“Me too, though sometimes I don’t believe it’s mine. I still wear clothes which are massive, thinking I have to hide under them.”
“You don’t ever have to hide, Dalton. Even when you first came to me all those months ago, you were beautiful. Those eyes, Baby, they do mad things to my mind. You’ve always been handsome, you're just cut now.” They fell silent for a few moments, then Liam lifted his head and looked into his eyes. “You know like I keep pushing you to get bigger?”
“Yeah.” Dalton waited for it to come, how he didn’t try hard enough, blah, blah.
“Don’t. You’re perfect. Every inch of this body is fucking beautiful.”
Dalton grinned. “You sure?”
“Oh, yeah. Not that I don’t think I should take more time to explore it in greater detail, but, Babe, you're fucking fine.”
“You’re not too bad yourself.” Dalton laughed at the raised brow he got. “You know how good you look, Liam. I can barely look at you for long periods of time because I worry my retinas will be permanently damaged. I can't take my eyes off you. You're all I ever see in that gym. You. This body, your big gob mouthing off at me.”
“Hey, this big gob can be pretty damn useful, you know?”
“Oh, yeah?” Dalton chuckled. “How’s that?”
“I’ll have to show you sometime.”
“Hmm, does it keep you quiet?”
“Nah, I like to moan when I have a cock in my mouth.” Liam laughed before he kissed Dalton. “Fancy a shower?”
Dalton paused. “That’s what started all this in the first place. I'm thinking possibly not. If I get in there, I may not get out.”
“You’ll get off.”
“I've not come in months before today. I need to work up to that third one in a row thingy.”
“Meet me again. Here or my place. There's just my brother and me. He won’t judge.”
“No, I'm not ready. I just…”
“Meet me here. Monday night?”
“Okay. Monday.”
Dalton and Liam separated, things slightly awkward now Dalton was dressed and reliving what they just did on the sofa. With his face burning up and his body still in shock over how it responded to Liam, he shared a coy look, hardly being able to meet his eyes, wondering how they would part ways. Dalton wasn’t sure how to deal with a person you just had random wild sex with, and he pondered at the doorway, knowing a handshake was all wrong but a kiss was too much, so he went with a pat on the shoulder and quickly ran off, leaving Liam chuckling to himself at the door.
Chapter 13
Troy looked over to Liam, watching him sit astride his pride and joy, his bike. A Triumph which he treated like his own child. He was gazing off into the distance as they took a break. Liam wasn’t usually this thoughtful. He didn’t think, he talked. Always an open book, he never left you guessing what was going on in his head because he spilled the truth out like a child. Okay, so he didn’t talk to many people like he talked to Troy, but there they were, alone, not a person for miles, and he was tight lipped.
“You're doing a lot of thinking up in that brain of yours. Be careful, it may overload and blow up.” Troy threw a sly smile at Liam, finally getting a grin back. “What’s up? You’ve been funky since Thursday evening.”
It didn’t take a genius to suss out Liam had been with someone. He’d done well to abstain from pulling someone the week before when they went out. Troy was surprised when Liam found him in the bar and suggested an early night. That wasn’t his style and Troy had been picking at him, hoping he’d break and spill his guts about what bothered him, but he still hadn't spoken about it. It couldn’t be a man getting under his skin, that didn’t happen.
“Liam… come on!” Troy threw his hands in the air, leaning over his tank and pleading with his wide eyes and full pout. It generally worked, but all he got was a laugh.
“I'm not sullen and moody like some people I know. I'm just enjoying the view.”
“Yeah, right.” Troy looked around the expanse of green fields and shook his head. “This isn’t the sort of view which normally catches your eye. I'm thinking, and correct me if I'm wrong, you’ve got someone else on your mind right now.”
Liam drained his flask, the coffee Troy packed for them now gone. “Men don’t stick with me, you know that.”
“So, it is a man, then?”
“Yeah, but I'm just wondering when I can get him into bed, that’s all. I'm not mooning over him like some lovesick puppy.”
“How come you haven’t fucked him already then? Isn’t that kind of like a date? Meeting someone but not having sex?”
