Bossy Baby by Athena Steller

Eight

Hayley

Hayley watched as Mac walked out of his shop and onto the busy sidewalk out front. He was just running across the street to get them a couple of drinks. With Avery not working at the coffee shop anymore, Hayley was missing his chai latte fix in the afternoons. He enjoyed watching Mac’s muscular ass walking away, but he already missed him. How silly was that?

A couple days ago, Hayley hadn’t even been sure that Mac was into him.

Now he was the only person who got to see the soft and sweet side of the big guy. Hayley was certain of that at least. The way Mac gently touched Hayley and cared for him—Hayley had no doubt he was the only one who received such special treatment.

The special playtime the previous night followed by dinner, then cuddling on the couch watching television, had left Hayley seriously thinking about their future. There were still a lot of things they needed to discuss and work out, but Hayley knew in his heart that they both were willing to put in the work.

With his Daddy across the street, Hayley grabbed the micro-cloth and bottle of cleaner from under the counter. He could sneak in a few good minutes of cleaning before he had to hide his tools again.

Giggling, Hayley raced over to where he kept the pet supplies. He sprayed the shelves next to the dog treats before rubbing it in. He had to use his left hand to both spray the bottle and use the cloth. That slowed things down. Still, Hayley was happy.

He was able to get four shelves done before he heard the bell.

Dang, he’d thought he’d have more time. There must not have been any line in the coffee shop.

“Hayley!”

Wait, that wasn’t Mac. “Caleb!” he called out to his friend.

Caleb appeared around the counter with Mitch following behind. “We saw your shadow going into the coffee shop. He finally left you on your own?”

Hayley had to laugh. He’d been able to text his friends but hadn’t seen them since he broke his arm. Not that Mac had stopped him, but Hayley just enjoyed being with Mac. Was it bad to keep the rest of the world out of their lives so he could enjoy his Daddy on his own?

“How are you feeling?” Mitch asked him.

Hayley waved his cast around. “Not too bad. The pain comes and goes, but Mac is always there to take care of me. He doesn’t like to see me in pain.”

“I bet he doesn’t,” Mitch agreed.

“It has to be killing him to even have you hurt,” Caleb added.

“True. I’ve told him a hundred times that it wasn’t his fault, but he thinks since he was with me, he should have been able to catch me or something.” Hayley snorted. “Even though I’m the one that ran ahead.”

Caleb grinned. “Daddies, what are you going to do?”

“Yeah,” Hayley agreed.

“So he is your Daddy?” Caleb asked slyly.

Hayley blushed. Damn, Caleb had tricked him into admitting that. He hadn’t had the chance to talk to his friends about the change in his relationship with Mac. There was only so much that Hayley could text, after all.

“That’s a yes,” Mitch announced.

“All I’ll say is that we are definitely in a relationship,” Hayley could admit that much.

“And he’s your Daddy,” Caleb added.

Hayley rolled his eyes. Caleb would push, but Hayley liked having something special that belonged to just him and Mac. Eventually, they’d share more about their relationship but right now it was just between him and Mac. They all knew he was a little. Probably knew that Mac was a Daddy. So of course they would assume, correctly, that was the type of relationship they had.

“Can I sign your cast?” Mitch asked, his voice quiet.

“Sure!” Hayley grasped Mitch’s hands as he swept past toward the counter. Normally he would have used his other hand to grab Caleb, but yeah, he was down to one hand. That sucked.

Scooting around the counter, Hayley picked up the black Sharpie that that other customers had used to sign his cast. He handed it over to Mitch.

“That is the coolest cast I’ve ever seen,” Caleb said as he draped himself across the counter.

Hayley preened. Everyone said so. Just another thing that Mac had done especially for him.

As Mitch signed his name, his tongue stuck out in concentration.

“It’s not rocket science,” Caleb complained. “Hurry up so I can sign it too.”

“This is important,” Mitch mumbled.

“Why?” Hayley asked. He thought it was cool that everyone wanted to sign his cast. Mac’s signature was his favorite since his Daddy had put hearts all around his name.

Mitch went back to signing the cast. “Even though this was a horrible accident, do you really think that Mac won’t keep it once it comes off? It’s from your first date.”

