Chapter 16
“Oh, my God, stop eating that!” Haley said, trying not to laugh and failing miserably.
Jason popped the fudge brownie that he’d managed to steal in his mouth with a wink. With an exasperated sigh, she reached into the backseat to fix the plastic wrap on the plates of brownies, cookies, and cupcakes that he’d somehow managed to get his hands on.
“If you keep stealing food, there won’t be any left for your family’s cookout,” she said, knowing that wasn’t a good enough reason to stop him from eating everything. She was willing to bet there wasn’t much that could come between him and food.
“But I love your cooking,” he mumbled sadly.
She rolled her eyes at his lame attempt. “Uh-huh.”
“Well, at least I’m not touching the potato salad. You really should appreciate the little things in life, my little grasshopper.”
Haley scoffed in disbelief. “The only reason you’re not scarfing that down is because it’s in a cooler safely locked away in the trunk with the macaroni salad.”
His brows shot up. “There’s macaroni salad? Why was I not informed of this?”
“Probably because I didn’t trust you not to devour it?”
He shook his head, sighing, “So little trust.”
“You ate an entire bowl of cookie dough yesterday when I made the mistake of running out to the store without hiding it first. Seriously, I thought it would be safe.”
“You were wrong.”
“Your obsession with food is starting to scare me,” she said, nodding solemnly.
“It’s not an obsession. I’m a growing boy, damn it.”
She raised one brow in disbelief.
“Thank God we’re here. I’m starving,” Jason grumbled as he parked in the only empty spot on the street, which just happened to be in front of a large white Victorian house with black trim where a party was clearly being held.
They loaded their arms up with the food Haley made and headed for the front door.
Once they made it to the front door, Jason moved to knock only to rethink his plan since his hands were full and lightly kicked the door instead.
A few seconds later, the door was opened by an older woman with black hair. She took one look at Jason and smiled.
“It’s my baby boy!” she announced loudly to the crowd in the house behind her as she cupped his face and pulled him down to give him a sound kiss on the cheek. She stepped back only to notice Haley standing there. Her expression went from excited to stunned in a matter of seconds.
Jason smiled sheepishly. “Mom, this is my girlfriend, Haley Blaine,” he said, gesturing towards her with the plate of brownies in his hand. “Haley, this is my mother, Megan Bradford.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. Bradford,” Haley said, feeling a little awkward with his mother standing there gaping at her. Not that his mother seemed to be capable of responding or anything at the moment. Actually, Haley was starting to become a little concerned.
Was she breathing?
“Girlfriend?” Megan finally choked out.
“Yeah, why do you sound so-” Jason started to say only to be cut off by his mother when she yelled, “Jared!”
Haley shot a nervous look at Jason, who was muttering something about putting his mother in a nursing home that only served green Jell-O.
She looked back at the door in time to see an older man, who was clearly Jason’s father judging by the almost identical features, step into the doorway. He smiled when he saw Jason.
“What’s going on?” his father asked.
“Mom’s freaking out,” Jason said. “Any chance we can get in there before my girlfriend’s arms fall off?”
The man noticeably started as he looked at Haley and then did a double-take.
“Girlfriend?” he asked in clear disbelief.
“Yes, Girlfriend!” Jason snapped, but his parents didn’t seem to notice since they were staring at her like they couldn’t quite believe what they were seeing. On top of that, her arms were starting to feel like they were about to fall off.
“Ah, about to drop the cupcakes,” Haley mumbled as she tried to readjust the three plates in her arms.
“Oh, sorry,” Jared said with a sheepish smile as he reached over and relieved her of the cupcakes while his wife grabbed the plate of peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies from her.
Jared looked from her to the plate in his hands.
“Where did you buy these? They look good,” he said as his hand expertly snuck beneath the plastic wrap and stole one.
Ah, like father like son, Haley thought.
She looked him over quickly. The man was clearly in great shape, a good sign for Jason since he couldn’t seem to stop eating.
“I made them,” Haley said, feeling a little embarrassed by all of the attention.
“You made these?” Jared asked with a cupcake in his hand.
She nodded.
“She’s a great cook,” Jason announced proudly.
