It was obvious Liam was dying to get off and see his new man, but Troy chose to ignore that for a bit longer and keep Liam with him. “I’ll miss their stuff. That means no food round here apart from the dodgy sandwich place where everything is fried.”
Despite enjoying a good fry up for breakfast every now and then, both of them took the food they ate seriously so they could keep in good shape. Troy was skinny as a kid and used food to bulk up his frame, but Liam had the opposite reason. He’d been chubby as kid, not losing what their foster mum Alice called puppy fat until he was nearly seventeen.
Liam shrugged, watching Troy mess around with the packaging to his food. “Yeah, I know. Hopefully, someone else will open up around here.”
Troy took a bite of his sandwich and nodded to the door. “Get going. You're keeping him waiting.”
“Okay, so… you're alright then?” Liam eventually met his eyes, and Troy smiled.
“I'm good. Go eat. I've got someone coming in for a cover up on his arm in thirty minutes. Some old girlfriend’s name.”
Liam smirked. “Another one?”
“Yeah. They keep me in business, so I’m not complaining. Plus, it’s interesting working out how to cover up the old ink with my own. Like a fresh start.” After the amount of names Troy covered up, he was pretty confident no one’s name would ever be imprinted on him. It was different having an image representing a part of your life, or a person in it inked onto him, and he had plenty of those, but a name, no way.
“Have fun then. I’ll meet you back at the loft around six.”
“See ya.” Troy watched Liam saunter off as he tucked into his food. He was starving. Teach him to miss out on breakfast.
He was halfway through his food when Sian popped her head round the door and grinned at him. “Guess what I got?”
Troy swallowed, looking her up and down. She should have been there three hours ago. He wasn’t a stickler for setting working hours and really he didn’t pay her a wage, she just used one of the rooms in the building he rented and earned what she made from her piercings. “Where’ve you been?”
Sian leaned back against the wall, skinny pale legs lost in the baggy denim shorts, skin tight V-necked t-shirt which would look revealing on other women, but on her barely there chest, it just made her look more boyish. “Come see.” She moved into the back room which housed all of their supplies and which felt even hotter than the front where they had windows to open and a slight breeze passing through the shop.
Troy grabbed his panini and followed her, watching as she grinned over her shoulder. “What you been up to? I know that look. You’ve been up to no good.”
Sian pursed her lips, faking a scowl before she broke into fits of laughter. “I’ve been busy. You’ll love it.” She pointed into the front and Troy squeezed past her and stared at the big machine in the centre of the room. It took him a minute of walking round it to realise what it was. Incomplete and needed fixing together, it looked like a jumble of parts, but then his brows lifted and he hooted. “You got an air con unit? Where from and how much?”
Sian slumped into one of the leather sofas against the wall, fanning herself with her hand, legs splayed wide as she let the ring through her bottom lip spring free from her top teeth. “Mate of mine is refitting his place and just upgraded the air con. Said I could take this and have it for free. It works, just needs sorting out. Thought between you and the big guy you’d get it up and running. You're always stripping down those bikes of yours and putting them back together, so this can't be much of a deal for you.”
Troy was already moving around parts and looking closer at the unit. “It will be a piece of piss if all the parts are here.”
Sian slung over a bag of nuts and bolts and other random things which Troy was happy to see. “All you need is in there or still attached to that thing.” She laid down, grabbing a magazine from behind her and fanning herself. “Don’t suppose it’s too much to ask if this thing can be working by tomorrow, is it?”
“I dunno.” Troy sat crosslegged on the floor, lifting out the individual parts and checking them out while he continued to eat his panini. “I’ll give our Liam a call and see if he’s up for a late one tonight.” Troy had no idea if it could be fixed in one night, but between them they could give it a good go. “Let me eat this and I can call him. If he’s done on his date, that is.”
Sian’s ear pricked up like a dog hearing a squirrel and she sat upright, eyes wide, mouth gaping open showing off her tongue piercing. “Liam’s on a date? What the fuck? Really?”
