“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 was showing her.
“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.
Where the hell was the adoration and love? His mother normally babied him. Hell, at this point, she was usually getting him his third plate of food and another drink. Let’s not forget Haley, who should be loading up a plate for herself with food for him to steal. What the hell was wrong with his women?
With a grumble, Jason walked into the kitchen, absently noting that food covered every surface and grabbed two plates off the counter. As he made up their plates, his father, who was licking frosting off his fingers, walked into the room along 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, his mother’s youngest brother, said.
“I don’t share,” Jared said simply.
The men rolled their eyes.
“So,” his cousin Trevor said as he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his massive chest, “how much did you pay her?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jason asked, placing the mustard 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.”
Pissed, Jason 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 bit out.
“Uh-huh,” his father muttered, clearly not believing him.
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 Haley 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 argue that she was too good for him. She was. There was no question about that. What really hurt was that they didn’t believe him. He was known for being an asshole, not a liar. There was a big difference as far as he was concerned.
His mother chose that moment to walk in the kitchen, 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’d squished into a pancake. She lightly tsked him as she threw away the burgers and started over.
“I’m glad you’re here, Mom,” Jason said as she shot him a warm smile.