Hayley stared at Mitch while he finished working. Mac wouldn’t want to keep his cast, would he? The more he thought about it, the more certain Hayley was that Mitch was right. Hayley wanted to keep it too, though. Maybe hang it in a place on honor in the playroom.

“You’re probably right,” Hayley admitted. And if Mitch knew that about Mac, how well did Mitch know Hayley’s Daddy? Mac hadn’t given away a lot of information. Just that they had mutual friends. Another topic that Mac didn’t like to discuss.

But did Mitch know the secret that Hayley thought he knew?

Hayley checked out the lawyer with new interest.

He didn’t think that anything romantic or sexual had ever happened between Mac and Mitch. Surely, Mac would have told him that. Mac did seem to text Mitch a lot. He never tried to hide it, though. When Mac received a message, he’d casually mention that it was from Mitch. They were friends. Just friends. Hayley didn’t have anything to worry about. Mac wouldn’t betray him like that.

Plus Mitch had his own Daddy. Hayley had only met Byron a handful of times—the professor was busy. When he wasn’t teaching, he was helping Master Finn remodel the BDSM club they were members of.

Apparently, Byron was a silent partner in another club several hours away and had experience setting up clubs. Byron had offered to help Master Finn with changes he wanted to implement. One big change that had been discussed when Hayley had been at the club as a guest was a new play area. A play area specifically for littles and pups.

Avery had been so excited he’d spilled his apple juice all over Jace.

Hayley thought it would be cool, too. Even if he wasn’t a member yet, he could look forward to having a place to play and make new friends.

“Are you done yet?” Caleb whined.

Hayley snapped his attention back to his friends. He was being silly. He trusted Mac. And Mitch was his friend.

“Here.” Mitch pushed the marker into Caleb’s hand, even as he continued to admire his work.

“Finally,” Caleb said dramatically. “I want to write in the pink part.” He gently turned Hayley’s arm over.

“Careful,” Mitch warned. “Mac would kill us both if either one of us hurt his boy.”

Hayley cleared his throat. He didn’t know if he should deny Mitch’s claim or not. He was in fact Mac’s boy. And Mac wouldn’t be happy if his friend inadvertently injured him.

“So…” Mitch drawled as he leaned against the counter. Now that Mitch wasn’t distracted by Hayley’s cast, it seemed like he had something to say. “How are things between you and Mac?”

There was no way he could contain his smile. “Good.”

“Good?” Mitch frowned. He looked over his shoulder to the front of the shop before turning back around and leaning even closer. “Good is not good enough. Hurry and spill the beans before Mac comes back.”

Laughing and shaking his head, Hayley was amused. “You know Mac will ask me what you were doing in here. Do you really want me to tell him you were grilling me on our relationship?”

Mitch flinched.

Caleb laughed loudly. “You’re mean—I like it! That exactly what Mac needs. Someone who’s not afraid to have his back.”

“Not fair!” Mitch complained. “I took my lunch break early just so we could try to get the dirt.”

“How did you know Mac wouldn’t be here?” Hayley asked.

“We were going to tell him that we needed coffees,” Caleb said. “But we also wanted to spend time with you. If you haven’t noticed, Mac is pretty much of a sucker for us boys.”

Huh. So it wasn’t just Hayley? He frowned.

“Whatever thought that just went through your mind, you need to get rid of,” Mitch scolded him. “Mac has been interested in you before he was even friends with us. The first time I ever met him, he mentioned you. Not you by name but…” Mitch waved his hand in the air. “Let’s just say that Mac thought of you as his boy before any of us even met you.”

Hayley propped his good arm on the counter. “How did you meet Mac? He never told me.”

Mitch paled. Dang, that couldn’t be good. “Uh, well…” He shifted nervously on his feet. “It’s a really long story. My father is not a good man. He was screwing me over and doing bad things. Mac helped me see that I needed to get away from him.”

“Your father’s in prison, isn’t he?” Hayley thought he’d seen that in the news.

“Yeah. It’s where he belongs.”

Hayley turned to Caleb. Caleb was usually better about opening up to him. Mitch’s explanation hadn’t made much sense. Hayley had so many questions. How had Mac helped? Why? Did Mac know Mitch’s father well? “How’d you meet Mac?”

