Darwin bought two tickets, waving away Tom’s offered cash. Tom took the ticket, too flustered by Darwin’s proximity to even glance at it to see what movie they would be watching.
“Popcorn?” Darwin murmured in his ear and Tom shot him a quick glance. It wasn’t that loud inside the lobby. If Darwin hadn’t leaned in, Tom still would’ve heard him just fine. There was really no reason for Darwin to have his mouth so close to Tom’s ear that his lips brushed against the sensitive lobe, making Tom inhale sharply.
“Uh…sure.”
“Be right back,” Darwin promised, his husky tone making the innocuous words sound dirty in the best way. Tom watched him walk toward the concessions counter, his perfect ass flexing beneath his jeans.
“Holy moly,” Tom breathed, then realized he was sighing over this man like a ‘tween with a wild crush on some unobtainable star. He forced himself to turn away from the gorgeous view and almost bumped right into a man walking past, a man who looked an awful lot like…
“Andrew?” he asked, startled.
“Tom.”
It was indeed Andrew. And a guy who w a s
not
Andrew’s most recent boyfriend, Mickey, hovered close to his side, looking at Tom with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity.
“I’m Tom,” he told the glaring man, offering his hand. “Andy and I were friends a long time ago.” His emphasis on “long time ago” must have been convincing, because the guy shook his hand grudgingly.
“Louis,” he muttered, looking back and forth between Tom and Andrew, as if he were trying to sniff out any remaining attraction.
“You here alone?” Andy asked.
“No.” Tom shook his head, very glad he wasn’t lying. There was something so confidence-boosting about having a new boyfriend, especially one as ridiculously hot as Darwin. He gestured toward the blond man watching them from the front of the concessions line. Even from across the lobby, Tom could see Darwin’s scowl as he eyed the three of them. “I’m with him.”
“Uh-huh.” Andy glanced over but held his smirk. “Is this the imaginary new boyfriend?”
“Imaginary?” How’d he ever stand this guy long enough to go out with him? What an asshole. “Yeah…he’s real. He’s right there.” Tom pointed again and then did a double take. “He
was
right there.” He glanced around the lobby.
“Who are you looking for?” a deep voice rumbled in Tom’s ear, making him start.
Darwin was standing right behind him, offering a tub of popcorn.
“You.” Tom smiled and, made brave by Andy’s jealous glare, stretched up to kiss Darwin’s jaw as he accepted the popcorn.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Darwin’s eyes were locked on Tom’s, as hot as he’d ever seen them.
“This is Andy and Louis,” Tom said, his voice a little shaky from arousal and nerves.
“And this is Darwin.” He flushed, a little embarrassed by the way he’d said Darwin’s name, as if he’d just introduced God or something. Tom cleared his throat. “We’d better head in,” he told Darwin, trying to cover. “The previews are my favorite part.”
“Mine too,” Darwin agreed, throwing an arm around Tom’s shoulders and steering him toward one of the theaters. “Nice to meet you,” he tossed over his shoulder, not sounding very sincere.
Andrew made a strangled sound of agreement, still staring at Darwin as if he couldn’t believe the man existed. Tom swallowed a laugh.
“Your ex, I assume,” Darwin murmured when they were out of the other men’s earshot.
“I prefer the term ‘asshole’,” Tom corrected, smiling when Darwin laughed.
“Me too.” Darwin fell silent for a few minutes.
“What is it?” Tom finally asked, his stomach twisting with anxiety. He gave a soundless sigh. Why did everything have to be such a big deal to him now? Couldn’t Darwin even be quiet for a couple minutes without Tom thinking the world was ending?
“What’s what?” Darwin asked, echoing Tom’s self-critical thoughts as they moved toward the center of a row near the back.
“Nothing,” he muttered, embarrassed.
“Never mind.” He focused on sitting down, concentrating
much
too
intently
on
arranging his popcorn and drink.
Darwin snorted. “That wasn’t a nothing kind of ‘nothing’. Out with it.”
With an awkward shrug, Tom admitted, “You were just quiet for a second, that’s all.
Thought maybe something was wrong.”
“Am I that much of a chatterbox?”
Darwin asked, sounding amused. “What, when I go quiet you think I’m dead?”
“Well, maybe not
dead
…” Tom said, the corner of his mouth twitching upward.
“Unconscious? Comatose?”
