Where You Least Expect It (2 page)

“Hey, man. I told you to just follow the noise.” Sam clapped Matt on the shoulder, pulling him farther into the apartment to the kitchen. Matt turned to say something to the guy who let him in, but biker boy had already disappeared back into the crowd.

And “crowd” was certainly an apt description. The small apartment was packed with people standing and sitting on almost every available surface. Just as he expected, it was remarkably similar to every party Sam had taken him to since they were barely old enough to drink.

Sam headed directly for the keg and handed Matt one of the ubiquitous red plastic cups. “Grab a beer. There’s some people I want you to meet.”

Matt tossed him a glare before filling his cup, knowing that Sam’s words were code for “there’s this chick I want you to meet.”

Christ, not again. It was going to be a long night.

He would kill Sam later.

Matt did the obligatory small talk, knowing he had no intention of pursuing anything more, no matter how hot the women Sam introduced him to were. He knew Sam meant well, but he just wasn’t in the market for one night stands. Maybe he was picky, maybe he was old fashioned, but there it was. And he could do just fine on his own, thank you very much, regardless of what Sam thought.

The woman wanted a Cosmo, so Matt found himself at the makeshift bar, full beer in one hand and empty martini glass in the other, staring at a dizzying array of alcohol and mixer bottles.

A sudden voice in his ear startled him. “So, I didn’t catch your name when you tried to run me over earlier.”

Fuck. Matt turned around, prepared to defend himself, but the other man didn’t look nearly as angry as Matt expected. “You mean when you almost ran into my vehicle.” Matt held out a hand. “Matt Halston.”

The other man switched his drink to his left hand and accepted Matt’s offer. “Christian Flannery. You’re not one of those drivers who hates all bikers, are you?”

“As long as you’re not one of those bikers who thinks he owns the road.” When he wasn’t in the process of almost running one down, Matt was generally tolerant of bike riders.

“Oh, please, it’s not like I want to get myself killed.” Christian skirted out of the way of someone trying to get to the vodka. “But you totally didn’t see me.”

Christian was being too friendly for Matt to continue arguing. “I might have been a little distracted. Sorry about that.” It was as close to an admission of guilt as Matt planned to get.

It seemed to satisfy Christian. “I guess I can forgive you, since I’m still in one piece and all. You looked a little overwhelmed by the booze selection.”

It took Matt a second to catch up to the quick change of topic. “I know how to get beer out of a keg, not how to mix drinks.”

Christian laughed. “Lucky for you my sister’s a bartender. What do you need?”

“A Cosmo.” Matt knew it started with vodka and was pink, but that was as far as he got.

Christian took the empty martini glass from Matt’s hand and started grabbing bottles, making it look easy.

“Did you learn this from watching your sister?” Matt asked, curious.

Christian finished up and handed Matt the glass. “Watching, reading the bartender’s guide. I made her teach me some basic stuff.” Christian shrugged. “You never know when you’re going to have to help someone get a drink for his girlfriend.”

“Not my girlfriend,” Matt answered automatically. “Sam’s trying to fix me up with his date’s friend.” Matt wasn’t sure why he’d added the latter; apparently, yelling at a guy in the street helped break the ice.

“Ugh, I hate when my friends do that.” Christian rolled his eyes dramatically. “I can meet my own dates, thank you very much.”

Finally, someone who agreed with him. “That’s what I keep telling Sam, but he’s a little too single-minded to listen.”

“Some people think everyone needs to be paired off, even temporarily.” Christian took a sip of his own drink. “Not that I’m against pairing off, but I can handle a few nights solo.”

“I should have you tell that to Sam.” Matt glanced across the room to see if the man in question was still there or had already disappeared with Kim. He realized he was still holding the Cosmo and turned back to Christian. “I should get this drink back.”

“Cool. I’m glad I could help. See you around.” Christian smiled.

Matt watched Christian disappear back into the crowd.

Aerosmith woke Matt bright and early Monday morning. He lay in bed for a few minutes listening to Steven Tyler beseech him to dream on and wondering why Mondays always came so quickly. Not that he hated his job or anything, but he wouldn’t mind more time away from his cubicle.

