Chapter 9
Monday Night
Haley rolled onto her side, facing the wall and wondering if she should just suck up her pride and go ask Jason to sleep with her.
Did that make her a sleep slut? At this point, she was willing to beg for it.
Just as she feared, she was addicted to Jason’s body.
Thank God they’d never had sex. She’d hate to think how bad the addiction would be then.
She felt the bed dip behind her seconds before a large arm curled around her waist, pulling her back against a strong, warm body.
Jason’s inviting scent enveloped her as strongly as his body did.
Her bottom pressed back against him. He was hard again, but he didn’t make any move on her.
It was just his body’s reaction to being pressed against a female.
Just like her body was reacting to being held by a strong man.
Neither cared enough to comment or act on it.
In a matter of minutes, they were both fast asleep.
Tuesday Night
11:30 P.M.
“That was a really great dinner. Thank you,” Jill, Brad’s wife, said.
Brad stole another brownie off the plate and groaned while he nodded his head in agreement. He reached for another brownie only to find the plate gone and Jason glaring at him.
“Brownie-thieving bastard,” he muttered as he stalked off to Haley’s kitchen.
The three of them watched as Jason placed the brownies in a large Ziploc bag that he no doubt planned on taking with him to work in the morning.
Halfway through transferring the brownies to the bag, he looked over his shoulder to glare at Brad and mouthed the words, “Thieving bastard,” before returning to the task at hand.
“Anyway,” Haley said, drawing Brad and Jill’s attention away from Jason’s rather disturbing affection for her baked goods. “It was nice to have you guys over.”
“Thank you for having us. You’re coming over next week, right?” Jill asked as she frowned at her husband, who held up the last bite of brownie but didn’t eat it. His eyes were locked on Jason.
Both women watched as Jason turned around. Brad made a huge show of putting the brownie in his mouth. He closed his eyes as if it was the best thing he’d ever eaten and moaned.
“That was a damn good brownie,” Brad finally said.
“You betraying bastard!” Jason gasped.
“I’ll bring you an entire pan of brownies next week, Brad,” Haley said, knowing it would take the glare away from Brad.
“Traitor,” Jason mumbled as he lovingly stroked the bag of brownies.
“It’s so not right that he isn’t fat,” Jill said, and Haley had to nod in agreement.
Jason had put away three helpings of lasagna tonight, a salad, and a ton of garlic bread, not to mention about a dozen brownies and cookies. With her one helping of lasagna and two brownies, she was probably going to gain five pounds. Sometimes life really wasn’t fair.
They said their goodnights and walked Brad and Jill out the door.
She shut the kitchen light off, knowing that Jason would shut off the living room light for her.
Still, neither spoke of the sleeping arrangements and she didn’t know how to bring it up.
So instead, she quietly said goodnight, rolled her eyes when Jason mumbled, “I love you,” to his brownies and headed to her bathroom.
After a quick shower, she pulled on a small tee-shirt and panties.
Yawning, she walked into her room and wasn’t surprised to find Jason on his stomach, wearing nothing but his boxers, in the middle of her bed.
She flicked off the lights and crawled in bed.
She laid her head on his shoulder while her hand rested on his other shoulder and her leg entwined with his.
In a matter of seconds, she felt Jason relax and drift off to sleep.
Wednesday Night
10:45 P.M.
Jason was exhausted as he pulled into his driveway. He waited until Haley pulled into her driveway before getting out. It had been a very long day and judging by the adorable little whimper Haley made as she climbed out of her car, she was feeling it as well.
“I am so tired,” she mumbled pathetically.
“That was a parent-teacher meeting for the records,” he muttered around a yawn.
“Too damn much drama. Who knew that parents of spoiled rich kids who were failing could act like that? I had one woman sobbing hysterically because her son got a B instead of an A.”
He chuckled. “I was offered a blowjob to turn a D into an A.”
Haley’s face squished up adorably. “You had a woman offer you a blowjob during parent-teacher night?”
Chuckling, Jason shook his head. “Nope. Seems the guy is desperate to get his son into Harvard.”
She laughed softly as she headed towards her house with a rueful shake of her head and a mumbled, “I’m off to bed. Goodnight.”
“Me, too. Goodnight,” he returned as they walked along the small patch of grass between their properties. Just before she veered off to the right, he put his arm around her shoulders and steered her towards his house.
For the last three nights, they’d slept at her house.
It wasn’t that he missed his bed. He just wanted to see if the bed made the difference or if it was Haley.
Plus, he’d been imagining her in his bed all day.
Whenever his thoughts turned sexual, he forced his mind out of the gutter.
It was becoming more and more difficult as time went by.
He’d made himself a promise today. He would get her into his bed and if he didn’t sleep as well as he had in her bed, then he would go out and buy a bed matching hers and the problem would be solved. If he still slept like a baby with her, then…
Well, he didn’t really want to think about that just yet. He was pretty sure part of the problem was sex.
Maybe he should get laid and then see if he slept as well with Haley in his arms. Part of him was scared that it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference what he did.
Haley was quickly becoming his world and for some strange reason, that was fine with him, hence the reason that he was scared shitless.
They didn’t say anything as they walked into his house.
He could tell she was nervous. Hell, he was nervous.
He’d never had a woman in his bed before.
It didn’t matter that there wouldn’t be any sex involved.
This was a big step for him. He didn’t even know if he could tolerate having Haley in his bed.
Every time the panic started to surface, he shoved it back down.
He already knew that if he couldn’t handle it that he could make up some excuse and they’d go back to her bed.
With that in mind, he led her into his room.
Still, neither spoke as he handed her one of his favorite tee-shirts. She gave him a shy smile and disappeared into his bathroom. He pulled his shoes off and waited for her to come out. He heard his shower turn on and he gritted his teeth as a wave of lust poured over him.
He frowned down at the rather uncomfortable tent in his pants. “Stop causing problems.” It didn’t listen, of course. It never did where Haley was concerned. He kept telling himself that eventually, his body would come to accept that Haley was just a friend.
“All yours,” Haley said softly as she stepped out of the bathroom ten minutes later wearing his tee-shirt. The hem of the shirt ended just above the knee, giving the illusion that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. He swallowed.
Hard.
He nodded woodenly as he walked past her to the bathroom, where he proceeded to take an ice-cold shower. As he was drying off, he spotted her glasses folded on his sink counter. He picked them up and smiled as he put them back. They looked like they belonged there.
The bedroom light was already out by the time he’d stepped out of the bathroom.
Light streaming in from the street illuminated Haley.
She laid on her back on the right side of the bed.
He walked over to her side of the bed and raised the covers.
Without a word, he climbed onto the bed and slowly laid down on top of her so that his lower stomach rested between her legs, keeping his errant erection away from her as best he could.
She opened her legs wider to cradle him.
Jason laid his head between her breasts and closed his eyes, releasing a sigh of pleasure.
She felt so good, so right. After a slight hesitation, he felt her move.
He wasn’t sure if she was about to shove him off or hit him.
He was taking liberties in their sleeping arrangement, but he couldn’t help it. He needed her so badly.
Instead of shoving him away, she wrapped one arm around his shoulders while she gently ran her fingers through his hair. That’s how he fell asleep, in the cradle of the woman he trusted and cared about most in the world. It was absolutely perfect.