Jared took a big bite, closed his eyes and made a yummy moaning sound. In seconds, he had the entire cupcake devoured. He reached out and snagged the second plate of cupcakes from Haley and headed back inside the house without a word.
“My cupcakes!” they heard him snap at someone. Haley just barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Definitely like father, like son.
“Hey, old man, she made those for me!” Jason yelled, charging past his mother to go after the cupcakes, leaving Haley with Megan, who she’d like to point out, was still staring at her.
“Um, I have two more plates of cupcakes in the car. I didn’t think those two would survive the trip over here,” Haley said, feeling foolish. Perhaps she should go hang out in the car until after the party was over? Seven hours in a car with nothing to do sounded better than being gawked at.
Megan’s eyes narrowed on her. “You’re really his girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“This isn’t just some sick game he’s playing?”
“Uh, no...is there something wrong?” Haley couldn’t help but wonder.
“Nothing other than you are the first woman that he’s ever brought home and you’ll have to forgive me if I seem a little surprised.
For a moment there, I’d thought hell had frozen over,” Megan said with a rueful shake of her head and a sigh as she put her arm around Haley’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze.
“Now, let’s go in there and give everyone the shock of a lifetime. ”
“Mom,” Jason growled in warning.
She ignored him.
Again.
He leaned forward and tried to grab the photo album off Haley’s lap only to have his hand slapped away by two women.
“Damn it, Mom! This is supposed to be a barbecue. Shouldn’t you be mingling and being a good hostess or something, instead of sitting here embarrassing me?”
“The hell with the barbecue! I’ve waited almost thirty years for my only child to bring home a woman and I’ll not be denied!” she snapped as several people around her smartly moved back while he just glared.
“Ah, you look so cute-”
“Naturally,” Jason said with a sniff.
“-playing dress up in your mother’s clothes,” Haley said with an evil little smile. He turned his glare on her. She simply smiled sweetly and returned her attention to the pictures that he planned on destroying later.
“Haley?”
She ignored him pointedly and laughed along with his mother.
“Haley, do you want to go get something to eat?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I could go for a burger and potato salad, thank you,” she said dismissively before laughing at something his mother was showing her.
“Oh, that sounds good. I’ll take the same. Thank you, sweetie. Oh, and get us each another soda since we seem to have run out,” Megan said, gesturing to their empty cups.
Where the hell was the adoration and love?
His mother normally babied him. Hell, at this point, she was usually getting him his third plate of food and another drink.
Let’s not forget Haley, who should be loading up a plate for herself with food for him to steal. What the hell was wrong with his women?
With a grumble, Jason walked into the kitchen, absently noting that food covered every surface and grabbed two plates off the counter.
As he made up their plates, his father, who was licking frosting off his fingers, walked into the room along with two of Jason’s uncles and three of his cousins.
The bastard hid the cupcakes and wouldn’t share.
When Haley made the mistake of mentioning the two plates of cupcakes still in her trunk, he ran for them with his father close behind.
The man actually tackled him to the ground, stole his keys, and his beloved cupcakes.
“Those were without a doubt the best cupcakes I’ve ever had,” his father announced happily.
“We wouldn’t know since you wouldn’t share any of them, you greedy bastard,” Uncle Chuck, his mother’s youngest brother, said.
“I don’t share,” Jared said simply.
The men rolled their eyes.
“So,” his cousin Trevor said as he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his massive chest, “how much did you pay her?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jason asked, placing the mustard back on the counter.
His other cousin Nate answered, “What he means is, why is she here? Did you pay her? Did she owe you a favor? We’re just wondering how you managed to get her here.”
Pissed, Jason snatched the ketchup bottle with more force than necessary and squeezed an insane amount on both burgers.
“She’s my girlfriend, plain and simple,” he bit out.
“Uh-huh,” his father muttered, clearly not believing him.
Jason slammed the bun on top of the burger, forcing ketchup out the sides. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Why is it so hard for you bastards to believe that she’s my girlfriend?”
They took that as their cue to tell him exactly why they didn’t think Haley was his girlfriend.
“She’s too nice.”