The DJ’s voice cut into his musing and forced him to roll out of bed. One of these days, he would get a new alarm clock with the option of waking up to his own CDs rather than the chatter of bland morning radio shows.

Fortunately, he’d long ago sprung for the fancy coffee maker with automatic turn-on, and a strong brew of French roast was waiting for him in the kitchen. A quick glance through the CNN and NPR websites provided his morning dose of news, which was just more of the same old, same old.

He didn’t take long getting out of the house most mornings. A fast shower — a habit left over from the service — teeth cleaning and flossing, some gel to keep his dark brown hair tame, and he was ready to make the ten-minute drive to his office.

Traffic was light, many people still biking or walking. Matt had tried biking to work a few times, but he often ended up working late and he didn’t like riding home in the dark; it wasn’t safe, as his own distracted driving proved. That, and he absolutely hated getting rained on, which would be unavoidable come winter.

He stopped at the café — The Coffee Hut — near his office building for his usual cup of coffee; as always, the place was packed with people in business suits waiting in line and a handful of telecommuters sitting at tables with their laptops, coffees, and bagels.

Matt made polite conversation with the people he recognized from work as the line edged forward. He was staring at the pastry counter debating between pumpkin bread and pumpkin scones when the barista caught his attention.

“What can I get started for you this morning?” the friendly male voice interrupted his thoughts.

Matt looked up, immediately encountering the spiky blond hair and blue eyes that he’d seen at Saturday’s party. What was the guy’s name?

Christian, his name tag read. He smiled at Matt. “Hey. Fancy meeting you here. What can I get you?” he repeated.

Matt couldn’t remember seeing Christian working here before. “Oh, hey. I almost didn’t recognize you.” Matt ordered his usual twenty-ounce black coffee and a pumpkin scone.

Christian was still smiling as he handed Matt the pastry. “Have a good day, Matt.”

Christian hurried off to help another customer before Matt could respond. Autopilot kept him moving forward to pay the cashier. As he stood with the crowd waiting for his drink order, Matt glanced over and caught Christian smiling at him. Matt smiled back, almost missing it when his order was called.

Yanking his attention back to what he was doing, Matt grabbed his coffee and headed to work, immediately banishing Christian from his mind and focusing on his projects for the day. He had several deadlines coming up and if he didn’t make some serious headway this week, he would be working weekends.

***

The week passed in a daze; Matt worked close to sixty hours to get everything done and put out a few fires along the way.

He hadn’t seen Christian again, although, oddly, he had noticed he wasn’t seeing Christian. Matt wasn’t one to keep track of his close friends’ schedules, let alone one of the baristas at the coffee shop. Matt chalked his sudden interest up to the unusual circumstances of their meeting. Besides, Christian seemed like a nice enough guy.

As much as he disliked doing so on principle, Matt decided to head into work on Saturday after his game with Sam to deal with the routine things that got pushed aside during the week’s crises. He stopped for his usual coffee both out of habit and to avoid the poor excuse for coffee in the break room.

Matt noticed Christian’s blond head as soon as he got close to the counter.

Christian looked up and smiled. “You’re not working on a Saturday, are you?”

Matt returned the smile, feeling only mildly off balance. He still couldn’t figure out why Christian kept popping into his thoughts at the oddest moments. “We had a crazy week and I wanted to try to clean off my desk before Monday.”

“Wow, that’s dedicated. What can I get you?” Christian picked up one of the pens they used to mark cups.

Without thinking about it, Matt started making small talk while Christian rang him up. “Have you worked here long? I don’t remember seeing you before last week.”

“I usually work in the afternoon or at night, depending on my class schedule. I was only here Monday morning to cover for someone who was sick.”

“Oh.” Matt wasn’t sure what to say next, his lack of social graces rearing its head. He wondered how other people made it seem so easy to strike up conversations with strangers.

Christian seemed to be one of those people. “So, you fled the party pretty quickly.”

The change of subject caught Matt slightly unprepared. “Yeah, I only went because Sam wouldn’t let up about it. Once he disappeared with his conquest of the week, I decided to get out of there.”

