Page 10 of The Scrum-Half (Lincoln Knights #3)

Harper

“Do you have any requests for dinner? Any allergies? I don’t know if I asked you when you moved in,” Matty said as we headed back into the kitchen, Jack wearing the daisy chain I’d made him and covered head to toe in grass stains.

He looked completely shattered, which meant bedtime was going to go one of two ways.

Either he’d be out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow, or he’d be up for hours while his exhaustion burned itself out in style, almost like a sparkler.

“No allergies, but I’m not very fond of celery. It’s too bitter for me.”

“Really? I always thought celery was tasteless. Or maybe that’s because I usually smother it in something.”

I chuckled. “It’s probably the second.”

“Yeah, probably.” He smiled and looked down at Jack, who was leaning against his legs while carefully stroking the petals of one of the daisies. “You need a bath, mate. You’re all green!”

“I like being green,” Jack said stubbornly. “I’m a frog.”

“A frog? Well, Mr Frog, would you like to see the nice big pond I’ve got for you? It has lots of bubbles in.”

Jack shook his head. “No, thanks.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, crouching down beside him as I tried to think of my best marketing spiel. “It’s a very beautiful pond, but it needs a frog to come and live in it. Every pond needs a frog to look after it. And the fishies need looking after too.”

“Ooh, fishies,” Jack said, his eyes lighting up for a second as he remembered the plastic fish toys he had for the bath. They were supposed to float but instead they had a tendency to sink to the bottom and need rescuing.

“Tell you what, Mr Frog,” Matty said. “Why don’t you go and play for fifteen minutes while I put dinner on for me and Harper, and then we can go and play fish rescue while you examine the pond?”

“Okay!” Jack zoomed off towards the playroom, singing at the top of his voice and suddenly full of energy again.

I wasn’t supposed to have favourites when it came to the children I’d looked after, but Jack was already getting close to the top of the list after only a couple of weeks.

It was hard not to fall in love with him.

He was an endearingly sweet, curious child with a heart of gold and the beginnings of a personality so sassy it would be devastating.

Matty chuckled. “That’ll distract him for a minute. So, dinner?”

“I’m easy. Just feed me,” I said, then stared at him in horror as I realised what I’d said. Matty’s eyebrow rose, and there was an amused smile on his face that was doing funny things to my insides. “I mean, shi–er, sugar, I’m not picky. I, er, I don’t really mind.”

“Good to know,” he said with a smirk that should not have been attractive, but my treacherous dick had decided not to get with the program and was growing increasingly hard in my jeans.

This was not how tonight was supposed to go.

It was not how any night was supposed to go.

Parents were off-limits. That was the number one rule. Or at least, it was pretty damn high on the list. But when Matty was looking at me like that, it made me want to throw the rulebook out of the window.

Especially because, up until this point, I hadn’t actually been sure of where we stood with each other.

I’d spent the whole weekend wondering if we were going to exist in a horribly awkward state where he pretended nothing had happened and we ended up with nothing more than a chill boss-employee relationship while I spent the rest of my probationary period considering whether I wanted to stay.

Then he’d apologised and poured his heart out to me under the early evening sunshine, and now I was more confused than ever.

As much as I wanted to be annoyed at him, it just wasn’t possible because I could understand where he was coming from.

I might not have kids of my own, but I knew raising them was hard and the only reason I sometimes made it look easy was because of my hours of training and a lot of practice.

I hoped Matty understood that and if not, I guessed I’d have to keep repeating myself until he did.

“How about a seafood risotto?” Matty asked as he opened the freezer, followed by a couple of cupboards, and peered inside them.

“Sounds amazing, but doesn’t risotto need a lot of monitoring? I don’t think it’s something you can just leave.”

“Do you still want it?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll make it after I’ve put Jack to bed. As long as you don’t mind eating a little later.”

“I don’t mind,” I said, watching as he pulled out a box of arborio rice. “I can’t remember the last time I had risotto, so I’m happy to wait. As long as you’re happy to make it.”

“I wouldn’t have offered otherwise,” he said casually, like it was no big deal to whip up something like a risotto on a Tuesday night. Maybe to him it wasn’t, but I was still astounded he would go to all that effort for me.

“If it helps, I can give Jack a bath. Not that I’m rushing you. I’m just trying to make your life easier.”

“It’s fine. You’re off the clock,” he said. “Besides, I’m pretty sure you don’t want to get drenched from fish rescue.”

I laughed softly as I leant against the counter to watch him. “I mean, I do need to have a shower tonight. And I’ve got some washing to do, so I guess that would be a pre-wash.”

“As long as you don’t mind smelling like bubblegum bubble bath.”

“At least it doesn’t have glitter in. At one of my previous jobs, one of the kids loved this bubble bath that had a body shimmer or something mixed in. Everyone came out looking like they’d been dipped in glitter.”

“No glitter! That’s a rule. I’m not cleaning it up.

” Matty winced as he leant against the counter opposite me, the two of us at a slight diagonal to each other.

Close enough to touch, but far enough away that it felt polite…

normal… the way things should be. If I moved my foot a couple of inches, though…

No, I wasn’t going there. This was getting out of control and I needed to get a handle on myself.

This coming weekend I was going to take Marissa’s advice and find someone to hook up with, just to take the edge off.

I didn’t want anyone else, though. The hottest man in the world could turn up at the door and I’d say no. Unless it was Matty, then my answer would be very different.

Which was the entire damn problem.

“Okay,” I said, swallowing as I looked at the way his body was stretched out. “No glitter.”

Matty looked at me for a long second, his eyes casually rolling down my body. “Would you like a drink? I’ve got some white wine in the fridge, or some beer.”