Caleb looked up at him as he put the top back on the pen. “Grant,” he said simply. “Although I’d seen him around the neighborhood and around town before that.”

Maybe Grant knew Mac because they all lived in the same neighborhood. Or maybe through his work?

Glancing up, he spotted Mac heading back across the street. He didn’t have much time to press.

“Have you been to his house?” Hayley asked quickly. “It is the most amazing place I’d ever seen. And it has so many rooms! I still don’t think I’ve seen them all.”

Mitch and Caleb exchanged a look.

“What?”

“We’ve never been to his house. He’s never invited us. We only know he lives close to Caleb and Grant.”

“Oh.” Hayley was super important. Mac always told him that, but he was realizing it even more. “You’ll have to come over. With Avery too. I think he’d love the playroom—” Hayley slapped his good hand over his mouth. Crap, he hadn’t meant to say that.

“I knew it!” Mitch danced around.

Caleb joined in and they both laughed like idiots. Lost in their silliness, they didn’t hear the bell from the door opening.

Hayley sat back on his stool, waiting for Mac to come around the counter.

“Mac and Hayley sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” they sang.

“What the hell is going on?” Mac barked.

Mitch and Caleb’s reaction was so funny that Hayley fell off his stool. They both froze then tripped over their own feet as they tried to run.

“For Christ’s sake!” Mac grumbled. “You’re going to kill each other.”

Hayley had to wipe away his tears of laughter.

“You knew he was coming,” Mitch accused.

“Yep.” He popped the p. “But you sort of deserved it for teasing me.”

Mitch cleared his throat as though he could gain back his dignity or something. He even straightened the jacket of his expensive suit. “Hey, Mac, how’s it going?”

Mac narrowed his eyes.

Hayley snorted. This was so much fun.

“Hi, Mac.” Caleb peeked around Mitch’s shoulder and waved.

Mac sighed.

“Mitch and Caleb came to check on me,” Hayley told him. “They signed my cast, too.”

When Mac turned to look at him, the annoyed expression quickly disappeared. “I’m glad they were able to keep you company.” He strolled over and put Hayley’s drink in front of him.

Hayley popped onto his tiptoes and gave Mac a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”

“Of course, sweetheart.”

“Aww,” Caleb cooed. He quickly ducked back behind Mitch when Mac turned and glared at him.

His cell phone rang before he could say anything, though. He set his own coffee down before reaching back in his pocket and pulling out his phone. “I need to take this,” he told Hayley.

“Of course.” Hayley picked up his drink and sipped. Nice and hot. Perfect.

Mac looked toward the other boys. “Behave.” He pointed at them. “Hayley is supposed to be resting. Not getting worked up. Not doing anything that will wear him out.”

“Really?” Mitch smirked. He glanced toward where Hayley had been when they walked in.

Hayley glanced over and saw his spray bottle and cloth still on the shelf. He felt his eyes grow wide in horror. Surely Mitch wouldn’t rat him out.

Mac’s phone had stopped ringing, but when it started again, he stomped toward the exit. “I mean it,” he yelled out before opening the door.

As soon as the door was closed, Hayley rushed over to the shelf and grabbed the bottle and cloth. He was stashing them under the counter, Mitch and Caleb laughing at him, before Mac could even know he moved.

“Not a word,” he threatened. He didn’t sound half as intimidating as Mac.

“It’ll cost you,” Mitch replied with a smile.

Dang it!“Cost me what?”

Mitch and Caleb exchanged a look again.

“We want to see this playroom,” they said at the same time.

Groaning, Hayley dropped his head onto the counter. How was he going to explain this to Mac?

Although, if they were all friends, then Mac should expect Hayley to want to invite his friends over to play.

Except he technically didn’t live with Mac.

It was Mac’s home. Not Hayley’s. Mac had bought the house for him, though. Made sure it had a pool and everything.

“Only if Caleb cooks,” Hayley responded. It would give his Daddy the night off from learning new recipes. Everything Mac had cooked for Hayley had been great, but his Daddy need time to relax, too.

“Deal!” Caleb said in excitement.

Mac

Mac was still running through the phone conversation he’d had with Skinner as he locked up Hayley’s shop for the night.

