Discovering Dalton(76)

Troy released a big breath, Liam stroking his back and Dalton holding his hand tightly. “The thing is, I can't control it. I can't keep fighting it and hurting over it. I have to let it go and trust in something bigger. You two.” He shared a smile with them. “I may not trust my dad, and may not trust the people who are supposedly looking out for him, but I trust you two, and I know in here.” He tapped his chest. “I know you two wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”

“We value your life more than our own, Troy.” Dalton's soft voice, so calm and reassuring, a sound Troy missed if he went a few hours without hearing. “We love you, and we’d both die before seeing you hurt.”

“I know.” Troy cleared his voice, the emotion lying heavily in it. “And I believe that. I trust in it more than I trust Liam will wake me up by snoring too loudly every night.” He faked a frown and they all chuckled. “What I've been thinking about is why I still can't accept this is real.”

“We’re not going anywhere.”

“I know, I know.”

“But you don’t.” Dalton shifted more on his side, tucking a leg under the other and running long fingers through Troy’s hair. “I love you. I don’t know what else to do other than proposing to you which will keep that hummingbird-style heart of yours from breaking in two over us breaking up.”

Troy hummed a little, smiling at the thought of Dalton actually proposing.

“Yeah, you're so flighty, T.” Liam nudged him gently, and then looked over at Dalton. “So we got something to tie you down with to stop you from floating off.”

Liam tossed him a gift wrapped in Iron Man paper. Despite it looking big, it felt light, and Troy juggled it around, listening to something bouncing inside it.

“Liam chose the wrapping paper and the big box,” Dalton said with a weary tone, making Troy smile. His two men had very different approaches to seduction and romance.

“I like it. What is it?”

“Open it, dick, and find out.” Liam flicked the tip of his nose gently.

Dalton leaned around him and punched his arm. “Pack it in, Liam. You're spoiling the moment.”

“I make the moment, not spoil it.”

“Whatever.” Dalton tutted before smiling overly brightly at Troy. “Open it up.”

Troy unwrapped it, finding a scrappy cardboard box under the shiny red and gold paper. “Okay…” He was already shaking his head, wondering what kind of joke Liam concocted to make him smile. It was when he opened it, he stopped smiling, staring at the small, black box inside. “What’s this?”

“Troy, for the love of God, man. Just stop asking and open it already.” Liam was laughing loudly at him while Dalton smiled serenely beside him. “Dalton…”

“Want me to open it for you?”

Troy nodded, watching Dalton reach in and take out the delicate box, placing it on his thigh and waiting as Troy tapped his fingers on his knee, drumming out a little nervous tune. When Dalton slowly, teasingly pulled back the lid, Troy stopped drumming his fingers and stared at the contents, taking slow, shallow breaths as he tried to comprehend the meaning of this moment.

“You like?” Liam’s lips brushed over the back of Troy’s neck, shudders running through every part of him.

Troy hummed softly, staring at the ring inside the box. It was stunning, very masculine. It was silver in colour, although Troy was sure it was probably some sort of precious metal, and it had three bands running around it.

The two on either side were steel grey and looked rougher, and when he reached out tentatively and touched the raised lines, he found them to be slightly grainier than the smooth silver between them. He moved his fingertip to the rose coloured middle band, noticing a slightly different feel. The colours and textures called to him, and he picked it from its velvet pouch, holding it on the palm of his hand, turning it while Liam and Dalton sat silently beside him.

“It’s titanium.” Dalton pointed to the silver coloured part. “The middle band is rose gold—that’s you, and the two outer bands—me and Liam—they’re palladium.”

Troy lifted a brow, not just at the interesting combination of materials, but at how Dalton referred to each band as being one of them. “What’s this mean exactly?” He wasn’t too sure an offer of marriage was in the cards, and he wasn’t too sure if he would say no if it was, but…

Liam wrapped a heavy arm around his shoulder and pulled his smaller frame into his muscular chest, kissing the top of his head. “It can be whatever we want it to be. At the least it’s a sign of commitment, at the most it’s a sign we’re like every other person out there who knows they’ve met their soulmate and want to stick with them forever. I guess right now, it could be somewhere in between, a commitment between the three of us with the promise of forever in our future.”

