Playing for Keeps anfh-1 Page 3

  "I just-"

  "Amy, who is it?" Jason's voice came from somewhere behind the woman apparently named Amy.

  Amy rolled her eyes. "It's just your neighbor dropping off brownies." She reached forward to take the plate from Haley. "I'll just take them so she can g-"

  "Brownies?" Jason said, suddenly filling the door, causing Amy to stumble back and out of the way.

  "Hey!" Amy snapped, but Jason didn't seem to hear her. His eyes were glued to the plate.

  "Are those," he noticeably swallowed, "brownies covered in peanut butter frosting?"

  Did he just whimper?

  "They're chocolate chunk fudge brownies with peanut butter frosting," she clarified automatically as her eyes caught the murderous glare Amy was sending her way. She was just about to hand the plate over to Jason and leave when everything in her stilled.

  After last night she was through with getting pushed around and intimidated. She was sick of missing out on things because she was too scared to do anything about it. She was a grown woman, damn it, and if she wanted to party it up at her first kegger then she was damn well going to do it and she was going to have fun doing it. Even if it killed her, and judging by the mascara glare being sent her way that was a good possibility.

  "Let me just take those off your hands so you can grab yourself a beer," Jason said, taking the plate from her, gazing down at it lovingly as he stepped back inside the house, leaving Haley to follow him.

  "Hey, those look good! Can I have one?" a man she'd seen hundreds of times around Jason's house asked, reaching out to take one.

  "Back the fuck off! She brought them for me, you bastard!" Jason snapped.

  Haley automatically took an anxious step back, fearing getting caught in the middle of the fight that was most definitely about to happen. But instead of yelling at Jason or getting mad like she'd seen a lot of guys do in bars over less the man just rolled his eyes and turned his attention to her.

  "Hi, my name is Brad," he said, holding out his hand.

  After only a slight hesitation, she hoped he hadn't noticed, she took a step forward and shook his hand. "Haley."

  "Haley, it's nice to meet you," he said with a charming smile. "I apologize for my friend's rudeness, he just learned how to walk upright last year," he said dryly, earning a soft chuckle from her and most everyone around them.

  Jason threw him a dirty look before making his way towards the kitchen, making sure to glare at anyone that came within touching distance of the brownies.

  Brad gestured towards the kitchen. "There's pizza, chips and plenty of drinks in there as long as Jason doesn't get to it first and a volleyball game going on in the backyard and of course video games in the living room until the game comes on. Make yourself at home," he said with a warm smile.

  "Thank you," she murmured, taking it all in. This was it? she wondered as she took in the laidback party. Something must have shown on her face, because a few seconds later Brad leaned in. "Were you expecting Animal House?" he asked, chuckling.

  "No!" she said quickly, too quickly. She had in fact been expecting something along those lines. She definitely hadn't pictured any of this. This she could definitely handle.

  He chuckled. "Come on outback with me so I can introduce you to my wife," Brad said, smiling. "I promise you'll have a good time."

  For the first time since she walked over here she thought she might just fit in with Jason's friends.

  * * *

  "Who's the hottie kicking Mitch's ass?"

  Without looking up from loading his plate with pizza he said, "Amy." At least he hoped it was Amy. Her clingy behavior was getting a little annoying and he hadn't missed the bitch act she put on for Haley or the dirty looks she'd been sending his shy little neighbor all night. He knew when he saw her heading towards his house earlier that he should have sent her away.

  "No, the cute little thing with the glasses."

  Frowning, Jason looked up and followed Pete's eyes towards the couch where Haley was sitting next to Mitch, playing a game on the Xbox.

  "She's my neighbor," he said, not liking the expression on Pete's face one bit.

  "Is she here with anyone?" Pete asked, never taking his eyes off Haley.

  "No."

  "Good," Pete said, looking back over his shoulder, grinning. "I won't even bother asking to use your room since we can just mozzy on over to her place."

