Playing for Keeps (Neighbor from Hell #1)(37)

"We can go on the bumper cars or the Ferris wheel," Mitch started to suggest.

She folded her arms over her chest and glared, just glared at the man. Mitch cursed under his breath. She turned her cold glare on him and he didn't bother hiding his eye roll. This was ridiculous. No way was he letting her wreck his good time.

"Jason!"

He turned around and his frown was instantly gone, replaced by a huge pleased smile. He watched as his little grasshopper walked quickly towards him, grinning from ear to ear. She had a stuffed animal, a snake from the looks of it, around her neck, a large soda in one hand and her other arm wrapped around a fake sword, a teddy bear and she held the largest piece of fried dough he'd ever seen in the other that was generously covered in powdered sugar.

"Look what I won!" she said, practically beaming with excitement. It was hard to believe someone loved these places more than him and Mitch, but apparently Haley was that person.

When he told her where they were going today she squealed excitedly and threw herself into his arms. He laughed so hard that he almost dropped her. This was their first date since they came together a week ago and thankfully he'd chosen well. He would have liked to been able to take her out sooner, but they'd both been swamped with giving final exams, correcting them, and going over grades. School was over and now they had a whole summer together.

"This is so much fun!" Haley said, seeming oblivious or she simply didn't give a damn about Mitch's date's attitude, he suspected the latter. His little grasshopper didn't let things bother her.

"Where did you get all of this?" he asked as he leaned in for a kiss and a bite of that dough.

"Oh, um," she gestured with her drink towards the direction in which she came from, "after I hit the bumper cars I couldn't resist the basketball game or the darts and then I smelled the fried dough and," she shrugged. "I guess I got distracted."

"I thought you were just going to find the bathroom. We've been standing here waiting for you for over a half an hour!" Mitch's date, Sue or Jude or whatever the hell her name was, pointed out.

Judging by Haley's expression she'd forgotten all about the bathroom and just remembered that she had to go. That was confirmed a few seconds later when she shoved her drink, food, and winnings in his and Mitch's arms and took off running.

Jason took a huge bite out of the dough and sighed happily. No doubt he was going to have to hunt his little grasshopper down in a few minutes near some game or ride and carry her to the bathroom.

Mitch looked down at his arms, frowned and looked at the things Jason was now holding. "How come you got the sword? I want the sword." He reached out to snag the sword. Jason bitch slapped his hand away with the dough.

"My sword!"

"Jerk," Mitch mumbled as he eyed the sword.

Jason looked at his sword too and took another bite. "We could always go win another one and have a sword fight."

"Sweet!" Mitch said. Yeah, they were big kids when it came to carnivals, but who cared?

"I'm not going anywhere," Mitch's date said, intent on wrecking their good time.

Mitch shrugged. "Well, then have a good night."

***************

Haley increased her pout.

Jason chuckled. "I don't care. You're not getting it back."

"That's not fair! You're just mad because I kicked ass!"

Mitch rubbed his shoulder while he glared at Haley. She bit her lip and took a step back and ducked beneath Jason's arm. He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.

"Fine, keep the sword. I don't care," she said in a sulky voice. Mitch muttered something and sighed heavily.

"You want to go on the bumper cars again?" Mitch asked with an easy smile. He'd never seen his friend forgive anyone so fast before, but of course Haley had that affect on everyone. It was just so damn hard to stay mad at her. She was too damn cute for her own good.

"I suppose we could do that," she said, already tugging Jason towards the bumper cards. "If you insist that is."

Jason looked back in time to catch Mitch leering at Haley's ass.

************

"That was so much fun," Haley said dreamily as she pulled her shoes off.

"It was okay," Jason mumbled.

For the past four hours Jason had been uncharacteristically quiet. He didn't seem to do much more than glare at Mitch. A few times there she thought he was going to kill the man. She wasn't sure what she missed or if she should even get involved.

A few minutes later they were na**d and crawling beneath Jason's sheets. That's when he really frightened her. He didn't initiate any kissing or touching. In fact he didn't even glance at her br**sts and Jason always looked. Always. They were like magnets for his eyes.

Now he was lying on his back with his arms behind his head. He made no moves to get closer to her or to pull her against him. He was truly starting to scare her now. She rolled over onto her stomach and watched him for a moment.

"Are you okay?" she finally asked.

He shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"You're quiet."

"I just don't feel like talking."

"Do you want me to go home?"

He hesitated before answering, "No."