Playing for Keeps

Chapter 25

"Jason?" Haley said, gasping for breath.

"Haley?" the last person on earth she expected to call said.

"Dad?" Haley said, sitting down on the arm of her sofa and doing her best to calm her racing heart. She'd been outside weeding her garden and trying to make it through another day without crying when she heard the phone ring. Afraid that it was Jason calling she ran into the house desperate to hear his voice.

One whole week and not a word and that wasn't from a lack of trying either. She called his phone about a dozen times a day, sent him text messages and harassed the hell out of his friends and family looking for him. So far no luck. Nobody had any idea where the hell he was. Up until yesterday she'd convinced herself that he just needed some time and that he'd be back, but that was before the realtor, the same realtor that failed to sell her house for her, pounded a For Sale sign in his front yard.

Now Haley was desperate to find him. She needed to explain some things to him and probably grovel. Jason wasn't the one that screwed up. She needed him back here so that she could fix this before it was too late.

"Do you have a moment?" her father asked.

Frowning and truly confused and shocked that he'd called, Haley nodded woodenly, then remembered that he couldn't see her and answered. "Yes. What's going on?" she asked, wondering why he didn't just have his secretary call to relay whatever message he needed to give her.

"Your grandmother told me that you took a vacation last week. How was it?" he asked casually, but Haley couldn't help but feel there was more to it. This wasn't like him to actually take an interest in her life.

"It was fine," she said, wanting to kick her own butt all over again. It could have been great if she hadn't overreacted in the first place. Yeah, Jason had screwed up, but it hadn't deserved the level of drama she'd created. If only she'd made him grovel for a few hours they could have had a great time.

Man, she was such an idiot.

"I heard that Jason went with you," he said, followed by a short expectant pause.

"Yes, Jason went with me, Dad. I told you we were dating," Haley said, walking over to the bay window and looking out. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she watched Barbara, her ex-realtor, gesture for a middle age couple to follow her into Jason's house.

"It's nothing serious I hope," he said, drawing Haley's attention back to the conversation.

"What?"

"You and Jason. Your grandmother said that you were serious, but I didn't think you'd be so foolish to waste your life on a man like that," her father said, stunning her into silence. Although by now one would think there was very little her family could say or do that would shock her.

"What do you mean, a man like that?" Haley asked, insulted on Jason's behalf.

He let out a tired sigh. "Haley, do we really need to get into this? We both know you could do so much better, Haley."

"No, I really couldn't, Dad. I love Jason."

"Sweetheart, I know that you think you love him right now, but in time you'll realize that...well, he's not good enough for you."

"And why is that, Dad?" she asked tightly, for the first time in her life she didn't bother to hide what she was feeling from him. "Because he works for a living?"

"You know I don't have a problem with someone working, Haley. I work for a living," he pointed out.

"Then I don't understand the problem," she lied. She knew exactly what her family's problem was from the first moment they laid eyes on Jason.

"He's not one of us, Haley. He'll never fit in. Surely you realize that, sweetheart. When you stop pretending to be someone that you're not you'll come to realize that Jason just doesn't stand up to our expectations for you," he said soothingly.

She laughed without humor. "Oh, now you have expectations for me? Isn't that convenient? The one time you show concern for me just happens to be when you're worried that I'll sully up the bloodlines and marry someone who might embarrass you."

"Haley, that's ridiculous and you know it. I love you and care very deeply for you," he swore. "I'm just watching out for your best interests, sweetheart. In a few years you'll see that. Maybe you should give Robert another chance so that the two of-"

"What do I do for a living?" she bit out between clenched teeth, cutting him off.

"Excuse me?"

"I asked if you knew what I do for a living," she repeated.

"You run a day care," he said with such conviction that even she almost believed it.

"I teach history at Latin Scribe High School," she informed him, trying not to cry. She had absolutely no doubt that if she asked what committees Rose or Martha were on he would know, mostly because they were a reflection of him.

"Oh," he said, sounding surprised. "Congratulations, sweetheart. Why didn't you tell me you got the job? We would have held a dinner to celebrate."

She opened her mouth to remind him that they did in fact celebrate her job at her grandmother's insistence five years ago, but what was the point? He was never going to change and was truly never going to care about her until she started living the life that he wanted.

