“Sorry,” he said, stepping to the side so she could walk into the room. “I was just bringing in the bags.”
“Thank you,” Haley mumbled absently, wondering if she’d ever been this tired before. She hadn’t slept at all last night and the night before, they’d stayed up late watching old horror movies.
“You look tired, baby,” Jason said, reaching over to touch her only to drop his hand away at the last second with a heavy sigh. “Look,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “why don’t you go relax. We can talk everything over later.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that there was nothing to talk about, but that would only start another argument, so she simply nodded as she closed the bedroom door behind her. She looked over the small Cape Cod-style bedroom and nearly groaned. This would have been perfect for a romantic getaway, Haley thought with a sad smile before she forced herself to think of something else before she did something stupid like cry.
She threw one last look of longing towards the bed before heading for the bathroom. Even though all she wanted to do was to curl up on that bed and pass out, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to sleep until after she took a hot bath to help her relax. She still couldn’t believe that this happened. She knew that falling in love with Jason was a risk, but she’d never thought that he felt the same way. It made her wonder if he’d ever trusted her. Despite Jason’s flawed dating past, she’d trusted him, more than anyone.
He’d been kind, sweet, and considerate and never tried to manipulate her into doing something that she didn’t want to do. When they were intimate, he’d never once pushed for more than she was willing to give him. That alone had made her love him even more. Too many times in her past, men had gone out of their way to coerce her into taking a step that she wasn’t ready to take.
When she’d refused, they’d tried to sweet-talk her, manipulate her, guilt her, until they’d finally got pissed and ended things with her when she wouldn’t sleep with him. She’d been called a bitch and a tease more times than she cared to remember. The fact that she’d been upfront about her sexual comfort level never mattered.
There had been several men that ended things as soon as she’d told them she wouldn’t have sex with them, but others thought that she was lying to them, teasing them, or setting up a challenge that they’d happily taken. When they’d eventually realized that she hadn’t lied, things would end quickly, and they’d turn cold and mean. Some had hung around a little longer, hoping to change her mind, but she never did.
Until Jason.
His reaction had taken her by surprise. Instead of arguing with her, he’d readily accepted what she told him with a smile and a little teasing. Every time they became intimate, she’d expected Jason to push her into having sex, but he never had. Not once. Even those times when she knew that he was dying to take her, he hadn’t tried to push her. He’d grit his teeth and accept whatever she offered him, which was why she’d made love to him last night.
Taking the next step with Jason had felt so natural. It wasn’t until after he’d told her why he’d made love to her that she’d realized that he didn’t trust her. He’d done it because he thought that she was playing him only to end up hurting them both. Last night he’d made love to her in order to prove something.
She’d waited for nothing.
He said he loved her last night, but he really didn’t. There was no question that he cared for her a little, but love? The simple truth was, Jason was stubborn. It was the reason why he’d slept with her, to prove something and the same reason he’d hid in her car and was being bullheaded about this breakup. She doubted he’d ever been dumped before and he probably wasn’t handling it well. Jason liked to call the shots when it came to women and having his shy little neighbor dump him probably grated on his ego.
There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that if she took him back that he would never be able to trust her again. It was better for everyone that they ended things now. This way, she was only disappointed in Jason and didn’t hate him, although maybe that would be for the best if she did. It would definitely make this easier if she could just hate him.
She paused by the bathroom doorway and sighed heavily as she took in the bubble bath Jason had drawn for her in the deep, claw-footed bathtub. He’d even set out a towel and her favorite tee-shirt to change into.
“Stupid jerk,” Haley mumbled, once again stopping herself from melting. She just had to remember that this was all a game to him and she’d be fine.
Chapter 24
“You fucking moron.”
Jason couldn’t argue with that. He’d seriously screwed everything up and desperately needed to find a way to fix it, which is why he’d called in the big guns.
His father.
“Tell me this is some sick joke,” his father said, sighing heavily.
“I wish I could, Dad,” Jason said, glancing over his shoulder at the small cottage as he walked along the edge of the water.
For the past three hours, he’d been out here pacing, trying to figure out what he should do. Finally, he came to the conclusion that he was in way over his head here and needed someone with a history of charming his way out of fuckups with women and only one person came to mind.
His father had fucked up more times with his mother than should be humanly possible. Not that his father ever screwed around on his mother. She’d simply kill the man if he even thought of it. No, his father was an arrogant, hardheaded bastard who had driven his mother to the brink of insanity countless times over the years.
“Let me get this straight, you let some dumb bar bimbo convince you that my poor, sweet little Haley-” his father said, making him shake his head ruefully.
Haley had managed to wrap his father around her little finger with those cupcakes and had bought his undying love with fried chicken, potato salad, and M & M cookies. The man’s obsession with food was really pathetic.
Thank God, he didn’t have that problem.
“-could ever do something so heartless? Then you go ahead and screw it up instead of talking to her? What in the hell is wrong with you?” his father practically yelled, making Jason hold Haley’s cellphone away from his ear.
“I know that I messed up, Dad,” Jason said once his father stopped yelling. “Look, I just need help figuring out how to fix this.”
“You don’t deserve my Haley,” his father simply said.