Dalton slid closer to his other side, nuzzling his neck and placing barely there kisses on his throat, taking the ring from Troy’s palm and holding his hand. “This isn’t just for you, it’s for all three of us. If you agree, then we have two more rings just like this waiting in the kitchen drawer.”

Troy perked up a bit. He didn’t know why, but just him wearing a ring didn’t mean as much as all three of them wearing one.

“You like that better?” Liam placed a gruff kiss on his cheek and chuckled. “I knew you would.”

Troy watched as Liam stood up, heading for the kitchen while Troy and Dalton slid their eyes to each other. “Are you doing this to calm me down?”

“We’re doing this because we felt it was what all three of us needed for various reasons. There’s not just you who needs commitment and security. I do too. Liam needs it from both of us. Okay, so a ring and a few words won’t change anything if we don’t want it to, but I think we can all agree this means more to us than a new piece of flashy jewellery.” Dalton smoothed his palm down Troy's thigh and silk-like kisses were pressed on his neck as they breathed each other in. “I love you.”

Troy smiled, looking up through heavy lids, the words I love you hanging on his lips and Dalton seemingly sensing them because he smiled that secret little smile which he only ever gave Liam and Troy before kissing him again.

Liam bounded back onto the terrace, making them both jump when he planted his big arse on the lounger. He flicked open two matching boxes and grinned. “So, I really like these, and they cost a ton of money, so it seems like a big waste to not wear them. What do you think?”

“I think… I think that’s probably the worst proposal ever, Liam.” Troy grinned, taking a ring and giving it to Liam, then taking one for himself. He had Liam’s, he could tell from the size of it. Dalton had Troy’s, which left Liam with Dalton's. Somehow, they all managed to get their left hands together, and then the rings slipped on snugly over each ring finger.

All three of them sat still for a long moment, looking at their own hand, then at the other two hands hovering in the air. Troy was the first to break, a deep rumble of laughter making it from his chest as he sat back, rubbing his eyes and removing the misty tears which had appeared there. “I love them. I love this idea.” He grinned at both them. “And I love you both.”

Liam raised his hands in the air and clasped them together, Troy laughing even more. “Praise the Lord. He’s said it out loud.”

Troy kissed his cheek, then Dalton’s. “I’ve always felt it.”

“I know,” Dalton murmured over his lips. “And I've always felt it returned. It’s nice hearing it though. Say it again.”

“I love you,” Troy whispered over his lips before turning and pressing his mouth over Liam’s. “I love you.”

“Troy, I can't remember a day I've known you when I didn’t love you.”

Troy pressed his face into Liam’s big chest and breathed him in. “Does this mean us all living together like this is permanent?” Troy hadn't broached the subject of Dalton moving out, but the money had come through from his old house, and with his dad’s old place going through the final stages of a sale too, Dalton would soon have enough money to buy a place anywhere he wanted.

Dalton held his hand over Liam’s, both of them capturing Troy’s hand and squeezing. “Since I first walked in here, I knew this was where I wanted to be. Not because of the great view or the fancy loft, but because you two were here, and that’s all I need in life. Someone who loves me like I love them. I was lucky to find two, and I'm not in any rush to let that go. I never want to let either of you go.”

Liam nodded. “This is what these rings mean, T. It means we’re all here and we’re all sticking it out no matter what.”

Troy felt a wave of relief run through him. “That’s what I want. All of us together for as long as we can screw out of life.”

When they’d discovered Dalton, Troy and Liam discovered so much more than an amazing man who they loved and who returned that love willingly, they’d discovered the lies which built up between them, a wall so wide and strong it would rival the Great Wall of China. With Dalton’s help, they’d broken those bricks and mortar down, freeing themselves and the love which they’d held back for too long.