“Too sweet.”
“Nothing at all like the skanks you normally date.”
“She doesn’t come off as a brainless bitch like the girls you took to the clubs.”
“She doesn’t annoy the shit out of us.”
“Plus, there is that whole thing where you’ve never claimed to have a girlfriend before, never told us about her, and gave your mother and me the surprise of a lifetime when you announced her earlier. So, you can see why we’re curious,” his father finished with a shrug.
“Plus, she’s clearly too good for you,” Uncle Mark added for good measure. “That’s my main reason for not believing this bullshit story.”
Well, that...hurt. Not that he could argue that she was too good for him. She was. There was no question about that. What really hurt was that they didn’t believe him. He was known for being an asshole, not a liar. There was a big difference as far as he was concerned.
His mother chose that moment to walk in the kitchen, smiling. Thank God. She’d put an end to all this nonsense.
“Do you need help with those burgers, sweetie?” she asked, frowning down at the hamburger he’d squished into a pancake. She lightly tsked him as she threw away the burgers and started over.
“I’m glad you’re here, Mom,” Jason said as she shot him a warm smile.
While looking pointedly at the men in his family, he asked her, “What do you think of Haley?”
Her smile grew. “Oh, she’s such a sweet girl.
I’m so glad you brought her. I just wish that you would date a girl like her instead of the girls you find at bars, sweetie.
A woman like that is just what you need.
I’m sure if you straighten out your act a bit that you could get a woman like Haley one-”
The men laughed.
Bastards!
Jason held up a hand. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, woman, back up there a second. I bring a woman home and introduce her as my girlfriend and you’re giving me a lecture on how to get her to go out with me? Are you serious?”
She blinked up at him. “Well, yes. I’ve heard about some of those girls you date, sweetie, and while I appreciate the fact that you’ve never brought any of them home to meet me, I would really like to see you with someone. It would be nice if you considered dating Haley. She’s such a nice woman.”
He thrust his hands into his hair. This was insane! Was this what normally took place when a man brought a woman home to meet his family? He was pretty sure that it wasn’t. God, this was worse than when he’d met Haley’s family.
“Shouldn’t you be getting all excited and trying to push for marriage and grandbabies at this point?” he asked, not really wanting to encourage his mother to do that, but that’s what happened when Brad brought Jill home to meet his family six years ago.
Megan looked thoughtful for a moment. “You know, I probably would if I thought you were serious about dating Haley. She’s a very nice woman and I think she would do you a world of good.” She smiled excitedly. “Are you thinking of asking her out?”
“Why the hell would I have to ask my girlfriend out? She’s already going out with me. What is wrong with you people?”
She rolled her eyes as she playfully slapped his shoulder.
“Oh, honey, you don’t have to keep pretending.
I’m glad you have a friend like Haley. Everyone thinks she’s great.
” She tapped a finger to her chin, looking thoughtful.
“Of course, your Aunt Ruth has been pushing her towards Jeff for the past ten minutes and Chris and David have been trying to ask her out for the past hour. I mean, clearly, she’s a catch. What I don’t understand is-”
Jason cut her off. “Men from my own family are hitting on my girlfriend?”
“They’ve been hitting on your friend,” his mother clarified, sounding annoyed as though he was the one messing with her head. Seriously, what was wrong with his family? Why was it so hard for them to believe that Haley was his girlfriend?
“Actually,” Trevor said a bit sheepishly, “I was going to ask her if she wanted to catch a movie and dinner after the party.”
Jason’s jaw dropped so fast that he was surprised the damn thing hadn’t unhinged.
He quickly recovered so that he could threaten his cousin.
“You stay the hell away from my girlfriend!” Jason said, pointing before he turned his finger on the rest of his family.
“Just know that at this moment, I hate you all.” They rolled their eyes.
His finger stopped in front of his father.
He narrowed his eyes on his old man. “And I’m never sharing any more of Haley’s baked goods with you! ”
Jared gasped. “But...but...but...”
With that, Jason stormed out of the kitchen. He just thanked God his friends were there for him because clearly, his family wasn’t. Was it really so hard to believe that he could land a woman like Haley?