Playing for Keeps

Chapter 16

"Oh my god, stop eating that!" Haley said, trying not to laugh and failing miserably.

Jason popped the fudge brownie in his mouth and winked at her. With an exasperated sigh she reached back into the backseat to fix the plastic wrap on the plates of brownies, cookies, and cupcakes.

"If you keep stealing food there won't be any left for your family's cookout," she said, knowing that wasn't a good enough reason to stop him from eating. She was willing to bet there wasn't much that would come between him and food.

He turned his attention from the road to pout. "But I love your cooking."

She rolled her eyes at his lame attempt. "Uh huh."

"Well, at least I'm not touching the potato salad. You really should appreciate the little things in life, my little grasshopper."

Haley scoffed in disbelief. "The only reason you're not scoffing that down is because I have that and the pasta salad in a cooler safely locked away in the trunk."

His brows shot up. "There's macaroni salad? Why was I not informed of this?"

"Probably because I wanted it to at least make it to your parent's house before you devoured it."

He shook his head sighing, "So little trust."

"You ate an entire bowl of cookie dough yesterday when I made the mistake of running out to the market without hiding it first. Seriously, I thought it would be safe."

"You were wrong."

"Your obsession with food is starting to scare me," she said wryly.

"It's not an obsession. I'm a growing boy, damn it."

She raised one brow in disbelief.

"Thank god we're here. I'm starving," he grumbled as he parked in the only empty spot on the street, which just happened to be in front of a large white Victorian house with black trimming where a party was clearing being held, judging by the amount of people walking around the property.

They loaded their arms up with all the plates Haley made and headed for the front door. Jason kicked the door lightly since his hands were full.

The door was opened by an older woman with pepper hair. She took one look at Jason and smiled.

"It's my baby boy!" she announced loudly to the crowd in the house as she cupped his face and pulled him down to give him a sound kiss on the cheek. She stepped back and noticed Haley. Her expression went from excited to stunned in a matter of seconds.

Jason smiled sheepishly. "Mom, this is my girlfriend, Haley Blaine." He gestured with the plate of brownies. "Haley, this is my mother Megan Bradford."

"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Bradford," Haley said, feeling a little awkward with his mother standing there gaping at her and her hands too full to offer to shake the woman's hand. Not that his mother seemed to be able to respond or anything at the moment. Actually, Haley was starting to become a little worried.

"Girlfriend?" Megan finally choked out.

"Yeah, why do you sound so-" Jason started to say only to be cut off by his mother.

His mother turned her head and yelled into the house. "Jared!"

Haley shot a nervous look at Jason who was muttering something about putting his mother into a nursing home that only served green Jell-O. She looked back at the door in time to see an older man, who was clearly Jason's father by the almost identically features, step into the doorway. He smiled when he saw Jason.

"What's going on?"

"Mom's freaking out," Jason said. "Any chance we can get in there before my girlfriend's arms fall off?"

The man noticeably started and looked at Haley and then did a double take.

"Girlfriend?" he asked in clear disbelief.

"Yes! Girlfriend!" Jason snapped, but his parents didn't seem to notice because they were staring at her like they couldn't believe such a person existed. On top of that her arms were starting to feel like they were about to drop off.

"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 a*shole 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?