“Oh, Hercules. It’s your man. Go get him.” Blue fell into a fit of giggles, but Samuel gave Liam a quizzical look.
Liam wanted to barge through the crowds and take hold of Dalton, rush him up against the wall and kiss him, tell Dalton he was wrong to let him go. He was talking to someone though. Liam couldn’t see who, but the description of a sexy bit of rough Blue used riled him up. Dalton was his, and Liam was about to make claim to him, not caring who saw them or what they thought.
“Liam, wait.” Samuel took hold of his arm, the feather light touch almost not registering on Liam’s flesh, but he turned to look down into those pretty cornflower blue eyes. They searched deep into Liam, and a small look of recognition filtered across Samuel’s face.
“He’s mine,” Liam whispered gruffly.
Samuel let go and stood back, open-mouthed, but not stopping Liam when he started walking toward Dalton again.
~ ~ ~
Seeing Dalton in the place where he’d had agreed to meet Liam freaked Troy out. His arm had been taken in the firm grasp of Dalton and Troy stood in silent shock for a moment while it sunk in. He wanted to duck out of the night entirely rather than risk the wrath of Liam in his favourite bar, but as soon as he was pressed up against the wall, Dalton’s blue eyes meeting his, all those fears were swept away and he found himself moving to him, not away, placing a much needed kiss on those lips.
The day had been filled with one bad event after another, and he was late out. Having Dalton hold him, those full lips claiming his own, sweet tasting tongue sliding between his lips, Troy held onto the only good moment in the last twelve hours and kissed him back, both of them quickly stiffening in their clothes. “I thought you weren’t out?”
Dalton smiled, their lips parting for the first time since they'd set eyes on each other. “It never really crossed my mind. Does it have to be a big deal? It doesn’t feel like one. I guess kissing you in front of my shocked family may have been different, but still not something I would second guess.” Dalton brushed his lips over Troy’s again. “Besides, I couldn’t have stopped myself from kissing you even if I wanted to.”
Troy stepped back, giving them a little room, and smiled. Dalton always said the right thing and it cheered him up. “This is a nice surprise. I just got off work. I had someone pass out on me.”
Dalton grinned. “Some big guy?”
“Yeah.” Troy had regaled him with horror stories from his years of working as a tattooist during their own sessions. “If I'd known you were out tonight, I would’ve met up with you. I agreed to meet my brother for a drink. We’ve not really seen each other over the past few days. I think he’s hurting because he's only this pissed off when he’s upset, but him being him, he’s not speaking about it.”
Dalton placed his hands in his pockets and nodded. “I guess you need a bit of bonding time with him then. We can always meet up later. We’re moving on soon, so just give me a call if you fancy it.”
Troy glanced over Dalton’s sexy body, tight bright white t-shirt stretched over his chest, slim waist on show, arse looking hot as hell in those stone washed jeans. “Fancy what exactly? A late coffee at your place?”
“If that’s what you want.” Dalton grinned, moving closer to him, brushing a strand of hair from his face. “I'm not promising I won't keep my hands off you if you come back though. Sober, I struggle, so slightly drunk, you’ve got no chance.”
“Hmm.” Troy tilted his head to the side, making a big show of thinking about his options and Dalton laughed. “I know I shouldn’t, but I want to come back with you.”
“I'm so glad you said that.” Dalton was on his lips again, this time holding his arse in a tight grip, pushing their cocks together and grinding into him as their lips entangled in a rush of teeth and moans. “I want you,” Dalton whispered over Troy’s lips.
“I want you inside me,” Troy moaned back.
“Fuck, Troy.” Dalton kissed him again, harder and deeper, forcing their mouths together with a surge of passion so strong it took Troy’s breath away. When they parted, they were both struggling to stop panting and their cocks were bulging from their pants. “When can we leave again?” Dalton chuckled, rubbing his face gruffly.
“I'm sorry.” Troy took in a big breath, trying to compose himself. “I want to just grab a taxi and go, but… Just give me a few hours, okay?”
Troy was just about to step forward and kiss him again, wanting one last taste of those lips before he headed off to find Liam, when he caught sight of the man himself not ten feet from them. Troy swallowed hard, his grip on Dalton’s arm tensing to a painful point and Dalton turned, looking back over his shoulder.
