Discovering Dalton(15)

“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?