“No date with the Cosmo girl?” Christian teased.

“No, definitely not my type. Thanks for helping with the drink, by the way. I was completely clueless.”

“No problem; I’d lose my gay card if I couldn’t make a Cosmo.” Christian smiled at him again and motioned toward the pick-up area. “Your drink’s ready.”

“Cool. I’ll, ah, see you around.” Matt felt further off kilter, like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have been.

“Definitely. You should stop by some afternoon.” And did Christian just wink at him?

Matt found himself smiling back again — how odd was that? — and actually considering it. “I might do that.”

Although it was another unseasonably warm day, Matt wasn’t the only person at work. He spent some time cleaning up his desk and sorting through the things needing to be filed, which admittedly wasn’t much. Five years in the military had taught him to stay organized and avoid clutter. While he waited for his reports to run, he rinsed out his skull and crossbones coffee mug and cleaned the shelf where he kept his random collection of die-cast model cars and the foam ball for the miniature basketball net that hung on the wall of his cube.

It took Matt fewer than three hours to feel like he was ready for Monday, but it was long enough for the weather to change drastically. The sky was dark gray and the air felt charged, wind starting to pick up and toss the fallen leaves around. He was typically more prepared, but he hadn’t bothered to bring a jacket with him, wearing only a long-sleeved T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Matt took a deep breath and hurried toward the parking lot, hoping he could make it home before the storm broke.

He was almost to his truck when light rain started to fall. He could see Christian at the bike rack and had the sudden urge to offer Christian a ride. Matt hesitated but decided they were well enough acquainted that Matt could share his dry truck. Besides, riding in the rain was dangerous. Matt called out across the short distance to grab Christian’s attention as he retraced his steps.

Christian looked up, frowning for a second until he recognized Matt. “Oh, hey. What’s up?”

“The weather looks like shit, man. Do you want a ride somewhere? We can put your bike in the back of my truck.”

Christian looked surprised. “I ride in the rain all the time, but I guess I wouldn’t turn down a ride. You’re not a serial killer or a stalker, are you?”

Matt laughed. “Nope. Apparently, I’m just a good Samaritan today.”

Christian returned his smile. “Okay, then. Where are you parked?”

Matt pointed. “A couple of rows that way.”

Christian finished unlocking his bike. “Cool. Let’s go.”

Matt led the way to his truck, surprised at his own actions. Offering a ride to someone he only knew as “a guy who can make mixed drinks and coffee” was something that had never occurred to him before.

He dug his keys out and clicked the button to unlock the doors. Lifting the tailgate, he turned to Christian to ask if he needed help; if there was one thing he could do, it was lift shit.

“You can grab the back. It’s pretty light, actually, just a little awkward and I don’t like to toss it around. It’s my only transportation.”

Once they got the bike situated and settled themselves in the cab, Christian turned to him. “Thanks, man. I appreciate this. It really does suck to ride in the rain.”

“No problem. I tried it a few times myself, but I hated getting to work soaking wet. Made me feel like I needed to start my morning over, you know?” Matt refrained from mentioning the fact that he considered bike riding in bad weather to be risky.

“Totally!” Christian agreed.

“So, where are we going?”

“I live right near downtown, kind of close to the college.” Christian gave him an address not far from Matt’s condo.

“Those orange stucco apartments, right?” Matt looked over at him to confirm. “I live a couple of blocks away in the condos on Albert.”

“Oh, I know where those are. They look cute. Way better than my building.”

“Cute” wasn’t exactly how Matt would describe them, at least not his particular unit, but he let it go.

Christian didn’t give him time to respond, anyway. “So, what do you do besides show up at parties you hate and give random guys rides home?”

“I work over at Elston and Downs, in the IT department.” Matt flicked on the defroster as the windshield started to fog.

“Yeah? I was thinking about doing computers for school, but it sounds kind of boring. I decided to go with history instead.”

“You’re in school?” Sometimes, Matt’s struggle with small talk appalled even him, but he thought he was doing pretty well.

“Well, obviously.” Christian’s tone of voice was teasing. “I’m a senior. I actually have a double major, so it’s taking a bit longer, but I should graduate next spring.”