Discovering Dalton(7)

“Okay.” Dalton felt his heart miss a beat and he held on to the kitchen sink. “Did it end because he wants you to leave me?”

“I didn’t though. I'm still here.”

“And by being here, do you intend to try and work things out between us?”

“I don’t know if they can be, Dalton.”

“We could try.” Dalton moved to her, her sobs getting louder as he ran his hand down her arm. “We’ve been together ten years. We can work things out if we try.”

“Dalton…” She looked into his eyes, a barely there smile on her lips. “Love, I don’t think we can. And I think, if you're really honest with yourself, you’d know why.”

Dalton just stood still, going through the muddle of his mind, not even knowing if he wanted to try and understand what she was talking about. “I don’t know where to go with this right now.”

She nodded, leaning up and kissing his cheek. “I'm sleeping in the spare room tonight.”

“No-no, honestly, let me do that.” Dalton was already on his way out of the room. “Just promise me we’ll talk more before you go anywhere. We owe each other that much, at least.”

“Why do you think I'm still here, Dalton?”

He didn’t stop. He ran up the stairs, finding the spare room and closing the door hurriedly behind him before falling against it. He didn’t expect to feel so bad. He thought it would all be her, but like most times when an argument with a woman was involved, somehow it was his fault, he just hadn't seen it before.

Her words confused him. He’d no idea it had been so long since they had sex. He’d never needed much, and masturbation was something he’d always done. He’d not thought about how she felt when he did it. It wasn’t like he was turning her down or anything, it was just his hand and the porn on TV.

What the hell did she mean, if he was truthful with himself he would see there was no point in continuing?

Women were the most confusing creatures at times. Why didn’t they just say what they meant instead of talking in riddles and expecting men to be able to keep up?

Dalton lay back on the bed and closed his eyes, not even finding the energy to undress. He just let the darkness and the silence wash over him while he tried to come to terms with his life and find a solution with Kelly.





Chapter 5



Liam was just finishing a staff meeting with Kathy and the two other trainers he employed at Aspire when he spotted the sexy blond police officer skulking past reception. Dalton hadn't been in for two weeks, which was unlike him, but he was at his goal weight now and a lot of people slowed down their gym time and fell into bad habits again, thinking they’d won the battle of the bulge.

“Hey, Dee. Stop sneaking around like I can't see you and come over here.” Liam leaned over the chest high reception desk and smiled, watching Dalton come to a stop, his shoulders sagging slightly. “You thought I wouldn’t notice your skinny ass not hanging around here for two weeks?”

Dalton wore this lost look which Liam had become used to seeing, but it was even worse than normal. Dark bags circled his usually bright eyes, a couple of days’ worth of bristles covered his face, and he looked like he’d just rolled out of bed, not bothering to even have a shower or check his appearance before he walked out of the door. Very unlike the Dalton Liam had grown to know.

Dalton turned and made his way to him. “Hi, I've been bogged down with work. I haven’t been out much anywhere really.”

“Yeah, Milo came in last week, said you were off work. Now he’s either lying or you are. I'm going with you. Why you feel you need to lie is the real question I want to ask though.”

“I wasn’t at work, but I have been working.” Dalton pushed his chest out, pulling back his shoulders. Liam felt a little surge of pride go through him noticing how good Dalton’s body looked now compared to when he first walked through the door. “Besides, it really doesn’t have anything to do with you or Milo.” He gazed sternly into Liam’s eyes, and then turned. “I'm off, see you later.”

“Don’t forget to do some weights afterwards, and not those pissy, girl-sized ones either. You know you can do it.”

“I just want to run.”

“You can do that outside. Why don’t I—”

“There's really no need. I'm fine on my own.”

“Hey, I don’t doubt you're fine.” Liam watched Dalton pause for a moment and grinned. “I do however doubt you're okay.”

Dalton said nothing more. He walked into the changing rooms, ignoring Liam.

Liam smiled as he watched the door close behind him. Dalton was fine. So fucking fine it got him hot every time he walked into the building. Hell, even three stone overweight the guy was cute as a button. Now he looked slimmer, the edges harder on his chin and jaw. It changed him and gave him a tougher exterior, but Liam didn’t buy his act for a second.

