Discovering Dalton (Manchester Menage Collection #2) (3 page)

He was happy with life as it was, but Troy always wanted more. He wanted love and a family. Liam thought they had that. They were a family, and they loved each other. In Liam’s mind, the only other thing he needed was sex, and he got that outside.

Maybe Troy should try out Liam’s way of life, keep other men for sex only. It would stop him from hurting so much when they didn’t work out. He didn’t know why Troy kept putting himself out there only to be in so much pain when things went tits up. They were happy together.

He just had to get Troy to see it his way and Liam was sure things would be easier for him. For both of them. Liam hated seeing Troy hurt, and he hated every man he saw. It would improve their relationship a lot if they kept everyone else out of their way and concentrated on themselves.

Chapter
3

T
roy eyed up the bloke leaning over Liam as they reclined outside the local bar they always seemed to start off the night in. He was whispering, probably smutty stuff, into his ear while Troy frowned at the way he was running his hand up Liam’s thigh, so obviously aiming for the bulge which was Liam’s impressive cock in his too tight shorts. Like most times he saw someone fawning over Liam, he always felt a shot of jealousy, more than a shot, probably a couple of pints, but mixed in with the jealousy was anger and other feelings which he couldn’t, or didn’t want to understand.

Liam was, for want of a better word, a slut, and he would totally admit it. Troy was pretty sure Liam had fucked more than eighty percent of the gay men in Manchester. Soon he’d have to move to a new city or he’d end up working through his backlist of previous fucks, and that would be a true shock to the system. Luckily, Manchester had a steady flow of tourists passing through to keep him occupied during the summer, so the percentage of local lads stayed the same for the past two months.

Troy brushed back his dark hair. It was a new style, shaved on one side and left long on the other so he could style it into a spiky up do or let it hang down his face. He’d gone for a sort of in between look tonight and it kept falling over his left eye. He was on his third pint, and although Liam pestered the hell out of him to come out, Troy spent most of his time drinking alone, lost in his thoughts while he people watched.

The warm evening brought out more people than usual and the bar was heaving. Happy hour had just finished and they both had a couple of bottles lined up to finish off before they moved on. Troy quite liked to sit there and chill out. He wasn’t in the mood to go dancing. Not that Liam or him really danced. Troy would more often find himself alone at the bar while Liam pulled someone for a quick blowjob, or held court with the twenty-something year old college students who always seemed to hang around him wherever they went.

Liam shook Troy’s shoulder. “Hey, you want to get going after these?”

“Nowhere inside,” Troy threw back quickly, glancing over the too young, too twinky bloke now sitting on Liam’s thick thigh. “Hi.” He made an effort with the blond and smiled at him. “What’s your name?”

He guessed Liam hadn't even asked that one yet.

“Tony.” The blond smiled more, glancing appraisingly up and down the length of Troy’s lean body splayed out, long legs resting on the chair opposite him, the intricate ink work tattooed on his thighs showed off perfectly in the light, the bright colours catching the eye of everyone who passed. “And you're Troy. You're brother’s been telling me
all
about you.” He gave Troy a sexy smirk, filled with the promise of good times.

Troy half sighed as he turned his gaze to Liam who was smirking behind the young twinky. “I think I may get off home after these are finished. I'm not really up for clubbing in this weather.” They had the most amazing rooftop at home which was decked out with comfy loungers and even had a bar. Troy loved spending nights at home sitting up there, watching the lights glimmering and listening to the sounds of people passing by underneath.

Liam pursed his lips together in frustration, then jerked his head at the blond on his knee. Obviously Liam had plans for Troy and the pretty thing, none of which Troy was going to take up. The guy was too young, too slim, too… Too everything he didn’t want. “How about we move on to that place which has the balcony and the seating area outside? You like that one.”

Yeah, Troy liked it because he could get out of the way and just people watch the drunken haggle of crowds below him. Like most places, Liam would be buzzing around being the social butterfly he was while Troy
sulked
—as Liam put it—in the corner, ignoring everyone who made a pass at him. But truthfully, they only ever came out when Troy was down and getting over a recent split from his boyfriend of the moment. When Troy was with someone he stuck at home, either theirs or his, and when he had spare time without them, he and Liam stayed alone at home so they could catch up without being pestered.

