Playing For Keeps (8 page)

“Are you my Haley’s boyfriend?” her
grandmother demanded. Wow, she was a no nonsense woman. Just like
Haley, once she was out of her shell of course.

*************

Haley felt her face burn as she waited
for the earth to open beneath her and drag her under. Prayed for it
was more like it.

“No, Grandma, he’s not my boyfriend.
He’s my friend from next door.”

Grandma’s eyes narrowed on Jason.
Haley was about to tell her Grandmother to cut it out. That look
had sent many friends and boyfriends running scared, but to her
complete surprise Jason didn’t cower.

He reached over and shook her hand.
“My name is Jason Bradford. I’m the neighbor from hell.”

Grandma’s lips twitched. She looked
over at her companion. “Chris, be a dear and go get the items we
picked up.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, leaving Grandma
with them. He sent Haley a smile before he hurried away. No doubt
he was expecting Grandma to tear into Jason. Hell, that’s exactly
what she was waiting for.

“You also work with my granddaughter,
Mr. Bradford. Isn’t that correct?”

Without asking Jason pushed Grandma
carefully to the table and locked the chair. “Yup, I make her life
a living hell there as well.”

“You sound proud,” Grandma
noted.

Jason walked over to the grill and
started placing the meat on the grill. “I am,” he said,
smiling.

Grandma did something she’d only heard
when it was just the two of them. She laughed. It was soft and
musical and immediately brought memories of a happy childhood to
her mind making her smile in return. Jason caught her eye and
winked.

“I like you,” Grandma
announced.

“Thank you, Mrs.-”

“You may call me Grandma,” she said in
a tone that let him know she would not tolerate him calling her
anything else.

Haley sat there stunned. She was the
only one allowed to call her Grandma. The rest of the grandchildren
called her grandmother when they started to take after their
parents.

“Okay, Grandma it is,” Jason said with
an easy smile. Wow the man really did have a way with
women.

Chris stepped out from the house, no
doubt where he just put away an enormous amount of groceries that
had nothing to do with a barbeque. It was one of Grandma’s sneaky
ways of helping her out since she refused to accept financial help
from her family. Grandma had her ways.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, ma’am, but it
seems some of the guests from the last barbeque have followed us
here,” Chris said softly.

“Who is it?” Haley asked.

“Your cousins and a few aunts. I
believe one or both of your sisters as well, Miss. Haley,” Chris
said.

Grandma waved a dismissive hand
towards the front of the house. “Well, they can leave because there
isn’t enough food,” she said even though she hadn’t looked at the
grill.

“I can put some more on if you want,”
Jason offered.

“No!” Haley and Grandma said at once,
startling Jason.

Chris cleared his throat. “They’re
rather insistent about joining, ma’am.”

“Tell them to go away or I’ll write
them out of my will in the morning,” Grandma said
firmly.

Chris hid his smile as he turned to do
just that.

Jason gave them all a curious look
before shrugging. Apparently he really didn’t care enough to be
bothered, which was a good thing for her. She earned her way in
life and didn’t want anyone thinking any differently. All her
friends knew she came from money and none of them cared. She was
just Haley to them and she planned to keep it that way.

“What did you think of your father’s
birthday gift, Haley?” Grandma asked.

Jason frowned. “I missed your
birthday?”

“It was months ago,” Haley said with a
shrug.

“He just remembered today?” Jason
asked in disbelief.

“It’s no big deal,” Haley said, giving
him a tight smile.

Jason scoffed. “If you say
so.”

“I do.”

“Fine.”

“Fine
.”

“Ah, children? If I may interrupt?
Haley, have you looked at your gift?” Grandma asked.

“Not yet.” There was no rush. She
already knew what was in there since her father thought she was
twenty-five there would be twenty-five hundred dollar bills in an
unsigned card.

“Well, go get it,” Grandma
said.

With a sigh she went into the house,
rolling her eyes at the overfilled bags of groceries that covered
her kitchen counters and table and retrieved the envelope from her
purse. She carried it out and sat down with it.

“Well, open it!” Grandma
said.

“Why are you so eager for me to see
this gift?” Haley asked suspiciously.

“Because I’m the one that suggested
your gift,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Haley bit her lip so she wouldn’t cry.
Not only had her father forgotten her birthday, but Grandma had to
be the one to finally remind him and most likely ordered her
gift.

She opened the card and wasn’t too
surprised to see the card wasn’t signed. Surprise, surprise. Her
eyes shifted to the gift and froze there. It was a full minute
before she began breathing again. In another ten seconds she was up
and around the table, hugging her grandmother and kissing
her.

“You are the best, ever!” Haley said
between kisses.

Grandma laughed. “I’m glad you like
it. I wanted to give those to you but you’re so damn stubborn about
no one helping you so I used your father’s stupidity. Now you have
to accept them,” Grandma said with a firm nod.

*************

Jason got up and flipped the burgers
before he added the hot dogs. He turned back in time to see Haley
jumping up and down and giggling like a school girl.

“Well, don’t leave me in suspense,” he
said, earning a loud squeal from Haley.

Apparently she was beyond words so she
pushed the card into his hands. He looked down. Blinked. Blinked
again before stumbling back into a chair. Did he just wet himself?
Ah, who cared? He was holding four tickets to the Yankees vs. Red
Sox at Yankee Stadium for this Friday and they were without a doubt
the best seats in the stadium.

His eyes shifted from Haley to the
tickets and back again before he made a split second decision and
made a run for it. He didn’t make it five feet before his little
grasshopper tackled him to the ground and ripped the card from his
hands.

