Boss Nanny Ch. 06

Friday night, after Aidan was safe and sound with Grandpa, Seamus dragged Matt out of the apartment and took him to Coffee|Bar. Despite having worked the day shift a while now, he'd never been there after hours. The live music was a woman and her acoustic guitar, singing cover songs that were better than the originals. Patrons sat around the tables laughing, enjoying the low-lit atmosphere while waiters and waitresses served beer and wine. Matt wasn't even sure this was the same place he'd worked just a few short hours ago. It was so different.

Matt picked a small table while Seamus went to the bar that was partitioned off during the day. Matt smiled as he watched Seamus and the bartender, who was clearly nervous to serve his boss.

Commotion caught Matt's eye. Not far from where Seamus was waiting in line was a table with five women. With the encouragement from her friends, one woman shoved away from the group and approached Seamus at the bar. Matt didn't need to hear the conversation to know what was said. She was interested, he was not.

What did Seamus look like when he was interested in someone? He didn't exactly have a bubbly, inviting personality. Matt had never seen him so much as flirt with anyone. Even when Jay was chatting him up, Seamus didn't look all that interested even though Jay was a beautiful man.

The woman pouted to her friends when Seamus excused himself.

Once his drink was safely slid across the small tabletop, Matt smirked. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Look completely closed off and unapproachable yet still manage to get hit on."

Why Seamus felt he had to hide his smile, Matt didn't know. "I must not look that unapproachable."

Matt laughed. "Trust me, you do."

"Yet you're here."

"Yes. Despite the fact I murdered you in my thoughts the first few times I saw you, I'm still here."

"Why would you think about murdering me?"

"Because you went through the wrong door, twice. And almost killed me, twice!" Matt shouted in good humor. He could hardly believe Seamus had forgotten.

Seamus made a big show of rolling his eyes and throwing his hands in the air. "We're still talking about this? You're a dog with a bone about this door situation. That was half a year ago."

"You almost killed me." Matt was about to take a drink when he remembered, "You almost killed Aidan."

Seamus paused. "Yeah, I do feel bad about that."

"Just Aidan? What am I? Chopped liver?"

Seamus smiled and finished his drink while Matt finished his. Of course Seamus was approached when he went for a refill. A different girl this time. The line was longer now so she had more time to try and stake a claim. Seamus was kind and held genuine interest in whatever they were talking about but as soon as he got his drinks, he bid her farewell.

When he got back to the table, Seamus's face was all, don't-you-dare-say-it. Matt smiled in victory. Thirty minutes later Seamus was back in line. Another approach. This time it was a guy around Matt's age. The bar was close to the University after all, everyone was Matt's age.

Matt looked away. He might've wondered what an interested Seamus looked like but that didn't mean he wanted to find out.

"Hey." A pretty brunette sat in Seamus's chair.

Shocked that someone had approached him, Matt glanced at Seamus who was looking between Matt and the girl. At first, he looked puzzled, then he smiled. The kind of smile that was practically a laugh. Matt wanted to flip him off. Instead, he turned to the girl.

"Hi."

She looked between Matt and Seamus. "I was just curious about you two. Are you guys—" You know...

"What? Us? Noooo. I mean—we're not. No," he said. Finally. Words were so hard sometimes.

She laughed and glanced at Seamus who was on his way back to the table. "That's good." She smiled, got up, and left.

Seamus sat down, a little amused and a lot smug. "Looks like I'm not getting all the attention."

"Actually, she was inquiring about you." Matt looked toward the bar where the guy was still standing, watching Seamus in defeat. "And she wasn't the only one."

Seamus ignored Matt's comments. They talked and laughed. Matt was starting to feel the alcohol. He was feeling happy and outgoing, leaning a little towards honest and blunt. He didn't care as long as he was nowhere near emotional.

They started playing some version of twenty one questions.

"What was your first job?" Seamus asked.

"Depends on how technical you wanna get. Technically I mowed lawns when I was twelve but my first tax paying job was at a movie theatre when I was sixteen."

"I bet that was cool. Watching all the movies for free."

"Sure, if I was working at the six-plex on the other side of town that played all the good blockbusters," Matt laughed. "The movie theatre I worked at was this small independently owned place that only played critically acclaimed movies or ones slated for Oscar noms. Those weren't exactly the movies sixteen-year-old Matt wanted to watch. What about you?"