It had been a call that he’d been dreading since he’d moved to town. One that had the power to ruin the new life he was building.

Lance hadn’t checked in at the appointed time.

That was not normal.

Once every three days, Mac logged into a chat room on the dark web and typed a coded message to let the other men know he was still alive and safe. He’d left his message the night before, sneaking downstairs and into his office after he’d put Hayley to bed.

Everyone else had apparently checked in. Everyone except Lance.

Working back, Skinner had been able to find the last time that Lance had contacted any of them. Five days ago. Lance had spoken to Creed after running some background checks for the assassin turned police officer.

Then it had been quiet. Too quiet.

Mac didn’t stay in contact with the other four guys as often as they did with one another. Mac’s fear that the government would find one of them and then all of them hadn’t been something that he could shake. The others hadn’t agreed, certain they’d done enough to hide themselves.

Of course, Mac was also confident that the others hadn’t left the game completely. Creed might be a law enforcement officer, but he also reached out to Lance often.

Lance had once confessed to Mac that he kept an eye on some old targets that hadn’t been taken care of, just to make sure they wouldn’t be causing any trouble for any of them. Skinner and Jackson had been called when Lance had wanted one of their old targets investigated or finally taken out.

They hadn’t just been hired killers. Sometimes they’d needed to retrieve valuable information, either by stealing or beating the target.

Stopping at the counter, Mac looked down at his hands.

They were clean, the blood he’d spilt no longer visible. Mac knew that the blood was still there, though.

He could never forget.

“I don’t really think I need anything else, but I grabbed some more stuff like you said.”

Mac shook his head to return to the present. He’d sent Hayley upstairs to pack another bag. He’d gotten a weird look, but Hayley hadn’t actually argued with him. No, Hayley didn’t need anything, but Mac was still going with the plan to have Hayley moved in before the boy even knew it.

“You never know what you might want,” Mac told his boy.

Hayley smiled. “I’m ready.”

Mac took the bag from Hayley’s good hand. “Playtime, dinner, bath, and cuddles?”

“Yes.” Hayley looked up and batted his eyes. “I was good today.”

Barking out a laugh, Mac gazed down at his boy. “Were you? So I didn’t see you trying to hide the spray bottle and cloth under the counter while I was on the phone?”

“Crap.” Hayley huffed. “But Daddy—”

“Daddy?”

Mac had just opened the door when he heard the other voice. He pushed Hayley back into the shop and slammed the door shut before he rushed forward. Mac grabbed the guy by the throat, lifting him off his feet.

All Mac could see was red.

If someone thought they’d get to him through Hayley, they were badly mistaken.

The guy didn’t struggle, though. He patted Mac’s shoulders with his hands.

Why wasn’t the guy trying to defend himself?

Mac loosened his hold. Barely. Enough for the man to be able to answer some questions.

“Who are you?” Mac demanded.

The guy smiled. Fucking smiled at Mac. “Why don’t you ask your boy, Daddy?”

Behind him the door opened. Fuck, he needed Hayley to stay inside where it was safe.

“Jayme?” Hayley questioned softly.

Jayme, apparently, waved his hand. “Hey, baby bro.”

No!Fuck no, Mac did not just attack Hayley’s brother. Hayley was going to think he was mental.

“It’s okay, Mac. This dork is one of my brothers.”

Mac gently set Hayley’s brother back on the ground. He even tried to straighten the guy’s shirt. Mac was at a loss as what to say. How to explain his actions.

“So, Daddy,” Jayme said, while rocking back on his heels. “Hayley didn’t tell us about that.” He lowered his eyes.

If Mac wasn’t mistaken, Jayme was checking out Mac’s package.

The little shit even licked his lips. “And I can see why now.”

“Don’t you hit on him!”

Mac’s tiny spitfire came barreling up to them. He pushed Jayme back before standing right in front of Mac.

“Hey, hey,” Jayme said. “We can share. He looks big enough to give us both a good roll—”

“If you finish that sentence, I’m going to give Mac permission to do, well, whatever it was he was going to do.” Hayley even stomped his foot.

Having no idea what was happening, Mac laid his hand on Hayley’s shoulder.

