He was looking at Bailey, but he was looking at the sand. "Beach basketball? Is that a thing?"
"Uh, we can make it a thing," Matt said.
"Hang it," he said with a shrug. He was curious to see how this beach basketball was going to work.
Taking in the shopping bags first, Bailey came out to help Matt bring in the boxes. "Oh, you don't have to do that," Matt told him. "I'm here to work."
"I can bring in a few boxes," Bailey told him.
They put the boxes in the room that was going to be Matt's. With Matt and the boxes in there, the room looked so small. "I helped you clear out the place and now I'm bringing in all this." Matt pushed at one of the boxes with his foot.
"I'm sure it will be fine," Bailey told him then noticed Joey peering in.
"Are you gonna show us the stuff?" Joey asked.
"He's going to unpack without you bugging him," Bailey said to him the ruffled his hair. "Come help me put away the groceries."
"I can do that," Matt said. "You probably have to get to work."
"I do," Bailey said then he gave Joey new marching orders. "OK, help Matt put away the groceries. I got some stuff to make a sweet potato stew."
"Sounds good," Matt said. "Can I make it?"
"Sure, if you want," Bailey told him.
Matt and Joey went to the kitchen and Bailey went to his grandfather's office which he had taken as his own. He got to work and resisted the urge to go see what Matt was doing. The last thing he needed was to have Bailey hovering around him. Joey was probably doing enough of that for both of them, but with pure motives. Bailey just wanted to be near Matt, watch him doing anything.
He didn't do it. He needed to prove to himself that he could act normal and that hiring Matt wasn't a mistake. That's why he was proud of himself for working until quitting time.
Now that he was done, he went in search of Joey and Matt. He found Joey in his room drawing on the headboard of his new bed. "Who are those guys?" Bailey asked him as he saw he was drawing two figures.
"Superheroes. They're gonna protect me when I'm sleeping," Joey said.
"Oh, I thought maybe it was Matt and me," Bailey said jokingly.
Joey thought about it. "OK. I'll make you superheroes and then you can be on here too."
"Thank you," Bailey told him with a smile and went to see if Matt was making dinner.
Matt was in the kitchen, but the ingredients were untouched. They were spread around the countertop. While vegetables were waiting to be peeled and diced, Matt was furrowing his brow at his phone.
"Sorry. I was watching some videos. I thought a stew would be easy, but I never made it before," Matt admitted.
So this was another example of Matt jumping into things. "I never gave you the recipe, so it's OK," Bailey told him.
"I found videos but I'm not sure which one is right."
"It will be easier if I help you," Bailey told him. "I'm done working."
"I was hoping to do it all myself and impress you," Matt said then he smiled. "But this is good too."
He put away his phone, and they got to work. As usual, Matt made every space he was in feel smaller. Bailey didn't mind being crowded by him, but he made sure not to indulge in more 'crowding' than was necessary. Still, he couldn't help the inappropriate feelings he had when he was near Matt as they made dinner.
To cover for his excitement, Bailey made conversation. "With all the jobs you had, I'm surprised you didn't work in any kitchens."
"I did have this job scrubbing the kitchen of this stake house every night, but there was no cooking going on when I was there," Matt said as he cut up the sweet potatoes Bailey was peeling.
"I remember Gwen saying she couldn't cook," Bailey said.