"Fourteen. I was a busser at a family run restaurant. I was fired three days later."

"What?" Matt laughed. "How'd that happen?"

Seamus made a sour face that was cuter than it should've been. "It was a busy morning and there was a large group with several kids. There was one kid, probably four or five, and he was not having a good day. There was an older lady a few tables away, she was not happy about the noise. She summoned me over, yelled at me, told me how unprofessional it was to have such rowdy children running around. She demanded I do something. I was fourteen and had no clue how to respond. The mean lady was glaring at me so I walked over and asked the parents if they could quiet their kid down. That was the wrong thing to do. My boss explained that it was a family restaurant and if someone had a problem with families, they could leave. They were nice about it but I was let go. I still think about that day. The look on the parents face," he cringed. "All these years later and I still feel terrible. Probably more so now that I have Aidan. Kids don't know how to process their emotions and they need grace. If someone said to me what I said to those parents, I'd punch 'em."

"You'd punch a poor fourteen-year-old boy who was being bullied by a Karen?"

"No," Seamus smiled. "I suppose I'd ask the kid who was complaining and then I'd punch Karen for being a bitch."

Matt laughed then tapped his chin as he thought of his next question. They'd talked about so much already. "How many boyfriends have you had?"

"Three," he said quickly, then he hesitated. "Four. Three." Okay, maybe he did need to think about it. "Three bonafide boyfriends and one that was more than a friend but less than a boyfriend." Matt motioned for him to explain. "There was Sean and Jeremy in high school, then Kelly, and last was Teddy."

"Teddy was the more than a friend but less than a boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Matt nodded. "So, Teddy was like, friends with benefits?"

Seamus picked at his shirt sleeve. "Yeah, I guess that's exactly what he was."

"How'd that come about?"

Seamus looked at Matt like why-do-you-want-to-know?

"Asking for a friend."

Seamus laughed. "It was a few years after Kelly died. I wasn't ready to date but I hated random hookups. Teddy worked at the dealership. I think he understood what I could and couldn't give him and he was okay with that."

"How long were you guys not together?"

"Oh," Seamus thought. "A year? Maybe longer."

"Wow, that's a long time. Neither of you saw other people?"

"I had no reason to but I don't know about him. I wasn't concerned if he was or wasn't. We weren't dating."

"Did you guys ever go out together? Or was it just sex?"

"It was just sex but we still did stuff occasionally. Dinner here and there."

"Why'd it end?"

Seamus shrugged. "It just died out. We stopped reaching out until one day it just wasn't a thing anymore. Anyway, what about you? How many boyfriends have you had?"

"Oh," Matt scrunched his face and counted in his head. "Seven? Eight? Ten?"

Seamus's eyes bugged and he pressed his palm down on the table in shock.

"Yeah," Matt laughed at Seamus' reaction. "Every gay kid dated every other gay kid in the district at some point. I only had one or two I would consider serious boyfriends."

"Does that mean your other boyfriends were glorified hookups?"

"I'd like to give them more credit than just being a hook up but yeah, that's pretty much what they were."

"Any end on bad terms? Broken hearted that you didn't want more?"

"Bad terms? Yes. Broken hearted that I didn't want more? I don't think so."

The sleeves on Seamus's navy shirt were pushed up and he aimlessly ran his fingers up and down his forearm as he listened to Matt talk. "What was your worst break up?" He asked.

Matt groaned and laid his head in his arms. "I have to pick just one?"

Seamus laughed at him. Insisting he had to pick one, then poked Matt all over until he got so annoyed, he sat up.

"Fine," Matt swatted Seamus away. "My worst break up was with Kevin Wright. We were the same grade but different schools. One of his friends threw a big party. Now, you may not know this about me but I can get really emotional when I drink."

Seamus covered his mouth in an attempt to hide his smile. When Matt glared at him, he raised his hands. "Go on."

"Anyway. We were drinking. He was barely paying attention to me, too busy being drunk with his friends to notice me. I hated it. I didn't know a single person. Everyone there were his friends and classmates and I felt totally ditched. I started getting emotional over it. I think he genuinely felt bad that I was crying but it also embarrassed him. We probably could've survived except Ashton showed up."

"Ooh, sounds juicy."

"Yes, well, Ashton was a new kid...and gay. Kevin got Ashton a drink."

"Oh no, not a drink," Seamus egged Matt on.

