Chapter 18
“Baby, stop!” Haley said, unable to stop laughing.
Jason’s arms tightened around her waist, keeping her from walking away. “Stay home with me. I missed you,” he said, giving her his best pout.
She gently ran her fingers through his hair the way he liked it. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but I can’t back out again. I promised Amy and the girls that I was coming tonight.”
There was no way that she could stay home tonight. Over the past week, she’d come so close to wrecking the surprise that she’d been planning for the past month by telling him everything. She knew that if she stayed home tonight that the excitement would get to her and she’d ruin everything.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without her grandmother’s help.
A few times, Haley had considered giving up when money became an issue, but then Grandma offered to help her.
She’d somehow managed to find the perfect place at less than half the cost of every place Haley had looked at.
It was the first time Haley had ever accepted her grandmother’s help. It had always been important for her to make it on her own without her family. For Jason, she’d sucked up her pride and asked Grandma to help her find the perfect cottage to rent and now, everything was going to be perfect.
“Does it even matter that I’m on my knees begging you? You’re really going to be able to leave someone this pathetic?” Jason demanded in a sulky tone.
Haley rolled her eyes as she gently pried his arms from around her waist. “It’s just for a couple of hours. You won’t even know I’m gone,” she promised him.
He sat back on his haunches, doing his best to look pathetic.
She did her best not to roll her eyes again. It was just so damn cute and sweet that he didn’t want to spend even one night without her. That was something she’d never expected from Jason Bradford, one of many things actually. He was so sweet and attentive.
“What if I promise to make you a batch of brownies tomorrow?” Haley asked, deciding to use his love of baked goods against him.
He snorted in disbelief as he got to his feet. “I’m not some whore you can buy with a pan of yummy baked goods, woman. How dare you insult me?” Jason said on a sniff as he folded his arms over his chest and did his best to look upset.
“Fine,” Haley said with a sigh. “What if I promise to make a big bowl of frosting tomorrow and let you lick it off me?”
She had to bite back a smile as Jason shifted anxiously while he licked his lips and ran his eyes hungrily down her body. “Buttercream?” he croaked.
“Mmmmhmm,” she said, walking over to him. She cupped the back of his neck and gently tugged him down for a quick kiss. “And if you’re good, I might lick some off you,” she said, loving the idea.
“Get your own bowl of frosting. I don’t share,” Jason simply said, giving her one last kiss before walking out the door, whistling happily, no doubt thinking about the large bowl of frosting that he was going to devour tomorrow.
With a smile, she grabbed her small black purse and headed out the door.
She wasn’t surprised to find Jason playing basketball with Mitch and Brad.
Not that she would ever really expect it, but it was nice to know that he’d pick her over his friends.
She wasn’t the type of woman that expected a guy’s attention twenty-four-seven, but it was nice to know that it was hers if she wanted it.
She blew a kiss in his direction and couldn’t help but laugh when Mitch jumped in front of Jason to steal it.
“That was my kiss, you bastard!” Jason yelled, placing Mitch in a chokehold and taking him down to the ground while Brad stood by, sighing.
He really was a sweetheart. Maybe she’d make him a big batch of fudge brownies to go along with that bowl of frosting.
“And stop looking at her ass!” Jason snapped.
“Oh, my God, I can’t believe you came,” Amy said, leaning back in her chair as she watched Haley approach the table.
“He’s probably right behind her,” Sarah pointed out with a laugh.
“Ha, ha, very funny,” Haley said, taking the only empty seat at the table as her four friends and a woman she had never met before gave her knowing looks.
Amy gestured to the new woman. “This is my friend, Kate. Kate, this is Haley, the woman I told you about.”
Frowning, Haley reached over to shake the woman’s well-manicured hand. She couldn’t help but wonder what Amy had said about her. Thankfully, she didn’t have to wonder for long.
“So, this is the woman that brought Jason Bradford to his knees?” Kate asked, cocking her head to the side as she ran an assessing eye over Haley. Haley didn’t miss the woman’s lips twitching when she came to her glasses. Obviously, the woman thought she came up short.
Haley didn’t care what this woman thought.
It wasn’t the first time someone had a hard time believing that she was with Jason and probably wouldn’t be the last. There was no denying that she wasn’t Jason’s usual type.
She hadn’t lived next door to the man for five years without learning a thing or two.
Granted, she never saw the women until after he’d dumped them and they were turned into drunk screaming messes, but it was pretty easy to guess his type.
The old Jason, as she liked to think of the not so sweet Jason, used to drive her insane and liked women who were a walking, breathing advertisement for sex.
Kind of like Kate, Haley thought with an inward groan.
