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Andrew Minyard had never intended to be a professional Exy player for long. From the end of his sophomore year of college, he’d known that he’d go wherever Neil Josten went, and he’d known that he’d play Exy professionally ever since his junior year. He’d gone on to play Exy after university for ten years until he played the Olympics and decided that he’d accomplished all he needed to regarding Exy. He announced his plans to retire in an interview after the Olympics with Neil at his side, who gave anyone who challenged or questioned him a withering glare.
Andrew had been restless the days after. Calm and, albeit, happy, but restless.
After Andrew confided to everyone about his decision, Aaron had taunted over their monthly Skype call, “What are you gonna do now? Become an influencer?”
Andrew, a known instigator at heart, replied, “Yes, actually.”
And thus, the AndrewMinyardReads YouTube channel was created.
Neil helped him with ideas; frankly, Andrew had no idea what to do with the channel until Neil had raised an eyebrow at his torn-up copy of Moby Dick in his hands that he’d had just finished ranting over. He had opened his laptop and got to work.
He’d researched a good set-up and signed up for his new YouTube channel. The video was on his harsh criticisms of Moby Dick. He’d reached almost 30,000 subscribers in just twelve hours. From the comment section and the fact that the channel was trending on Twitter, they all knew him from Exy and most of the commenters were surprised that Andrew Minyard, the best goalkeeper in the United States and Olympic gold medalist, had retired from Exy just to make a YouTube account about books, but the remainder of them were interested in the actual content.
They wanted more. Andrew found that he’d enjoyed making the video, so he made more.
He began with scathing commentaries on classics like The Catcher in the Rye and Lord of the Flies, and then he included analysis essays on books like Fahrenheit 451 and Pride and Prejudice. He uploaded videos on what he read each month and even took time to make bookstore vlogs with Neil, a willing participant (and fan favorite). He made book talk videos with Renee as a guest star, and Neil sometimes when he had the time for some leisurely reading.
Recently he’d begun to livestream book hauls and even put on music in the background while he sat back and read in a little “read with me” session. His reading spot was the corner of the couch in the living room complete with heavy blankets, fluffy pillows, string lights, and a warm lamp.
Now, he was on the couch with King laying on the cushion next to him. Sir roamed around, the swish of her tail heard against the hardwood floor every so often. He picked up The Great Gatsby after he started the stream and put on smooth background music and he was completely submerged back within the world in the first paragraph he read.
The front door opened alongside the sound of grocery bags and Andrew sunk more back into the couch, completely relaxed. Andrew would never admit it, but part of him would only be content when Neil was home.
Andrew barely registered the keys clink in the dish beside the door or when Neil put his coat on the hook. He relished the sound of Neil’s soft footsteps until Neil put his hand on the back cushion. Andrew leaned his head back and didn’t take his eyes off the page when Neil brushed Andrew’s hair away from his forehead and placed a kiss there. Andrew couldn’t help but close his eyes for a moment.
“You’re streaming?” Neil asked, voice warm and familiar.
Andrew glanced at the camera and his laptop sitting on the chair beside it. The chat was going insane. Messages saying: “ NEIL ”, “ ANDREIL ”, and various forms of keyboard smashes filled the screen.
“Yup,” Andrew said, unbothered. He attempted to turn his full attention back to the book.
Neil smiled and squeezed his shoulder. He patted King and took his armful of groceries to the kitchen. Andrew tried his best to ignore the memory of Neil’s warm hand. He had a book stream to attend to.
Andrew sighed contentedly while he watched Neil until he disappeared behind the wall and turned back to his book, letting the crinkling of the plastic bags and cupboards softly open and close blend into the background along with the music and soft purring from the cats.
He wouldn’t prefer this life to anything else.