Playing For Keeps (10 page)

It looked like that plan was failing
miserably.

“So tired…….” She nearly
whimpered.

Damn Jason. Somehow he wrecked sleep
for her. She’d never slept in the same bed with a guy before. Sure
she cuddled with a few boyfriends in front of the television after
a heavy make out session, but it always felt awkward. With Jason if
felt so good. He was a thousand times more comfortable than her bed
or down comforter.

How was she supposed to get
comfortable on a pillow top mattress after sleeping in his arms?
She couldn’t. There was no way she was going to be able to manage
work tomorrow on less than two hours of sleep in forty eight hours,
but she couldn’t call in because they were preparing for
finals.

“Move over,” Jason said, startling
her.

She jumped up, clutching her chest,
trying to catch her breath as she watched Jason push up her window
screen and climb into her room. He closed the screen behind him and
lay down on her bed.

Still gasping, she sucked in a breath
and said, “What the hell is wrong with you? You just scared the
hell out of me!”

“Look woman, I don’t know what you
did, but I haven’t been able to sleep since we got back from New
York. I’m tired and bitchy and all I want is some sleep so cuddle
your ass up with me or so help me I will kill you,” Jason
snapped.

“Wow, you are bitchy,” she
mumbled.

“It’s your fault.”

“Whatever.”

“Let’s go,” he said, holding out his
arms expectantly. When she hesitated he wiggled his fingers. “You
know you want to.”

“Just for tonight,” she
clarified.

He nodded quickly. “Just for tonight.
Now, let’s go, I’m cranky.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” she said dryly,
but she did as she was asked. She was too exhausted to do anything
else at the moment.

It didn’t take long for the beating of
Jason’s heart to lull her into a deep and peaceful
sleep.

The alarm went off waking Haley from a
deep comfortable sleep. Instead of feeling jumpy and attacking the
alarm clock after only getting five hours of sleep she felt oddly
well rested.

Jason yawned as he sat up and shut off
the alarm. He rubbed his eyes and turned around to lift up the
screen.

“I’ll see you at work,” he
mumbled.

“Okay,” she said, getting to her feet.
“This was a onetime deal,” she said more to remind herself than
him. She could quickly become dependent on the comfort and warmth
he offered and that wasn’t a good idea with a guy like
Jason.

He gave her one of his lopsided
smiles. “Of course. It was just a onetime deal.”

Chapter 9

Monday Night

10:35 P.M.

Haley rolled onto her side, facing the
wall and wondering if she should just suck up her pride and go ask
Jason to come sleep with her. Did that make her a sleep slut? At
this point she was willing to beg for it. Just as she feared she
was addicted to Jason’s body. Thank god they never had sex. She’d
hate to think how bad the addiction would be then.

She felt the bed dip behind her before
a strong arm curled around her waist, pulling her back into a
strong warm body. Jason’s inviting scent enveloped her as strongly
as his body did. Her bottom was cupped by his pelvis. He was hard
again, but like usual he didn’t make any move on her. It was just
his body’s reaction to being pressed against a female just like
hers was because she was being held by a strong man. Neither cared
enough to comment or act on it. In a matter of minutes they were
fast asleep.

Tuesday Night

11.30 P.M.

“That was a great game and a really
great dinner,” Jill, Brad’s wife, said.

Brad stole another brownie off the
plate and groaned while he nodded his head in agreement. He reached
for another brownie only to find the plate gone and Jason glaring
at him.

“Brownie thieving bastard,” he
muttered as he stalked off to Haley’s kitchen counter.

The three of them watched with humor
as Jason placed the brownies in a large zip lock bag that he no
doubt planned on taking with him to work in the morning. Halfway
through transferring the brownies he turned to glare at Brad and
mouthed the words, “Thieving bastard,” before returning to the task
at hand.

“Anyway,” Haley said, drawing Brad and
Jill's attention away from Jason's rather disturbing affection for
her baked goods. “It was nice to have you guys over.”

“Yeah, you guys are coming over next
week, right?” Jill asked as she frowned at her husband who held up
the last bite of brownie, but didn’t eat it. His eyes were fixed on
Jason.

Both woman watched as Jason turned
around. Brad made a huge show of putting the brownie in his mouth.
He closed his eyes as if it was the best thing he’d ever eaten and
moaned.

“That was a damn good brownie,” Brad
finally said.

“You betraying bastard!” Jason
gasped.

“I’ll bring you an entire pan full of
brownies next week, Brad,” Haley said, knowing it would take the
glare away from Brad.

“Traitor,” Jason mumbled as he
lovingly stroked the bag of brownies.

“It’s so not right that he isn’t fat,”
Jill said. Haley had to nod in agreement. The man put away three
helpings of lasagna tonight, a salad, and a ton of garlic bread not
to mention about a dozen brownies and cookies. With her one helping
of lasagna and two brownies she was probably going to gain five
pounds. Sometimes life simply wasn’t fair.

They said their good nights and walked
Brad and Jill out the door. She shut the kitchen light off knowing
Jason would shut off the living room light. Still neither spoke of
the sleeping arrangements and she didn’t know how to bring it up.
So instead she quietly said good night, rolled her eyes as Jason
mumbled “I love you” to his brownies and headed off to her
bathroom.

After a quick shower she pulled on a
small tee shirt and panties. Yawning, she walked into her room and
wasn’t surprised to find Jason on his stomach, wearing nothing but
boxers, in the middle of her bed. She flicked off the lights and
crawled in bed. She laid her face on his shoulder while her hand
rested on his other shoulder and her leg entwined with his. In a
matter of seconds she felt Jason relax and drift off to
sleep.