  Jason sighed heavily. It seemed he was going to have to save Haley from two douchebags in one day.

  Pete turned to look at him. "What was that about?"

  "What?" Jason asked innocently.

  "That little sigh you just did," Pete said, gesturing lazily towards him.

  "Nothing," he said with a shrug, returning his attention to piling food on his plate, "I just didn't think you were into that, that's all."

  "Into what?" Pete demanded, sounding a little unsure. Considering the man's reputation there probably wasn't much that he wasn't into, which was why Jason decided he would not do for his shy little neighbor. It took him five years to get Haley to climb out of her shell. He wasn't about to let this jackass send her back there for good.

  "Just forget I said anything," Jason said, grabbing a cold soda from a cooler on the floor.

  "But-"

  "I don't want to get involved in this," Jason said, cutting him off. He moved to step past the man only to pause. "Just....just make sure she takes her medication and you should be safe, I mean fine." Jason quickly walked away before he burst into laughter at his friend's horrified expression.

  Damn that felt good. He should have done this years ago when he spotted the first asshole sniffing around Haley. Did this make him her wingman? he pondered that thought over as he walked over to the couch and shoved Mitch off so he could sit down next to his new little project. That was fine with him, he decided, because by the time he was done with her she'd be living a much more entertaining and asshole free life.

  Chapter 4

  Haley took a deep breath and said, “I’m gay.”

  “You’re gay?” the obnoxious guy who’d been sniffing around her and bugging the heck out of her in line for the past ten minutes repeated. “Are you sure?”

  She bit back a laugh. The guy looked truly upset. She hated pulling out the gay card, mostly because she wasn’t, but sometimes she had no choice. If he’d been nice when he was hitting on her she would have politely declined, but no, he had to be a complete pig the entire time.

  He actually used the old line, “That dress looks great on you, but it will even better crumpled on my bedroom floor in the morning.” Yeah. It was truly sad, especially since they were in a coffee shop and it was barely half past seven in the morning. Between dirty comments, overcrowding her and staring at her breasts she was starting to get a little irritated. Plus his B.O. was really turning her stomach. If she didn’t need a caffeine fix so badly she’d leave, but she did and couldn’t or she was pretty sure she'd die.

  Jason and some of the guys had been over last night to watch the game and since it went into extra innings and she was a dedicated fan she stayed up until two in the morning and of course she had to watch the post game wrap up. With barely four hours of sleep here she was practically getting mauled by the poster boy for deodorant.

  After three weeks it was still funny how she went from being completely intimidated by the man to thinking of him as an oversized teddy bear. She felt silly for her behavior. Jason could still be a pain in the ass, but a really nice pain in the ass. He still “borrowed” things from her classroom, but now he left her funny notes that had her laughing until she was crying, scaring the heck out of her students.

  She couldn’t help but wonder how many good friendships she’d missed over the years because of her shyness. Part of it of course was because after years of building up defenses she’d been judging people a little harshly like Jason. He was still a bit wild and a ridiculous flirt, but he was a big sweetie as well. He treated her like his buddy. It was actually rather nice to be treated like one of the guys. That being said though sometimes first impressions were dead on, like with her current problem.

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, do you think the two of you would want to-“

  “No,” she said firmly.

  “But what if I-“

  “No.”

  “Come on, you won’t let me finish. I have this camera-“

  “No.”

  “It would be fun-“

  “No.”

  “But what if-“

  “She said no,” Jason said as he cut in line and threw his arm around her shoulders in that lazy way of his.

  “Hey! I thought you said you were gay!” the man said accusingly.

  Without missing a beat Jason said, “She is. I’m just her bitch.”

  The man sent a narrowed glare at Jason’s arm and then to her. He sent another glare at Jason and she could tell the man was deciding whether he wanted to push it any further. Based on the man’s small size and Jason’s large muscular build he wisely chose to drop it.

  “So, what are you buying me this morning?” she asked Jason.

