Bankers' Hours by Wade Kelly Read Free Book Online Page B

friendly.
    Another guy came over to the machine next to us. It felt like he was invading our conversation, although he didn’t even look at us.
    “Yes and no. I have friends, but I rarely see them anymore.”
    “Oh?”
    “I’m married to my work, and they’re stationed overseas.”
    “Stationed?” That was an odd way of describing it.
    “Did I not mention it before? I was in the military.”
    “Which explains the muscles,” I mumbled, my eyes going wide immediately. “Oh gosh, did I say that out loud?”
    Tristan chuckled. “Yes, but you’re fine. I’ve heard it all before. I was a workout buff before I joined the Navy, and I continued after I got out.”
    “Ah! Now the tattoo on your bicep makes sense.”
    Tristan pulled his arm forward and touched the tattoo. It was the Navy insignia. “Yeah. My buddy Josh and I got them together.”
    The drop in his tone told me something was wrong. I asked, “Do you still see him?”
    He shook his head. “No. He died a year after we got them. We were on a boat somewhere between the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, and Josh got sick. He thought it was influenza but ignored it way too long. He died a week later.”
    I almost got tears in my eyes. Josh’s death sounded so tragically avoidable.
    “Are you using this?” a different man asked, gesturing to the equipment we were standing next to.
    The man’s question seemed to snap both of us out of our momentary funk. “Oh, no, sorry,” Tristan said, getting up and motioning for the other man to use it.
    We stepped to the side, and suddenly I felt awkward. There were more people in the place than I had realized, and having a conversation in the middle of the room made me self-conscious.
    Tristan gestured over to the wall, and I followed him to the side of the room. “You’re tired, and this place is too crowded to talk. I’m sorry to drop Josh’s death on you like that, but it just came out. It’s been twelve years, but sometimes thinking about him takes me back to the times we laughed.” He shook his head and blinked, as if shaking off the bad memories. “Anyway… maybe we can grab a beer sometime, and I’ll give you the rundown of my military history. Josh and I did have some fun times together.” He grinned. Was he joking? How much military history could he have?
    His question threw me. “I, um… I guess.”
    “I’d really like to hang out with you. Claire wasn’t kidding about my lack of friends. I don’t take time out of working long enough to make any.”
    A too-damn-irresistible smile graced his perfect lips. Our friendship wasn’t going to work if he kept smiling at me like that. My groin didn’t know the difference between a straight guy and an interested guy, especially after he licked his lips. I coughed into my fist and then said casually, “Why make an exception for me? I’m not all that interesting.”
    He frowned his disapproval at me. “I like you, Grant. You’re… simple .”
    Lust jumped the track in favor of irritation. “Simple?” I snapped. I didn’t like the word, and I didn’t veil my reaction.
    Tristan explained, “Not simple as in ‘simpleton.’ What I mean is that you’re straightforward. You say what you mean, and I don’t have to guess what you’re thinking. Your intent is written on your face.”
    I didn’t see that as a plus when I’d been thinking nonfriendship thoughts for a couple of weeks. Every time he walked into the bank, I felt heat swirling in areas that had been neglected all my life. I couldn’t think of a response for being called “simple.”
    He touched my arm, and I glanced to his hand and back up to his eyes.
    “Grant, don’t be mad. I didn’t mean to offend you. I like you. Can we go for a beer and get to know each other? You said yourself you’re new to the area. If I don’t have many friends, and you don’t have many friends, then why don’t we give this a shot?”
    He let go of my arm, and I swallowed. Friends with a straight