eight loud silence
eight
loud silence
Dexter
The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted out of the kitchen.
My feet carried me from the living room as if they had a mind of their own, ready for their own cup of coffee.
Pulling down our mugs from the cabinet, I set them down on the counter.
Bunny was awake. The shower had started a bit ago, and knowing him, he would want coffee.
Vanilla coffee creamer sat ready on the counter for him too.
After filling my cup, I took a small sip and savored the rich flavor.
When I began walking back to the living room, I was met by Bunny, who stood at the end of the hallway in sweatpants, towel drying his hair.
The sweatpants hung low on his slim waist, the smallest bit of trimmed hair showed above the waistline, and his skin glistened like he hadn’t dried off properly.
Quickly I glanced away from him as he began walking toward the kitchen.
“Your cups on the counter. Creamer too,” I said quickly as I brushed by him. The rich, warm vanilla smell of his body wash hit me like a brick wall as I walked by, and I couldn’t help but close my eyes and remember how good he smelled with Marlowe that night.
Bunny draped his towel on the back of a kitchen chair and joined me on the couch. We sat in our usual places, on opposite ends. He had his feet pulled up beside him, and I sat with my feet up on the coffee table. An old movie played on TV, and we sat watching it, drinking our coffee.
I kept finding myself staring at Bunny as he watched the movie.
My feelings for Bunny had always been complicated.
He was definitely more than my best friend, but I didn’t see him as my brother either.
We grew up together, and I felt like I needed to take care of him, but he was never a burden.
Something was going on with him, and for the first time I didn’t know how to talk to him about it.
Bunny turned and caught me staring. He chuckled lightly then asked, “What?”
“Nothing.” I took a sip of my coffee, and he did the same.
“So, what do you think of the Battle of the Bands thing? You didn’t really say much about it last night.
You didn’t say much at all, actually.” I had hoped the quizzical look I gave him would prompt some kind of insight into why he was acting so weird, but he just shrugged.
“No dude, I’m stoked about it.” He said the words, and I believed what he was saying, but there was no emotion behind it.
Turning, my whole body faced him now. “What was with you last night then? You acted like it was nothing. This could actually be huge for us if it works out.”
“You just said it. It’s huge if it works out. But if it doesn’t, it doesn’t mean anything. And nothing's wrong. I’m just being realistic, I guess. We get to play Thrash Fest if we win, which is great. If we don’t win, we just look like some idiots who lost.”
Leaning over, I slapped his arm. “What the fuck, man, don’t think like that.”
He drank down the last of his coffee and set the empty cup on the table beside him. “Dude, I’m just saying.”
Finishing my coffee, I stood and carried both our cups into the kitchen to refill them. Returning to the couch, I handed Bunny his cup, and he nodded in thanks.
“Bunny, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about,” I said before taking a huge sip of coffee.
“Hmmm,” he asked over his coffee cup.
“Why are you messing around with Nicki and her shit again?”
Bunny rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. “Can you just leave me alone about it, please? I’m fine. I promise. I just fucked up last night, okay?” He stood, grabbing his coffee. “I’m sure the guys are almost here. I’m gonna go set up.”
I heard him pour the rest of his second cup of coffee down the drain before opening the door to the garage.
The silence that followed said everything I was afraid of.