Playing for Keeps

Chapter 12

“I’m sorry, Mr. Bradford,” Eric, one of his normally best students, mumbled quickly as he averted his eyes away from Jason’s murderous glare.

For the past three weeks he’d been biting everyone’s head off. His normally easy going façade was completely gone now. It didn’t make any sense. He’d been getting the best sleep of his life and Haley had quickly become the most important person in his life. He couldn’t imagine living without her. He didn’t want to.

No matter what they did during the day at night they came together. Not in the way he would like, but he was still able to find peace at the end of a long day. Two weeks ago they both gave up on rushing out of the other’s bed to go shower and change their clothes in the morning. Now he had toiletries in her bathroom and some closet and bureau space and she had the same in his house.

It was weird, but probably not as weird as two best friends who slept together but didn’t so much as kiss. It was like they were living together, but alternating from one house to the other. They spent a lot of time together, but they also spent a lot of time on their own or with friends. When he was away from her he wondered what she was doing and thinking. A few times he had to stop himself from calling her to find out. The only thing that was saving his sanity was knowing that she wasn’t dating another man. He didn’t know how he’d feel about that. Judging by the urge to put his fist into a wall every time he thought about her and another guy it wasn’t good.

Another loud cheer went up next door. He clenched his jaw tightly as he focused on the fifteen students of his Honors U.S. history class. This was their two hour study block to go over the material for the final exam which was tomorrow and only ten minutes into it and he wanted to throttle every last one of them.

He threw his papers onto his desk in disgust, making his students shift around nervously in their designer school uniforms.

“I don’t understand this. We’ve gone over this material all year and none of you have any idea what hell we’re talking about!” his voice rose, making the girls look close to crying.

Another roar of applause came from next door, drawing his attention back to the woman who was always on his mind. He speared his fingers through his hair and paced the floor. He was wound so damn tight right now, so close to snapping.

A soft knock came at the door connecting his classroom to Haley’s. She popped her head in, smiling. That smile was like a balm to his soul, instantly relaxing him.

“Yes?” he asked her in a much softer tone than the one he’d been using with the kids.

Haley nibbled her lip nervously. “Mr. Bradford, I was wondering if I could ask you and your students a huge favor. I need some help preparing my kids for their test tomorrow and since both classes are studying the same material I was hoping you wouldn’t mind coming in here and giving me a hand.”

“Yes, of course,” he found himself answering immediately. Who in the hell could say no to someone so adorable? She pushed her glasses back up on her nose and smiled again damn near making his knees buckle.

“Excellent!” she said brightly, pushing the door opened wider. “Why don’t you kids come in here?” She turned to face her class. “Alright, you bunch of miscreants, make some room!”

Jason grabbed the review packet he made over the weekend and followed. As he walked past Haley he couldn’t stop himself from grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. If any of the kids saw they smartly kept their mouths shut.

He watched as his students filled the empty seats in her classroom. They kept shooting him nervous looks. No doubt they were waiting for him to start yelling again. Little did they know his little grasshopper kept him grounded.

Haley hopped up onto her desk and crossed one beautiful leg over the other, drawing every guy’s attention. He had to stop himself from killing the little bastards then and there.

His little grasshopper seemed oblivious to the attention she drew as she reached back to grab a large brown paper bag. She winced a little as she picked it up and placed it onto her lap. She held onto it, grabbing a large packet with the other hand. He didn’t wait for an invite. He sat down on the desk right next to her.

“Alright, guys, for those of you who are just joining us we’re having a review. We’ll each take a turn asking you a question. If you know the answer you get a prize,” she said. He saw his students visibly relax. He didn’t think it was over the prize, but over the reprieve from his temper.

Curious about the prize he leaned over and gasped. How dare she hide these from him! He sent her a glare, earning one of her exasperated eye rolls. He reached into the bag only to have his hand slapped away. How dare she?

“You can have one after five of your students answer a question correctly,” she informed him.