Although he laughed, Darwin moved his shoulders stiffly, as if he couldn’t find a comfortable place in his seat. “If I tell you what I was thinking, you’re going to think I’m
the asshole now.”
Tom shrugged. “Already do,” he lied, and then grinned at Darwin’s double take.
“And I bought you popcorn,” Darwin said, sounding mortally wounded. “Give me that back.” He grabbed at the popcorn tub and pulled, but Tom had a tight grip on his snack.
“No way,” he protested, laughing. “It’s my popcorn now. Besides, I know you bought a shitload of chocolate for yourself.”
“Not a shitload,” Darwin protested, giving up on taking back the popcorn. “Just Peanut Butter M&Ms. And Milk Duds.”
Tom ate a few pieces of popcorn and raised an eyebrow.
“And a Butterfinger.”
Swallowing back a laugh, Tom didn’t say anything.
“And maybe a Snickers.”
“That’s not a shitload?” Tom couldn’t contain his grin. There was something almost sweet about the big man’s love of chocolate.
Darwin shrugged. “It helps numb the pain when you call me an asshole.” He shot Tom a look filled with melodramatic injury.
With a surprised laugh, Tom bumped the other man’s shoulder with his own. “You know I didn’t mean it. You’re like the anti-asshole.”
“ M aybe
that
could be my superhero name,” Darwin suggested, eating a couple M&Ms. “Anti-Asshole!”
Tom snorted a laugh and ate more popcorn before shooting Darwin a sideways look.
“What?” Darwin asked around a mouthful of candy.
“You went all quiet again.”
Darwin studied a Milk Dud as if it were a chocolate-covered nugget of gold. “Just wondering…”
“Yeah?” Tom pressed, really curious now. He imagined it took a lot to unsettle Darwin.
“You and Andy…?”
Tom made a face. “There isn’t a ‘me and Andy’ anymore. He’d already dumped me before…everything happened.”
“He wants you.” There was no question in Darwin’s flat statement.
“Think so?” Tom couldn’t help the flash of satisfaction that ran through him at Darwin’s words. For so many months, Andrew had jerked him around, breaking up and taking him back, cheating on him and then swearing he’d never do it again. It was nice to be in the driver’s seat for once, even if he didn’t want to take the Andy-car anywhere. He was just fine with Darwin.
“You want
him
?” For once, there was no teasing, no laughter in Darwin’s voice. It was completely serious, a tiny bit scary and a whole lot exciting.
Tom shifted in his seat, unable to look away from Darwin’s intently focused gaze.
“No.” The word was barely audible.
After holding his gaze for another long moment, Darwin sat back and looked at the ads playing on the screen. “Good.”
Tom let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding and stared, unseeing, at the screen. The short exchange had left his heart pounding and his cock hard. He moved the popcorn bucket so it hid the bulge at the front of his pants from the view of any casual observer. It was crazy how Darwin could get him so excited without even touching him.
The previews started and he finally settled down enough to focus. Darwin shifted closer, finding Tom’s hand and linking their fingers together. Just like that, Tom couldn’t concentrate on what was happening on the screen again.
Once he steadied his breathing, some of the panic faded and the warm press of Darwin’s palm against his didn’t seem so terrifying anymore. In fact, it was kind of…
nice. He tightened his fingers in the barest of squeezes and Darwin turned his head to smile at him, his teeth flashing in the light from the screen. Tom glanced back at the previews, feeling suddenly awkward.
All this used to be so natural to him, fun even, but now every part of this whole dating thing felt like a minefield, just waiting to trip him up and make him act like an idiot. At least Darwin didn’t seem to mind.
Tom snorted quietly. The man had to have the patience of a saint.
*
The movie was actually perfect—it was entertaining enough to keep Tom’s attention, while at the same time fluffy enough that he didn’t have to think. That was a relief, since most of his brain cells were taken up by the huge, hot guy sitting next to him who was still holding his hand.
On screen, the hero pushed open a glass door and stepped into a diner. Tom started —the restaurant in the movie looked eerily similar to the diner where he’d met Dave.
He stared, not able to rip his eyes away from the screen as the hero took a seat at the counter. The hero was talking to a waitress but Tom couldn’t concentrate on their conversation. Instead, he fixated on a blond extra sitting at a table with his back to the camera. The guy wasn’t even an important part of the scene but Tom couldn’t pull his gaze from the back of that blond head, sitting in that stomach crampingly familiar diner.
