Scar

by Baylin Crow

  “I need you to switch sides with me,” I demanded.

  She looks behind me with a knowing smirk. “No way! You’re on your own.”

  “Do it, or you’re fired.” I wasn’t serious, maybe, but I hoped she’d do it anyway.

  “You’re serious, aren’t you? About switching sides, I mean.”

  “As a heart attack.” I winced at my choice of words as the image of my grandfather falling to the floor before I could reach him hit me like a punch to the chest.

  “Ok. Ok. You know at some point he’s going to give up and move on, right?” I hated hearing that, maybe even more than I wished he’d just leave me alone. “You should think about that.” With her parting words, it pretty much guaranteed I’d do nothing but think about it.

  The night was pretty slow, never picking up, which was ok since I couldn’t seem to think straight. I even messed up a few drink orders which wasn’t like me at all. I just needed a break from all of this, I decided. Things would get sorted out if I could just take a step back and remind myself again why everything about Soccer was a bad idea.

  Mostly I was able to stay on my end of the bar, but it was almost as if I could feel Soccer’s eyes on me. I saw when they all stood to leave right before closing, waiting on Andi to close out their tab. Other than them, there were only two other men sitting at the bar, and with the kitchen closed, we were dead. I had already sent the other two home when it looked like the night wasn’t going to pick up.

  The twins stopped in front of me. “Hey, you abandoned us,” The blond complained.

  “No, I didn’t.” I didn’t have to explain myself. I met Soccer’s eyes when he leaned against the walnut finished bar. This place really needed updating, but I couldn’t bring myself to change anything about the way my grandfather left it. Miles and Josh looked smashed, but Soccer was clear-eyed. “You look sober,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah, I only had the two when we first got here. I have an early class and then an extra practice tomorrow since we screwed up today. I can’t get away with doing that,” he pointed to the twins, “and still be able to make the magic happen. I shouldn’t even be out this late.”

  I shook my head because he was acting cocky. Being familiar with the routine, I understood and respected his dedication to the sport and his body all the same.

  “And here I thought it was because you were afraid they’d run off without you again,” I taunted him.

  “That too.” He chuckled. “Later, Beard,” he said with a lopsided smile as he turned away. Cuffing both of the others by their necks, he guided them towards the entrance where they mimicked Soccer with a chorus of “Later, Beard” that was barely understandable by their slurred speech. That smile of his was going to get me into trouble.

  After the other two customers left, I locked up and had just started closing out the register when someone tapped on the glass to the front door. I tried to see through the glass, but since it was dark, the only thing I saw was my own reflection. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Soccer standing there with his hands in his pockets. “What’s up?” I asked in confusion.

  “Uh, I think I might have left my wallet.” He patted his jean pockets as if to recheck them.

  “Ok, no one turned anything in,” I said, letting him in. We both went back over to where he had been sitting to look around. I didn’t see it anywhere, and he started to look frustrated. “Did you maybe lose it in the bathroom or sit anywhere else at any point?” Even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t likely to still be around anywhere. We had been slow though so it was worth looking.

  “Yeah,” he said, looking a little more hopeful. I followed him down the hall to the closed door and flipped on the light. The wallet was lying on the sink counter. He must have been thinking the same thing I was, that he was lucky no one had run off with it. He quickly opened it, checking the contents. As he was flipping through I heard a crinkle and looked just in time to see the top of a condom wrapper sticking out. He quickly shoved it down, face turning pink as he checked to see if I had seen it. I was probably doing a shit job of concealing that the fact that he was obviously hooking up with other people made my stomach roll with jealousy. Other guys, girls, I had no idea, but he blurted out, “It’s just for in case.” Which didn’t exactly make me feel any better, but I had no right to an opinion. At least the guy was safe, I guessed.

  I turned to walk out and flipped off the light as he followed me back into the hall. “Beard…”

  “None of my business.” I might have sounded harsher than the situation called for but couldn’t bite back the bitterness in my tone. Keeping my eyes ahead of me, I continued forward.

  “Damn it, Beard.” He pulled on my arm, stopping any forward movement. We were different in build. I was about two inches taller than him at six, one but he had an athletic build that came from a strict exercise routine that gave him a leg up on muscle mass. Still, I knew I could easily pull away from him, but I didn’t.

  “It’s been in there since before I even met you. It’s been almost a freaking year! When are we going to stop playing games? I don’t even see anyone else,” he said, sounding exhausted.

  “What the hell are you talking…” I was silenced when Soccer pushed me against the wall, only barely brushing his lips lightly against mine. My mind blanked out everything except the feel of his lips against my own, and the next moment, I had turned the tables and pinned his back to the wall, my hands tangled in his hair. A growl ripped free as I took his mouth the way I had only dreamed about. His lips were softer than I had thought they would be. I immediately demanded entrance, teasing my tongue against the seam of his lips. He didn’t waste a second opening for me as his hands crept up my chest. I couldn’t form a single thought other than my need for him as the velvety feeling of brushing his tongue with mine made my cock throb as it pushed against my zipper. His moan had me taking his mouth deeper, him meeting my every move. As our tongues tangled, my hips involuntarily ground against his. His hard length told me this was affecting him as much as it was me. Hands on my ass pulled me closer, and he moved with me until we were practically dry fucking each other.

