“I’m sick,” she stressed. “Really sick. I might very well be dying as we speak,” Haley said as she pushed her glasses back up her cute, little nose.
With a shrug, Jason took a step back towards his house. “That’s a damn shame because I was hoping you’d come to my party today, but since you’re sick...”
She pressed the back of her hand against her forehead. “Hmmm, what do you know? I’m all better. What time is the party?” she asked with the cutest, shy smile he’d ever seen.
“Four o’clock, you little faker,” Jason said, chuckling when she let out an excited squeal as she ran back inside her house.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, Haley thought as she stood on Jason’s doorstep with a large plate of brownies in her arms. With an inward groan, she berated herself for being an idiot. Who brought brownies to a kegger? Okay, so she was assuming that this was a kegger, but in her defense, she’d witnessed some rather scary behavior going on over the years.
Some of the things she’d heard and seen had scarred her for life, but some of it had intrigued her. Not that she’d ever admit it, but on more than one occasion, she’d wondered what it would be like to go to one of Jason’s parties, which is probably why she’d jumped at the chance to go to one today. Jason’s parties had to be the equivalent of the parties the popular kids in high school used to throw and somehow forgot to invite her to, but now, she was about to rectify that.
Maybe not, Haley thought, worrying her bottom lip as she looked down at the brownies. She was going to look like an idiot bringing brownies to a kegger. Hoping that no one heard her knocking over the loud music, she decided a quick stop at a liquor store was in order. She was just about to make her escape when the front door opened.
“What do you want?”
Frowning, Haley quickly took in the woman glaring down at her, noting the sleek black hair, perfect features touched by flawless make-up, and the killer short dress and decided that she was severely underdressed for this party in her jeans and baby pink Yankees long sleeve tee-shirt.
Haley opened her mouth to make an excuse so that she could leave, realizing that she was in way over her head here when the woman snorted.
“You’re the next-door neighbor,” the woman said, sounding amused. “What do you want?” she demanded as her eyes narrowed on the plate in Haley’s hands.
“I just-”
“Amy, who is it?” Jason said from somewhere behind the woman currently glaring at her.
Amy rolled her eyes. “It’s just your neighbor dropping off some brownies,” she said as she reached over to take the plate from Haley. “I’ll just take them so she can go.”
“Brownies?” Jason said, suddenly filling the doorway, causing Amy to stumble back out of the way.
“Hey!” Amy snapped, but Jason didn’t seem to hear her. His eyes were glued to the plate.
“Are those,” he noticeably swallowed, “brownies covered in peanut butter frosting?”
Did he just whimper?
“They’re chocolate chunk fudge brownies with peanut butter frosting,” Haley mumbled absently as she caught the murderous glare Amy was sending her way. She was just about to hand the plate over to Jason and leave when everything in her stilled.
After last night, she was through with getting pushed around. She was sick of missing out on things because she was too scared to take a risk. She was a grown woman, damn it, and if she wanted to party it up at her first kegger, then she was damn well going to do it! She was going to have fun even if it killed her and judging by the mascara-glare being sent her way, that was a good possibility.
“Let me just take those off your hands so you can grab yourself a beer,” Jason said, taking the plate from her while he gazed longingly down at the brownies as he stepped back inside the house, leaving Haley to follow him.
“Hey, those look good! Can I have one?” a man she’d seen hundreds of times around Jason’s house asked, reaching out to take one.
“Back the fuck off! She brought them for me, you bastard!” Jason snapped.
Haley automatically took an anxious step back, afraid of getting caught in the middle of a fight. But instead of yelling at Jason or getting mad like she’d seen a lot of guys do in bars over a lot less, the man just rolled his eyes and turned his attention to her.
“Hi, my name is Brad,” he said, holding out his hand.
After a slight hesitation that she hoped he hadn’t noticed, she shook his hand. “Haley.”
“Haley, it’s nice to finally meet you,” Brad said with a charming smile. “I apologize for my friend’s rudeness. He just learned how to walk upright last year,” he said dryly, earning a chuckle from everyone around them.
Jason threw him a dirty look before making his way towards the kitchen, glaring at anyone that came within touching distance of the plate of brownies.
“There’s pizza, chips, and plenty of drinks in the kitchen as long as Jason doesn’t get to it first, a volleyball game going on in the backyard, and of course, video games in the living room until the game comes on. Make yourself at home,” Brad said with a warm smile.
“Thank you,” Haley murmured, taking it all in.