He spit grass out of his mouth. “Fine.
You can come with me I guess,” he said, earning a knee to the
ribs.

Chapter 7

“I love you, Derek!”

Jason tried to drag Haley back to her
seat, but she fought him tooth and nail. “I love you,
Derek!”

“He knows, woman! He’s known since the
first inning. Let the man focus,” he said, finally managing to drag
her a foot when that bastard Derek Jeter went and waved to Haley.
That did it. She tried to break free and make a run for the
field.

Trying not to drop her as he burst out
laughing, he readjusted his grip and pulled Haley back with him
until she was sitting on his lap. He kept one arm around her waist
as he retrieved his beer from Brad.

The man threw him another triumphant
grin. For three days Jason taunted the man with the two extra
tickets. He already knew he was going. There was an unspoken
understanding between him and Haley. If she tried to leave without
him he would burn her house down, plain and simple. This was a
Yankees/Red Sox game for Christ sake.

On the third day of taunting the
little betraying bastard had his wife call up Haley. Little tattle
tale. Since Haley’s friends hated anything to do with any sport she
invited Brad and another friend of his, Mitch. Mitch was a good
buddy and had an obvious crush on Haley, one that she didn’t seem
interested in. That was fine with him because he didn’t think Mitch
was good enough for his sweet little grasshopper.

“Come on! He was safe! Get your head
out of your ass and pay attention!” Haley screamed as she bounced
on his lap, desperate for freedom, no doubt to rip the umpire’s
head off.

Okay, he thought, chuckling, maybe
sweet was a bit much. His little grasshopper was a little fire
cracker.

“Calm down before you get us kicked us
out of the stadium,” he said, laughing.

She huffed and crossed her arms over
chest as she leaned back into him. “Cheating bastards,” she
muttered.

“Because they’re winning?” he asked,
already knowing the answer.

“Yes!”

“Relax and I’ll buy you a foam
finger,” he said, absently caressing her stomach with his thumb
while she thought it over. Today she wore a tight pink tank top
with an open Yankees jersey and a pair of shorts giving him and
every guy a look as those golden beauties.

“I already have a foam finger at
home,” she pointed out sullenly.

“Then what would my little grasshopper
like?” he asked, fighting back the urge to press a kiss to her
back.

She glared over her shoulder at him.
“I’m not going to call you Mr. Miyagi you know.”

“Yes you will, but that’s not
important at the moment. What do you want?” he asked as his eyes
dropped to her pouty little lips. What the hell? He pulled his gaze
away in time to catch Mitch’s dirty look and Brad’s
smirk.

Haley stole his beer and took a sip.
She returned it to him with a grimace. “That’s warm.”

“Well, it did take me over twenty
minutes to drag you back here before you could jump the wall,” he
pointed out.

“Whatever, you’re just messing with
fate,” she said as she stood up. He reluctantly let her, but he was
ready to pounce and drag her back if needed. Judging by the looks
the security guards around them were giving they were ready as
well. Damn, his little grasshopper was making him proud. He idly
wondered if she’d be able to cause a riot.

“Where are you going?” he asked,
wanting her to sit back down. He’d been comfortable damn
it.

Haley rolled her eyes. “I’m not going
to start a riot or anything. I have to use the bathroom and I want
to get a cold drink.”

“Oh,” he said, going to stand up the
same time Mitch did. Jason shot Mitch a glare, but the man ignored
it and jumped to his feet.

“Want some company?” Mitch asked,
giving Haley his best smile.

Haley laughed softly. “No, I’ll be
fine.”

Mitch reluctantly sat down. The two of
them watched her walk away as Brad sat there smugly. They sat there
silently for a few minutes before Jason spoke.

“Don’t even think about it,” he said
firmly.

Mitch snorted. “Just because you think
you own Haley doesn’t mean you speak for her.”

Jason took a sip of his drink, nodding
slowly before he placed his cup on his knee. “How about this then?
I know you and there is no way in hell I’m letting an asshole like
you near her.”

“So, let me get this straight. I’m
good enough to be your friend, but not date Haley?”

“Exactly. Glad we’re on the same
page.”

“Why is that exactly? You don't like
the idea of some other guy swooping in and getting her
first?"

“Because you sleep around, don’t care
about any of the women you fuck, and treat them all like shit. I’m
not letting you do that to Haley. She deserves a nice
guy.”

“Oh, like you?” Mitch snorted. “You
treat women worse than I do.”

Jason barely held back his temper.
“No, not me. I’m not interested in her like that. She’s a friend,
nothing more.”

“Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself
that, buddy. Anyone with two working eyes can tell you’re getting
ready to pounce.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. If I
wanted her I would have had her by now,” he said through gritted
teeth.

“Yeah, whatever,” Mitch mumbled.
“She’s a grown woman. If she wants to go out with me she can. You
have no say in the matter.”

“We’ll see,” he said, knowing if Mitch
tried anything he’d beat the shit out of his friend.

“See what?” Haley asked as she
squeezed into the small aisle, juggling her beer and a tray full of
food in her arms.

“If the Yankees can get this game back
under control,” Jason said smoothly.

“They will,” Haley said firmly. Jason
had a funny feeling that if they didn’t she would go beat the shit
out of someone.

She sat down next to him. He placed
his piss warm beer on the floor and took hers while she settled her
tray in her lap. He took a sip of her cold beer while she took a
bite of her hot dog topped with sauerkraut. She closed her eyes as
she savored the treat.

“That is really good,” she nearly
groaned in delight.

“Give me a bite,” he said.