He'd start giving her attention and his precious time if she decided to ask for a trust fund and live off him and date men like Robert that fit in. It wouldn't matter that Robert was a cheating bastard and would drop her as soon as she slept with him. Her parents only cared about their image. It was kind of funny that her father started out in life by sharing a room with his two brothers in a small two bedroom cabin, or that his parents worked their asses off so they could go to college and never have to worry about money. He'd been spoiled and she knew that was Grandma's biggest regret in life.

"I got the job two weeks ago when I turned thirty," Haley lied, wondering if her father was going to remember this time. Of course he didn't.

"Oh, um, did you get my birthday card?" he asked, before he covered the phone with his hand from the sounds of it. She heard him mumble to someone, probably his secretary, to send her birthday card out right away.

Looked like she'd be getting three grand in a few days, she thought with an inward shrug. She'd keep it without putting up a fuss this time. She already had an idea of what to do with the money.

"Look, sweetheart, the reason that I'm calling is that your mother is having a dinner party next week and we'd like you to come," he said, not surprising Haley that her mother hadn't bothered to call her. It just wasn't worth getting upset about.

"I'll think about it," she said, not really sure she wanted to put Jason through that nonsense again.

"We'd really like you there. Robert is very excited to see you again. You know he's been trying to call you, don't you? I really think you should give him another chance, Haley."

Since Haley doubted that her father knew that his precious Robert had been calling up and leaving messages offering to take Haley away for a weekend and "have some fun and prove that his theory that she was wild between the sheets was correct" she hadn't bothered to call him back. Then again her father would probably just laugh it off if he did because it was someone he approved of.

"I'm not interested in him, Dad," Haley said firmly, hoping he'd just let it go. "If I can make it I'll be bringing Jason."

"He's not good enough, sweetheart," his said, sounding tired.

"Then neither am I," she said, hanging up.

She took one last look at the couple walking into Jason's house before walking over to her stereo system and turning it on. She found a heavy metal station, cranked it up all the way until she could actually feel the base vibrate throughout the house. She pulled off her shirt, threw on a very revealing bikini top, grabbed a beer and dumped half of it out before heading for her front door.

After mentally promising herself aspirin for the headache that was already forming she pasted a huge smile on her face and yanked open the door in time to see the couple and realtor stumbling out of Jason's house with their ears covered.

When they glared in her direction she held up her beer and said, "Who's thirsty?"

****

"If anyone has a problem with the new computer system, please let my office know immediately," Headmaster Jenkins said, reaching for his briefcase. "Have a good first day, everyone."

Jason grabbed the pile of handouts Jenkins had swamped him with and headed for the door. He wasn't too surprised when Haley jumped in front of him. She was a persistent little thing.

For two weeks she'd been hounding all of his friends and parents, looking for him. Nobody would tell her where he was, not because they were on his side, oh hell no. They were all on team Hayley and they made damn sure he knew that when they managed to get him on the phone. A week ago he finally had enough and threw his phone out his driver's side window somewhere in New Jersey.

When he left Hayley two weeks ago he'd been on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He knew if he'd stayed he would go back to Haley on his hands and knees, begging her to give him a chance, and he almost had. The only thing that stopped him was knowing that Hayley would never want him the way he wanted her.

"You've put your house up for sale," she said accusingly, pushing her glasses back up her nose as she glared at him.

He simply stepped around her and walked out of the teacher's lounge. Of course that didn't stop Hayley. In seconds she was walking beside him.

"Jason, we need to talk."

"I think we said everything we had to say two weeks ago, Haley."

"No, we didn't, Jason. You left before I could talk to you. Look, would you slow down?" she asked, doubling her efforts to keep up with him.

"No."

He didn't want to talk. Hell, he didn't even want to look at her, but he had no choice in the matter. Until his house sold he was stuck working here and seeing her every day.

"Jason, we really need to talk."

"No."

She somehow managed to catch up with him and jump in front of him just as he reached his classroom.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Move."

"No," she said stubbornly.

He didn't have the patience for this shit. "Move out of the way, Haley."

She shook her head.

