Discovering Dalton (Manchester Menage Collection #2) (9 page)

Chapter
10

D
alton was just finishing his pint when Milo nudged his elbow, almost spilling the dregs down his chest, and Dalton gave him a push back. “Use your words, big man. We speak so we don’t have to be all caveman and push each other around.”

“Look who’s out.” Milo nodded discreetly, more discreetly than the elbow nudging action earlier.

Dalton followed his gaze, his brows creasing when all he saw were the drunken twenty-something men standing around and drinking like they were. “Who am I looking for exactly? Can I have a clue?”

Milo pulled him backwards and Dalton got a clear line of sight to who he was talking about. Liam. His personal trainer and the man he loved to hate. He was sitting near a pair of open patio doors near the entrance to the bar, alone and knocking back what looked to be a bottle of beer.

“Let’s go say hi.” Milo was already pushing him along, but Dalton rooted his feet to the ground and halted him in his tracks.

“I'm not going over there.”

“Why not?” Milo threw him a dark look.

“Well…” Okay, he had nothing which he could say out loud. He couldn’t exactly say, ‘Hey, I don’t want to see him because the last time we were together, he caught me perving on him wanking in the shower and then I bolted, hoping never to lay my eyes on him again.’ “I just… I think it’s best I don’t.”

Milo tilted his head a little, looking closer at him, his gaze drilling into Dalton like a jackhammer. “And why’s that?”

“I'm not ready to divulge that particular piece of information right now. Just know I'd rather die than see him again.” He felt a rush of heat growing over his face and he could feel his cheeks burning up. “Please.” Dalton stepped back, trying his hardest to win Milo over by being overly pathetic.

“Jesus Christ. What’s happened?”

“Nothing.” Dalton’s voice went two octaves higher and he slammed his mouth shut.

“Nothing, huh?”

“Nothing.” Dalton repeated, this time attempting to lower his screechy, pre-pubescent voice but going too far and sounding like Barry White. Shit!

“You're truly strange, you know that, right?” Milo deadpanned him.

Dalton nodded. Going for the safe option of not using words that time.

“Fine. But! I want details. The whole story.”

“Later,” Dalton whispered over his pint glass. Much, much later.

Milo wasn’t ready to give up, but a tipsy Samuel was bouncing up to them, arm in arm with a spiky white haired, stiletto-footed, eyeliner-wearing friend. Dalton and Milo went quiet, eyeing up the new guy as they got closer. Dalton looked around, concerned he was going to draw unnecessary attention, but he seemed to be the only one bothered.

“Milo, you remember Blue, don’t you?” Samuel skidded to a halt, kissing Milo, never letting go of his friend.

“It’s not likely I'd forget him, is it, Princess?” Milo leaned down and placed a quick kiss on Blue’s cheek. “Nice shoes.”

Dalton followed his gaze to the pair of glittery gold seven inch heels encased on the slender feet of Blue and opened his eyes wider. How in the hell he’d walked in those Dalton had no idea.

“Thanks.” Blue twirled around, skinny dark blue jeans fitting like a second skin on his slender body, ending on his calves and showcasing his ankle breaking footwear.

Dalton drifted off, wondering if a lot of gay men wore heels, and having a mad moment where he imagined Danny and Milo tottering around the house in them doing the washing up. He snorted at the image, looking up with his pint at his mouth and finding all three pairs of eyes on him. “What?” He saw a little hard edge in the new guy’s eyes and quickly held up his hand. “Oh, no. I'm not laughing at… nothing to do with you or the shoes, or… I was just…” He looked at Milo, getting a half smile back. “I was just thinking how good you'd look in them. I had this image—”

“Be quiet.” Milo held his hand up, but Dalton ignored him.

“I just thought you would look great in those.”

Samuel was chuckling with him. “I'd like to see him try to balance.”

“That’s what I was thinking. I mean, how hard is it to walk in those? How have you not fallen over?”

Blue did a little jiggle which turned into a dance, catching the attention of a few men around them and he got a few wolf whistles for his pert arse being shaken. Dalton grinned. The guy had self-belief and an amazing amount of confidence, he had to hand it to him.

