Reading the Green

Beau quickly scans the premises of the green golf course before stepping into Everett's space. He wraps his arms around him to correct his stance so he can properly hit the golf ball resting on the ground below them. With a hand around Everett's wrist, Beau gently pulls it back and pushes it forward in a mock swing motion.

"Try doing that, but with more force. For the love of God, don't whiff on this one—that shit's so embarrassing, snook." Beau teases him as he backs away to let Everett swing for real this time.

Everett grins up at him past the brim of the Yankees baseball cap that he stole from Beau. "I'd hate to embarrass you in front of all of the birds in the trees around us. Hopefully I can impress them with the moves you taught me." He proceeds to hit the ball into a sand trap causing Beau to groan playfully in distress.

"The birds are gonna fuck off to Florida early after watching that performance," Beau jokes as he puts a hand on Everett's waist while guiding him to the golf cart. "Let's chase that amateur hit and try again."

Beau tries to get into the drivers seat but Everett holds his hand out stopping him. "I'm driving. We agreed that if I was going on a golf date with you that I'd get to drive the golf cart," Everett says accusingly.

"You almost tipped us over on the way to this hole. I think it's for the best that I take over the whip for the rest of the day," Beau argues causing Everett to roll his eyes.

"We almost tipped because we were on a narrow hill! I drove on it like a pro and we're nice and safe now, are we not?" Everett questions with his hands on his hips.

Looking up at the April sky, Beau groans and throws in the towel as he walks to the passenger side. Everett smiles victoriously and gets into the drivers seat. "Thanks, babe," he says to Beau as he drives them to the sand trap where his ball sits. Beau tries to look annoyed but has a small smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. "Whatever," he responds looking ahead through his dark sunglasses.

As they turn the slight corner toward the sand trap, they see another golf cart with three men nearby. The couple both notice them at the same time and the air between the two of them immediately shifts from playful and carefree to tense.

Beau stays in the cart as Everett wordlessly leaves to go to his ball. Both are disappointed at the unspoken understanding that Beau won't be helping him with his form this time around. Everett gracelessly fumbles around the ball trying to figure out the best way to get it out of the sand.

As Beau watches on amusedly, he doesn't notice one of the men from the other golf cart approaching him.

"Colesy?" Beau's head whips to the side to look for the person who just called him by his old nickname. Walking to the cart is his friend, Ryan, from high school. Beau finds himself in a state of shock as the man makes his way over to him.

"Hersh?" He eventually replies back. Ryan's last name is Hershey, so the football team cleverly nicknamed him Hersh back in the day—very creative stuff.

His friend looks a lot more grown than he did the last time he saw him. Ryan, like Beau, sports facial hair. He has a dark mustache and beard matching his high and tight haircut. Beau notices that his strong nose is still crooked from when he got punched in the face during a fight that they were both in sophomore year. He also has bags under his eyes, yet looks confident and cocky as ever if his smirk is anything to go by.

Beau stands to greet him as they dap each other up. After slapping Ryan on the back, Beau pulls away and looks over his shoulder to see that Everett must've already hit his ball. He looks uncertain on whether or not he should join the conversation. Beau knows that Everett probably recognizes Ryan and doesn't want to talk to him considering Ryan wasn't.... friendly to him when they all went to school together. Offering his partner a helpless shrug, Beau then turns his attention back to the man in front of him.

"How the hell are ya, brother?" Ryan asks while crossing his arms over his chest and widening his stance. It's as if he's trying to make himself appear as big as possible even though Beau is taller than him by two or three inches. However, Ryan does seem to have put on some weight over the last couple of years.

With his hands on his hips, Beau tries to instill some more confidence in himself as he responds. "Not too bad. How 'bout yourself?" He tries to deflect all attention onto his former friend.

"Can't complain. Not when I got a roof over my head and food on the table," Ryan says breezily. The two other guys he came with talk loudly where they stand by their own golf cart. Ryan ignores them as he continues interrogating Beau. "What've you been up to? Finn told me you went MIA after your old man was sent to the slammer."

