Discovering Dalton (Manchester Menage Collection #2) (23 page)

When he met Dalton’s eyes, he saw the smile from before had gone and his eyes were downcast. “I can't make it Friday. That’s when the funeral is. I can make it Monday.”

“Monday works for me.” Troy sighed as he lowered the paper to his knee, holding Dalton’s thigh gently. “I lost my mum when I was eighteen.” Troy looked over Dalton’s shoulder, not really wanting to talk about this, but needing to make sure Dalton knew things got better. “I'm not saying it’s easy. I'm not saying there aren’t days when I wake up and just lay in bed wondering about all the things I would love to share with her, but I promise it gets easier with time.” Troy wasn’t over his mum’s death, but that was more to do with his dad and the continuing pain of thinking about what he did to his mum. “Everyone says that.” Troy huffed out. “I fucking hated hearing it. I fucking hate saying it more.”

Dalton chuckled.

Troy gave Dalton’s thigh a little squeeze, then removed his hand. “You know, I promised myself to never say those words to anyone and here I am, shovelling out shit which you don’t want to hear. I'm sorry, mate. You know what, it’s shit losing someone, and no matter what anyone says or does, it doesn’t make it any better. I lost my mum ten years ago and I still…” Troy paused. The thought of his dad killing her hurt more recently because the fucker was getting out and Troy was still paying the price. “You're never ready to let go. Death doesn’t change that.”

“You're right.” Dalton covered his hand with his, showing concern for Troy as he sat up straighter.

“I didn’t mean to offload on you there, I just… I got sick of well-meaning people poking their nose in like they knew what was going on and had gone through it, but none of it matters. It’s like this bubble of pain and you're all alone. You don’t want to let anyone in and burst it because you're happy there. I wanted the world to stop spinning and the sky to turn black, but none of it happened. Life went on and that was the hardest part. Walking around, seeing people laughing and joking. I felt they had no right to be happy when I’d lost something so precious to me. I wanted the whole world to feel like I did. You know, like when Princess Diana died…. I wanted that for my mum.” Troy laughed harshly as he swept a strand of hair from his face. “Anyway, I get what you're feeling.”

Dalton sat back and held his gaze for a long moment, almost studying him and sussing him out in a way which made Troy even more nervous. “It was sudden, your mum passing. You're angry, even now.”

“Yeah, I'm fucking angry, and yeah, it was sudden.” Troy spun away and grabbed a few bottles of ink, placing them on the table for Dalton to look at the colours.

“My dad was old, it’s sad, and I'm going to miss him like crazy, and knowing it was going to happen doesn’t dull the pain, but it makes it easier to accept. I'm not angry, I'm sad, and yes, I want the whole world to stop and share that because it makes me feel better, but your mum wasn’t old. And it wasn’t her time. Right?”

Troy blew out a controlled breath and looked up into those blue eyes. “No, it wasn’t her time. That was decided by someone else.” Troy tapped his fingernails on the table and Dalton nodded before looking down at the ink bottles. “These colours were on the picture you liked, these ones—” Troy passed him a small bottle of containing an Oxford blue and cerulean blue, the same colour as Dalton’s eyes. “These are your colours.” He motioned to Dalton’s eyes and he smiled in return. “I think they’ll work well with the petals on the Orchid.”

“I like them.”

“Yeah, blue’s my favourite colour.” Troy winked at him as he pushed off and stood up. “So, you good with all this?”

“Yeah, I'm good with it all. I can't wait to see the design you come up with.”

“Okay, let me just take some measurements from you and mark up these drawings and then I can let you go.”

Dalton watched him as he pressed the two thin tracing paper drawings back to his arms and made a few scratches and notes, being careful to note where the folds of his skin were and how his muscles curved. “You're very good.”

“Seen many tattooists, have you?” Troy smirked

“No.” Dalton chuckled. “But it’s how seriously you take your work which I like.”

“I take pride in every design I do. This is a permanent piece of art which you’ll carry forever. It’s just for you, and I work hard to make sure it fits you like your skin does now. It’s like me and you have something special together. We make beautiful ink together sort of thing.” Troy laughed as he shook his head. “I'm tired. That sounded better in my head.”

“It sounded good out of it too. I get what you mean.” Dalton sat still while Troy finished off his notes, then Troy pulled the paper from his skin and looked up. “Thanks.”

“I’m here Saturday and it will be ready for you. Might make you feel better after the shitty Friday you have to go through with. Is it a burial or cremation?”

“Burial. He’s sharing a plot with my mum.”

