“Fuck’s sake, man. You're not ready yet?” Milo’s voice was full of laughter as Dalton jumped a foot in in the air and glared at him.
“I'm getting dressed. Get the hell out.”
“Actually…” Milo looked to the floor and Dalton followed his gaze, noticing his feet were just outside of the doorframe. “I'm not really in the room. I did shout up. If you weren’t so lost in your reflection, you'd have heard me.”
“I wasn’t being narcissistic. I was just feeling good about how I look.” Dalton grabbed a t-shirt, obviously one Kelly picked out for him because it was a pink with the Ralph Lauren logo emblazed on the chest in purple. Dalton paused before he decided to put it on.
“Pink, huh?” Milo grinned at him.
“I didn’t buy this. I'd just like to point that out.”
Samuel passed by and spotted him. Dalton sighed. How many more people were going to come visit his bedroom? Okay, they weren’t in the room, but still…
“Oh, I like that. It suits your colouring. You should wear it.”
Milo nodded, agreeing with Samuel, but Dalton knew he didn’t share the same reasoning as Samuel. Milo just wanted him to wear it so he could take the piss out of him. “You’ll look sweet. Like a big, fluffy, pink cotton candy.”
“Oh shut up, Aladdin.” Dalton dragged the shirt over his head and turned to cast an appraising look over himself. He tilted his head and saw Milo doing the same behind him in the mirror. Huh, it looked fucking good.
“See,” Samuel said smugly as he closed the bathroom door.
“Yeah, well… It’ll do.” Milo checked his watch. “I’ll be in the car with Danny. Do not fuck around. Just grab your stuff. We have to get changed at home so you have time to fuck with your hair.”
Dalton rolled his eyes. He had it all practically shaved off, leaving just bristles. He had none to fuck about with. “I’ll be down in a second.”
He glanced at himself and smiled proudly. He looked good. Shame he didn’t feel like he looked. He slipped on some trainers and spritzed himself with his favourite aftershave Pour Homme by Jean Paul Gaultier before he walked out of the room, running into Samuel leaving the bathroom.
“You smell good.”
“Thanks.” Dalton laughed as Samuel leaned in, breathing in his scent.
“Hmm.”
“Come on. He’ll be pissed off if we take much longer.”
Samuel walked behind him as they went down the stairs. “This colour really suits you.”
“Yeah, a bit of shock. I've never worn it before. I think Kelly must have bought it because I don’t remember seeing it before.”
“Blond and blue eyes with light colouring suits colours like pink and baby blue, coral is another good one. You have skin like me.”
“Ha, I do not. Yours is all creamy. I have freckles.”
“I love those freckles.” Samuel tucked his hair behind his ear as they walked through the sitting room. “They’re cute.”
“Thanks.” Dalton stopped walking and turned to look at him. “This is sweet of you, but it’s okay. You don’t have to give me this much attention.”
Samuel swayed slightly, his hair cascading around his lithe frame as he peeked through heavy lids at Dalton. “I'm not saying them to build up your confidence, although it’s good if they do that. That’s just how I feel about you. You're handsome, Dalton. I've always thought so. You have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen.” Samuel tenderly ran his finger over Dalton’s brow.
Dalton breathed a little harder, then stepped back, afraid Samuel may notice and think badly of him. It had been a long time since he’d been touched, or wanted to be touched. “Thank you… again.” He grinned at Samuel, running his hand over his cropped hair. “I just… thanks.”
He took hold of Samuel’s elbow and led him from the house, breathing a sigh of relief when they got into the garden, seeing Milo frowning as he tapped his watch from inside his black BMW and Danny waving widely in the passenger seat. “As predicted. He’s peed off.”
“That’ll change.” Samuel hooked his arm through Dalton’s and began pulling him down the driveway. “Tonight’s going to be so much fun.”
“I hope so.”
Dalton already felt like turning back, but before he knew it, he was sitting in the back seat with Danny turning around and chatting non-stop about his outfit, his hair cut, the weight he’d lost. Dalton flicked the centre of his head and grinned. “My head will get too big to fit through the door if you two don’t stop it with the compliments.”
