While looking pointedly at the men in 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. I just wish that 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 out your act a bit that you could get a woman like Haley one-”
The men laughed.
Bastards!
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 any of them home to meet 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 insane! Was this what normally took place when a man brought a woman home to meet his family? He was pretty sure that it wasn’t. God, this was worse than when he’d 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 to meet his family six years ago.
Megan looked thoughtful for a moment. “You know, I probably would if I thought you were serious about dating Haley. 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 as she 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, looking thoughtful. “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, sounding annoyed as though he was the one messing with her head. Seriously, what was wrong with his family? Why was it so hard for them to believe that 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 that he was surprised the damn thing hadn’t unhinged. He quickly recovered so that he could threaten his cousin. “You stay the hell away from my girlfriend!” Jason said, pointing before 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, Jason 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?
Chapter 17
“Let me get this straight,” Brad said, putting his beer on the ground between his feet. “You took Haley to meet your family without any type of warning and you were surprised when they didn’t believe that she was your girlfriend?”
“Yes!”
“Well, I can see why they didn’t believe you,” Mitch said as he snagged another beer out of the bucket of ice.
“Oh, and why is that?” Jason demanded as he stole the beer out of Mitch’s hands.
Mitch grumbled something, but smartly let it go. He grabbed another beer and popped the top.
“Well, wasn’t your mother getting on your case about settling down?” Brad asked.
“Yes, and you would think she’d be happy that I brought Haley home.”
Brad nodded. “And for the past year, hasn’t she been threatening to find someone for you?”
“Yes, but-”
“And every time you went over there for dinner, party, or a cookout, hasn’t your mother had several women on hand to meet you?” Brad continued.
“Yes, but-”
“Did she have any women at the barbecue for you to meet?” Mitch asked.