Troy felt Dalton’s muscles go from fully relaxed to completely stiff, and Troy looked to him, seeing his pale skin tone and wide eyes.
Okay, Liam was scary looking, and pissed off like he obviously was, Troy could understand why Dalton had that reaction.
He stepped forward, placing himself between Dalton and Liam before smiling cautiously. “Liam.”
Dalton and Liam held the other’s gaze, and then Dalton turned to Troy, lips in a thin line and his eyes hard. Troy was confused, but he started to talk to Liam again. Obviously, Liam was pissed off about another rebound relationship, and Troy had no idea what he’d seen, but maybe if he played this cool everything would be okay.
“Dalton?” Liam spoke slowly, trying to keep his cool as he and Dalton continued to look at each other.
Troy was feeling more and more nervous by the tensions rising in the air between them both. “You two know each other?” Troy looked between them, being careful not to touch Dalton in case it set Liam off, standing a good foot away, hands in pockets.
Liam eventually turned those brown eyes to him. “That’s exactly the same question I want an answer to.” Liam flashed his gaze back to Dalton, stepping up to him, almost touching chest to chest but keeping an inch between them. “Is this him?”
Dalton appeared to stop breathing, his chest stilling, every muscle twitching on his body. “Is he T?”
“Yes.”
“What?” Troy tapped Dalton’s arm, but both of them were too caught up in their little Mexican stand-off.
Dalton broke first, shaking his head, not looking at either of them as he walked away, hands folded over his head, looking up to the sky. “That can't be right. This can't be happening. You can't…” He turned to look at them both, casting those brilliant blue eyes over them quickly. “You’re telling me, you two, you're brothers?”
Troy stepped up to Dalton, reaching out, but Liam grabbed his hand and shoved it to his side. “Liam, for fuck’s sake. How do you know each other? What’s going on?” Looking from the pain in Dalton’s features to the red rimmed eyes of Liam, Troy stopped breathing and turned to Dalton. “Dee?”
Dalton ripped his gaze from Liam and looked to him, blue eyes so pleading and open. “I'm sorry.”
“Sorry?” Liam stepped up, pushing Troy behind him and squaring up to Dalton. “You’re sorry? Is that it?”
“Liam, how was I to know. I had no idea.” Dalton brushed his fingers down Liam’s arm, trying to hold his hand.
A surge of jealousy ripped through Troy and he growled, grabbing Liam and spinning him around. “This is the guy you met at the gym? The one you’ve been seeing? He’s Dee? How has this… How the fuck…” Troy looked to Dalton, standing as tall as he could and glaring into his eyes. “Is this some sort of joke? You didn’t know you were seeing us both?”
“I swear I had no idea you two knew each other.”
Troy cursed loudly, turning his back on Dalton and instead found himself looking into the fiery eyes of Liam. Shit! Dalton had ended things with him, ended them for Troy. Liam was hurting and it was all Troy’s fault. “Liam… I didn’t… If I had known, I swear I wouldn’t—”
“Wouldn’t have what exactly, Troy?” Liam grabbed hold of Troy’s t-shirt, fisting it in his hands as he launched the smaller build of Troy into his chest. “If you’ve fucked him, I… He’s mine.”
“What?” Both Dalton and Troy spoke at the same time.
Liam dropped Troy, pushing him away roughly, Troy hissing as he caught himself from falling. Dalton moved to go to him, but Liam had him now and he wasn’t letting go easily.
“Liam, stop this,” Dalton growled out through clenched teeth.
“I was wrong.” Liam held Dalton still, both of them halting in their movements. “I was wrong to let you go. I can't let this happen.”
Dalton opened his eyes wider, and then took in a big breath. “Liam…”
“No!” Troy split them up, growling out his words and pressing Liam backwards. “He’s not yours, Liam. He chose me. You'd only hurt him and fuck around behind his back.”
“And what would you do with him, huh? You know how this is going to end. Don’t pretend it will be any different from the others.” Liam looked to Dalton. “Do you know how many he's seen? How many failed relationship there's been, and do you know why?”