R. Mathewson - Playing for Keeps

“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.”

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.

"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.

"You'll pay for this," she promised.

"Haley,-"

"Rot in hell, you betraying bastard," she hissed.

He couldn't help but chuckle. "It's just a family dinner. I really don't understand why that has my little grasshopper all riled up."

"I. Hate. You," she bit out.

"You love me," he said, turning on the radio.

"Hate. I hate you."

"Uh huh," he said absently, searching for her favorite radio station, hoping it would calm the little demon down.

Since this morning when her grandmother had called asking him to join her family for dinner tonight Haley had been on edge. He wasn't sure if she was pissed because her grandmother had called him before her or what. All he knew was that when she overheard her grandmother ask him to join them at dinner she went a little insane.

It hadn't mattered that they were standing in line at the bakery. Haley jumped up and tried to snatch the phone out of his hand. He'd been too surprised and admittedly laughing his ass off when she tried to take him to the ground to give it much thought. Of course it did surprise him that her grandmother wasn't shocked to hear her granddaughter scream all sorts of threats of violence to him.

Jason really didn't know what the hell was going on, but he liked Haley's grandmother and didn't want to disappoint her by saying no, so of course he accepted the invitation and tried not to wince when Haley kicked his shin.