Beta Test (#gaymers) Read Online Free

in his glass. “Then I had a run this morning with my race group before a meeting this morning with Robert about a new concept ship and a conference call with the Germany office. That good enough for you?”
    “You still should have checked your phone. Or your email. Or—”
    “Or what? Not volunteered? You think I don’t see you sneering at my charity work? Or the way you twitch at my cube decor?”
    “Your charity work isn’t the problem, it’s more about...priorities.” Tristan was floundering, skating across the treacherous conversational territory on a narrow little bridge with no safety rails. This was a conversation he’d gone out of his way to avoid, but now he was in the middle of it, and he was pissed and couldn’t seem to back away.
    “Priorities? Is that your way of saying ‘be less gay at work, Ravi’? Because I think that’s what you’re trying to say here.”
    Plop. Tristan fell right off the bridge into churning waters. Oh heck. Ravi was angry. He was angry. This was not going to end well, but Tristan had to try to defend himself. “It’s not.”
    “I’m tired of you and your homophobic looks and little comments.”
    “Wait. Who’s a homophobe?” Josiah had returned with a fresh drink and his usual awful timing.
    “No one,” Tristan said while Ravi shook his head. Oh no , oh no , oh no. Somehow this had gone from an uncomfortable little tiff with Ravi to the very real possibility of the whole office labeling him a homophobe. The whole, very liberal office, including the management Tristan needed to impress.
    Panic bubbled up in his gut, made his hands shake. His throat spasmed and he tried to swallow, but words tumbled out instead. “Look. I’m not homophobic. I’m gay too, you jerk. You just want to distract from the real issue of you being lazy and disorganized.”
    “You’re gay?” Josiah bungled his drink and splashed some on his shirt. “Shit. I owe Adrian a twenty.”
    “Glad I stayed out of that betting pool.” Ravi shook his head again, smile teasing his full lips.
    “Oh crap. Oh. Crap. ” What the hell had Tristan just done? Not only had he come out to Ravi in a fit of sleep-deprived anger, but he’d apparently just come out to the entire freaking office via Josiah. And, and, and ...it didn’t matter how careful he’d been, there had already been speculation. Bets. Rumors.
    His stomach heaved, soda rising in his throat, burning his sinuses. I just came out to the whole office.
    “I have to get out of here.” He didn’t look back at Ravi and Josiah as he raced from the room, not stopping at the restroom but heading straight for his car. He got in, slumping against the driver’s seat. Maybe, if there was a god, all this would...magically disappear by Monday. Maybe Josiah and Ravi wouldn’t talk. Maybe the gossip wouldn’t dog him. Maybe he could go back to keeping his head down and...
    His stomach heaved again, and he barely got the door open before he was hurling. No way was this passing quietly. He’d been here before, and he knew exactly how badly things were likely to go.

Chapter Three
    Ravi watched Tristan retreat, a sick feeling gathering in his gut, gathering steam with each panicked movement of the other guy. Holy fuck. What just happened?
    “Dude. Did you just out Tristan?” Josiah shook his fluffy head.
    “Not on purpose,” Ravi croaked. He should be feeling a certain amount of vindication, but instead sweat ran down his back.
    “I fucked up,” he said to Josiah. Man, Ravi wasn’t getting the image of Tristan’s face out of his head anytime soon. Tristan had turned all pale and his eyes had gone flat and lifeless.
    “Fucked up what?” Adrian, who worked in software development with Josiah, showed up at the worst possible moment. Well, okay, second worst moment. No one had worse timing than Josiah, who was a nice enough coworker but about as subtle and empathetic as a ferret on crack.
    “You were right! Tristan’s gay,” Josiah all but