With her perfect silky, long raven hair, makeup that made her look sultry, and clothes that were a little too tight and showed off way too much, Kate was definitely the old Jason’s type.
Judging by the smug smirk on the woman’s face, she knew exactly what Haley was thinking.
“How long have the two of you been together?” Kate asked casually, but Haley hadn’t missed the calculating gleam in her eyes.
Before she could tell her that it was none of her business, Amy answered for her, “Almost two months.”
The surprised look on Kate’s face was rewarding.
She knew she’d lasted longer with Jason than any other woman, surprisingly, since she’d never put out.
Well, she did do a thousand and one naughty things with him and kept his interest with baked goods, but that was neither here nor there.
She was pretty sure that he really cared about her, maybe even loved her.
Okay, love might be pushing it for a man like Jason, but she was pretty damn sure that he cared about her.
He was always sweet to her and seemed genuinely happy to see her.
Not to mention that he went out of his way to spend time with her.
She wasn’t entirely sure, but she didn’t think he’d done that with anyone before her.
“That’s pretty impressive,” Kate mumbled distractedly.
Amy waved off her comment, leaning closer towards Haley with an unholy gleam in her eye. “Well?” she said expectantly.
Haley could only frown as she looked past her friend for the waitress. Suddenly she had the feeling that the only way that she was going to survive this girl’s night out was with a lot of alcohol.
She looked back and was startled to find Beth, Alice, and Jen leaning towards her with knowing looks.
“Well, what?” Haley asked, wondering if she needed to start drug testing her friends. They were seriously freaking her out.
As one, they rolled their eyes. It was seriously creepy. Haley barely fought back the urge to flee.
“Have you slept with him yet?” Amy hissed excitedly.
“Oh...that,” Haley said, squirming in her chair and feeling a little self-conscious. “We sleep together every night,” she said, hoping against hope that they’d drop the subject, especially with the way Kate was glaring at her.
Beth snorted. “We know that you sleep together. What we’re wondering is if you’ve finally had sex with the man!”
Her cheeks began to burn.
Kate looked confused. “She just said she’s sleeping with him.”
Amy leaned back in her chair, taking a sip of her martini. “Haley here doesn’t have sex with a man unless she’s in love with him, right?” she said, giving Haley a pointed look.
Why, oh, why had she shared that little tidbit of information all those years ago in college? Oh, that’s right, because she’d been drunk.
She squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. “I just want to be sure,” Haley mumbled pathetically.
Kate sat up straighter, holding her hand up to stop Haley’s friends as they opened their mouths to no doubt give her another lecture on sex in the twenty-first century. None of them understood why she wanted to wait.
“You’ve kept Jason Bradford interested for two months and you haven’t even had sex with him?” Kate asked, clearly as surprised as her friends were.
“Yes,” Haley said somewhat defensively. “Our relationship isn’t about sex.”
Kate sat back, back to giving her a condescending look. “Clearly.”
Haley opened her mouth to give the woman a piece of her mind when Beth cut her off.
“Oh, look at that,” Beth said, gesturing with her frilly pink drink towards the entrance of the bar. Everyone looked and chuckled, and for once, Haley was glad that they lived in a small town.
Jason spotted her and waved and then, of course, slapped Mitch upside his head when the man blew her a kiss. Rolling her eyes, Haley stood up and grabbed her purse.
“I’ll be right back,” Haley said, not really sure if she would. She really didn’t feel like spending the night getting hounded over her virginity again.
“Uh-huh,” Beth said.
“Sure,” Amy said.
Haley didn’t bother arguing with them. She wasn’t in the mood. All she wanted to do was cuddle with Jason while he fed her hot wings. Was that too much to ask for?
She walked over to their table. Jason paused mid-order when he saw her. Frowning, he asked the waitress to come back in a few minutes.
“What’s wrong, my little grasshopper?” Jason asked, pulling her against his side.
“Girl’s night sucks,” Haley mumbled pathetically against his shoulder.
He chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“Do you want to join guy’s night?” he asked, sounding amused.
After a short pause, she asked, “Do I have to have a penis?”
“I think we can ignore that requirement tonight,” Jason said, chuckling.
“Will you buy me hot wings?” Haley mumbled, tracing circles on his knee.
He sighed heavily. “If I must.”
“You must,” she said, nodding solemnly.
“Anything else?”
She shook her head. “No, that will do,” she announced, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
“I’ll order you hot wings if you kiss me,” Mitch offered. “In fact, if you kiss my-Ow! Damn it!” he snapped, glaring at Brad.
Brad gestured towards Jason with his beer. “It saves time this way.”
Laughing and feeling better already, she gave Jason one last kiss before heading to the bathroom, where she would no doubt spend half the night just waiting in line.