“Had to throw you off,” I say. “Didn’t wanna ruin the mystery with the part where I’m actually boring as hell.”
He scoffs.
“You? Boring? Not a fuckin’ chance.”
He has no idea...“Minus the last few weeks, I’m a human yawn. Friend’s goin’ through a breakup, so I been stuck in nightlife hell for the first time in years—bars, clubs, draggin’ her home at 3 a.m. Hate the life. Try to avoid it at all costs. Only scene I care about’s got a stage and speakers. Small rooms. Loud music. No small talk.”
A siren wails somewhere below,
distant, then fading.
“Most nights? It’s just me.
“I work. I eat the same shit every week.”
When I say it out loud,
it sounds more miserable than boring.
He leans closer,
elbow sinking into the blanket.
“You don't even know?—
“sounds real good to me right now.”
A disbelieving smile breaks across my face.
“That boring-ass life soundsgoodto you?”
“Yeah. With you? Sounds fuckin’ perfect…
“Sonny, I’m in a bar four nights a week with drunk idiots. But when you said you don’t go out?” He takes a moment to breathe it in. “I dunno. Just sounded good. Like somethin’ I’d wanna come home to.”
I freeze.
“You said that out loud, you know.
“The ‘come home to’part.”
His eyes go wide,
then narrow,
trying to snatch the words back.
“I meant—y’know, in general.
“Not—not like, right now. Obviously.”
The way he's flustered makes me smile.
He grabs at the back of his neck.
“I’m just sayin’, it’s nice. That’s all.”
A second passes.
