Playing For Keeps (18 page)

"Ah, about to drop the cupcakes," she
mumbled as she tried to readjust the three plates in her
arms.

"Oh, sorry," Jared said, reaching out
and relieving 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. Ah, like father
like son, Haley thought. She looked him over quickly. The man was
clearly in shape, a good sign for Jason since the man couldn't stop
eating.

"I made them," Haley said, feeling a
little embarrassed by 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 moan sound. In seconds he had the entire cupcake
devoured. He reached out and snagged the second plate of cupcakes
from Haley and headed back into the house without a
word.

"My cupcakes!" they heard him snap at
someone. Haley just barely stopped an eye roll. 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 was still staring at her.

"Um," she gestured to the car. "I have
two more plates of cupcakes. I didn't think those two would survive
the trip over here," she 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?"
She was really starting to feel self-conscious.

"Nothing other than you are the first
woman he's ever brought home and you'll have to forgive me if I
seem a little surprised. For a moment there I thought hell had
frozen over." She put her arm around Haley's shoulders as if they
were old friends. "Now, let's go in there and give a few dozen
people 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 barbeque. Shouldn't you be mingling and being a good hostess or
something instead of sitting here and embarrassing me?"

"The hell with the barbeque! I've
waited over thirty years for my only child to bring home a woman
and I'll not be denied!" Several people around his mother smartly
moved back while he just glared.

"Ah, you look so cute-"

"Naturally," he 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 to the pictures from
hell.

"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 pointed out.

"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
without looking away from that damn album he was going to have to
torch.

Where the hell was the
adoration and love? His mother normally babied him. Hell, at this
point she normally was getting
him
a third plate of food and a drink. Let's not
forget Haley who should be loading up a plate for herself with food
for him to steal. What was wrong with his women?

He walked into the kitchen where food
covered every surface. As he made up their plates his father, who
was licking icing off his fingers, walked into the room 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
said.

"I don't share," Jared said
simply.

The men rolled their eyes.

"So," his cousin Trevor said as he
leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his massive
chest, "how much did you pay her?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"
he asked, placing the ketchup 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."

Aggravated, he 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 said.

"Uh huh," his father said in clear
disbelief.

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 she 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 or would argue that she was too good for him. She was. There
was no question about that. What really hurt was 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 come
in 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 squished
into a pancake. She lightly tsked him as she threw away the burgers
and started over.

"I'm glad you're here,
Mom."

She smiled warmly up at
him.

While looking at the men of 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." Her smiled turned
wistful. "I just wished 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 your act a bit you'll get a
woman like Haley one-"

The men laughed.

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 them home to 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 crazy. Was this what normally took place when a man
brought a woman home to meet his family? He was pretty sure it
wasn't. This was worse than when he 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 six years ago to
meet his family.

Megan looked thoughtful for a moment.
"You know I probably would if you were dating her. 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 and 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. "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 in an annoyed tone as if he was the one messing
with her mind. Seriously what was wrong with his family? Why was it
so hard for them to believe 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
he was surprised the damn thing didn't unhinge. He quickly
recovered so he could threaten his cousin. "You stay the hell away
from my girlfriend!" he said, pointing. 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 he 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?

Chapter 17

"Let me get this straight," Brad said,
putting his beer on the ground between his feet. "You took Haley to
meet your family without any type of warning and you were surprised
they didn't believe the two of you were dating?"

"Yes!"

"Well, I can see why they didn't
believe you," Mitch said as he snagged another beer out of the ice
bucket.

"Oh, and why is that?" Jason asked as
he stole the beer out of Mitch's hands.

Mitch grumbled something, but smartly
let it go. He grabbed another beer and popped the top.

"Well, wasn't your mother getting on
your case about settling down?" Brad asked.

"Yes, and you would think she'd be
happy when I brought Haley home."

Brad nodded. "And for the past year
hasn't she been threatening you with finding someone for
you?"

"Yes, but-"

"And every time you went over there
for dinner, party or cookout hasn't your mother had several women
on hand to meet you?" Brad continued.

"Yes, but-"

"Did she have any women at the BBQ for
you to meet?" Mitch asked.

"Five or six I guess," Jason said with
a shrug of his shoulders. He hadn't really paid attention to any of
them other than to duck the hell out of the way when they were
looking for him. Just like every other time his mother tried to
play matchmaker she'd chosen needy, well more like clingy, women
who had no other interests other than themselves and finding a
boyfriend.

Both of his friends sucked in a
breath. "Shit."

"That must have pissed Haley off,"
Brad said.

"I don't think she had time to notice.
Not with half the men in my family hitting on her," Jason bit out
angrily.

"That's fucked up," Mitch
said.

It was pretty fucked up. No one
listened to him. It was one of the most annoying parties he'd ever
been to. When he wasn't trying to get away from some really
annoying clingy woman his mother had invited with the sole purpose
of marrying him he was busy getting into arguments with whatever
bastard in his family was asking for Haley's phone
number.

Like every single other
time Haley was completely oblivious to it. Every time he pulled her
aside to talk to her about it she just laughed until tears were
rolling down her cheeks. When they returned to the room it was
obvious that she had cried and every man would glare at him. They
acted like Haley needed protection from
him
.