She cut his words off with a kiss, surprising the hell out of him. It was a quick gentle brush of her lips over his, but it knocked him on his ass. Haley dropped her head back on the pillow, staring up at him while she worried her bottom lip between her teeth.
Jason hovered over her, panting for breath that had nothing to do with laughter. That kiss… That innocent, sweet kiss hit him harder than every make-out session he’d ever had in his life.
“Jason?” Haley’s broken whisper brought his attention back to her lips.
This was over. He was going to climb out of bed, apologize to her, walk her back to her house, and put some distance between them. He wasn’t good enough for her. He treated women like shit and had no clue how to treat someone as special as Haley. She deserved a man who would make her his entire world. A man who would take care of her, hold her, and love her. And he was not that man.
“Haley, I-”
His words broke off on a groan as Haley’s mouth covered his again. She brushed her lips against his enticingly. His entire body went rigid as he forced himself not to respond. He couldn’t do this to her. As much as it would hurt both of them, he couldn’t give in to her. His body shook with the need to kiss her back and lower his body onto hers, but somehow, he found the strength to fight it.
He wasn’t kissing her back.
There, she had her answer. She just had to go and kiss him to find out how he felt about her. She couldn’t just ask him like a normal person. Not only had she just wrecked everything between them, but she was also horribly embarrassed. Peachy. Just freakin’ peachy.
She felt the tears sting her eyes as she looked up at his handsome face. He was not going to see her cry. She absolutely refused to let him see how badly this hurt.
“Excuse me,” Haley mumbled softly, breaking away and pushing at his chest. He didn’t fight her this time. He moved off her. She was so close to breaking down and begging him to forget what just happened. She jumped off the bed and headed for the bedroom door. She didn’t care about her clothes or anything else at the moment. She just needed to get out of there.
“Haley!” Jason called after her. “Let’s talk about this!”
The last thing she wanted to do was talk about this. She ran out his front door and across the yard and raced to her front door. Barely able to see through the tears that were now flowing freely down her face, Haley grabbed the key she’d hidden beneath the front step and let herself inside.
She locked the front door and ran to her bedroom. She locked her window and pulled her curtains shut, knowing that Jason would just come through the window and try to joke his way out of this. She didn’t want to joke about this. This hurt! Her heart was broken and she’d just lost the best friend she’d ever had because of her own stupidity.
A sob broke free and then another until she was sobbing uncontrollably. She dropped onto the edge of her bed and buried her face in her hands as she let it out. She was too tired to fight it anymore.
Warm breath tickled her hands as strong fingers gently pulled her hands away. She averted her face so that she wouldn’t have to face him as he knelt in front of her. She just couldn’t.
“Will you look at me?” Jason asked softly.
She bit her bottom lip and shook her head.
“I’m not…Haley, I’m just not good enough for you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Haley shrugged, wanting him to get to the point quickly and leave. At the moment, she didn’t trust herself to open her mouth, afraid that she’d just embarrass herself more.
“You’re too good for me, my little grasshopper,” Jason said softly as he laid his forehead in the crook of her neck. “You could do so much better than me without even trying, Haley. So much better.”
His voice dropped as he continued, and he sounded like he was in pain, but still, she said nothing. “You’re kind, smart, funny, you have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met, and you’re sweet. God, are you sweet.” His hands slid up her sides and gently rubbed up and down.
His breath came quicker against her skin and Haley wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and hold him one more time, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t handle it if he pushed her away again.
“Do you know how sweet you are, my little grasshopper?” Jason’s voice was hoarse as his hands moved lower to her hips and slid back up until his thumbs brushed beneath her breasts and then down again. He pressed a kiss against her neck almost as though he couldn’t help himself. A pained groan escaped him when he did it.
“I should walk out of here and never come back and let you go meet some nice guy who will give you everything in life that you deserve.” He pressed another kiss to her neck and she barely bit back a moan. His hands slid down her sides and this time when they moved back up, they slid beneath her shirt.
Large, warm hands moved up her sides only to stop right beneath her breasts. They hesitated there for a second before continuing their journey back down. He continued to kiss her neck almost desperately. The next time his hands moved up, he ran his thumbs along the underside of her breasts and groaned.
Haley’s head dropped back while her hands fisted in the comforter. She still hadn’t spoken, but for other reasons now. She was afraid if she spoke that she would break through to him and he would realize what he was doing and leave her. Heaven help her, but he had her too desperate to chance it.
“I need to leave.” He pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her neck and gently sucked while his hands moved further up only to teasingly brush over her hard nipples. They moaned in unison. “It’s the right thing to do…the um…the um…” His hands made another swipe, this time gently squeezing her breasts before moving back down.
“I um, I shouldn’t want you…I shouldn’t…I care for you so much, my little grasshopper. That’s why I should…I should,” he groaned loud and long, “you’re so sweet.”
Haley decided enough was enough. He obviously wanted her as much as she wanted him. Well, she hoped he did, at least. Taking a deep fortifying breath, she leaned back, dislodging his mouth from her neck. He looked dazed as he tried to figure out what just happened.
Haley held his gaze as she reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt. Hoping that she wasn’t wrong about him, she pulled it off and tossed it on the floor.