Tom tasted sour popcorn at the back of his throat and stood abruptly.
“What’s wrong?” Darwin asked, but Tom couldn’t say anything without puking in Darwin’s lap. He just shook his head and yanked his hand out of the other man’s grip before bolting for the exit.
Once he was through the doors into the lobby of the theater, the lights smacked him in the face and he stopped abruptly, blinking until his eyes adjusted to the brightness. He saw a sign for the bathroom and hurried toward it, still not sure if he was going to be able to keep the popcorn down in his stomach where it belonged.
Except for him, the bathroom was thankfully empty. Tom clutched the edge of the sink, glancing at the mirror briefly. His face was white with an undercast of green, glowing sickly from beneath a layer of cold sweat. His eyes looked huge and dark and…
haunted. He didn’t want to see the horror in his brain reflected back at him. It was definitely better to keep his eyes away from the mirror.
“Tom.” Darwin’s voice from behind him made Tom’s fingers tighten on the sink. He opened his mouth to tell the other man he was fine but nothing would come out. He closed it again.
“Tom,” Darwin said again. “You okay?”
I’m fine. Just go back and watch the movie.
I’ll be back in a minute.
The words worked in his head but nothing could make it past his throat except a strangled grunt that didn’t sound reassuring, even to Tom’s own ears.
“Hey.” His voice was a gentle growl as Darwin rested his hands on Tom’s shoulders.
Tom’s body tightened beneath the touch, as if an electric shock pulsed through Darwin’s fingers, but he didn’t pull away. As if emboldened by this, Darwin pressed his lips against Tom’s temple.
There was something wrong with Tom’s breathing. He couldn’t seem to get enough air, pulling it in short, abrupt puffs.
“Breathe with me,” Darwin ordered, his words brushing against the top of Tom’s ear.
“In for two, three, four. Hold for two, three, four. Out for two, three, four. Hold again, three, four.” The pattern continued until Tom’s
breathing
had
steadied
and
smoothed, matching the even pull and push of Darwin’s breaths.
Tom felt as if all his strength was slipping away and he leaned against the strong body behind him. Darwin accepted his weight, wrapping his arms around Tom in an embrace that should have felt claustrophobic but was oddly comforting instead.
“I’ve got you, Tom Cooper,” Darwin murmured in his ear. “I’ll keep you safe. I promise to protect you against everything.
No fucking asshole will ever hurt you again.”
Tom twisted in his hold, rotating to face the other man. Darwin resisted for just a partial second before releasing his tight grip, obviously thinking he was pulling away.
Instead, Tom grabbed two handfuls of Darwin’s shirt and buried his face against his breastbone. He didn’t know why being held wasn’t scary at this moment. He just knew it made the terror ebb enough so his brain didn’t explode with it, and that Darwin smelled male and salty and as sweet as the candy he loved.
They stood there for what felt like a long time. Tom could feel the other man’s heartbeat, strong and slow, and it calmed him, as if his own heart followed Darwin’s lead. The nausea receded as warmth and feeling returned to his extremities but Tom still didn’t want to move away.
Instead, he pressed his mouth against the skin exposed by the V of Darwin’s shirt, where his top button was undone.
Darwin’s breath caught and his steady heartbeat quickened, but otherwise he remained still. Feeling brave, Tom let his lips touch the notch above Darwin’s sternum, feeling the other man’s sharp inhalation at the touch.
“Can I kiss you?”
Although his words were phrased as a question, Darwin’s tone was urgent enough to make them sound like a demand and Tom flinched slightly.
“Or not!” Darwin hastily amended. “I’m just fine like this! Pretend I didn’t say anything.”
“It’s okay,” Tom reassured him, his voice sounding a little rusty to his own ears. He didn’t really care—he was just happy his vocal cords were functioning again. “You can kiss me.” He took a deep breath. “I want you to.”
“Fuck,” Darwin breathed, and Tom almost smiled at the amount of tenderness the big man managed to cram into such a short, guttural word. His rough-skinned hands cupped Tom’s face, tilting it up to his.
Darwin dipped his head, moving almost painfully slowly, giving Tom every chance to dodge out of the way, to tell him no. He wanted it though, wanted Darwin’s lips on his, wanted the distraction, wanted to have his brain emptied except for pure arousal.