Milo snorted. “If it reduces your swelling, I can remind you how ridiculous you look in pink.”
That got him a slap over the back of the head from Samuel. “Milo, he looks sexy, stop it. He’s just jealous because he can't pull off pink. Besides—” Samuel slid over to him and adjusted Dalton’s collar. “Pink’s my favourite colour.” He smiled before biting his bottom lip.
Danny burst out laughing. “You know, it’s so sweet you choose to come on to him in front of us. It shows honesty.”
“Ignore them.” Samuel linked his hand through Dalton's and smiled at him.
“Erm…” Dalton felt his skin heat up and he flashed a confused look at Milo in the rear-view mirror, but he just got a smile back in response. “So, where are we going tonight?”
Milo opened his eyes wider and shot a look at Danny, both of them sharing a moment before they turned to look at Samuel.
“Well,” Samuel began. “Canal Street, of course.” He pouted at Dalton in a disturbingly seductive way. “It’s just for a few drinks, and it’s not the first time you’ve been there. Danny said you and him have been there a few times.”
“I don’t remember any of them, or most of them, parts of them I do…” Dalton sighed. “Okay, fine.” Great. His first night out as a single man and he was going to the gay capital of the North. “Don’t let me get too drunk.”
“Why?” Danny looked over his shoulder and grinned. “Worried you’ll get drunk and get touched up by naughty men like last time?”
“I didn’t get…” Dalton stopped, the vision of some large man with way too much hair pressing him up against a bar somewhere flickered through his vision and he shut up. “He was so hairy.”
“I like hair.” Samuel kissed the back of Milo’s neck. “Especially dark hair.”
Milo chuckled, leaning over and kissing him quickly before he looked back to the road.
“You didn’t see this guy,” Danny laughed out. “He was big, like B.I.G and covered all over, and I mean all over, and we knew this because he was wearing cut-off jeans and like nothing else.”
“Yeah, a bit too much for me.” Dalton grinned at Danny. The memory, although hazy, was a funny one to recall.
“Yeah, we need to ease you into men gently, like a twink.” Danny laughed as Dalton’s mouth fell open.
“I hate that term.” Samuel frowned at Danny.
“Sorry, Love. I know you do.”
Dalton leaned forward, pressing his head in between the two front seats and looking at Danny straight on. “Listen, as for ‘easing me in gently,’ not going to happen, okay. Just let me get drunk and laugh at you dancing.”
“Hey, I can dance.” Danny pouted at him.
“Yeah, sure,” Milo interjected quickly.
“I can.” Danny punched Milo in the arm and got a growl back.
Dalton chuckled. He loved these three.
Chapter 9
Troy leaned back against the wall of the bar they were drinking at, and took a pull from his bottle. He’d come straight from Living Ink and was still dressed in his cargo shorts and vest which he’d worn all day at work. The atmosphere was relaxed at most bars, and in the summer heat, he felt good having bare arms and legs. Plus, the vest was the same shade of red as the large poppies inked on his arm and it matched perfectly.
Troy had an eye for colours, working with them made him super aware of the variety you could choose from, and he appreciated seeing bright tones. Nothing bothered him more than someone coming into the shop and asking for dull black lines and nothing more. It was boring to work with greys and black, and colours gave him the opportunity to create art in fine detail on someone. Nothing gave him greater pride than seeing some of his work on the people around Manchester.
That’s how he spotted the fit blond in his pink polo t-shirt. It was the colour which grabbed his attention, the way it complimented the light peachy tone to his skin and enhanced the blue colour of his eyes. Of course, it then led to Troy noticing other stuff not colour related, like how it fit his toned body in all the right places, stretching over his chest and arms but skimming his smaller waist. The light denim jeans hugged his arse, clinging to his thighs, cupping his dick and swelling under the material.
Troy found his gaze stuck on the guy’s lower half for the next few minutes, gazing appreciatively at him and then feeling shit because of it, but then, if he didn’t want people staring, then he wouldn’t be showing off his goods so well, would he?
He ripped his eyes off the hot body in front of him and glanced at his watch. He was just about to start back into the bar and find out where Liam was with the drinks, when he saw an iced bottle thrust under his nose.