  The sound of another tap on the door had me ripping my mouth off of his. My eyes went wide in shock as I met Soccer’s half-lidded gaze that screamed his need for more. I knew if I stayed a second longer that I would have given him anything he asked for so I forced myself to walk away calling over my shoulder, “Your friends are waiting.”

  I waited by the door where one of his friends that had knocked was leaning against the wall so I could lock it after they left. The little shit brushed up against my straining cock on his way out causing me to curse.

  “Night, Beard,” he said, sending me a look that would have made me fall to my knees if I were anyone else. If I were anyone else, I’d have had him in my room in two minutes flat doing every dirty fantasy I’d ever had about him. But my past held me hostage against anything I wanted in that way. It had for over four years now. Maybe that was why I had practically lost my mind a few minutes ago.

  I didn’t bother finishing cleaning. I’d just do it before we opened tomorrow. I went to the back room and grabbed my keys. After calling a goodnight to Andi, I left, but not before noticing her giving me a strange look that I wasn’t about to try and decipher. When I made it to the door, there was a folded sheet of ripped paper on the ground that had been shoved through the small gap. I was about to throw it away, but curiosity got the better of me, and I unfolded it. It was a simple note.

  Call me, Soccer

  P.S. You better call ;)

  The note was followed by his phone number. Sneaky bastard. There was absolutely no way I was going to call him. Probably. I had more pressing matters to deal with right then anyway so I’d put off that thought for at least a few minutes, if I managed to last that long. I jogged upstairs as fast as my painfully hard cock would allow. Once inside and undressed, I got straight into the shower and wrapped my hand around my engorged shaft, working m
yself to the fastest release I’d ever had.

  Feeling somewhat better, I finished showering and once in bed, collapsed.

  Four

  Soccer

  My first thought as my alarm went off the next morning was that I should have left the bar earlier. Morning classes were really the only choice you had with a practice schedule like we had. I loved soccer, and it got me into college. Without the scholarship, I’d very likely not end up ever having a degree which I needed. I even enjoyed practice, but not so much when coach was mad like he was bound to be today after yesterday’s performance during the game. So all in all this day was probably going to suck.

  After my sleepy brain recharged after cracking open an energy drink and munching on peanut butter on toast, I couldn’t help but think of last night. Beard had kissed me. No, he had completely broken and laid claim to my mouth and body. He was as demanding as I thought he would be and just as intense as he seemed to be all the time. My body stirred, but I didn’t have time for that this morning.

  Hauling ass to get myself ready, I jumped in the older, silver coupe I had barely been able to afford and made the short drive to campus. Class was just about to start when I took my seat just in the nick of time. Pulling my laptop out of my bag, I set it up and booted it on. I tried my hardest to pay attention to what the professor was saying, but it was hard to concentrate when I kept thinking about last night and the way Beard’s body had pressed against mine. He was hard, and judging by the feel of him, he was definitely above average. I wished I had been able to take it a step further, but I had a feeling if it had escalated more than it already had, I might lose the little bit of ground I had made with him.

  The sound of an incoming text rang loud in the classroom and when the people around me turned to look, I realized it had been mine. Sending around an apologetic smile, I reached in my pocket to turn the volume down. Knowing I had given my number to Beard, I wanted badly to see if it was him, knowing it was a long shot. More than likely, he had balled it up and it was currently sitting in the bottom of a trashcan.

  Making myself pay attention, I started taking notes. I wasn’t taking simple courses like so many athletes chose to do when the only thing they were interested in was making a career out of their sport. My plan meant putting my degree first. Once class was over, I hurried outside and pulled out my phone. Disappointed, I saw it was from Miles asking me to stop for some kind of cold medicine on the way home. I wanted to tell him that a hangover was, not in fact, a cold, but responded that I would. I knew after yesterday’s game, he had better pull it together enough to make it to practice or we’d all pay for that too.

  I was at the store when my phone buzzed again. Expecting Mile’s again, I stood still as I looked at the screen with an unfamiliar number.

  Unknown: Why did you leave your number?

  I could practically hear the growl in his voice as I read it and decided to have some fun.

  Me: Who is this?

  While waiting on his response, I quickly programmed his number in my phone. Now I could bug him whenever I wanted.

  Beard: You go around giving your number to a lot of people?

  Me: Maybe

  Beard: Soccer. Why did you give me your number?

  I wished that I could see his face to see if he was mad or merely curious.

  Me: I wanted you to have it

  Beard: And what exactly am I supposed to do with it?

  Me: Use your imagination?

  While waiting on his response, I grabbed some generic cold medicine and checked out. By the time I had the car started, I had a waiting message. I didn’t care for what it said so I ignored the words.

  Beard: That’s not a good idea.

  Me: I happen to think the idea of a repeat, or several, of last night is a VERY good idea ;)

  He didn’t text back, so I sent another.

  Me: Look, I know you were into it. I felt how much you were into it so don’t try and lie about it.

  Beard: It’s not going to happen again.