“Yeah, sure.” Troy ripped the label off one of the bottles and took a deep drag from it.

Liam whispered something into the blond’s ear, then patted his arse as he shuffled off Liam’s knee. When he’d got far enough from them, he leaned in to Troy and growled out, “You're so fucking down tonight. Stop it. Just have some fun. You don’t have to fuck him or anything. It’s not an offer of marriage. Drinking and having a laugh is okay.”

“I don’t feel like it.” Troy turned from Liam and looked upwards, watching the clouds drifting by overhead. “I thought we were out together.”

“We are, numpty.”

“Alone,” Troy hissed out at him. “Can’t we just do that without all these clingers on?”

“It’s been a busy week. The weekend is when I let my hair down and have some fun. You should try it sometime.”

“I do have fun. I just don’t need to pull random men to have it like you. Don’t you think we can have fun on our own?”

Liam snorted as he stretched out his big arms above his head, a sparkle of mischievousness in his eyes as he slid his gaze to Troy’s. “There are some things we can’t do alone. Hence…” Liam opened his eyes wider at the word, making Troy grin remembering his use of it earlier. “I pull other men to fuck. I mean, unless that’s a new thing you're wanting to try out…” Liam howled with laughter as Troy coughed up his beer. “Yeah, thought so. So, I pull men for sex and go home with you. What’s the big deal?”

“You bring those random fucks home, Liam.”

“Erm, at least mine are gone first thing in the morning. They don’t hang around for weeks or months and take over the place, and they don’t use up all the hot water and eat my favourite food.”

“No, I just have to put up with listening to them screaming all night. Why the hell do all the men you pull sound so fucking loud? Can’t you gag them or something?” Troy was sure Liam asked them to be extra loud on his account so he knew what he was missing out on.

“Not my fault I do such a good job they lose their minds. Besides, it’s not like I'm the only one who has noisy sex. I’ve heard you plenty of times. And by you, I mean
you
, pillock, not the other man.”

Troy shook his head as he placed his empty bottle down. “Nope, I'm not loud and I definitely don’t scream. You must have had your ear pressed to the door to catch me fucking.”

“Maybe, once. I think I did it to check you were still alive though. You’d been in there all weekend. I worried he’d done something to you. You purr when you have sex, did you know that?”

Troy burned bright red and he gave Liam a hard shove on the shoulder. “Pervert!” He brushed his hair back again with a huff. “I do not purr.”

“You do. I dunno what he was doing to you, but it was purring.”

“I'm not a fucking cat, Liam.”

“Nah, tiger maybe.” He grinned before he leaned forward and wrapped an arm around Troy’s shoulder. “Stay out and have some fun. I promise to be right here all night, well, until the end of the night and then I'm pulling someone, and it ain’t going to be you.”

“For fuck’s sake.” Troy brushed Liam’s arm off his shoulder and grabbed his second bottle. “Drink up before that twink comes back. I'm not into men like him and you know it.”

“I thought you could do with a change of taste seen as though you're not doing so well with the ones you choose.”

Troy frowned, tapping a finger on the bottle noisily. “Keep out of my business, Liam.”

Okay, so he’d been choosing frogs not princes for too long, but it’s not like he set out to do that. He always thought they were going to work, things just didn’t go to plan, that’s all. The last one, Ricky, they’d been seeing each other for four months, and Troy had been hopeful it would work out because he really liked the guy.

Yeah, things weren’t perfect, but no relationship was. Well, none of his anyway. The split kinda took him by surprise. They’d planned on going to Spain later in the month on a short break just the two of them, and then this. He just turned up and said things weren’t working out, and now it was all off.

Troy had low self-esteem anyway, despite how many times Liam told him he was a catch and anyone would be proud to have him. He was Liam, Troy’s best friend, he had to say that.