He sent a scathing look to his students, letting them know they damn well better answer correctly and quickly if they wanted to live. The woman had a huge bag, probably twenty pounds, of Hershey’s Kisses and mini Reese’s Peanut Butter cups and he’d be damned if he wasn’t getting at least fifteen pounds of that. The hell with the kids. Did they really need an education more than he needed chocolate? They all had trust funds. They could get away with a tenth grade education. He on the other hand needed that damn chocolate. Once his five students answered their questions correctly he was attacking that bag consequences be damned.

“Alright guys, first question,” Haley announced as she looked at her packet. “Who was the first President of the United States?”

Every hand in the room went up.

Jason snorted. “Are you trying to just give away my chocolate? Make them work for it.”

Haley randomly picked a student, one of his, and tossed a Kiss. As she asked the questions they got tougher. Nine questions later he was patiently waiting for one of his students, John, to answer one of Haley’s questions.

“It was eighteen sixty….” the kid trailed off as he thought it over. Jason was going to fail the kid if he couldn’t answer the question. Not because it reflected poorly on his teaching skills, but because this was the fifth question and he wanted chocolate!

While Haley was watching the kid for the answer, Jason discretely raised four fingers.

“Eighteen sixty-four,” John answered quickly, trying not to look at Jason.

“Very good,” Haley said, tossing John a peanut butter cup.

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Cindy or whatever the hell her name was from the dance cried. He should have known the little witch would be looking for revenge. “Mr. Bradford told him the answer!”

“Don’t be petty. John answered the question correctly,” he said, holding out his hand for the chocolate that was due him.

Haley eyed him carefully while he gave her his most innocent expression. “Did you just cheat so you could get chocolate?”

He did his best to look insulted. “Would I do that?” he demanded.

She rolled her eyes and handed him a huge handful of chocolate. “This should keep your cheating ways at bay for a while.”

“You would think that, wouldn’t you,” he said, unwrapping his treats while Cindy or whatever the hell her name was scowled at him. He ignored her. He ate his chocolate between asking questions of the class. He only paused to reach back and snag Haley’s water bottle to wash down the chocolate.

While they sat there hip to hip asking questions he reached back and casually rubbed a circle on Haley’s lower back. He almost groaned when he felt her tremor. Outward she was cool and relaxed. She laughed with the kids and never had any problems carrying on with her questions. He only stopped rubbing her back when she handed him more chocolate, which only happened when she caught him cheating.

The lunch bell rang. Haley held up a hand. “Alright, guys. You’ve studied hard all year. I want you go home, review and then I want you to relax. This is just a test, guys. Just remember that and you’ll do fine. Remember everyone that earns a passing grade of at least eighty will be joining me next week on the last day of school for a make your own sundae party.”

Jason glared at Haley. First chocolate and now ice cream. What else was she withholding from him? He held up his hand to stop everyone from leaving.

“The same deal goes for my class,” he said.

“Copycat,” Haley mumbled.

“Damn straight,” he said as he waved the students to leave.

They got up and left while he reached over and grabbed the bag from Haley. He settled it on his lap and started snaking away. Haley grabbed the bag from him and dropped it in her desk drawer, locking it.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, cause that will stop me.”

“Behave. If there’s any left by the end of the day you can have more,” she said as she put her things away. She paused by the door and tried her best to look stern as she said, “That chocolate better be there after lunch, mister.”

“Of course,” he readily agreed.

She threw him one last look of warning before she headed off towards the cafeteria for lunch duty. He’d be right behind her since they had the same schedule. Only he had one thing to do before that.

After making sure that she was gone he knelt down and picked the lock with two paper clips he found on her desk. Seconds later the lock clicked and he stole the booty and headed for his room, sighing. When would she ever learn?

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

“I still don’t understand your problem,” Mary said.

Haley scowled across the booth at her friend. “What’s not to understand? Somehow, someway I managed to find myself in a serious relationship without the relationship.”

“That sounds…….different,” Mary said. After a short pause Mary asked, “What the hell do you mean? I thought you and Jason were just friends.”

“We are! It’s just that……” She sighed heavily as she fiddled with the label on her beer. “He doesn’t date anymore. He doesn’t even show any interest in another woman. When we’re out he sends women away telling them he’s not interested.”

