“Yeah, you can open it.” He shuffled slightly closer, like he was trying to see inside without making it too obvious that he was looking. It was so adorable and I couldn’t help smiling to myself as I opened the bag, carefully removing the layer of pink tissue paper on top.
Inside was a little handwritten card thanking me for taking such good care of Jack and putting up with Matty’s interference. It made me chuckle and Matty huffed, muttering something under his breath about nobody being on his side.
There was also a very lovely box of chocolates, some loose-leaf tea and a silver strainer in case I didn’t have a teapot, a box with three beautiful bath bombs, some bath salts, a bag of chocolate chip shortbread that looked like it came from a fancy bakery, and several very expensive face masks from skincare brands who sold a small tub of moisturiser for about half my monthly salary.
“Oh… wow… this is too much,” I said, looking at one of the face masks before sliding it back into the bag. “I can’t accept this.”
“Yeah, you can. You deserve it,” Matty said. He was smiling softly and it made my stomach flutter. He was stood so close to me I could practically smell him, and I had to resist the temptation to take a deep breath. I really needed to get my act together. Since when had I acted like such a bloody weirdo around my employers?
Spoiler, I hadn’t. But it was getting harder and harder to think of Matty as just my employer. Not when he was becoming a friend.
And not when I dreamt about him becoming something more.
“But it’s all… I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but it’s all so expensive. I’m not worth this.” I said the last part in a very hushed voice because I didn’t want Hannah to overhear and think she’d done something wrong. She hadn’t. I just wasn’t expecting a gift bag worth at least two hundred quid for simply doing my job. And that was a conservative estimate.
“You are,” Matty said, firmer this time. “And if you don’t want it, you have to tell Hannah. Because I am not arguing with her for you. I like you but not that much.”
His mouth curled slyly and it made the fluttering in my stomach a thousand times worse. Did he even realise he was flirting with me? Or was I reading too much into the situation?
“Fine, I’ll accept it. But only because I don’t want to upset her, especially since she went to so much effort.” I grinned at him teasingly. “And you were definitely a pain in the butt, so I think I deserve the chocolates at least.”
“Hey! I wasn’tthatbad.”
“Of course not. Which is why I have this.”
“Gloating doesn’t look good on you,” Matty said as I waved the gift bag.
“I think it does,” I said. “And if you’re nice to me, I’ll share the shortbread with you while we watchDrag Starslater. I want to introduce you to the latest season ofLegends, because it is everything. And I want to know if you have the same opinion as me on some of the eliminations.”
“Done. And I’m going to hold you to sharing. But you should know, it’s the only situation I’d consider it.” He smirked as he turned to walk towards the playroom, leaving me stunned.
I wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, but the one thing I did know was I would get to spend more time with Matty.
And that was what I wanted above anything else.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Matty
“No,no, I’m sorry but they aresowrong for sending Berry home. Her look wasn’t even that bad! She should have been safe at least,” I said, gesturing at the TV where the credits were rolling on the second episode ofDrag Stars Legends.I wasn’t familiar with all the queens because I was still catching up with all the US series—since there were sixteen seasons and I didn’t have much free time—but Harper was happy to fill me in as we went with an unexpectedly snarky level of commentary.
“Right? Thank you!” Harper waved his hands and flopped back on the sofa, his face the picture of vindication. “If anyone should have been in that elimination, it should have been Saint James because she was horrible to Berry during the challenge. I don’t care how snatched she is, I hate that level of petty bitchiness. Like, yeah, you’re good at make-up. So what? It doesn’t make you special. Learn to be a nice person. Then people will actually want to root for you.”
I nodded, fighting back a laugh because watching him get so wound up was cuter than I’d expected. But I couldn’t deny howmuch I liked the fact he valued being kind over being the best. It was too sweet for words. “Yeah, I’m not a fan of the way she picks on the other queens. I know reading is part of being a drag artist, but she takes it too far.”
“It’s okay. You can say she makes being a bitch her entire personality and uses it to cover for her lack of talent. I won’t judge you,” Harper said crisply as he picked up one of the chocolates from the box Hannah had given him, pushing it slowly between his lips while I tried hard not to stare.
“I mean, is she completely talentless? Not that I’m defending her. I think she’s a bitch too.”
“No, you’re right.” Harper sighed and pouted. “Saint James is actually really talented. That’s what frustrates me so much! She’s such a good drag artist—she doesn’t need to put other people down. I don’t know if she’s insecure or if she’s jealous or if this has been edited to take things wildly out of context. I mean, every reality show needs a villain, but she still said that stuff.”
“True, but I’m sure the edit doesn’t make it any better. Was she like this in her first season?” I hadn’t seen the season where Saint James appeared as a contestant because it had been a few years and I was still working back to it.
“Yes and no,” Harper said as he picked up another chocolate and examined it casually. His nails were painted a soft green with little daisies on. Perfect for spring. “She definitely knew she was good at what she did, and she got a bit more of the bitch edit, but that season was when—oh no! I can’t tell you! You have to watch it!”
“What happened?”
“No, honestly, I can’t tell you. It’s so much better if you watch it.”