“Shit.” Troy swung his arm around the back of his chair and sighed. “You need to get drunk afterwards. I'm open till six and I have a bottle of the strongest, crappiest tasting booze which I brought home from Turkey last year called Raki. It will seriously make you forget the last week if you drink enough.”

Dalton grinned as he stood up. “I've had it before. I swore I'd never touch the stuff again, but… I’ll bear the offer in mind.”

“Yup, booze and lots of it, sweets. Do you the world of good.”

“Sweets,” Dalton chuckled out.

Troy stood beside him, grin on his face. “Come on. I'm starving. I have dinner alone and bed planned.”

“More than I have planned.” Dalton tried the door, finding it locked.

“Oh, sorry. Forgot.” Troy leaned past him and opened it up. “You planning on getting drunk all by yourself?”

“Maybe.” Dalton looked up to the sky and smiled. “Why, you offering me some company?”

Troy leaned against the wall and looked up at him. “Now, by company…”

Dalton ran his fingers over his shortly cropped hair and shrugged. “I mean company. I don’t know… just… I have no idea.”

“Been a while since you asked someone out on a date, huh?”

“Erm…” Dalton chewed his top lip and then nodded. “Is that what this is?” Dalton smiled wider. “I guess I didn’t even know I was doing that.”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be a date. I'm kinda not dating right now. Bad relationship after tragic relationship does that to you.”

“Yeah, I know how you feel. I'm just coming out of one too. How about we call it an evening out between new friends and leave it at that for now.”

“For now, huh?”

Dalton laughed loudly. “Yeah, for now.”

“Meaning what, Dalton? That you'd want more later?”

Dalton gave him a very deliberate look up and down, checking him out and making Troy laugh loudly. “So, you ready to go now?”

“Let me grab a new t-shirt from the back room and I'm all yours.” Troy batted his eyelashes dramatically before he jogged off and grabbed his t-shirt, pulling off the old one and spraying himself with deodorant and aftershave before he put on the new one. Blue, he noticed, just like Dalton’s eyes.

Dalton smiled when he saw him emerge from the back room. “Nice colour. Suits you.”

“Thanks.” Troy held an intense look with him and stepped back, a little breathless, so he could lock up and set the alarm. “So, where we going?”

“You choose. I'm easy.”

“Easy, huh? I hope not.”

Dalton smirked. “I'm not drinking Raki.”

“That’s what you think.”

“I have standards.”

“Ah, a man with standards. I love those. I get to lower them dramatically over time.”

Dalton laughed as they walked side by side and Troy tried to quell the desire to reach out and touch him. This wasn’t going to be anything other than friends. He’d made a rule for himself and he was keeping to it. Dalton said he was coming out of a relationship too, so both of them were on the same page. Besides, Troy wasn’t about to cock up things with a client. Drinks and stuff was fine, but fucking them, no way. There was a line Troy didn’t cross, and despite how much Dalton called to him, he was determined to ignore it and not mess up what could be a great friendship by complicating it with sex. It would be a first for him, but why not try something new?

Chapter
25

T
roy was captivating. Dalton couldn’t come up with another less romantic term, so he was going with that. Ever since he walked into Living Ink and saw the photograph hanging on the wall, he’d been hooked on Troy, and that was even before he knew who the guy was. Okay, so it was the ink work which he’d started to look at, but all too soon his gaze travelled over every inch of the body so perfectly captured on the print.

Looking across the small, round table at Troy as he ordered another round of lager, Dalton took in his features again, this time noticing how his profile looked in the setting sun, how his olive skin tanned all over covering his flesh with a honey colour, one which made Dalton wonder how it tasted and if he would taste as sweet.

A random thought popped into his head, like how long it would take him to trace the outline of his expansive ink work from his shoulder to his ankle with his fingertip, or his tongue. Dalton had to lean his leg over his knee so he could hide the growing bulge there. Instead, he looked at Troy’s eyes. The colour was an unusual mix of blue and darker green tones which made Dalton want to turn his head and take a closer look at them.

This wasn’t a date. This was friends getting to know each other, and Dalton may have been taken in by Troy's good looks and easy nature, but it was the depth of emotions within him which had sunk their teeth right into his jugular and sucked him deeper. Troy was filled with a type of deep hurt Dalton had never experienced, but mixed within the pain was anger. It burned through Troy like liquid fire in the shop and Dalton was intrigued enough to spend more time with the dark-haired man.

Troy looked over, that sexy smirk always playing on his full mouth, bright green eyes full with questions. “So, Dalton. You're from Manchester, I can tell by the accent, classier than the usual, but it’s still there. Where you call home?”

“Home?” Dalton played with the label on his bottle as he averted his gaze from Troy. “It’s not really home anymore, but I live not far from here.”

“I'm guessing it was shared between you and the ex?”

