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."

Chapter 26

"Stop!" Jason begged.

Haley finished pulling his belt loose, unbuttoned his pants, and had his zipper down before he could say it again. She sat back, leaving his pants open revealing the large bulge now hidden only by his gray boxer briefs.

"Okay," she said soothingly. Jason sucked in a deep breath and visibly relaxed.

She knew she was pushing him, but she had no choice. Jason was being so damn stubborn and wouldn't listen to her. She mentally tsked him as she stood up. If only he'd stuck around two weeks ago he'd know exactly how much she wanted him and how sorry she was that she'd hurt him.

There was no doubt in her mind that she'd hurt him and she hated herself so much for it. Months ago when she'd welcomed Jason into her life she'd been so foolish to think she was over categorizing people into safe little groups to protect herself. All she managed to do was hurt both of them and push Jason away.

When she told herself there could never be anything more with Jason she'd been so foolish and so frightened to let herself truly love him and hope for a future she told herself was impossible. She'd been so damn selfish and hurt the man she loved.

Now he was hurting and trying his best to take care of her by protecting her. As much as it warmed her heart that he'd do anything to make her happy, even suffer, she was actually pretty pissed. His stubbornness was only delaying the inevitable. She'd break out the fists of fury to knock some sense into him, but she didn't want to hurt him.

So that left only one thing.......

Biting back a smile she stood up and leaned back against the kitchen table. She'd never done anything so bold in her life, but this was for Jason. It didn't hurt that he was handcuffed and couldn't stop her.

"Are you sure you want to stop?" she asked coyly.

"Yes," he hissed, still panting.

"Hmmm, then perhaps we should just talk?" she suggested as she stepped out of her high heels.

Jason's eyes narrowed on the action as he absently nodded.

"I think we should forget about being friends, Haley, and go our separate ways," he said, looking up, but not quite meeting her eyes. "Once my house sells I'm moving away for good."

"That's really not going to work for me," Haley said, reaching up and slowly unbuttoning her silk blouse.