Both of them drifted off to a corner of the apartment, leaving Dalton somewhere in the hall, glancing between them. “Okay, this is awkward.”
Liam snorted at Dalton’s statement, eventually sitting down, placing his arms on his knees and keeping his gaze on the floor.
“Does anyone want a drink?” Troy opened the fridge, pulling out three beers and not waiting for anyone to say yes. Like him and Liam would say no to a drink right now?
“Thanks,” Dalton murmured softly as he took the cold beer from Troy, their fingers grazing, and those tiny shots of electricity passed through them. They both sighed, taking their time about separating, but both understanding it wasn’t right for this to happen.
All three of them gravitated to the two large sofas in the lounge, all three still silent, drinking their beers and not knowing where to start.
Dalton sighed heavily, and then spoke up. “I guess a good way to start would be to explain how we all got here. How about I give Troy a break down?”
Liam sat back, meeting his eyes for the first time, an almost amused hint in those honey brown eyes of his. “All of it?”
“Feel free to interrupt with anything I miss out.” Dalton half smiled, then took a deep pull from his bottle before he began.
It was pretty brief. Troy hadn't heard as much as Liam about his break up with Kelly or his dad dying, so he would ask for more details, holding Dalton’s knee during the emotional parts and offering him comfort. Liam stayed quiet for most of it, chuckling when Dalton embarrassingly retold how he’d walked in on him jerking off in the showers and how he’d run off for a week afterwards, being unable to face him.
Troy tried to joke about it, telling Liam off for playing around in the public cubicle, and they shared a soft smile before they remembered why they were all having this conversation.
Dalton appreciated Liam and his friendship, and he hoped that came across in his words. When Liam would meet his gaze, Dalton would find himself lost in those deep, expressive brown eyes, almost faltering several times with just how much he needed to touch him, to hold him through all this and make it better.
When half of Dalton’s tale of two men was over, Troy held Liam’s gaze for a long moment, something silent and unspoken passing between them before he stood up, heading to the fridge for more beer.
“I guess it’s my half of the story. But before it begins, I just want to say I wasn’t aware of most of the things spoken about just then, and I feel even worse about this whole triangle situation.” Troy sighed as he walked back to them, handing out the beers before he took his seat next to Dalton. “I love you, Liam, and the last thing I want is for this to happen to you. I know too well what it feels like and I've never had to see you like this.”
Liam frowned, his gaze hard and direct, almost shouting at Troy to shut up.
Troy ignored the dark look and continued. “I think tonight is the night to be honest, don’t you? Not just to us, but to yourself, or things aren’t ever going to change.”
“We all have to make sure we speak our mind.” Dalton wanted nothing more than to get this situation resolved and quickly. “I don’t want to miss anything out, and I don’t want either of you to hide anything. I care deeply for both you.” He brushed his hands over his hair. “I connect with you both and I value your friendship. Liam, I know what we had was supposed to be a friends with benefits type of thing. At the end, I don’t think it was what either of us really wanted, but you let it end without an argument. You let me move on saying it was for the best.”
“The best because of him.” Liam pointed to Troy. “Because I knew it couldn’t work out.” Liam flung himself back on the sofa and glared at Troy. “Of course, if I’d known I was handing you over to him, I wouldn’t have been so willing to end it.”
Troy played with the label on the bottle. “I know every relationship I've ever had has failed, and you're quick to point that out to Dalton, but what you don’t point out is most of them fail because of you. You hate it when I see someone new, and push them out of my life. Okay, not all of them actually leave because of you. I'm not blaming my whole bad relationship issues on you. I know I have other problems, ones I haven’t really gone into yet with Dalton, but you have to be honest and tell him what it’s really like between us. Whoever he ends up with, there’s still the same problem hanging over the relationship.”
Liam and Troy shared another long moment while Dalton let them work it out between themselves. He knew they were close and loved each other, and he could imagine Liam having a very protective nature over his younger… brother?
Liam had briefly explained Troy was going through some personal issues and needed to be with him. At the time, Dalton didn’t know who Liam’s brother was. Now he knew Troy was the one Liam wanted to care for, Dalton felt a surge of strong respect and admiration run through him for Liam’s selfish actions.