Wednesday Night

10:45 P.M.

Jason felt bone tired as he pulled
into his driveway. He waited until Haley pulled into her driveway
before getting out. It had been a very long day and judging by the
adorable little whimper Haley made as she climbed out of her car
she was feeling it as well.

“I am so tired,” she
mumbled.

He yawned loudly. “That was a
parent-teacher meeting for the records,” he said.

“Too much drama. Who knew parents of
spoiled rich kids who were failing could become so damn dramatic? I
had one woman sobbing hysterically because her son got a B instead
of an A.”

He chuckled. “I was offered a blow job
to make a D into an A.”

Haley’s face squished up prettily.
“You had a woman offer you a blow job during parent-teacher
night?”

“Nope, a man. Seems the guy is rather
desperate to get his son into Harvard.”

She laughed softly. “Obviously.” She
yawned loudly. “I’m off to bed. Goodnight.”

“Me too. Goodnight,” he said as they
walked along the small patch of grass between their properties.
Just before she veered off to the right he put his arm around her
shoulders and steered her off towards his house.

For the last three nights they’d slept
at her house. It wasn’t that he missed his bed. He just wanted to
see if the bed made the difference or if it was Haley. Plus, he’d
been imagining her in his bed all day. Whenever they turned sexual
he forced his mind out of the gutter. It was becoming more and more
difficult as time went by.

He’d never had a female friend before
and this level of intimacy was new and a little frightening for
him. He made himself a promise today. He would get her into his bed
and if he didn’t sleep as well as he did in her bed or that hotel
bed he would go out and buy a bed matching hers and the problem
would be solved. If he still slept like a baby with her
then…..well, he didn’t really want to think about that just yet. He
was pretty sure part of the problem was sex.

Maybe he’d go and get laid and then
see if he slept as well with Haley snuggling him all night. Part of
him was scared that it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference what
he did. Haley was quickly becoming his world and for some strange
reason it that was fine with him, hence the reason he was scared
shitless.

They didn’t say anything as they
walked into his house. He could tell she was nervous. Hell, he was
nervous. He’d never had a woman in his bed. It didn’t matter that
there wouldn’t be any sex involved. This was a big step for him. He
didn’t even know if he could tolerate having Haley in his bed.
Every time the panic started to surface he shoved it back down. He
knew if he couldn’t handle it the he could make some excuse and
they’d go back to her bed. With that in mind he led her into his
room.

Still neither spoke as he handed her
one of his old favorite tee shirts. She gave him a shy smile and
disappeared into his bathroom. He pulled his shoes off and waited
for her to come out. He heard his shower turn on and he gritted his
teeth as a wave of lust poured over him.

He frowned down at the rather
uncomfortable tent in his pants. “Stop causing problems.” It didn’t
listen of course. It never did where Haley was concerned. He kept
telling himself that eventually his body would come to accept that
Haley was just a friend.

“All yours,” Haley said softly as she
stepped out of the bathroom ten minutes later wearing his tee
shirt. The hem of the shirt ended just above the knee giving the
illusion that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. He swallowed.
Hard.

He nodded woodenly and walked past her
to the bathroom where he proceeded to take an ice cold shower. As
he was drying off he spotted her little glasses folded on his sink
counter. He picked them up and smiled as he put them back. They
looked like they belonged there.

The bedroom light was already out by
the time he stepped out of the bathroom. Light streaming in from
the street illuminated Haley. She lay on her back on the right side
of the bed waiting for him. He walked over to her side of the bed
and raised the covers. Without a word he climbed onto the bed and
slowly lay on top of her so that his lower stomach rested between
her legs, keeping his errant erection away from her as best he
could. She opened her legs wider to cradle him.

Jason laid his head between her
breasts and closed his eyes releasing a breath of content. She felt
so good, so right. After a moment’s hesitation he felt her move. He
wasn’t sure if she was about to shove him off or hit him. He was
taking liberties in their sleeping arrangement, but he couldn’t
help it. He needed her so badly.

Instead of shoving him away she
wrapped one arm around his shoulders while she gently ran her
fingers through his hair. That’s how he fell asleep in the cradle
of the woman he trusted and cared about the most in the world. It
was absolutely perfect.

Chapter 10

"No! I'm not going and you can't make
me!" Haley said as she tightened her grip on the edge of the
kitchen sink.

"Haley,-"

"I'm not going!"

Jason tried not to smile as he placed
his hand on Haley's round little bottom, but failed
miserably.

She went completely still.

"What the hell are you doing?" she
demanded as she tried to shift away from his hand.

"If you don't let go of the sink and
get your ass in the car in thirty seconds you'll leave me with no
choice but to spank you," he said, enjoying having his hand on her
ass more than he should, but clearly she left him with very little
choice in the matter.

Sure, he could easily pick her up and
throw her over his shoulder, but where was the fun in
that?

"You wouldn't," she said through
clenched teeth, glaring over her shoulder at him.

He squeezed her ass.

She gasped, jumping away from him and
ran towards the front door. "Bastard!" she yelled over her shoulder
before throwing the door open and leaving.

Jason followed her at a leisurely
pace, whistling happily, half hoping that she refused to go a half
dozen more times before he got her in the car. He stepped out of
her house, locking the door behind him, and nearly groaned in
disappointment when he spotted her waiting for him in his
car.

Damn.

There went his plans for her
ass.

He climbed into the driver's side seat
and sent her a huge grin, knowing it would piss her off. Her eyes
narrowed on him before she looked away mumbling all sorts of
unpleasant things about his manhood that he simply chose to
ignore.