  Ouch. Well, I wasn’t ready to give up.

  Me: Not even going to tell me why?

  Beard: No.

  I sighed in frustration.

  Me: Then you give me no choice. I’ll see you tonight.

  I powered off my phone so he couldn’t tell me no again. He was probably going to kill me when I showed up, but I was counting on my charm swaying him into giving this thing a shot. He was a challenge, no doubt, but I’d always been a fierce competitor. Show me something I want and can’t have, and I’ll show you a way to get it. Truthfully, if I didn’t think he wanted me, I would have backed off, but I felt strongly that something was holding him back, and I wanted to find out why and then set him free. Corny? Maybe. But like most things, that didn’t bother me.

  Back at the house, I found both Miles and Josh lounging on the couch, video game controllers in hand as they played some first person shooter game. I normally would have joined them even though I wasn’t allowed to play. I was just an observer. But we had practice in two hours, and if I didn’t catch a nap, I was going to be useless.

  “Hey, man, thanks for grabbing this,” Miles said as he caught the bag that I tossed him from the corner store.

  I shook my head. “No problem. I’m gonna grab some shut-eye before practice. You are going right?”

  He did look a little green. “Yeah if I don’t go, coach is going to lose his shit.”

  “Ok, see you guys later then.” I hadn’t told them what went down between me and Beard and it was probably a good thing, or they’d hound me with questions. Not that they’d want details because they were both straight as boards, but they had known how long I’d had my eye on him.

  ---

  I woke after an hour nap feeling much better and hurried to get ready for practice. Josh was already sitting on the couch dressed. “Where’s Miles?” I asked.

  “I’m right here,” Miles said as he moved sluggishly from his room towards the door.

  “Oh, fuck. Coach is going to be pissed.” I warned them both. If I hadn’t known I’d be seeing Beard later, I would have prayed for time to slow down to hold back the inevitable lecture and torture that would follow. As it was, I was just ready to get it over with, so I could do what I really wanted to be doing.

  “Just don’t tell him we went out last night. I’m just sick is all.” He nodded, seeming to convince himself.

  We always rode to practice together so when I headed for my car, they both followed. “Not today guys.” Ignoring their confused looks, I got in my car and took off. They both had cars, so it wasn’t like I was putting them out. It took all my willpower not to turn my phone back on to see if Beard had texted again but I knew if I did, it would probably just be another text about bad ideas and such, so I left it in the car as I jogged towards the locker room.

  Only two other guys were already in there. Noah, the goalkeeper, and Jason, a midfielder, were two of the best players we had, besides me of course. My position as a forward drew a lot of attention since it was my job to score the goals. It made sense that we were the three earliest, knowing what was ahead of us and still trying to lead the team by example. As soon as the last of us arrived, coach was on us. He told us to pull out the foam rollers and get busy with our warm ups and then to get on the field where he proceeded to tell us everything we had done wrong yesterday. Coach actually wasn’t a bad guy and if we had played our hardest and lost then that would be one thing, but yesterday had been a mess, and none of us had been on top of our game. We were definitely paying for those mistakes.

  After the drills and following scrimmage, coach blew the whistle and told us to go finish up in the indoor facility, and he’d see us tomorrow. I was exhausted and drenched in sweat, but the rush the game gave me was worth every ounce of hard work it took to be the best. So I sucked it up and went to hit the weights. I was completely beat by the time I climbed into the ice bath.

  Throwing on a pair of navy basketball shorts and a college logo
t-shirt, I was ready to go see how much trouble I was in with Beard. On my way out Josh intercepted me. “Hey, coach wants to talk to you.”

  “Ok, I’m headed out now. I’ll see you later.” I brushed past him and found coach waiting on me outside of the building.

  “You know,” he started when he saw me. “You have a real shot at going pro eventually, but I can tell you that can change in an instant. If you aren’t consistently playing your best, you’ll lose the notice you’ve already gotten.” I nodded, knowing it was true but I hadn’t really talked to anyone about my plans. Most players weren’t able to go pro right after college, so if that was your dream, you had to be prepared to take the steps and have the determination to put in a lot of work before it paid off. That was the biggest reason for his warning, and I understood that. I just didn’t know how to tell him that it wasn’t what I saw for my future.

  We didn’t lose often, but when it did happen, I just decided to focus on that we would win next time. Brooding over a game that was already over was pointless. You learned from your mistakes, perfected them and then ran circles around the next team. When team morale was down, everyone made mistakes. Whatever had happened yesterday, I wasn’t aware of, but it threw me off my game too. I never wanted to be the reason another player didn’t realize their dreams even if they weren’t my own.

  “I know, coach. It won’t happen again. If,” I stressed, “we lose again, it will be because we played our best and someone happened to get lucky.” I sent him a sly grin.

  “You always were a little cocky.” He laughed. “I’m going to hold you to that. You just keep setting a good example and the team will follow.”

  “Got it. Eyes on me. Don’t screw up.”

  “You got it.” He clasped my shoulder, shaking me a little bit. “Nice work today. Enjoy your day off tomorrow because I want to see that again next practice.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said and then hurried to my car. I was ready to see Beard, cranky ass and all.