Hayley deflated. He turned to peer up at Mac. “This!” He pointed back at Jayme. “This is why I didn’t tell my mom any more than that we were dating. I knew Jayme would come down here to check you out.”

“Sweet boy.” Mac cupped Hayley’s cheek. “You know I only have eyes for you.” Mac glared over at Jayme to see the other guy smiling. He winked at Mac and Mac was glad Hayley hadn’t seen that.

Hayley huffed. “He’s always trying to steal my boyfriends.”

“I’m not available,” Mac assured his boy. “Someone’s already stolen me.”

When Hayley smiled, all was right in Mac’s world.

“I actually didn’t come to steal your man.” Jayme spoke up. “I overheard Mom telling the dads that you broke your arm. She was afraid you’d be doing too much to keep the shop running. So I volunteered to come help.”

“Help?” Hayley repeated.

“Sure, we didn’t know about your big bad Daddy. Only that you started to date someone. So I came to help run the shop.”

It wasn’t a terrible idea. With Jayme there, Hayley could spend some time away from the shop. More time with Mac.

“Great!” Hayley grabbed Jayme’s arm, shoving him toward the door. “You can stay in my apartment and open up in the morning. You still remember where everything is?”

Jayme blinked slowly. “Uh, yeah.”

“Keys, Daddy?” Hayley held out his good hand.

Mac dropped the keys into his palm.

“Here you go.” Hayley tossed the keys to his brother. “I’m taking tomorrow off. Call if you need anything.”

“Wait! Wait! Where are you going?”

Mac was being pulled toward his SUV.

“To my Daddy’s house. It’s a mansion, by the way. And he made me my very own playroom. Have fun in my apartment. Oh, and I’m expecting a delivery in the morning, so you need to be open by seven.”

Mac didn’t know what the big hurry was, but he allowed Hayley to push him all the way to his vehicle.

“That’s it?” Jayme shouted. “You’re just leaving me?”

“Sorry! I’m in pain, so much pain—I need my Daddy to take care of me.”

Mac managed to unlock the door with the key fob before Hayley reached for the handle. It would suck to ruin his boy’s dramatic exit.

Hayley hopped in and Mac buckled him up. He could feel Jayme’s gaze on them. After he shut the door, Mac turned back to Hayley’s brother. They didn’t look anything alike. Where his boy was light and fresh, Jayme was dark and had a bit of an edge. A troublemaker. A brat. Not Mac’s type at all.

Jayme smirked. “See you later, Daddy.”

Yeah, he was going to have to a conversation with Hayley about this recent development. Jayme hadn’t been shocked to overhear his younger brother calling another man Daddy.

Shaking his head, Mac walked around to the other side of the SUV. He deposited Hayley’s bag, wondering how he hadn’t dropped it, in the backseat before climbing behind the wheel.

“So.” Mac cleared his throat. “That’s your brother.”

“One of them,” Hayley responded. “And you might want to drive away before he jumps into the backseat. He’d totally do that.”

Mac started the car. Once traffic was clear, he pulled out, heading home.

Hayley’s sigh was loud.

“You okay?”

“I wanted more time before the family knew.”

“I thought you told them we were dating?”

“I did,” Hayley answered. He started to fiddle with the air vent. “I just didn’t tell them you were my Daddy too.”

Mac hadn’t expected him too. That was private. Why would Hayley tell his family that detail?

“Jayme’s already on the phones with my mom. Who’ll tell my dads and my other brothers.” He groaned and flopped back in the seat.

“And that’s bad?” It sounded bad to Mac but…he still didn’t completely understand.

“Of course! They’ll want us to visit or come here. I don’t know. But they’ll start calling and calling. We won’t get a moment of peace until we give in.”

“Oh.” Mac wracked his brain to come up with a way to avoid that. “We could turn off your phone.”

“True.” Hayley grinned.

“What if your brother needs to contact you about the shop, though?”

Hayley waved his hand in the air. “Jayme was here three months when I first opened. He knows what he’s doing. I actually thought he might stay but he said he was homesick and went back. I think he was seeing someone in the commune.”

“Commune?”

Hayley glanced at him. “I have a lot to tell you.”

“Like having a mom and two dads?”

“Yeah.”

Well, this should be an interesting night. At least Hayley had managed to distract Mac from his worry for Lance.