Jason snorted. Then for good measure, he snorted again. “No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
“It’s all in your head.”
“Whatever you say,” Brad said easily, pissing Jason off more.
He didn’t want Haley. He didn’t look at her in any special way. She was his friend, his buddy, his amigo, and he saw her as a friend and not some tasty morsel that he wanted to devour. Okay, so yeah, she was hot and those glasses made her look utterly adorable and he’d noticed that she had really nice legs and big breasts that he was sure would cradle his head very nicely, but who wouldn’t notice that? She was also small, which made him protective of her. He also liked putting his arm around her because she felt good against his side and fit perfectly under his arm. So what? It didn’t mean anything.
“Oh, here comes the object of your desire now,” Brad said, chuckling.
“Shut up!” Jason snapped before he turned his attention to Haley, who was in a new green silk blouse and a dark skirt. It looked like she was going to work, not hanging out on a Sunday, he thought, noting the foil-covered plate in her hands.
“You look nice. Where are you off to?” Brad asked.
Haley sighed unhappily, “Barbecue.”
Both men gaped as they looked her over. “You’re going to a barbecue dressed like that?” Brad asked.
Jason kept his thoughts to himself since he still wasn’t speaking to her. Who went to a barbecue dressed like that? What happened to jeans and a tee-shirt or a tank top? Clearly, they still had much to work on.
“Family barbecue, don’t ask,” Haley said before turning her attention to Jason. “Are you still mad at me?”
He grunted before walking off.
“Oh, come on! I eventually let you go!”
He flipped her off without looking back.
“That cake wasn’t half as yummy as it looked. It left me uncomfortably full!” she yelled, earning a laugh from Brad and a second one-finger salute from Jason.
“What do you have there?” Brad asked, looking down at the plate in her arms.
Haley sighed as she pulled back the foil, revealing large chocolate chunk cookies. “I made these for the big baby so that he would stop his tantrum.”
“Wow, those look really good! Can I have one?”
She shrugged. “Sure, since the baby doesn’t want them.”
Brad picked up a cookie. It was inches away from his mouth when a large tan hand suddenly grabbed it. Jason snatched the plate from her as he sent Brad a killing glare.
“How dare you touch my cookies, you bastard!” Jason said in utter disgust before popping the cookie in his mouth and heading back to his house.
“Damn, those looked good, too,” Brad grumbled.
Haley sighed. “Don’t worry, I have another plate on my kitchen counter,” she said, the words were barely out of her mouth when Jason abruptly changed course and headed towards her house.
“Well, I did,” Haley said, sighing as she watched Jason walk into her house like he owned it. A minute later, he was walking out of her house, carrying both plates of cookies and the gallon of milk she’d had in her fridge. He headed back to his house, but not before he glared at Brad. “You cookie-thieving bastard,” they heard him mutter before he headed inside.
Brad rolled his eyes, chuckling. “And people wonder how I lost weight rooming with him in college.”
Haley just laughed as she locked her house and headed for her car. For a moment there, she forgot about the hell that awaited her.
Haley ignored the glare of the parking attendant as she pulled around her parents’ mansion and parked her car. She tried not to roll her eyes, but she just couldn’t stop herself. Leave it to her parents to go overboard for a family barbecue.
Why they bothered, Haley would never know. It wasn’t like the rest of their family didn’t know that they were rich. It was kind of pathetic if you asked her, no one did, of course. She was just expected to show up at family functions, act perfect, and bite her tongue. Yup, this was going to be so much fun.
For the next four hours, and that was how long her mother told her that she absolutely had to stay or she’d throw a fit to end all fits, Haley was going to have to endure looks of pity over her marital status, childless state, job, and weight. Yup, this was going to be great, just great.