Matt flipped him off. "It was a big deal to drunk, emotional Matt. I stormed up and stole poor Ashton's drink and dumped it on Kevin's head. Kevin and I started screaming at each other in front of everyone. It was very dramatic. Kevin didn't want to fight in front of his friends so he grabbed my arm to pull me somewhere private. I punched him. Boom. Broke his nose. Then I saw the blood and realized what I did and started crying more. Pretty sure I begged him to forgive me. He didn't. I never was invited to another Becker High party." Matt leaned back and crossed his arms. "There you have it, not only my worst break up but also my biggest character flaw. You can thank my mom; I got my alcohol tolerance from her."

"I feel like I learned so much about you. I have so many questions. But first, I want to get you drunk again." Seamus grabbed Matt's empty and was about to get up when Matt stopped him.

"You've fetched all the drinks so far. My shout." Matt grabbed the glasses from Seamus and headed to the bar.

He half expected someone to come hit on him while he waited in line for drinks. It happened to Seamus all three times he'd gone. Alas, no nervous bartender, no flirty patrons. Matt was plum out of luck. He grabbed the two full beers and turned.

Their table was full. Seamus had been joined by four girls and two guys. Three of the occupants had already taken a shot at Seamus. So that was cool.

Matt wanted to hurry back to the table but then Seamus looked at him with help me eyes and suddenly he didn't mind watching him suffer. Knowing he wasn't a welcome participant made Matt feel better.

By the time he made it back, his chair was long gone and Seamus was shooting him daggers. That was fine, standing felt good. He gripped the back of Seamus' chair and rested his hip against Seamus' shoulder.

"I didn't order enough drinks."

"Sorry to intrude," one of the girls said though Matt didn't think she was all that sorry. She was cute with a trendy pixie cut. "It looked like you guys were having the most fun so we thought we'd join. Hope that's okay?"

Matt doubted they would leave anyway. That was fine. He was lacking the typical college experiences; the drinking, the partying, the making a complete stranger your best friend for the night. "No, this is cool," he said. "Are any of you students?"

They all perked up. The guy closest to them, the one that hadn't hit on Seamus, smiled. "Yeah. I'm Mick," he held out his hand. Then he pointed around the table. "This is Winnie, Anne, Amneet, Lizeth, and Rob."

They were all seniors. Winnie, Anne, and Rob had hit on Seamus. Lizeth and Amneet had not. Matt decided they were all cool. He kept looking at Winnie though, she looked familiar. She must've thought the same because she was trying to place him.

"Intermediate Accounting with Schlemer," she said. "You sit in the front!"

"I do," he laughed. "And I probably have a better grade than you."

"You definitely do. You always answer the questions."

"That's a lie. I never answer the questions." Well, rarely.

"Yeah, but when you get called on, you're always right."

She had him there.

They ended up talking for a while. They had a lot in common. Well, the same major but sometimes that's all it took. While Matt and Winnie chatted it up, the other's held Seamus hostage. They were completely enamored with him.

"A round on me?" The captivator of everyone's attention asked. As if he needed a reason to garner more. The second Seamus stood up, Matt stole his seat, earning a playful glare and a promise of certain death when he got back.

"Is he straight? I can't get a read on him and it's driving me nuts," Anne asked, still watching Seamus walk away. "Please tell me he's straight."

"Sorry," Matt gave her an apologetic smile. Spoiler: He wasn't sorry.

Anne's eyes widened and then she grimaced. "Oh Jesus, I'm sorry. You two are dating, aren't you? I'm so obtuse." She looked truly remorseful which Matt respected. Most people didn't care who they offended.

"Nah." He hoped for it to come off like 'we're not dating but we're not NOT dating either. Kinda leave them thinking something might be there. Just enough to deter any potential advancements but not enough to make him look psycho when they found out there was nothing between him and Seamus. It didn't work. They took him at face value, which was the cold hard truth after all.

Matt had just confirmed Seamus' sexuality and despite Rob already trying, and failing, the group decided he would be Seamus' new boyfriend.

"No way. I've already been shot down once. Not sure I'm interested in him having a second go," Rob said when he noticed the way his friends were looking at him. Winnie and Anne looked at him like he was being ridiculous. He was a total keeper.

"Are you sure you guys aren't dating? Rob never gets turned down."