Tensing up even more at this comment, Beau feels like he's having an out of body experience. He is suddenly hyperaware of the fact that he's on a date with a man and happened to run into a friend from high school who has no problem bringing up one of the most traumatic events in his life. After not speaking for over six years, you'd think someone would tread more carefully around the topic, but clearly Ryan didn't get the memo.

"Yeah, man. I've kinda been traveling around since all of that happened. Not doing anything too exciting." Beau tries to downplay everything that has happened to him. At that moment, Everett walks over, seemingly deciding to join them after awkwardly staring at them for a minute.

Ryan's eyebrows raise at Everett who now stands next to Beau. "Hey—I remember you." Ryan sounds like he's reaching into the depths of his memory to materialize Everett's name.

"Hi, Ryan. Funny seeing you here," Everett says as he leans on his golf club.

Ryan suddenly snaps his fingers and smiles, "Everett! You were Colesy's nerdy little neighbor. God, I can't believe you're hanging out with him after years of him staring you down in the hallways, Colesy," he laughs. Everett's ears heat with the embarrassment he feels at the statement.

"Yeah, most people I've reconnected with after high school have been really cool. It's nice when we can catch up like mature adults," he responds dryly.

Holding his hands up in mock surrender, Ryan still wears an arrogant smile on his face. He clearly enjoys messing with Everett. Beau shifts on his feet and lightly bumps against Everett in a gesture that he hopes is somewhat comforting during this odd exchange.

"Hey, man, no need to preach at me. I'm as mature as they come. I just wanted to swing by and say hi to an old friend." Ryan juts his chin out towards Beau in acknowledgement. "Didn't mean to upset you, ladies. I'll let you get back to it."

With that, Ryan slaps Beau on the back and walks over to his friends who wait for him to get in the golf cart before driving off.

Once they're out of sight, Everett taps Beau on the foot with his golf club to get his attention. Beau was staring into the distance where Ryan and his friends disappeared, but now grabs higher up on Everett's club and pulls him closer. He gives Everett a weak smile as he teasingly pushes the brim of his Yankees hat down so it covers his eyes. "Well, what direction did you send your ball in this time?" Beau asks.

Adjusting his hat and staring up at Beau, Everett says, "So we're not gonna talk about what just happened?"

"It's Ryan.... He's just an ass and I hope we don't see him again. Is there anything else to say about him?" Beau frowns as he speaks. A piece of hair sticks out of Everett's hat at an awkward angle so Beau tucks the tuft behind his ear. He then places a quick kiss on his lips after assessing their surroundings and tries to lead them back to the golf cart.

Everett mirrors his frown as they walk toward the cart. "Are you okay, though? I heard him talk about your dad which I know is a touchy subject for you," he explains the reasoning for his concern. Stopping beside the cart and not getting in, Beau sees that they're not going to move on until they talk about the interaction that just took place.

Sighing, Beau turns to look down at his partner and grabs him by the elbows to pull him into his embrace. "I promise I'm fine, snook. I don't like talking about my dad, but I'm a big boy that can handle being asked about him."

"Hm.... if you say so," Everett replies uncertainly. Beau smiles at this and tilts Everett's head up to peck his lips once more. "It's cute seeing you so protective. You're like a little chihuahua," he teases the smaller man.

"Fuck off," Everett laughs and pulls away from Beau's embrace.

Smiling as he walks to the passengers side of the golf cart, Beau says, "Save that energy for any threats that might pop up during the last couple of holes."

Everett's laugh rings out as he sits in the drivers seat. He takes them in a direction away from Ryan and his friends where he must've poorly hit his ball. "Hey, I tried being supportive. If anything else happens today, then you're on your own," he declares as he purposefully slams on the breaks to jolt the taller man sitting beside him.

Shaking his head and exiting the cart, Beau exclaims, "With the way you're driving, I think you may be the only other danger I run into today."

Luckily, they are able to finish their golf date about two hours later without anymore unexpected run-ins.