“Oh, I don’t drink. I probably should have mentioned that when you asked about things I don’t eat, but thanks for the offer.”

“Shit, sorry. Are you… do you not want me to have it in the house? Is it a taste thing? An allergy? Do you need me to leave it out of the risotto?”

“No, no, it’s fine.” I held out my hands because he’d startled and suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

“It’s partially a taste thing and partially a not-interested thing.

I tried it when I was at uni, did a few nights out getting wasted, but I never really liked it.

And I’ve always had more fun when I’m sober, plus I can remember everything, and if there’s an emergency, I can take care of people.

But it’s fine if you want to put some in the risotto.

Using it in cooking doesn’t bother me. I just won’t ever choose to have a glass of wine or a beer. ”

“That’s fine. Thanks for telling me.”

“Thanks for being so nice about it,” I said, giving him an appreciative smile.

He sighed. “I’d ask if people were dicks about it, but I’m not that naive.

It’s why we instituted a no-pressure rule in the dressing room, because I know rugby has a big drinking culture and I don’t want anyone on the team to feel like they have to get shitfaced with us.

So if someone gets caught trying to pressure someone into drinking or whatever, even on a night out, they’re getting fined. ”

“That’s… unusual?” I didn’t really know enough about rugby to comment but it sounded unusual based on my limited experience of the sports societies at uni.

The rugby lads in particular had definitely had a bad reputation, and I had a vague memory of the society being dissolved in my third year due to the drunken destruction of a hotel ballroom. Something like that anyway.

“A bit. Most of them won’t drink a lot during the week anyway since we’re professional athletes and have to deal with everything that comes with that.

But after matches, especially critical wins, it can get a bit messy.

Which is absolutely fine. I just don’t want anyone to feel like they have to join in. ”

“So, how long have you been captain?” I asked with a teasing smile. He’d not mentioned it, but it was so obvious I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realised it before.

“Three years.”

“I knew it!”

“How?”

“You said you don’t want anyone to feel pressure, so obviously you had a say in the decision, maybe were even the driving force behind it,” I said.

“And… well, you’re bossy as heck but you care deeply about the people around you.

So, captain, but clearly a long-term one because you seem pretty comfortable with the responsibility.

Even though I’m guessing the pressure really gets to you sometimes, and it can be pretty trying at times. ”

Matty stared at me, his mouth half-open like he wasn’t sure whether to be shocked or impressed. Maybe a little of both. “Half of being a nanny is being really good with people,” I said, slightly sheepishly.

“I’m impressed. Are you sure you don’t have a psychology degree?”

“No, but I did do some modules in early childhood psychology.”

“I hope you get to do that master’s degree of yours one day. I think you’d do very well.”

“Thanks. I hope so, but it’s a long-term plan because I really like being a nanny.”

“Have you ever considered part-time study? Is that an option?” he asked, his face scrunching slightly as if he was trying to remember something.

“I think Hannah did her master’s part time…

yeah, she did, because she didn’t want to stop working.

Oh, that reminds me! I’m sure I mentioned it, but Hannah is back this weekend, so she’ll be taking Jack on Friday night and then dropping him off at nursery on Monday morning.

She’d love to meet you, and I promise she’s not nearly as terrifying as I’ve made her out to be. ”

I grinned. From everything I’d heard about Hannah, she was clever, sharp, no-nonsense, brilliant at her job, and most of the reason for Jack’s sass. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

There was a moment of silence and in the background, I could still hear Jack singing to himself from the playroom. Something about being a little bug on a wall, but with random additions from the Robin Hood soundtrack.

“Right,” Matty said, slapping his hands on his thighs.

“I’m going to try and convince our frog prince to have a bath and then I’ll make us some dinner, and maybe we can watch something.

I don’t suppose you’re a fan of Drag Stars , are you?

I’m catching up with the latest UK season at the moment.

I got into it a couple of years ago when I took Jack to a drag story hour to support my teammate West’s boyfriend, and now I’m kind of addicted. ”

“Er, yeah, I love that show. I’ll absolutely watch it with you!

Also, does that mean Lincoln has a drag scene?

I haven’t been to a drag show in ages.” My head was spinning from his sudden revelation, gleeful butterflies swirling in my stomach.

I didn’t know if he realised how much he’d really said without saying it, but knowing there were queer members of his team he actively supported said so much about him as a person.

Also, I needed to find out if there were still drag story hours in the city because I’d love to take Jack to more of them.

Assuming Matty didn’t make it a regular part of their schedule.

“Awesome! And yeah, The Court is probably the best place to go because it’s a dedicated drag bar and queer club, but there’s a few other places that do things like drag brunch.”

“Okay, I know where I’m going this weekend,” I said. I’d have a look and see what was on and if I needed a ticket when Matty took Jack upstairs. It felt like ages since I’d been to a proper queer space, and it would be fun to see what Lincoln had to offer.

Last weekend I’d mostly done the touristy things like the cathedral and the castle, as well as having a good wander around the shops, with plenty of breaks in cafes, coffee shops, and restaurants to rest my joints, especially after climbing up Steep Hill.

And while I’d had a great time, I wanted to find places where I could let my hair down and be myself.

Because even though I didn’t drink, I still appreciated a good night out where I could dance my butt off.

I’d just need to make sure I wore the right shoes, and that meant insoles and ankle support, not flimsy soles or heels.

“You’ll have a great time,” Matty said, shooting me a smile as he walked around the kitchen island. “Right, I’ll be back in a bit. And if water starts coming through the ceiling, maybe call the Coastguard.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” I said as I watched him go, pulling my phone out of my pocket and turning it over in my hand. It would be crossing major boundaries to ask if he wanted to come with me on Saturday night. He was supposed to be my employer, nothing more.

So why did I want to do it anyway?