He was a softy like Troy. Those two would have a field day sharing their emotions and watching musicals, doing each other’s nails, that sort of thing. Liam grunted to himself as he imagined it. Okay, too far in the other direction.

Dalton had stuff weighing him down, and it seemed to be getting worse. Liam was no psychologist, but he knew how to read a person’s body language, and Dalton’s was full of stress. His job would be stressful being a police officer, but according to Milo, Dalton hadn't been in for nearly two weeks. What the hell was up with his sexy policeman?

At first, Dalton was stressed over the newness of being surrounded by the equipment, and Liam knew he’d been ashamed of how he looked when stood next to him or the other guys who lived for the workout, but there was always something hiding beneath his exterior.

Liam rubbed his face with his palms. He very rarely took this much of an interest in his clients, but he wasn’t going to lie to himself and say Dalton didn’t have a few good reasons for him to be interested. Dalton was good-looking. When he’d first arrived, his hair was longer—light blond and wavy. Too long, Liam thought, for a police officer, and Milo agreed—hassling Dalton to get it cut every time they were together. Liam kinda liked it long. It suited Dalton’s quieter nature and less stern approach to the job.

He’d been in trouble with the police enough as a kid to know Dalton was one of the good guys. One who actually cared about the people he interacted with. Probably even with those who didn’t deserve it. They would make a good team together, and he knew from Milo’s talks through the years he’d been working out at Aspire he and Dalton had been partners for years. They would have that good cop bad cop thingy going on all the time. Milo being the one to look threatening and act by the book. Dalton being the one to calm him down and try the softer approach. Liam’s personal motto was you got more flies with sugar than shit, and Dalton was as sugary as a stick of rock candy.

Milo was all gruff and hard. He only had to look at you and you felt like you'd done something wrong instantly, even if you hadn't. He made Liam edgy, though he tried hard not to let it bother him. The guy had that certain something which demanded your attention, and after six or so years, Liam still didn’t really know much about the guy. He wasn’t one for personal chats, well, neither was Liam, but he was nosy where it came to Milo. The recent police case he was involved in hit the headlines in the local papers and Liam learned more from that short piece than he had over the years of actually talking to the guy.

Liam and Milo back-chatted and bitched at each other. It was fun to wind him up and to get away with it. The fact Liam held a certain authority in Aspire, and Milo was a sergeant in the police force, well, Liam wasn’t going to pretend it didn’t feel good and boost his ego.

Liam briefly thought about what it would be like to really fight it out with Milo… in bed. His grin soon turned into a laugh, and he had to stop himself from acting so childish in case someone spotted him laughing all by himself and thought he was mental. The guy wouldn’t be what Liam preferred in bed. He would have fun fighting to be on top though.

Liam was slapped on the back as Kathy passed him. “See ya later, Liam. I’ll be okay opening up tomorrow morning. There’s just my seven a.m. spinning class, and Nick will be in the gym, so you're covered. Catch a lie in. Say hi to T for me, not seen him in a while.” She tugged on her jacket and looked over at him. “What’s up with him anyway? He’s usually in here mid-week for a couple of hours minimum.”

Liam grunted as he slid around some papers on the desk. “He’s getting over the most recent dick who pissed him about. I've tried to get him out, but he just wants to stay home and sulk. I've been with him, so he's not alone and all sad.” Liam shook his head, a smirk playing on his lips. “He’ll be cool in a few days. I’ll drag him here for a couple of hours and get it out of his system that bit faster.”

“I dunno where he finds all these pricks. I mean, not only is he gorgeous, but he’s got the right attitude too. He’s so talented, and that ink work—” She whistled long and slow. “If he was straight, I'd be all over him.” She chuckled at Liam's smile.

“What can I say? He’s got exceptionally bad taste in men.” He sat down, running his fingers through his short brown hair, thinking briefly about getting it cropped closer for the summer. “You know what I think? Men see him and assume he’s something he’s not. They expect this bad boy, but he’s nothing like that. He’s this total homebody who prefers reading and drawing to going out. He’s not what they want, and over time, they see that. He needs someone to see past his looks.”