"Fine," he said, stepping away from her and heading for her classroom, intending on cutting through her room.

"Fifteen people have looked at your house and not one offer. That's kind of funny, isn't it?" Haley asked in an offhand tone, stopping him dead in his tracks. It was the gist of what his realtor had told him last night over the phone when he got in.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded, turning around to glare at her.

Haley made a show of examining her fingernails. "Just that it's kind of funny that no one has made an offer on your house, especially after all the work you've put into it over the past few months." She looked up from her nails, giving him a smug little smile.

"And how exactly do you know that no one has made me an offer?" he asked, narrowing his eyes on her as he took several steps towards her.

Her brows arched up adorably. "A little birdie told me?"

"Uh huh," he said, tilting his head to the side to study her. "And what else did this little birdie tell you?'

"That you won't get one offer on your house until you give me what I want," she said firmly. There was no doubt in his mind what she wanted.

Friendship.

As much as he would love to be able to stay in Haley's life and make sure that whatever lucky bastard ended up with her took care of her, he couldn't. Not when he knew he should be the lucky bastard who was allowed to hold her, love her and be there for her. She was his little grasshopper.

"I can't give that to you, Haley," he said hoarsely. "I wish I could, but....but I just can't. I'm sorry."

"Then you're not going to sell your house," she simply said, shrugging.

"I'm sorry, Haley," he said, walking back to his now unguarded door.

"Last chance, Jason!" Haley yelled through the front door.

Great, he thought, sitting back on the kitchen chair. This was just what he needed. It was bad enough that he was forced to cut Haley out of his life, something that was going to take him a long ass time to get over, but he didn't need her going psycho on him.

Haley was smart and level headed. He never really expected her to land on his doorstep at eleven o'clock at night, demanding to talk to him like so many women before her. At least she didn't sound drunk and wasn't screaming a bunch of bullshit for his neighbors.

"About time," he mumbled, rubbing his hands down his face when he didn't hear anything for five minutes. Although he was glad that Haley had given up, he couldn't help but feel a little insulted. Women he'd only fucked once or twice were a lot more persistent and demanding than a woman who claimed she loved him.

Then again she only loved him as a good friend, one that she'd apparently wanted to screw around with for a little while, but a friend nonetheless. He'd known the entire time they were together that he wasn't good enough for her, he just never expected Haley to so readily agree with that assumption.

It figures, he thought acidly, tossing his red pen down on the stack of essays he was grading, that the one woman he wanted only wanted him as a fuck buddy. A year ago he probably would have been flattered that his shy little neighbor saw him as a stud. Now he just wanted to put his fist through the wall.

He fought back a yawn as he picked his pen back up and started going through the essays again, wondering what the hell had possessed him to assign an essay quiz on the first day of school. The answer was easy of course. Haley and of course the new biology teacher, Mark Armstrong who wouldn't leave her alone all day were responsible for this simple act of stupidity.

Jason had been forced to watch as Mark flirted with his little grasshopper. When Haley had dropped her notebook in the hallway before first period and bent over to pick it up, it had taken every last ounce of control to stop himself from ripping apart the bastard who licked his lips while he watched Haley's pert little bottom wiggle. Since Jason needed the job and a good reference he refrained from killing the bastard and took it out on his students, who now hated him.

He didn't give a shit.

The only thing he cared about was getting the hell out of here with his sanity intact and he doubted that was going to happen if he was forced to see Haley everyday and watch as other men drooled after her. He'd have to find out from his realtor tomorrow what the hell Haley was doing to scare people away.

Right now he was too damn tired to think of the possibilities. He hadn't been able to sleep much over the past couple of weeks, another thing he was going to have to fix. He felt himself start to doze off as his head dropped forward. This time he didn't fight it.

"Wake up, Jason," Haley's sweet voice had him groaning as his eyes slowly opened. "Good boy," she said, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"Haley?" Jason asked groggily as his eyes slowly focused on her cute little smiling face.

"Mmmhmm," Haley answered absently as she slowly walked around him, letting her finger glide over his shoulders.

He went to cover a yawn with his hand only to frown when he realized his hands were pulled back behind him and.....yup, cuffed. He moved his feet and sighed when he realized his legs were also bound to the chair. Great. She really had gone off the deep end.

