Boss Nanny Ch. 15

"Sometimes I worry you think too highly of me. I have no degree. What would I contribute to that pow-wow?"

"You don't think enough of yourself. You're really fucking smart. I think you'd have a lot to contribute, and if you don't, you'll be there to learn. Whatever the case, I want you there at the inception of whatever changes are to be made. Only if you're interested."

"I'm interested," Matt rushed. "Nervous—but definitely interested. I have six months of school left. You don't think that will negatively affect anything?"

"I wouldn't let it. But how would you feel about working part-time until then?"

"I'm already working part-time at the cafe—" Matt leaned away. "Oh." There were only a few months before Kase and Hilary moved away. If he quit now, he'd miss that time with them.

"You don't have to. It was just a thought. Even one or two half days would make a world of difference for the transition. And honestly, I'd feel so much better knowing you had eyes on everything."

"Even if I have no clue what I'm looking at?"

"You know exactly what you're looking at."

Matt closed his eyes and thought on it for a moment. He could work a little at the office and at the cafe. It was only six months. It wasn't like he'd be working more. He'd be spreading it out differently. And working for Seamus was long-term thinking. He would like to be involved from the start so he could learn from Roberta. That would give him a leg up.

He would need to think more on logistics but...

Yeah. "I'm game."

"Yeah?"

Matt leaned down and kissed Seamus. "Yeah."

Seamus smiled and quickly pulled Matt down for a proper kiss which quickly turned into an improper kiss.

Before things got too far, a piercing scream cracked through the room. Matt startled so hard he almost fell to the floor. Something was wrong.

Aidan stood next to them, red faced and angry. He reached out and hit Matt's leg. He then hoisted himself onto the couch like a sealion and shoved Matt away from Seamus.

Realizing it was just a case of jealousy, Matt laughed and kissed Seamus again.

Aidan covered Matt's mouth with both hands and shook his head. "No."

Seamus and Matt looked at each other, then burst into laughter.

"Excuse me lil man, this is my boyfriend and I can kiss him all I want." To prove his point, Matt leaned down and kissed said boyfriend.

That only stirred the pot. Angry Aidan hit Matt and cried out in frustration.

Matt kissed Seamus again.

Kiss. Smack. Sass.

Kiss. Smack. Sass.

Matt shouldn't have found so much joy in provoking his brother, but he did. Aidan had favored Seamus but not to the point where Matt couldn't even touch him. The sudden problem with the affection was hilarious.

Matt spent the rest of the evening kissing Seamus just to upset Aidan. Was it mean? Maybe. Did Matt care? Not at all. He might be Aidan's guardian, but he was still a big brother at heart.

* * * * *

Kase invited Matt out for New Years, but he declined. He was over feeling the need to 'be twenty-one'. He didn't like alcohol. Plus, their birthdays were coming up and he'd rather save himself for that.

Seeing Kase and Hilary come in completely hungover only solidified Matt's decision. Matt had slept great and had all the energy in the world. He could not say the same for his friends.

"Yonks' not so terrible, now is he?" Matt asked as he watched his friends struggle with work and, well, doing life in general.

Kase re-wiped the counter since it was one of a few tasks that didn't make him queasy. "We never said he was terrible. He just has that weird eye thing."

"Weird eye thing or not, he covered your butts this morning."

Matt continued to give his friends a hard time, luckily for them, it wasn't a busy day. Most people were still out of town for the holidays.

Matt was about to let Kase go home early when the door chimed.

"Holy. Shit." Hilary and Kase stared at the door, stunned.

Jay, Seamus' friend—not Kase's teammate—stood at the door looking every bit the rich professional athlete he was. Designer jeans and jacket molded to his body perfectly, his hair was on point, and his useless-because-it's-winter sunglasses looked hella expensive as he pushed them on top of his head.

Jay looked around the cafe until he spotted Matt and then he smiled. "Matt! Long time no see."

Matt was a few beats behind on the bro-shake, but Jay didn't seem to care. When they finished, Matt studied Jay like he couldn't quite place his face. "James? Jerry? Jim?" Matt snapped his fingers in recognition. "Jackson, with the big contract. How could I forget!"

Jay looked downright offended. "You wound me. You really wound me."

Matt smiled proudly. "I heard you had a game the other day. You guys won?" Matt asked, then cringed because he really had no clue what he was talking about.

Jay laughed. "C'mon, don't be like that. You can be nice to me, I won't tell Seamus."

"My alliance remains." Matt shrugged. There was nothing he could do.

"I had your back at the bar and this is how you repay me?"