“Yeah. Now it’s over, I'm thinking about moving. I like it closer to the centre. It feels more… me?” Dalton laughed to himself because he had no idea who or what he was. “I just like the feeling I get from around there.”

“I live not too far from the centre. It’s a good place. I mean, it’s much better now. Ten years ago that area was shit, now it’s up and coming and the price has tripled despite the recent housing crash. Not that I‘d sell it.”

“My ex hasn’t asked me to sell, but we both paid the mortgage so I feel like I'm holding her and the new guy up if they want to buy anywhere.”

Troy’s brows hit his hair line and Dalton faltered, wondering what he’d said which was wrong. “Her? Your ex is a her?”

“Yeah.” Dalton frowned a little. “Why is that a big deal?”

“Because… because of you and this—” Troy motioned between them both. “And the twink I saw all over you a couple of weeks ago right in this pub.”

“Oh…” Dalton paused, wondering which to go with first, then went with the last part. “You saw me that night?”

Troy blushed, a difficult thing for his olive skin to do, Dalton was sure. “Yeah, well, of course I did. You were all brightly lit up in the pink Ralph Lauren polo and that blond who was all over you shone like the sun. How could I not notice you?”

“Where were you? I'm sure I'd have noticed you.”

“Sitting well out of your eye line which is why I got to stare at you without you noticing.” Troy grinned and Dalton chuckled, liking the fact Troy took notice of him.

“I'm glad I caught your attention.” Dalton took a drink, and then looked into his eyes. “About the ex.”

“Yes,” Troy said slowly.

“We were married for ten years and just broke up.”

“Right. So you're bi?”

“I guess so.” Dalton had no idea what was going on. All his life he’d considered himself straight, never really considering men as an option, but there had been moments where he had become excited by men in porn and he’d taken more notice of the men around him than he probably should have done. But he’d never laid back and jerked off to them or thought about trying things out with a man, but then he didn’t really do that with women either. He just thought of his cock in some tight place and jerked off to that. “Does it bother you?”

“I'm not sure.” Troy took a long drink of his beer, then looked back to Dalton. “If we were dating, which we’re not.”

“No.” Dalton smiled back at him.

“Then yeah, it would bother me. I’ve dated bi men before and got burned. I'm not into women at all, so the possibility of sharing or taking turns doesn’t appeal to me. One guy, I really liked and we dated for six months, he was bi. Turned out he had a girlfriend in Sheffield and was seeing us both. Not that either of us knew. The other guy was always hiding too. He wasn’t out. Him I'm not sure about. I could never decide if he was bi or if he was just too afraid to say he was gay and liked fucking the occasional woman to prove to his mates he was
normal
.” Troy shook his head, wavy brown hair falling over his left eye.

“I'm not looking to hurt you in any way, Troy.”

“Yeah, I know, but neither did they and it happened.”

“This isn’t like that.”

Troy blew out a big breath and smiled. “Yeah, okay. So, are you just sort of realising something about yourself?”

“You could say that. I was monogamous to the point I didn’t even think about anyone else while I pulled off. It was just me and her.”

“And I'm guessing things got… what’s the word…”

“Things got shittier the longer we stayed together, if that’s what you mean. We drifted apart. Sexually amongst other things.”

“And as soon as you break up, what? You dive straight into men for a change?”

Dalton picked up on the snark and the hint of pain in those words. He leaned over, resting his elbows on the table and looking into Troy’s eyes. “No, I didn’t. This is all… It’s all new and not new if you know what I mean. I like you. I knew as soon as I turned around and saw you standing there that I wanted you.”

Troy licked his lips, then looked over Dalton’s shoulder, breathing a little too fast and Dalton smiled, enjoying how he reacted.

“It didn’t even cross my mind what sex you were, I just saw you and enjoyed how I reacted to you. Since I’ve been single, which isn’t long, I’ve not really been around women. No reason why. I'm not deliberately staying away from them and I'm not seeing men as an option because I've been hurt or anything. It’s just how things have turned out. Was I freaked out when I realised I enjoyed men? Yeah, sure, but what freaked me out was the fact I was mad at myself for missing this part of myself for so long. I’ve spent days going over and over my whole life until now, trying to see if I’ve been scared or hiding, or if I've always felt like this. I can't pinpoint anything. I can't see any moment that sticks out, so I gave up looking.”

Dalton took Troy’s hand and gently tugged it. “I'm not like the other men you’ve seen, and I'm not saying things will ever go down that route either, but I know no matter what, I would never want to hurt you like they have, Troy. That would be the last thing I would ever want to do, which is why I'm so confident this is just friends right now. It’s not that I don’t want to kiss you or touch you, it’s because of those reasons why I won't. Until I know where my head is, I won't risk bringing anyone else into it.”

