Jason stuck his tongue out at her as Haley glanced at the front desk. “Ah, guys, did you remember to check-in earlier?”
“We have the room reserved on a credit card. It will be there by the time we get back,” Jason said, shrugging it off.
Haley didn’t think it would be since hotels had a tendency to give rooms away when you didn’t show up on time and since it was now nine o’clock at night, she doubted that the room the guys reserved was still available.
She opened her mouth to tell them that but decided against it since they really didn’t seem to care.
“Have fun, guys,” Haley said before making her way to the elevator and damn near groaned when Mitch moved to join her.
“Haley, wait up!”
“What’s up?” she asked, forcing a warm smile for the man that had spent the entire day doing his best trying to charm her into going out with him.
“I was going to ask if you wanted company,” Mitch said with a charming smile that probably worked on most everything female.
Her eyes shot past him in time to see Brad grab Jason by the arm and hold him back. What the hell was that about? Haley wondered as she gave herself a mental shake and focused on Mitch as she stepped onto the elevator.
“That’s really sweet, but I’ll be fine. I’m just going to watch a movie and go to bed.
I’ll see you tomorrow,” Haley said, relieved when the elevator doors slid closed before he could push her for more.
She might not have the best track record when it came to dating, but she could spot the guys that were just looking to get laid and Mitch definitely wasn’t looking for anything more than sex.
A few minutes later, Haley was closing her hotel room door behind her and hoping that she remembered to pack her Advil.
God, her hand was killing her, she thought as she searched through her bags.
When she didn’t find any Advil, she called room service for something to help with the pain and decided to order a large ice cream sundae while she was at it.
Twenty minutes later, Haley was sitting in a bubble bath while eating a decadent hot fudge sundae and thinking about Jason and just how good it felt to have his arms around her today.
When she realized where her mind was going, she reminded herself that they were just friends and forced herself to stop thinking about him.
Nothing was ever going to happen.
Jason was a really good friend and she wouldn’t ruin that for anything in the world. Friendship was one of the things that she valued most in the world and she wouldn’t risk losing him over something that probably wouldn’t last. It wasn’t worth it.
Besides, he was probably with a woman right now, Haley told herself only to end up deciding that she didn’t want any more ice cream when the thought of him with another woman turned her stomach.
She placed her half-eaten sundae on the floor and groaned.
Sometimes friendship sucked, Haley thought as she lowered herself into the water with a pathetic whimper.