  He scoffed. “Me? Why am I buying?”

  “Because I helped you win fifty dollars off Brian last night.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I would have won it without your help.”

  “Uh huh,” she said absently, stepping up to the counter to place her order. She added a chocolate chip muffin, knowing Jason was going to steal hers. He seemed to have a thing for stealing her food.

  “I would have. I didn’t need your help you know,” he said more firmly.

  She grabbed her order while he was waiting for his and headed for the door. “See ya.”

  “I won that bet on my own!” he called after her, making her smile. Sometimes he was like a big child. It was rather cute.

  * * *

  Jason bit back a smile as he watched Haley tell Headmaster Jenkins that she couldn’t chaperone the dance tonight. A month ago his little shy friend would have simply stared at her coffee and nodded no matter what her plans were. Now, she was telling the man no, firmly yet gently.

  He took some pride in it. It was because of him after all. It took some work, but she was coming along rather nicely. Who knew there was a little tigress beneath all that cuteness? He sure hadn't, but it was nice to see her stick up for herself for once. The staff might bitch at his methods and his easy going relationship with the kids, but at least he never ganged up on a woman like Haley and took advantage of her making her chaperone this or organize that.

  “But, Haley, we really need you to chaperone. John has tickets to a play tonight.”

  “I’m sorry, Tom, but I have plans already tonight. I really wish I could help you out, but I can’t break my plans at the last minute. You understand,” she said politely yet firmly.

  Her self-esteem was clearly on the rise and it made the whole package even better and he wasn’t the only one to notice either. Other teachers were showing her more respect and the men were definitely noticing her. Oh, he took a hundred percent of the credit for his little protégé. Yup, he was the master. It was probably about time he used his greatness for good.

  He spotted the table where she left her coffee and muffins as well as three men, losers in his opinion, who were eying the seat next to hers. Without any hesitation he sauntered past them and sat down at her table, earning killing glares from the other men. Too bad. In his opinion if a man didn’t have the balls to make a move he didn’t deserve the woman he desired. Not that he desired Haley. He didn’t. She was his buddy and turning out to be one of his best friends. No, what he desired was that piping hot chocolate chip muffin with extra butter he saw her buy earlier.

  He sighed happily as he fished the muffin out of the bag. “When will she ever learn?” he mumbled as prepared his ill-gotten muffin.

  “Please, help yourself,” Haley said dryly as she sat down and added a sugar to her coffee.

  “Thank you, I think I will,” he said happily as he slathered more butter onto his muffin.

  “What are these amazing plans you have for tonight?” he asked between bites.

  “Date,” she said.

  “I guess that means our love affair is over,” he said with a pout.

  “I guess so.”

  “I’m hurt.”

  “You’ll survive….with therapy of course,” she said with a wink and a grin.

  “Is this another loser?”

  She looked away and mumbled something.

  “I’m sorry I don’t speak mumble,” he said while eying the piping hot apple muffin with streusel topping that she just took out of the bag. Hell, how had he missed that delicious little morsel?

  His hand seemed to have a life of its own as it crept towards that tasty little treat. With a gasp, Haley’s hands came down to protect her muffin.

  “Control yourself!” she hissed as she broke off a small chunk and ate it. His eyes went back to the muffin. He knew he was pouting when Haley rolled her eyes and continued to eat. Damn it, where was the love? He was a hungry man. With a sigh he opened his bag and pulled out one of his three coffee rolls and began eating all while keeping his eyes on that muffin.

  “You’re pathetic,” Haley muttered with an eye roll. She pushed the last half of her muffin over to him. With a huge grin he popped the large half into his mouth and savored it. It really was as good as it looked.

  “So, what is it that you don’t want me to know, my little grasshopper?” he asked, stirring his coffee. The last date she had was a loser in his opinion at least and really wasn’t that all that mattered? The loser was not worthy of all his work. They’d work on that until she dated guys that he approved of. Someone cool with a cabin in New Hampshire for fishing trips or a house down in Florida would make him very happy. He really could go for some deep sea fishing in the winter.

