by Baylin Crow
My next step had been to put Andi in charge of the bar, which she happily agreed to, and told her to fill the extra part time position my leaving would create. She even moved in upstairs once I had it cleared out. I didn’t think I could ever bring myself to sell the bar, especially when my parents had gone through with their threat and now a new family occupied my grandparent’s house. Thankfully, I was able to work from home through email, but honestly, there wasn’t a whole lot I had to do so I had gotten bored once Soccer found a position at the Middle School teaching Math, which I learned he was really good at. He had also taken up coaching soccer, and I was pretty fucking proud of him, but I needed to find my own thing.
We were currently renting a two bedroom brick home we thought we would live in for a year before doing something more permanent. Like everything else, we didn’t seem to know how to slow down and had already been shopping for property to build on.
Opening a new sports bar downtown had kept me busy over the last several weeks. The space had been nice but needed remodeling. The project was finally finished, and the grand opening was set for tonight. He hadn’t been lying about the size of the town, so downtown was exaggerating a bit, but it was on Main Street. I didn’t know what the turnout would be like, but Soccer had been very supportive through the whole thing.
Soccer had laughed and said it would just be like old times. I was fine with that considering at a bar, with a certain soccer player, is where I found my happiness. We were looking forward to tonight and getting to see Andi, Miles, and Josh who were driving in to help with the grand opening.
“How do I look?” Soccer asked as I entered our bedroom. Our bedroom, I still loved the sound of that.
“Like you always do, fucking edible,” I growled as I walked behind him and slipped my arms around his waist. My lips automatically found the place on his neck that wrapped him around my finger. He moaned and pushed back with his hips.
“You’re going to make us late,” I told him while still feeling him up.
He swatted my hand away. “If we’re late, it will definitely be your doing.” He eyed the bulge in my jeans.
I was dressed up tonight, and with that, I meant my t-shirt was actually new and I had a new pair of black boots. Soccer was actually wearing something similar which was weird because he was always dressed like he’d be on the field at any minute. I found it sexy but there wasn’t much about him I didn’t drool over.
“I can’t seem to help myself with you, but you’re right we need to go.” The clock said we only had about twenty minutes before it would be time to open the doors.
The new bar was different than the one my grandfather had designed. That one had been my grandfather’s vision, and I loved it but this one I designed for Soccer and me. Decked out in sports memorabilia, including a shot of my boyfriend on the field right smack in the middle of the wall and twice the size of the other photos, the space had a casual laid back atmosphere. Three large flat screen TVs were mounted so the games could be watched from all angles while the patrons sat back and had a beer or two. I even had a small kitchen installed, and surprisingly Soccer’s mother demanded I let her help with that. Learning to let others show they cared and believing them had been hard at first but was getting easier every day.
I had three new employees that I had been training over the last week that would be working their first night tonight. I had no idea how well the place would do so I’d start with that and go from there. That was the plan anyway.
Andi was the first to arrive quickly followed by Miles and Josh. “Wow Beard, the place looks great,” Andi said as she gave me a hug.
“Yeah, you’ve done a great job,” Miles agreed.
Josh hadn’t said anything, but I did notice his eyes lingering on Andi.
More people than I had anticipated flooded the place seeming to come out of nowhere. At one point I even had to get behind the bar and help out because there were just too many people. I felt the adrenaline of success and looked up and found Soccer with my eyes. He looked up at me with pride in his eyes and blew me a kiss which I caught.
When things got a little more under control, I approached the group Soccer was in. Two of the men had gone to high school with Soccer, and then there were Miles and Josh. They were talking about the soccer game that was currently running on one of the TVs.
“I can’t believe you put up that big ass picture of Graham,” Miles said. “He’s got a big enough head as it is.”
I looked at Soccer. “Soccer’s head looks fine to me, especially the one…oomph.” I glowered at him after he elbowed me in the stomach and rubbed the sore spot.
“Why do you call him Soccer anyway?” One of the guys I didn’t really know yet asked.
I chuckled thinking back. “He wouldn’t use my name and always called me Beard.” I reached up absently rubbing the scruff that I had cut a little shorter. “So I called him Soccer. The name’s stuck.” I shrugged. To anyone else, there wasn’t anything special at all about it. To us, it was our story.
Before anyone could say anything else, Elise, the new waitress ran up to me. “Hey Winston, do you think I could take like a five-minute break?” She had already been working hard for several hours. I was definitely going to have to hire more staff.
“Sure.” I stood to go help out while they were short-handed. “I’ll see you later,” I said kissing Soccer’s head.
When I was walking away, I’m pretty sure it was Miles’s hushed words I could hear. “Who the fuck is Winston?”
Soccer’s laughter carried its way to my heart when he replied. “The love of my life.”
The End
Author’s Note
The slang term “beard” is used to reference a person who is used as a date, boyfriend or girlfriend, or even a spouse to conceal infidelity or sexual orientation.
When Beard’s character was created, I tried changing his name but I couldn’t. The relationship was already formed in my head and I couldn’t imagine him being called anything else. The slang term and Beard himself have no connection.
To My Readers
It means the world to me that you’ve taken the time to read Beard and Soccer’s story. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Much love,
Baylin xo
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