"You know Jay from the football team?" Everyone nodded. "Seamus turned him down also. So, I wouldn't take it personally."

"Seems like such a waste. I mean, look at that ass. Someone should be getting that ass."

Everyone looked at Seamus' ass and nodded. Even Matt.

"It's not even his best pair of jeans," Matt said, watching Seamus's ass as it shifted while he waited for the drinks. "He has this pair of faded blue jeans that—hmmmm," he half moaned and half whined because life wasn't fair when you looked that good.

The table agreed.

"He is seriously hot," Winnie said. "I literally had heart palpitations when I walked in. Like, I saw him and my heart got so overwhelmed it passed out. Now he's buying us drinks. I'm not sure he could get any hotter."

"Oh, he could be hotter," Matt smirked. The group waited for him to explain, so he did. He told them all about Seamus and what makes him amazing. How he was his boss's boss and also Matt's nanny and how good he was with Aidan; always taking him to work, giving him his undivided attention, feeding him, and changing his diaper. How they went shopping and Seamus banned Matt from picking out Aidan's clothes. He even told them how he upgraded his car because it was better for Aidan.

Seamus was amazing and Matt was just drunk enough to brag about the riches of their friendship.

There was a collective sigh of adoration and longing. There was even sadness because it sucked to be so close to greatness, yet so far away. No one at the table had a chance. Something Matt felt in his soul.

Seamus nudged Matt's arm, letting him know it was time to get out of his seat. "What are you guys talking about?"

Matt stood up and grabbed his drink. It was a gamble at this point. Sure, he was happy-bold drunk now but that could change in a blink. Oh well, happy-bold-Matt was willing to take the risk even if it meant emotional-Matt would be angry about it later.

"We were talking about your ass and how good it looked and how someone should be hitting it," Matt said with a wink. "Well, Anne said that part but I think everyone agreed. I told them they weren't even your best pants."

Anne looked mortified but Seamus looked amused.

"You don't like my pants?"

"They're fine, just not my favorite."

Seamus was about to say something when Winnie cut him off. "He also said you're the owner?"

"And you're his nanny?" Mick asked. He clearly couldn't picture it. Seamus, a successful business owner who also nannies for a college kid? Crazy.

"Yes and Yes. In fact—" Seamus scrolled through his phone and held it out for everyone to see. It was a picture of Seamus and Aidan. It was cute as hell if you asked Matt. When everyone was done swooning, Seamus looked at it and smiled.

"Let me get this straight. You're a business owner and you nanny for a college kid who also works for you?"

"Technically, I'm his live-in nanny." Seamus loved the reactions. He lived for them.

"And you guys have never hooked up?"

Matt and Seamus looked at one another. "No."

"You know you guys have the story all wrong. It's supposed to be the hot business owner who hires a poor college kid to be his nanny. Then they end up fucking and falling in love."

"Is that so?" Seamus looked at Matt. "Should we go home and fuck? Then fall in love?"

Drunk with no plans of standing all night, Matt sat on Seamus' lap, wrapped his arm around his shoulder, and fluttered his eyes.

"How can I say no to that. You practically Shakespeared me into your bed and into your heart."

Seamus dipped him back, real romantic like, and gazed into his eyes. "Oh, I'm gonna spear you alright."

The table filled with laughter. Matt could barely breathe; he was laughing so hard. When they finally composed, he realized Seamus still had an arm around his waist. Matt tried to not make a big deal out of it but he was very aware of their position. It was the drinks he told himself. They were just having fun.

Matt stayed in Seamus' lap all night. Their movements in sync as conversation shifted throughout the group. Seamus kept one arm on Matt while the other held his beer. Matt was sure his face gave him away. There was no possible way he could sit on Seamus's lap all evening without looking like he'd won the lottery.

The bar was closing when they finally said goodbyes. Matt told the group to come back in the morning for the best hangover drink.

"And that's how you solicit business," Matt told Seamus as he drunk-strutted down the sidewalk. He opened the cab door and stumbled when he tried to get in. Matt looked back, realising Seamus had seen his faux pas and blushed. Yeah, he was drunk.

"They're not the only ones who will need the green drink."

"Don't be an ass."

"I thought you liked my ass," Seamus teased. "Well, not in these jeans apparently"

"I said the jeans were fine," Matt groaned. "But don't take my word for it, ask all the people who fell over themselves to get a piece of you tonight."