"Untie me," he said, sighing.

"Nope," Haley said, making the word pop.

"Haley," he warned through clenched teeth. "Untie me right now."

"Sorry, I just can't do that," she said, stopping in front of him and leaned back against the table, smiling sweetly at him.

Jason tried to yank his arms and legs out of their bonds with no luck.

"Unfucking tie me! Now!" he roared.

"Sorry. I can't do that," she simply said, pushing her glasses back up her nose.

"Haley, I swear to god if you don't untie me-"

"Why don't we get started?" she asked brightly, cutting him off.

He closed his eyes, praying for patience he sure as hell didn't have. "Haley, it's over. You need to accept it and let me go. Please," he all but begged. She was killing him. Losing her was the hardest thing he'd ever experienced. He needed her to let go so he could find some way to cope with loss without losing it.

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is," Jason said, opening his eyes to find Haley studying him with her head tilted to the side.

"You know," she said, pushing away from the table, "you don't look very comfortable."

"That's because I'm not. Untie me, Haley," he snapped, yanking on his handcuffs again to no avail.

She kneeled in front of him, ignoring the glare he was sending her way and laid her hands on his knees. Jason watched as she licked her little pouty lips and smiled sweetly up at him.

"Did you miss me?" she asked as she gently caressed his knees.

"No," he lied. He'd missed her so goddamn much. Those two weeks from her had been a living hell and one he knew he'd be reliving again soon.

"Well, I missed you," she mumbled softly, running her hands over his thighs slowly, almost distractedly.

Jason shook his head in regret. "Haley, we can't be friends."

She shrugged delicately. "I know." She ran her hands down the inside of his thighs, letting her nails lightly scratch him. He sucked in a breath as she ran her nails all the way back to his knees and then back up his thighs.

"I don't want to be friends," she said, running her hands up and over his shirt covered stomach and chest. He had to force himself to focus on their conversation and not on how good her hands felt on him.

"I'm not going to be your fuck buddy," he bit out angrily. Even though he knew he should happily accept anything she was willing to give him, he couldn't. He wanted all of her.

"That's not going to work for me either," she said, slowly loosening his tie and pulling it away from him. She met his eyes as her nibble little fingers unbuttoned his shirt.

"Then what the hell do you want?" he asked, trying not to lick his lips in pleasure as she ran her nails teasingly down his chest and stomach. When she reached his navel she flattened her hands against him and slid them up until she was pushing his shirt away, exposing his chest to her greedy eyes.

She ignored his question, instead tracing her fingers softly over his muscles and chest. When she ran her thumbs over his hard flat nipples he had to bite back a hiss. Haley gave him a knowing smile as she leaned forward.

"Have I ever told you how much I love your body?" she asked softly against his stomach as she pressed a kiss against his skin. He watched in shock and pleasure as she licked a trail from his navel to his left peck. He hissed as she ran her warm wet tongue over his nipple.

His head dropped back with a loud groan as she licked her way to the right and teased his other nipple. When she flicked her wicked little tongue over the flat nipple his dick went from half mast to steel in seconds.

He licked his lips as he shifted to make some room in his suddenly tight pants. Haley's hands slid back to his thighs as she kissed and licked her way to his neck. When she pulled his earlobe between her teeth he couldn't help but moan.

"Did you miss me?" Haley asked as she suckled his ear. "Even a little?"

Christ, he couldn't think never mind answer her.

"Hmm, why don't we see what else we can do to make you....more comfortable, shall we?" she asked, smiling against his neck.

He raised his head when he felt her move away from him. Panting, he watched her sit back on her haunches as she ran her hands over his inner thighs. Every time she ran her hands mere centimeters away from where he needed her he groaned in frustration.

"Fuck!" he gasped when Haley leaned forward and pressed a kiss against the bulge in his pants.

"Tell me you missed me," Haley said quietly as she leaned back slightly and ran her hand over the bulge, lightly gripping it before reaching for his belt.

He stubbornly shook his head. As much as his body screamed for her touch he couldn't do this. Haley deserved to be with someone she loved and who made her happy and as much as it pained him to admit it, it wasn't him.

"Stop."