“Nice.” Dalton clapped and got a wide smile back from the young Blue. While Milo and Blue chatted, Dalton leaned into Samuel and whispered, “So, is this like… normal attire for him, and other gay men?”

“Some of them.” Samuel flicked his hair over his shoulder and smiled coyly at Dalton. “I wear them too sometimes, but…” He leaned closer, whispering into his ear. “Only in bed with stockings.” He pulled back and winked, laughing at the way Dalton’s mouth was hanging open.

“Milo!” Dalton gave him a shove, shaking his head disapprovingly. “Honestly.”

Samuel fell into a fit of giggles, leaving Milo guessing what they’d been talking about. He did not need that image in his mind. There were some things a best friend shouldn’t know, and the image of the fair-haired nymph spread out on Milo’s bed with both Danny and Milo enjoying his slim, silk covered legs wasn’t really a thing Dalton should be thinking about. And if he was honest with himself, he was thinking about it
way
too much.

He dragged his mind from the gutter—oh who was he kidding, it had sunk so low it was running with the rats in the sewers by that stage—and finished off his pint, watching Danny leave the bar, balancing a round of drinks on a tray. More booze, a great idea.

Dalton’s breath paused in his chest when Danny stopped right where Liam had been sitting, and he stepped back, looking more closely. They were chatting, obviously Danny must know him. Milo had been using the gym since he was around eighteen. He was stunned into a frozen state when Liam turned, staring right at him, their eyes connecting and a wave of heat running through every bit of flesh covering Dalton’s body. He’d been ignoring Liam for a week, and now wasn’t the time to have
that
conversation.

Liam looked slightly amused and relaxed about everything, letting his honey-coloured eyes flick back to Danny as they continued their conversation. What the hell was Liam doing there anyway? Was he being dragged out by his friends and got stuck on his own while they enjoyed themselves? He didn’t look like he was with anyone. There was just him and Danny at his table. Oh, no. Dalton almost toppled over when he saw Liam stand, walking beside Danny toward them.

“No, no, no.” Dalton took another step backwards, nudging into Blue and making him sway dangerously on his heels. He just had time to wrap an arm around Blue’s slender waist, holding him upright, when Danny appeared behind them, whistling at the ludicrous sight of the exotic twenty-something in his arms, chuckling and clinging onto Dalton while they both came to a standstill.

“You okay, sexy?” Blue looked up into his eyes, the burning from Dalton’s cheeks becoming a supernova. “I don’t think you are?” Blue said softly into his ear, flicking his gaze over Dalton's shoulder to where Liam must have been standing. “Sit down, Babe. You need to take some deep, calming breaths. I can feel your aura flickering with tension. It’s not good for you.”

Blue pushed him into a seat, quickly sitting on his lap, waif-like legs crossed, big golden shoes hanging from his slender ankles as he twitched them from side to side, still staring over Dalton’s shoulder. At Liam!

Dalton was pretty sure, given the chance, he would magically disappear and never be seen again. If Liam was a nice person, he wouldn’t say a word to him.

“So, Dee, long time no see.” Obviously Liam wasn’t a nice guy.

Dalton couldn’t stop his grip tightening on Blue’s hip, and the tension must have seeped into the beauty sitting on him because Blue tossed his white blond fringe from his face, green eyes narrowing.

“Is this the reason why you're not at Aspire?” Liam’s question threw him, but not Blue.

“I'm not a thing,
Hercules
. I'm a person. Not an object. Although, I admit, if I were, I would be a super shiny one.” Blue smiled, a cold, thin one which Dalton half smiled at, blessing the sweetness and protective streak in the guy.

Dalton tensed. Liam thought he was
seeing
Blue. Like,
seeing him
seeing him. Like a… boyfriend. His heart went into overdrive. Lord, that will make his appearance at Liam’s shower time even worse
.
Like he was perving on him and getting turned on. He spun his head around, finding those smirking, mischievous honey-brown eyes of Liam looking right at him.  He could see the questions, feel the unspoken words hanging from his full lips. “I’ll be back next week.”