Maybe Troy had gone too far on the ink work covering him, but he loved it, and people were attracted to it… In the beginning. It kind of wore off after a while. His lifestyle, the ink, the bike, the bad background, Liam… It didn’t suit a lot of people, and some even chose to never introduce him to friends because of it. Those he let go and didn’t look back. He didn’t want to be hidden away like some secret. He was proud about everything he’d done to his body. He was like a living piece of artwork and he showed it off whenever he got the chance.

He looked up and down his left leg, the ink starting from his foot and working around his calf all the way up his thigh. A long, intricate sleeve of bright colours, ranging from oriental flowers to dragons and butterflies. He’d designed it himself, taken hours of drawing out and measuring them so they fitted together perfectly.

It was an accomplishment to have his leg completed, but when it was, Troy found he wanted more, so he continued. The design now flowed up his left hip and covered all of his back and he was planning on continuing it down his left arm. He’d decided one side was enough… well, he said that now, but in another year or so when he’d finished, he may begin to look at the bare expanse of skin on his right side more longingly.

Liam tapped his head gruffly, pulling him out of his daydreams. “You ready to go, or you going to sit there and wonder what else you can fit on that leg?”

“I could fit something else on there somewhere.” Troy grinned as he stood. “Not that I will. It’s perfect. It will look overcrowded if I add anything else to the design. I like it as it is. My arm on the other hand is in dire need of more colours.”

“You’ll be covered from head to foot in ten years,” Liam hollered over his shoulder as he walked off.

Troy caught him up, jumping over the short wall surrounding the pub’s garden, and joined Liam sauntering down the crowded path, people giving them the space they needed and jumping out of their way. Troy smiled at Liam’s proud look. He loved having that effect on people. “Will you hate it if I do?”

“What?” Liam looked over shoulder, raising a brow.

“If I chose to cover everything with ink, would you still go out with me, call me brother?” Troy rolled his eyes.

Despite growing up together, and being so close, he didn’t really consider them brothers. Best friends, soulmates, whatever, but brother just stuck in his throat. It was easier to refer to Liam as brother to others, but calling him it directly never happened. All the kids he knew growing up who had brothers or sisters hated them most of the time and tried to keep away from them, but Liam and Troy always preferred each other’s company to their friends.

“Why would I deny you?” Liam bumped shoulders and smiled. “I can’t think of one reason why I would. It’s you, no matter what you do to your body, it will always be you, Troy. Besides, I like it. You know I do.”

Troy nudged their shoulders together this time, a wide smile playing on his thick lips. “Thanks. You always say the right things.”

“I’ve had years of practise. I think I got everything wrong for years. Now I know what I should say.”

“Do you say it to keep me quiet, or do you mean it?”

“Of course I mean it, divvy. I'd never lie to you. That’s why we work out so well, because we always tell each other the truth. However you're happy in life, I'm happy. That’s why we're out now, finding someone to make you happy.”

Troy rolled his shoulders and looked at his feet pounding on the path. Liam knew him better than himself sometimes, but he was right about one thing, he couldn’t be alone for long, and yes, he’d met someone on the rebound, but it hadn't worked out and Troy was sick of failing so badly in relationships. “The only thing I wanted to do tonight was stay at home and be with you. I don’t need all this, Liam. I would have been happier sitting on the terrace with you and the ice bucket full of beers. Beers which we didn’t have to wait in line for twenty minutes and pay through the nose for.” He took hold of Liam’s arm and they stopped walking, Liam turning to look into his eyes. “You make me happy.”

“I know… and I love making you happy, but you need to get out, forget about everything.”

“Let’s be honest, you need to come out because you can’t deal with being home with me. You hate it, so here we are. You always do this. You drag me out, say how you want me to enjoy it, spend time with me, and what do you do? You fuck off with someone and leave me alone. I hate that. I really don’t know why I bother.”

“I do not. I leave you with someone and when I come back you’ve fucked them off, preferring to be on your own.”

“I hate all the men I meet in clubs. It’s just random hook-ups, nothing else. I'm looking for more.”

“Well, I don’t need
more
. I got you for that.” Liam folded his arms over his chest and stared sternly at Troy.

“We share an apartment. We’re roommates with a long background. Surely you
cannot
be happy with that. Don’t you want more?”