Darwin's Natural Selection Read Online Free PDF Page A

little drink hurt?”
    “I can’t,” Tom said. “I’m seeing someone.” He grimaced. Once again, the lie was out before he could consider the consequences.
    “What?”
    The amount of surprise Andy crammed into that one word made Tom very glad he’d lied.
    “I’m dating someone,” he said, feeling a smile touch the corners of his mouth. Fuck, this feels good. I should’ve made this up months ago. “Someone else .”
    “But…” Andy’s words trailed away and he was silent for a delicious moment.
    “Who?”
    “You don’t know him,” Tom said, dismissing the question.
    Andy snorted. “If he’s gay and from around here, I know him. What’s his name?”
    “Darwin Bloom.” As he said the name, his first concern wasn’t that he was telling a big fat monster lie. It was a sudden worry that Andy had slept with Darwin. Tom’s fingers tightened around his phone.
    “I’ve never heard of him,” Andy said.
    “Are you sure you’re not making this up?”
    Heat rose in Tom’s cheeks and he was glad Andy couldn’t see. “Of course not,” he lied. “You don’t know everybody . Maybe he’s just not slutty.”
    “Fuck you, asshole,” Andy snapped. “I just wanted to see how you were doing and you call me a slut. Nice.”
    It was Tom’s turn to snort. “Please. You called because Mickey left and you’re horny.
    Go to the club and pick someone up. I’m not interested.” With that, he ended the call.
    He grinned. Telling Andy off had felt really good. Riding on the wave of confidence, he dialed the number written on the crinkled slip of paper, not even panicking…
    Until he heard the phone ringing on the other end of the call.
    “Oh shit,” he muttered as his hands began to sweat. “What the fuck did I just do?”
    *
     
    Although his heart accelerated when his cell phone rang, Darwin reminded himself not to get too excited. He’d spent the past three days jumping every time his phone rang, just to be disappointed when it turned out to be an automated campaigning call or something.
    “Hello,” he answered cautiously.
    There was just silence. It wasn’t the quiet of a lost call or even a bad connection, though—someone was definitely on the other end of the line. He just wasn’t talking.
    A thrill ran through him and Darwin spun in a tight, triumphant circle. “Is this Tom?” he asked, trying to keep his voice low-key. Yipping like an excited puppy would not help the poor guy’s nerve.
    There was a small sound on the other end of the call, not really a yes, but it was good enough for Darwin.
    “I was hoping you’d call,” he said, rolling his eyes at the understatement. “How are you?”
    There was another sound, hardly more than a breath.
    “I’ll take that as a, ‘Just great, Darwin.
    How are you?’” he teased, almost giddy with excitement.
    Although Tom’s laugh was more of a gasp, it still made Darwin grin.
    “I’m
    pretty
    good,
    even
    though
    MacDougal ripped me a new one for talking to you the other day. Actually, it was for slacking off—he wouldn’t have cared if I’d talked to you, as long as I kept working while I was doing it.” He lowered his voice in an imitation of his boss’s bellow. “‘Are yo u trying to fuck up my schedule, Bloom?
    Huh? Because you’re doing a damn fine job of it!’”
    Darwin didn’t know who this Chatty Cathy of a person was who’d taken over his body, but something about Tom’s terrified silence made Darwin babble.
    Tom’s chuckle was stronger this time, less like a wheezy exhalation. “Er…sorry,”
    he croaked before clearing his throat. “For, um…getting you in trouble.”
    Feeling an illogical amount of pride for managing to get the other man to speak actual words, Darwin said, “Are you kidding? That wasn’t your fault. I managed to get my ass chewed all by my damn self.
    What is your fault was making me wait for three days before you finally called me.” He closed his eyes. The downside to the torrent of words