“Five or six, I guess,” Jason said, shrugging it off. He hadn’t really paid attention to any of them other than to duck out of the way when they came looking for him. Just like every other time his mother tried to play matchmaker, she’d chosen needy, well, more like clingy, desperate women who had no other interest other than themselves and finding a boyfriend to nag to death.
Both of his friends sucked in a breath. “Shit!”
“That must have pissed Haley off,” Brad said with a sympathetic wince.
“I don’t think she had time to notice. Not with half the men in my family hitting on her,” Jason bit out angrily.
“That’s fucked up,” Mitch said, nodding in agreement.
It was pretty fucked up. No one listened to him. It was one of the most annoying parties he’d ever been to. When he wasn’t trying to get away from the women that his mother had invited with the sole purpose of marrying him off, he’d been busy getting into arguments with whatever bastard in his family was asking for Haley’s phone number.
Like every single other time it happened, Haley was completely oblivious to it. Every time he pulled her aside to talk to her about it, she just laughed until tears were rolling down her face and she could barely catch her breath while he stood there, glaring down at her. When they returned to the room, it was obvious that she’d cried and every man would glare at him. They’d acted like Haley needed protection from him.
It should have been painfully obvious to everyone at the party how he felt about Haley. He made no secret that she was his world, not that anyone believed him. Why was it so hard to believe that he’d straightened out for Haley? He didn’t think it was difficult to believe. Even if he wasn’t constantly hugging her, putting his arm around her, holding her hand, or trying to kiss her, he told them, but had that stopped any of those bastards from trying to make a move on her?
“Your family probably thought you’d brought Haley there as a decoy to get your mother to stop harassing you about settling down and used her as an excuse to avoid the women desperate to get your attention,” Mitch pointed out.
Jason crushed his empty beer can and tossed it into the bucket he’d placed in the corner of his deck. It should be more than obvious to everyone that he’d changed. Hell, a year ago, he would have had Mitch toss that beer can up in the air so he could shoot it with his paintball gun. Didn’t it strike any of his friends as odd that not only had he tossed it into a bucket, but that his deck and patio furniture were also cleaned and repaired, his lawn freshly mowed, and that his house was clean? Those were big goddamn changes in his book.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Brad said, tossing his can at the bucket and missed. It landed on Jason’s freshly cut lawn. With a murderous glare, Jason gestured angrily for him to pick it up. With a roll of his eyes and a heavy sigh, Brad did just that.
“Whatever. This is really boring sitting around here talking about relationships like we’re a bunch of middle-aged women. Let’s get the hell out of here,” Mitch said, sighing heavily as he stood up.
Brad and Jason shared a look, shrugged, and got to their feet. What the hell, it wasn’t like they had anything better to do since Jill was off with a client and Haley was off hitting yard sales.
“Great, let’s go hit the strip clubs,” Mitch said, sighing dreamily.
“Whoa there, Skippy,” Jason said, coming to a sudden halt. “That shit isn’t happening.”
“What the hell do you mean?” Mitch asked, sounding like a petulant child. “I want to go stare at hot chicks getting naked.”
“I’m out as well,” Brad announced, not that it was really necessary. The man hadn’t been to a strip club since he’d met Jill.
“Come on, it’s Tuesday. It’s all you can eat hot wings at the Hot Bunny Club. We can go there, fill up, and get a few lap dances. We could probably hook up with Candy and Mandy afterward. What’s more fun than stripper sex?”
Jason could only stare at his friend for a moment. Mitch was serious, really serious.
“Have you forgotten about something?” Jason asked slowly.
Frowning, Mitch said, “What?”
“I have a girlfriend!” Jason snapped, quickly losing his patience. “Why in the hell would I want to pay some woman to show me something I’m not interested in when I’m dating Haley? And why in the hell would you think I wanted to cheat on my girlfriend?”
If humanly possible, Mitch looked even more confused. “How is it cheating if you’re not married?”
Brad and Jason just stared at Mitch. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Actually, it worried him that not even a year ago, he would have been on Mitch’s side of this argument. That was truly frightening.
Hell, he would have been the one starting that argument before Haley.
Wow...just wow...
It wasn’t exactly the best feeling in the world to discover how much of an asshole he’d once been. He’d really changed since Haley came into his life, and shockingly, for the better. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel pissed off or scared that she’d been able to bring out these changes in him.
“Come on, man! Come with me. It’ll be fun,” Mitch pleaded.
Jason grabbed a fresh beer and dropped back into his chair.
“What the hell, Jason?” Mitch whined.