“Well, that’s sweet-“

“When guys approach me he throws his arm around me and gives them looks that scare the hell out of them. Last night when we were out with Mitch at the movies some guy in line stood too close to me and Jason got into a shouting match with the guy.”

“He’s just being protective-“

“He treats me like his girlfriend. He’s always touching me and cuddling up with me. We sleep in the same bed every night. We try sleeping positions like they were sexual positions!” she hissed quietly, hoping the loud jukebox music blocked out her voice to the rest of the bar patrons.

“And you don’t like any of this?” Mary guessed.

“Like it? I love it! Except I want more. God, I can’t stop thinking about him and having him so close but not close enough is killing me. I am so pathetic,” she mumbled sadly.

“Does he know?”

“No. If he did he’d step back. He doesn’t want a girlfriend. He wants a friend, a sister.”

“Doesn’t sound that way to me.”

“Trust me. There’s no chance in hell Jason Bradford is going to change his ways for me.”

“Well not if you don’t give him a chance he won’t.” Mary reached over and took her hand. “You’re in love with him aren’t you?’

Haley wiped at her eyes. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Fine,” Mary sighed. She stirred the tiny red straw in her ginger ale and looked around the bar. “There are a lot of really cute guys here tonight.”

Haley followed her friends gaze and nodded her agreement. There were a lot of cute guys here tonight. That brought up another interesting question. If she decided to date and take the guy home would Jason get pissed? If she started dating someone she couldn’t sleep in the same bed with Jason anymore. It wouldn’t be fair and it would make everything weirder. The fact that she didn’t want any other man but Jason holding her didn’t help.

She inwardly groaned. Tonight was about relaxing after a long day of review. She wasn’t here to moon over Jason Bradford. Tonight she was here to have a few drinks, play a game of pool, and relax.

“Ah, Haley, maybe we should go somewhere else. How about we rent a movie and get some pizza and head to my place?” Mary asked, sounding nervous.

Haley frowned at her. “We’ve been waiting an hour for the pool table and we’re up next. Besides I’m not done with my beer. What’s wrong?”

Mary looked down at her drink and nibbled her lip for a moment. She looked close to tears.

“Mary?” Haley said softly.

Mary shook her head and sobbed lightly, but didn’t look up.

Loud laughter drew Haley’s attention to the door. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

“That son of a bitch,” she snapped.

“Haley, please don’t make a big deal out of this. Let’s just go-“

Haley was already on her feet and headed towards the small group near the bar. She pushed her way through the group until she was face to face with Mary’s ex-fiancé and the voluptuous blonde snuggling up to him. She snorted. It wasn’t even the same one he left Mary for. He was pathetic. She really wished she had spoken up years ago about how much of a loser he was.

“What the hell do you want?” Ted practically sneered.

She shrugged. “Nothing much. Just wondering if you’re going to grow some balls and help Mary. You remember Mary, don’t you? The woman you dated for four years, cheated on constantly, asked to marry, and then knocked up all before you dumped her for a stripper? Well, I was just wondering if you were planning on manning up anytime soon and helping Mary with the medical bills for this pregnancy. Just thinking it might be nice if she could afford to keep your kid in diapers and formula. I’m kind of funny like that.”

The woman under his arm looked startled and pushed away from him with open disgust.

“You got a woman pregnant and left her? What an a*shole!” she said before stalking off and giving him the finger. His buddies laughed at him. Ted glared at her.

Ted groaned. “You stupid bitch! I am so sick of you f*cking up my life! Mary’s accepted our break up when the hell are you going to? I don’t want anything to do with that flat chested ugly bitch or her brat so f*ck off and leave me alone! And if you're so concerned about the baby's shitty diapers then you buy them for her, bitch!”

“Listen you-“

“Haley, please!” Mary, suddenly by her side, pleaded as she tried to pull Haley away. “Let’s just go!”

“There you are! You need to tell her to mind her own f*cking business!” Ted said, pushing Mary in the shoulder hard to make his point.

“Oh, no you didn’t, you son of a bitch!” Haley said just before she released her fists of furry on the bastard.