Page 91 of Pure Silence

“He’s shy,” Goldie replied flatly as he set Purrcy on the couch and then sat next to her.

“A shy boy, huh?” Florence was clearly loving this. “Can’t be that damn shy. You know there’s still handcuffs on your headboard, right?”

“Eat a dick, Flo.” Goldie tried not to smile.

“I think that’s his job.”

“Shut up.”

“So, has he taken the training wheels off his bike yet?”

“Are you done?”

“Just one more.”

Goldie gestured expectantly.

“Are you gonna be his date to prom?”

Goldie laughed without meaning to and then groaned. “You’re awful, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Florence cleared his throat, adding quietly, “I’m an asshole.”

Goldie couldn’t have heard that correctly. “Is that you apologizing?”

“I know I’m an asshole, okay?” Florence went on. “I got excited about this good shit happening for you, and I wasn’t thinking about what you’d want. I was just thinking about what I’d want if I had that chance.”

Goldie frowned.

“I hate the podcast.” Florence scoffed. “Ifuckinghate it. I wanna be back out there in front of a crowd. I just kept thinking that if you got back in, well, maybe you’d bring me back too.”

“Flo—”

“I know, I know!” Florence grunted. “Stupid, I know. But the Ballroom Blitz is comin’ up, and I thought if you got a match, then it could be a tag team match for us.”

The Ballroom Blitz was a yearly promotion hosted by Global Wrestling, a highly anticipated charity event. It was black tie only, tickets to attend started in the thousands. and the wrestling matches were headlined by the biggest stars. However, GW would also invite retired wrestlers to perform and help draw additional donations as all proceeds went to various charitable organizations.

Goldie had wrestled at the Ballroom Blitz many times before when he was still pro, and it had never occurred to him to be invited back as a retiree. Retiree’s roles in the matches varied by their age and physical health, as one might stop by just to deliver a few lines while others could potentially fight in a full bout.

“You really think they’d ask us?” Goldie asked hesitantly.

“I think they’d ask you, and then you’d talk them into askin’ me!” Florence grinned.

Goldie laughed. “You fucker.”

“Will you at least think about it?” Florence asked earnestly. “Come on. We’re both fuckin’ solid as hell. We could do a full fuckin’ match and show some of these damn kids whatrealwrestling is all about.”

Goldie knew how much Florence wanted this, and the yearning in his old friend’s face was breaking his heart. He didn’t like being put on the spot like this, and he certainly didn’t appreciate Florence’s manipulation either. Still, he said, “I’ll think about it.”

Florence’s grin returned in full force. “Okay! There we go! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” He stuck out his hand to shake Goldie’s. “Thank you.”

“No promises,” Goldie warned. “This is not a yes.”

“Nah, I got you now.” Florence smirked smugly. “Because you’re gonna be thinking about it, you won’t be able to stop, and then you’re gonna think about how much you want Junior in there to see you get in the ring and shit.”

“Uh-huh.”

Goldie didn’t think Day would be interested, but then again, maybe he would be. It might be fun to take Day out to a match, maybe get him a private box seat so he wouldn’t be disturbed by the rest of the crowd and could just enjoy the show. He could picture Day cheering him on, getting excited watching Goldie in his natural element, sweating and flexing, Day maybe even getting a little turned on, and then they could celebrate—