Liam loved Troy so much he was willing to give up the chance of a relationship with someone who he cared for. That sang loud and clear in Dalton’s mind, and it reiterated just how good a friend Liam was to have.
“How about I get to hear your side of things before we go into all the other shit. I'm dying to know.” Liam finished his second beer before they did, looking between them both expectantly.
Dalton cleared his throat, the nerves showing slightly and Liam obviously noticing them appearing loud and clear because he stopped frowning and offered up a soft smile, easing Dalton a little. “Well, we met when I went to his shop, to ask about getting this…”
Dalton hadn't mentioned his ink. He’d meant to when they had their last dinner date, but what with his aunt bothering them, and then the whole breaking up thing, it had fallen to the wayside. He pulled off his jacket and t-shirt, then leaned to the side, giving Liam the best view of his half coloured in Koi on his arm.
Liam was stunned into silence for a moment, and then he leaned forward, gaze moving all over the new image on Dalton’s arm. “When did this happen?”
“We met for the first time a few days before my dad’s funeral. I wanted a tattoo to mark my dad’s life, and went into Living Ink to see if anything stood out. I was thinking of something smaller, but as soon as I saw the work on Troy’s body—the picture I mean, not in real life, well, I saw his legs, but… Anyway, we talked—about the ink and my dad, booked in some sessions. That’s how this began. It wasn’t planned. I wasn’t looking for anyone, neither was Troy.”
Liam was still looking intently at the Koi, and then he lifted his head, grinning at Dalton. “I like it. But then it’s Troy’s work, so how could I not? If I’d seen this before, I would have known it was Troy who did it. I’d know his work anywhere.” He held up both arms, showing the underneath of his forearms, the ink work which Dalton had always found sexy printed in black ink.
“He wouldn’t go for colours. I tried for months.”
Liam shrugged. “It’s lettering, why go for colours?”
“I had this plan to add loads of patterns and shading around them, but he wouldn’t go for it.”
“I like them. I've always thought they suited you.” Dalton pulled his t-shirt on and sat back, continuing with his explanation. “So, from there we just kind of met up again. It was… different, and I told you I thought Troy was special. I'm hoping you agree with me on that at least.”
Liam huffed again. “I know he’s special. I'm not going to lie and say otherwise. He’s special to me too.” Liam met Troy’s eyes and smiled. “I love him. I want him to be happy.”
Troy couldn’t hold his gaze, and instead, turned his attention back to the bottle of beer in his hands. “I want you to be happy too.”
“So, that leaves us at an impasse then. Both wanting the other to be happy, but both wanting that happiness with the same man.” Liam and Dalton half smiled at each other, then Liam continued. “I think both Troy and I need to make sure of a few things either way, but even if we talk, I'm not convinced this is going to be an easy relationship. Not with things being so emotional between the three of us anyway. It’s not like I want to cut Troy out of my life, and I'd hope he would feel the same way about me if you and him continued seeing each other.”
Dalton stepped in. “I don’t want that. I don’t want to interfere in your relationship with each other. I'd rather just back out altogether than see that happen. I'm just some guy who’s walking into your lives. You two have had years, and the bond you have—I'm not willing to play a part in fracturing it.”
He assessed both Troy and Liam’s reaction to his statement, and was pleased to see them both react with shock, shaking their heads and frowning.
Troy stood up, waving his hand between them both. “I don’t think that’s going to happen, Dalton.” He breathed out loudly, that same unspoken message passing between him and Liam.
Liam softened his look. “Troy—”
“No. Let me do this. Liam, I've known you since we were both snot nosed kids. I've lived with you since I was fourteen, shared a bedroom for the first three years. We lived in and out of each other’s pockets since Terry and Alice took us in. I know you better than you know yourself, and you're the same with me. All my life I've feared and wanted you to meet someone who you could be with.” Troy smirked, then he shared a concerned look with Dalton. “That’s the problem, you see. We’re both so insistent on us being the other’s number one, we push other people away. Sometimes it’s unintentional, other times it’s a conscious decision to make the other happy. We’re incapable of being without each other. It’s almost…”