“Yeah, I know.” Troy smiled at her shock, but really that’s what he felt inside whenever he thought of this guy with Liam. “It’s a new thing. Don’t know if it will work out.” He wasn’t really sure he wanted it to work out.
“Well… that’s good, right? Him meeting someone who he’s interested in sticking around for more than a couple of nights?”
“Yeah, it’s good.” Troy rolled up his sandwich wrapper and leaned back on his palm as he played with a few screws.
“You don’t sound too happy ‘bout it, matey. Not that it’s a surprise. You guys don’t handle strangers from the outside too well.”
“We’re protective over people coming in and fucking things up. I’m bound to be cautious over anyone who Liam gets closer to.”
“So… protection, not jealousy, then?” She was rolling her tongue bar around in her mouth when Troy looked up. She was always playing around with her piercings.
“I guess I'm a bit jealous.” He smiled at her.
“A teeny tiny ickle bit?” She pressed her fingers together then opened her arms wide. “Or…. A huge gaping chasm of the thing?” She chuckled at the frown Troy felt creeping over his face. “I'm going with the second. You guys are happiest when it’s just the two of you. I dunno why you don’t just go for it and give the full on boyfriend thingy a go.”
“Sian, no,” he replied a little more firmly in his tone. She’d suggested it before. “We’re happy as we are.”
“Erm, no. You're happy when it’s just you and him, and when you find someone, or he brings back a casual buddy to screw, neither of you react well.” Sian brushed her fingers through her short, pixie style hair do. “Liam’s the worst, but then you’ve had more serious buddies to play with through the years. Now you're getting a taste of what he’s gone through with you, and I'm guessing you don’t like it. Seeing someone else playing with your favourite toy an all.”
“It’s good Liam’s met someone.” Troy stood from the floor, dusting himself off. “It’s great he’s trying out dating and not just screwing around. Besides, it’s not like its super serious or anything. It’s just…” Troy didn’t know what it was, but he liked the idea of friends with benefits. “I dunno. Ask Liam.”
“I will. I'm gonna be all over him when I next see him.” She stood up and checked her watch. “We better get this thing outta the way before our next appointments get here.”
“Yeah.” Troy helped drag the unit into the back room and placed the bag of bits and bobs on a shelf. “I’ll call Liam now, see what he says, but if he’s too busy, I can start it after we close.”
Sian busied herself preparing the shop and making it look neater while Troy pulled out his phone.
Liam answered on the fifth ring. A whole four rings more than usual. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Nothing. Erm, I don’t want to disturb your lunch. You okay to talk?”
“I'm always okay to talk to you,” Liam grumbled as Troy smiled.
“K, well, Sian brought round an old air con unit, but it’s in bits. Fancy helping me bang it together and fit it tonight so I don’t sweat myself to death in the heat tomorrow?”
“Yeah, no probs. I can be round about sixish after I finish my shift. Nick’s shutting up tonight. We can order takeout and get it up and running.”
“As long as I got everything here we need, otherwise we’ll have to wait until we can buy extra parts.”
“At least the main part will be done though. I’m just finishing up lunch and ducking out for an hour.”
“You’re knocking off work? That never happens.”
“I know, I just gotta give someone a lift.”
“Someone being Dee?”
“Yeah,” Liam sighed out.
“Okay, it’s no big deal you saying his name or shit to me, Liam. Enjoy lunch and I’ll see you tonight.”
“Okay. Don’t work too hard.”
Troy sighed when he ended the call. Liam was doing things he never did for anyone, unless it was Troy that is, and it made Troy’s stomach spin like he was on a roller-coaster.
Chapter 22
Liam walked Dalton out of Aspire, catching his hand quickly before he could wander off. When Liam suggested a walk by the canal not too far away, Dalton had been indecisive about saying yes. Liam could see he felt like he should be spending every waking moment with his dad before he passed away, but he also needed to think about himself, and with Dalton unable to do that, Liam stepped up and just took over that role for him. Troy needed this type of care from time to time and it was a position Liam knew and understood well.