“Just tell John to fuck off. He only watches football because I told him to. And Anders only watches because Leo does.”
Niall slides one of his beers over to me, which he must have ordered for me before I got here.
“So, as I mentioned, the one you can tell to fuck off is John. These two are Leo and Anders, and that’s about it for who you need to know. Everyone, this is Danny.”
“Daniel.” I cheers my glass with the group.
“Nah,” Leo says, “I think I like Danny better. It’s all he ever calls you when he talks about you.”
I smile, leaning towards Niall. “Is that so? You talk about me that much?”
“Not that much,” Niall mumbles, glaring at Leo.
The players take the field on the TV. “I’m gonna be honest. I don’t know much about soc…football. So, I’m going to watch and try to have fun, but also might have a lot of questions.”
“Some things are easy to pick up on, and some you’re going to rely on the commentators. Off-sides being the worst of them. Also, how they decide what’s a yellow card versus a red card. And, I know you’re used to American football and all that scoring. That’s not gonna be the case here.”
Leo rolls his eyes. “Anders is doing a fine job of making it sound boring. They constantly move but they’re just good at defense. It’s not like your beloved baseball. Now THAT’s boring.”
The game kicks off and all conversation stops. Well, conversation between us stops. There is a lot of conversation between them and the television. They are VERY passionate about their team. Which, upon searching on Google, I find outthat Tottenham is in London. I’ll have to remember to ask later how they came to be fans here in Dublin.
At the half Tottenham is up 1-0, which seems to please the crowd. Everyone seems to be on the same page that it’s time to order food, which Anders assures me is not half bad. Niall and I end up ordering wings and potato skins to split. They arrive just as the second half starts up.
I do think Anders is selling Trinity Bar short. Everything is delicious.
The game picks up in the second half, Tottenham beating West Ham 4-0. Which I guess is a big deal because they’re also a London based team. The group thins out shortly after the game ends, leaving me with just Niall and his friends.
I learned in bits and pieces throughout the game that Trinity Bar is the home of the Dublin supporters for Tottenham, and the same group always tries to get together on game day. Niall grew up a fan of Tottenham, and met Anders and Leo here at the bar. John had been Niall’s friend for decades, but started tagging along on game days because he felt left out.
“Alright, now we can get down to business. Tell us about you.”
“Let the man breathe, John. He just had to deal with…” Anders gestures at the room, “all of this. I get it. He’s attractive. And you’re used to the old married couple and old news Niall.”
I look at John. “Wait, what? Did you and Niall used to date?” Niall groans, putting his head on the table. “I seem to have struck a nerve.”
It’s Leo’s turn to lean in. “Because he knows where this is going. Niall came out to John when he was like fifteen or sixteen. That detail seems to change each time we tell this story. John’s bi and is a bit of a slut, even back then. So, as best friends, they thought it would be brilliant to start messing around with each other.”
“And, let’s just say, the first time Niall went down on John it was quick.”
Leo nods in agreement. “And quite a mess too. Niall went to pull it out of his mouth but wasn’t quick enough and it ended up all over the front of his shirt and jacket. Oh! Sorry, key detail missing. I forgot to mention this was at a school dance, where each of them brought lady dates. They had snuck off for that little adventure mid-dance.”
John laughs. “Yes, and Niall had no choice but to leave the dance early because he was covered in my knuckle children. I think we tried to go at it one more time after that, but there was too much first and secondhand embarrassment that we stopped messing around.”
The bartender drops off another round of Guinness. I notice, in the corner of the room, two guys setting up for live music. “So how was the first week teaching at Trinity?” John taps my hand with his index finger.
“Oh, fine. I guess. I’m still trying to get comfortable with the campus. And trying to steer the students away from questions about living in America and focus on the coursework.”
“In the first week?”
I take a sip of my beer. “One of my courses has fourteen books, so if we don’t hit the ground running, we’ll fall behind.”
“I can’t remember the last time I read a book.”
Niall rolls his eyes. “Yup, your best lad owns a bookstore and you can’t find the time to take any of my recommendations.”
I steer the conversation back. “The students are good though. Whether it’s the books or their fascination with my Americanism, a handful of them are pretty engaged.”
“I think it’s cool you teach a class solely on LGBT authors. They sure as hell didn’t have that when I was in school.”