“Firstly, it is so a date if you have sex. Not that I do the dinner and date sort of stuff, but still.”
“No, you jump straight to the end of the night and miss out all that boring stuff.” Troy loved dating. He liked to get to know someone, that was the exciting bit, the waiting, the kissing, the touching. It all added to the excitement and he’d tried to explain that to Liam, but he just jumped straight to the end part every time. “So, no sex, but you're seeing him again?”
“Monday.” Liam was packing his flask away in the saddle bags which sat on either side of the bike.
“Twice. Huh?” That was a first.
“Nope.” Liam shot him a look of pure acid. “I just said we didn’t have sex.”
“Yeah, but…” Troy grinned at him. “Look, this is good. I like you seeing a guy more than once.”
“It’s more friendly than anything.” Liam sat astride his bike, black leather pants pulling tight over his big thighs, zipping up his matching jacket. “I just…” Liam sighed. “You should see him, Troy. He’s gorgeous.”
“Oh yeah?” They all were.
“Yeah, he has these eyes.”
“We all have eyes, Liam.” Troy chuckled as he pulled on his helmet.
“Not like his.” Liam had this silly smile on his face and Troy paused with his helmet hovering above his eyes.
“Oh, like that, is it?” He grinned at Liam. “Someone has a crush.”
“I do not. I'm just saying he has nice eyes, that’s all.” Liam started his bike up, the roar of his 2300cc engine drowning everything out, and Troy pulled his helmet down and started his bike up.
The conversation was now over, but Troy wouldn’t forget it. It was too exciting to think of Liam finding someone. Scary too, but mainly happy.
It couldn’t be serious, Troy thought as he followed Liam down the winding country lanes. Liam didn’t do serious, but then he didn’t do two dates—if it was a date. It didn’t sound like it, but then Liam had never been on a real date, so what the hell did he know?
It made Troy think about who’d gotten under his skin. Maybe he could get Liam drunk and get him to say more during the weekend. They were only an hour off their mates’ pub and Troy was looking forward to seeing them again. Sue and Derrick were old friends of their foster parents and they’d been coming to the pub since they were fifteen. It felt good to be heading toward them. Troy needed the break, which was why Liam had taken the day off work to make sure it happened.
The next week would be worse than the previous. Troy had a meeting with his solicitor planned. He had a couple of weeks to get all the info from Strangeways Prison where Troy’s dad was serving his time, and Troy was hoping it would end on a positive note, meaning his dad would stay there for a few more years until Troy could accept his freedom. Not that he would ever forgive him, or forget, but the longer he was away, the better it seemed to feel to Troy.
The country lane thinned out, and he concentrated more on the passing cars and the turns. His Suzuki easily made the journey comfortable, much better than the Kawasaki Ninja he’d rode the last time they’d visited. This one was more upright, less leaning and more sitting. Troy must be getting old if comfort was such a big deal to him on a bike. It never used to enter his mind, he just sat on the damn thing and made it go fast. He followed Liam, watching as he manoeuvred his red and silver Triumph. Like Liam, it was big and wide, it looked great and had an exhaust on it which could be heard for a mile after they’d passed. It made Troy smile beneath his helmet. Just like Liam.
He looked further up the road, the lane climbing upwards, and there, right on the top, was the place they were heading. The Lost Hiker. Named because it was miles from anything and only people walking through the local hills found the place.
Liam and Troy pulled up around the back of the large, white, stone building, their loud engines signaling their arrival, and Derrick made his way outside, rag in one hand, empty pint glass in the other and a big smile on his face.
Troy tugged his helmet off and grinned. “Hey, Del.”
“Alright, lads. Nice ride up? You got the weather for it.”
Liam slung his leather jacket over his helmet on the bike, running his fingers through his short, brown hair. “Too hot for me. Sitting on that big engine in leathers and in the heat, as soon as you come to a stop it feels like I'm on fire.” Liam gave Del a big bear hug. “I'm dying for something cold to drink.”
“Get inside. It’s past one. Lunch time. She made you a meat and potato pie.”