“In two years, the ban in Las Vegas will be lifted. We’re planning a big trip,” Jason said, looking at her hopefully.
Haley opened her mouth to remind him that they weren’t going to be doing anything in two years when she realized what he just said.
“You’ve been banned from Las Vegas?”
“Not from Las Vegas, just from all the buffets,” Jason said with a shrug as if it was no big deal.
“All the buffets?” she asked slowly, unable to hide her shock. There had to be hundreds of buffets in Las Vegas.
“I guess they had a meeting or something. As I said before, it’s all political,” Jason said, gesturing for her to move up in line.
She was too stunned to say anything for a few minutes. She knew they loved food, but wow...
“What movie do you want to see?” Jason asked, pulling her from her frightening thoughts that were probably going to keep her up at night for the rest of her life.
Haley quickly scanned the list, about to tell Jason to go ahead and pick a movie when she spotted a movie she’d been waiting to see for a while. How about “To hell and back?” she suggested.
Jason frowned. “The one with Edward and Dana Pierce?”
She nodded.
“Fine,” Jason said with an exaggerated eye-roll, earning a smile from her. “A chick flick it is.” He bought their tickets and headed for the concession stand with a muttered, “I just need something to eat before I pass out.”
He reached out to take her hand, only to drop his hand away right before he touched her. His smile became polite as he gestured for her to go ahead of him. Haley forced a smile as she stepped in line ahead of him, reminding herself that this was exactly what she wanted. She wanted to go back to being friends, even if it was only for a little while. So, Jason readily accepting that they were only friends was a good thing, she told herself.
After they bought their snacks, well, Jason’s snacks, since she was still full, they found two seats towards the front. Thankfully, the previews were already playing so Haley took the opportunity to remind herself that they were just friends and that she needed to stop thinking about just how much she wanted him to touch her.
They were over. Jason had obviously accepted it and so should she. It was for the best, no matter how much it made her want to cry.
Chapter 26
“You didn’t have to buy dinner. I could have cooked,” Haley pointed out as they followed a waitress to the back booth in the fifties-style diner.
“You’re not lifting a finger while you’re on vacation,” Jason pointed out, again. It was just another thing they were going to have to discuss, but later. Right now, he was too busy showing Haley how much he cared about her. They’d made progress over the past two days.
At least, he hoped they had.
Now, all he had to do was try not to screw this up again, not that Jason really thought that was possible. He’d been on his best behavior, following her rules, and keeping his hands to himself over the past couple of days. At night, he allowed her to decide their sleeping positions, and in the morning, he bolted from the bed before he did something to fuck this up and took a very cold shower or went for a swim in the ocean. Then, he spent the rest of the day showing her how much he cared about her as he reminded himself to be patient.
It was more difficult than he’d ever imagined, but somehow, he’d managed to show her that he was capable of learning from his mistakes. There was no doubt in his mind that she was ready to go back to the way things used to be. Thank fucking God, because he didn’t think he could last another day with this friendship bullshit.
She was his little grasshopper, plain and simple. Not being able to touch her and hold her felt wrong.
“Can I get you a drink to start off?” the waitress asked, throwing him an appreciative look.
“We’ll take two Cokes, please,” Jason said, directing his attention to the menu in front of him. He wasn’t about to do anything to encourage the woman. Right now, he needed to be able to focus all of his energy on his little grasshopper and not on trying to get rid of some waitress in a tight pink shirt about two sizes too small that hoped to warm his bed tonight.
“I’ll go get those right now,” she said in a seductive tone. Jason snuck a look at Haley, wondering if the waitress’s obvious interest bothered her. If it did, it didn’t show. Apparently, Haley was too oblivious to care, which was probably for the best because he couldn’t stand jealous women.
“I need to use the bathroom. Could you order for me if she comes back before I do?”
“Sure,” Haley said, not bothering to look up from her menu. “What do you want?”
“Two cheeseburger dinners,” he said, not bothering to tell her how he wanted them or to ask for two extra sides since she already knew what he liked.
Five minutes later, he was walking out of the bathroom just as their waitress finished writing down their order. The waitress looked up from her writing pad and smiled at him. She said something else to Haley before walking over to him, smiling coyly the entire time.
“Your friend,” she said, gesturing behind him to Haley, who was watching them with bored interest, “said you might like the band playing over at TJ’s. It’s a Nickelback cover band. She said that you could pick me up in two hours after I get off work, but if you give me fifteen minutes, I could probably get the night off.”