Dalton smiled wider when Troy eventually relaxed and nodded, his eyes showing more light in them and that cute frown disappearing.

“So, can I ask a few personal questions?”

“Yes.” Dalton knew where this was going and sat back, taking a drink.

“You say this is new, and you’ve not been single long. How long?”

“About a month ago, but it’s been over for longer.”

“Okay, wow. Super short single life. Rebound relationships are the worst. I’ve been there, done that. So thanks for stepping back and being so honest. Can I ask another?”

“Sure.” Dalton chuckled.

“How’d you switch to men? Was it just a porn movie or some guy who came onto you?”

“It was…” Dalton smirked as he thought about Liam.

Christ, that kiss blew his mind. Every kiss with Liam blew his mind, but Liam wasn’t going to stop his lifestyle for Dalton. He’d lived the free and single ‘fuck ‘em and leave ‘em’ scene for too long and Dalton wasn’t going to be hurt by him no matter how much Liam pulled him in.

“It was a friend who I’d no idea was into men. Things just happened one night and we kissed.” Okay, more than kissed, but Dalton couldn’t go into fine detail without his cock stiffening. “He’s not into relationships. I think I'm more of an experiment to him. He wants to be my first for everything, and then, despite what he says, I feel his interest will fly away. I'm not ready for more, but then the idea of not having it and feeling anything for him makes me feel like pulling back.”

“I feel that.” Troy looked right into his eyes and Dalton groaned internally.

“I don’t mean to make you feel like I do. Shit, I really don’t want to do that to you.”

“This guy, you and him, you're not… what?”

“We’re not dating. We’re not…. Things haven’t gone that far.”

Troy leaned in closer. “So, let’s just be one hundred percent about this, the furthest you’ve gone is kissing and what? A hand job, blow job?”

“Well...” Dalton didn’t feel totally comfortable with discussing his sex life in such detail, and he cast a little look around them before leaning into Troy and continuing. “He’s blown me, but I’ve only got as far as a hand job and lots of touching.”

“Okay.” Troy leaned back and looked him over again. This time, more apprehension filled his eyes where in Liam's it had been excitement. Dalton freaked Troy out by being so inexperience and unsure, and Dalton understood that feeling. “And what’s this then? An experiment of your own?”

“No.” Dalton sighed again and then moved seats so he was right beside Troy. “I like you. A lot. You're the first man I've seen who I knew instantly what I wanted from you. And I don’t mean sex, or just sex, I mean this. I mean getting to know you, be with you.”

“So, fucking me into the mattress hadn’t crossed your mind then?”

Dalton felt his cock jerk and he took in a deep breath. “I haven’t got that far yet. I have thought about licking every inch of you though.”

“But not fucking me?” Troy lifted a brow, those sea green coloured eyes smiling cheekily at Dalton.

“Well, I wasn’t… but now. Maybe.” Dalton grinned, then turned away.

He was sure he wouldn’t have a clue what to do with him if he got him in bed. He hadn't thought of fucking him. Maybe because Dalton didn’t know what he wanted from him. There were several options available to him with men which weren’t there with a woman.

Dalton guessed he’d always known with Liam he’d be the one getting screwed hard by his big cock, and that’s all he’d ever really experience with men. So, thinking about Troy underneath him, his legs wrapped around him, Troy’s lips on his as Dalton moved inside his tight body, it had Dalton on red alert and his cock rigid. Yeah, that was what he wanted from Troy. Dalton wanted to be on top. He wanted to fuck Troy hard and watch him cry out as he came.

“I think…” Troy whispered into his ear. “You're thinking
way
too much about fucking me, Dalton.”

“You're right.” Dalton cleared his throat. “That’s your fault.”

The guy serving their drinks appeared and placed another two bottles on the table, breaking a little of the tension in the air and Troy stood up. “I won't be a second. I need to cool off and so do you.”

Dalton rubbed his eyes roughly, not watching Troy’s sexy arse as he walked off and tried to think unsexy thoughts. He wanted Troy, but he also didn’t want to get into anything too deep. Things with Liam were good and uncomplicated.

Sure, Dalton could try for more, but he was confident Liam would say no. Despite the last time they talked, Dalton wasn’t going to believe Liam could change a habit of a lifetime for him.

He should stop thinking about Troy and just stay friends. Well, until Dalton was sure what he wanted. He wouldn’t join the long list of men who’d fucked around with Troy's feelings.

Troy was worth more than Dalton could offer, and until the time came when he could offer all of himself and not just part, that’s the way it would stay.