Matt realized his friends were standing to the side, completely star-struck. "Hey Jay, these are my friends Kase and Hilary." Jay reached a hand out. "And this is Jay—eh."

Jay glared at his best friend's shameless boyfriend. "You don't know my last name?!"

"Petermeyer," Kase said as he came out of his stupor and finally shook the athlete's hand. "Jay Petermeyer. Holy shit. Matt, you know Jay Petermeyer?"

"He's a friend of Seamus."

"Best friend," Jay corrected.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far."

Hilary took Jay's hand. "Hilary. Matt's best friend. Nice to meet you."

Kase glared, not liking that intro one bit.

"Nice to meet you, Hilary. A friend of Matt's is a questionable character in my eye."

"Well, we're not best friends," she backtracked. "Just regular friends. More like co-workers really. Kase though, Kase and Matt are super tight. Can hardly separate those two."

Kase mouthed some choice words to his dearest coworker. How dare she throw him under the bus.

Matt too was about to tell her where she could shove their friendship when Jay continued.

"Good to know." He gave a kind smile for his new friend, Hilary, then turned back to Matt and ever so slightly turned his nose up. "I actually came here to invite you and Seamus to the playoff game but I'm feeling very under appreciated."

"Oh, in that case, can I get you a drink?" Matt smiled brightly, as if the threat meant something to him. Which it didn't. But he enjoyed the banter.

Jay crossed his arms and pouted. "I don't know. What's good?"

Matt pointed to the sign on the counter that had the weekly special. "This is a big hit."

"Loelife's Drink of the Week: Dr. Pepper, coconut cream, and lime juice?" he read, then cringed. "Pass. What else is there?"

Matt shook his head and started making the drink anyway. When he finished, he handed it over.

"What part of 'pass' did you not understand?"

"Just trust me."

"I have no reason to trust you. You do not have my best interest at heart."

"Fair enough." Matt pointed at Kase. "If you can't trust me, then trust him. He probably knows all your stats or whatever information will make you feel cared for."

Kase's eyes widened. Jay Petermeyer was looking at him, waiting for confirmation that he could drink what Matt was pushing on him.

"Yeah, it's really good. Definitely. You should drink it."

Jay studied Kase. "How many sacks have I had this season?"

"Seven, so far. Though you just celebrated a career one-hundred."

"Touchdowns?"

"Two."

Jay nodded approvingly, then took a sip of the drink. "Not bad, Kase. Not bad."

Matt threw his hands in the air. It had been he who made the drink. But the look of delight on Kase's face was everything. Matt was about to ask what he was doing in town when the door chimed once more. Seamus did a double take. Apparently he didn't know Jay was in town, let alone at the cafe.

Jay gave his friend a hug, then stole Aidan.

"What is up my man?" He tried to give the little guy a high five, but Aidan went shy and clammed up in Jay's arms. Jay was undeterred by the lack of warm welcome. "Eh, it's fine. He'll love me in no time."

The only reaction they got from Aidan was when Seamus gave Matt a kiss. Aidan didn't like that.

"You tell em kiddo!" Jay laughed. He clearly loved that Aidan was hating on Matt. Him and Seamus were laughing and about to sit at a table when Matt interrupted.

"You still need to pay for your drink. It's three-fifty." Yes, he was Seamus's friend, but that didn't mean he got special treatment.

Jay looked at Seamus. Is this for real?

Seamus shrugged.

The player took his wallet out and grabbed a tenner.

Matt looked at the ten then back at Jay. "It's really nice that you were going to tip us each twenty big ones, you know, for introducing you to that bomb drink."

Jay burst out laughing. "Twenty bones each? I'm not sure it was that good—" he pulled the bills from his wallet and slid them across the counter. "Thanks for blowing my mind," he deadpanned.

Seamus shot Matt a thumbs up, making Matt smile. His friends on the other hand stared at Matt like he was crazy cakes for sharking Jay Petermeyer the way he did.

"What?" he asked as he folded the twenty and stuffed it in his wallet.

Hilary laughed. "I can't believe you just did that."

Kase looked at his twenty in wonder. "I'm going to frame this."

Jay held a still bashful Aidan as he told Seamus all about how Matt had burned him good when he arrived. It was a mixture of pouting and smiling. As hard as Jay tried, he couldn't deny he'd enjoyed their interaction.

Seamus looked at Matt and grinned. Nothing better than hearing that your best friend and boyfriend were getting along.

Fuck, after the month they'd had, Matt would do anything to see Seamus smile like that.