  “Stop calling me that!” Haley hissed softly. “For the hundredth time I am not the Daniel-son to your Mr. Miyagi.”

  He simply shrugged. “If that’s what you want to believe…”

  “It is and I do.”

  “If I could get everyone’s attention before you head off to homeroom?” Jenkins said, holding up his clipboard to get everyone’s attention in the teacher’s break room. “We need one more volunteer for tonight’s dance,” he said, throwing a hopeful glance Haley’s way.

  “Wax on…..wax off….” Jason whispered, earning a rather indelicate snort form Haley.

  “Did you say something, Miss. Blaine?” Jenkins asked Haley, drawing everyone’s attention to her.

  Jason leaned back in his seat and watched Haley as the blush crept up her cute little face. She nervously pushed her glasses up her nose. Ah, seems his protégé still hated drawing attention to herself. Well, she’d have to get used to that if they were going to be friends since he had a rather nasty habit of drawing attention to himself pretty much everywhere he went.

  “Yes, Miss. Blaine, did you have something to say?” Jason asked in an amused tone.

  She shot him a narrowed glare before turning to look at Jenkins. The glare was gone only to be replaced by a rather sweet and innocent smile. He was so focused on her smile that he almost missed what she said.

  “No, Mr. Jenkins, that wasn’t me. Mr. Bradford was volunteering to chaperone tonight,” she said cheerfully.

  “What?” he said, too late.

  Jenkins grinned at him. “Well, that’s excellent! Very good. Make sure you’re here by seven o’clock and it goes until eleven. Thank you, Mr. Bradford.” Jenkins said. It didn’t escape Jason’s notice that the man didn’t bother double checking with him and that he practically ran out of the room before Jason could refuse.

  His attention immediately turned to the little traitor. “You betraying bitch,” he gasped.

  Her smile went from innocent to wicked in less than a second. “Have fun at the dance.” She stood up and placed her hands together in front of her as if she were praying and bowed.

  Smartass.

  She betrayed him. Damn that hurt. He couldn’t help but grin. She really was coming along rather nicely.

  * * *

  “Oh my god, I love him!” the girl, Cindy or something, wailed loudly, making Jason shift nervously. He’d never dealt well with emotions, especially female emotions. He looked around nervously and damn near sighed with relief when he spotted a small group of girls descend on the girl.

  “He’s such a jerk!” one of them said.

  “Don’t say that! I love him!” Cindy cried.

  “Oh, I know you do. He’s not good enough for you,” a slightly chubby girl said as she put her arm around the girl.

  Good. Everything was fine. He could go back to chaperoning a bunch of hormone driven teenagers to god awful music. Yup, he was truly going to kill Haley. He stepped away.

  “Mr. Bradford, why would he do this to me?” the girl demanded.

  He froze mid-step and looked around nervously, hoping another Mr. Bradford was standing close by and willing to handle this. No such luck.

  He cleared his throat. “Do what exactly?”

  She scoffed at him with a look of utter disbelief that told him she thought he should be very aware of everything in her life. Considering he’d never paid much attention to any woman’s life she was in for a hell of a rude awakening. Thankfully one of her friends took pity on him.

  “Marc Griswold. They ate at the same table two times in the last two weeks, he talked to her during study hall, and asked to borrow her notes. Now he’s here with her,” she said with such distaste that he couldn’t help but follow her glare.

  He spotted Marc dancing with a very pretty brunette. Her name he remembered, Janie. She was a smart girl and funny as hell. If memory served him correctly Marc had been in love with the girl for the last two years. The poor guy who was normally so sure of himself and easy going turned to a stuttering fool when the girl was around. He’d been wondering when the kid was going to work up the courage to finally ask her out.

  “Hmmm, good for him,” he mumbled, earning a collective gasp of outrage.