Page 92 of Pure Silence

“So, hey,” Florence piped up. “About the podcast…”

“Yup. Time to go.” Goldie smacked the arm of the couch. “It’s been a real barrel of laughs, Flo, but you are really fucking pushing it.”

“Okay, fine!” Florence threw up his hands. “We can do it next weekend.”

“You’re coming back?” Goldie snorted. “You got time for that in your busy schedule?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Florence held his head high. “I’m makin’ the time to get you on my show, man. From there, you’re gonna get us back in the ring.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, man.”

“Well, I’ll let you get back to Junior,” Florence teased. “Find your damn phone, huh? Text somebody back next time and let ’em know you’re busy.”

“You still would have come over,” Goldie accused.

Florence cackled as he bent to give Goldie a hug. “Hey, fuck you. I’m gonna go have shit nachos and even shittier beer by my little lonesome in a shit bar ’cause I don’t think they’d let Junior in.” He winked.

“Ha ha.” Goldie waved Florence away. “Get the fuck outta here.”

“Very sorry to have intruded upon your little love nest. Oh, but next time for real.” Florence gestured to the shelves of memorabilia. “We’ve gotta talk about some of this—”

“Get out!”

“Shit!” Florence opened the door quickly. “I’m goin’, I’m fuckin’ goin’! Later, jackass!”

Goldie sighed in relief when the door shut, and he quickly got up to lock it. He wouldn’t have put it past Florence to try and pop back in again. He felt a little bad that he wasn’t going out with him tonight, but hey, it wasn’t Goldie’s fault Florence hadn’t called ahead.

Speaking of…

Goldie found his phone in the kitchen. He must have left it on the counter when he was putting up the stuff from the pet store. He did indeed have several unread texts from Florence, and he decided they could stay unread a little longer.

He headed to the bedroom, frowning when he saw under the door that the lights had been turned off. He stepped in, asking cautiously, “Baby? You okay?”

Day was curled up in the middle of the bed with Twinkle in his arms and two pillows stacked on top of his head. Twinkle was purring away like usual, content to snuggle against Day’s chest.

“Hey.” Goldie sat on the edge of the bed, and he assumed Day still had his headphones on. He reached out to gently tap Day’s leg.

The top pillow lifted just enough for Day to peek out.

“Florence is gone. It’s just us, baby.”

Day pushed the pillow out of his way, being mindful not to hit Twinkle. He pulled his headphones off, sighing haggardly. “He’s loud.”

“Oh, I know, but he’s gone now.” Goldie hesitated. “You meant loud in the other way, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t need to know about who Florence wants to fuck in the ass,” Goldie teased, hoping to coax out a smile.

Day frowned instead.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

“He’s a liar,” Day said quietly. “He hurts people, and he doesn’t want to be your friend. He wants to use you.”

Goldie sighed. “Yeah, well, you don’t have to be blessed by God to see that.” He reached out to touch Day’s hair. “I know he does.”

“He wants to steal your stuff.”