“Is that right?” Liam sat back, Levi-clad legs splayed out, beer bottle resting right on his crotch, thick fingers gliding up and down it absentmindedly. Liam smirked when Dalton lifted his gaze from his crotch—bottle!—and took a long pull from his beer. Those big lips curled around the neck and taunted Dalton with the ridiculous image of a slutty blow job. “That’ll be nice. And will Tweedle Dum be coming back soon too?” He turned slowly to Milo.

Danny and Samuel grinned at the nickname.

Milo didn’t. “I've been busy. I popped in for an hour, but you weren’t there. It’s not like I'm hiding or anything.” Milo shot Dalton a firm look and he swallowed thickly. Milo could read Dalton too well after all these years and Dalton hated it at moments. Moments like that one. “How’ve you been?”

Liam chatted with Milo, but Dalton was too busy trying to stop hyperventilating and not staring at Liam’s body, seeing it as he last saw it—wet and tense, excited and looking sinful in that shower cubicle. Those types of thoughts weren’t going to help him calm down.
Why oh why did that have to happen?

Blue leaned in, calming strokes running up and down Dalton’s back, sweetly spoken words whispered against his neck, and Dalton’s tension eased a little. “Is he an ex or something?”

“No,” Dalton choked out.

“Oh, I just thought there was some history there.” Blue’s glossy red lips curled into a smile.

“There’s no history of
that
kind.”

“But there is
some
to speak about?” Blue opened his green eyes wider and nodded. “It’s obvious. Maybe it’s time you resolved this tension between the two of you
somehow
.”

“What?” Dalton stiffened.

“Well, there's obviously something happening between you two.”

“Yeah, but not what you think.”

Blue bit his lip while he thought. “Hmm, there’s a few different things going on from where I'm sitting.” He nudged his thigh against Dalton’s dick, and for the first time, he realised he was excited. “Or is this for me?”

Dalton truly had no idea. He was confused by his own body, not understanding why he was reacting at all. But it had happened in the showers while he watched Liam. Maybe it was those moments replaying in his mind which caused his cock to stiffen in his jeans.

Maybe it was the fact he had someone sitting on him, caring about him, someone with long legs and big heels, who was wearing make-up and who was confusing Dalton’s body by being more feminine than he was used to in a man. But then, Dalton was close to Samuel. He was beautiful and more feminine than Blue and this had never happened, and hadn't Samuel been sitting on his knee earlier? Maybe he was losing his mind. Maybe he’d already lost it.

“I don’t… I really don’t know,” he whispered into Blue’s hair. “I just… I have to go.”

“Wait, sexy.” Blue pressed his body more into his, meeting his eyes, those black lashes coated thickly in mascara. “Don’t run off just yet. There’s no need.”

“I'm not gay,” Dalton rushed out as low as he could make his voice, darting his gaze to Liam, his tight V-necked vest showing off those big muscles, jeans encasing his firm arse, that bottle hanging in between his lips.

This time, when Blue rubbed his thigh over his cock, Dalton grabbed Blue’s slender calf running up his leg and just held it, not moving Blue away but not pulling him closer—just frozen, not knowing what to do.

“You don’t have to label yourself with anything, Dalton.” Blue took hold of his chin, fingertips gently caressing his skin and making Dalton shift his gaze from Liam back to him. “I think…” He eased closer still, his thigh now pressed against the rigid length encased in Dalton’s jeans. “If your body needs something, it lets you know. If your eyes find something pleasing, they look more. If your heart beats faster for someone, then you follow it. I'm not gay. I'm a person. A human being. That’s the label I want to be tagged with. Hashtag Human.” He clicked his fingers with a bright smile.

Dalton smiled through his fear and understood what Blue was saying. He just wasn’t ready to think the same way. “That’s nice.”

“It’s the truth. The truth is always a good thing. I always think our brains confuse us. They have all this bullshit ‘learned’ behaviour which they pick up over the years and it tells you to think one way, your body saying another. It takes time for those two to work together and come to some sort of an agreement, but we all get there eventually. Just don’t pressure yourself, hon.” Blue leaned in, kissing the corner of his mouth, Dalton’s cock now crushed against his thigh. “Of course, I would like to think this is for me, but I know better.” Blue pulled back with a heavy sigh. “If you change your mind though…” He winked with a chuckle.