Justin was still pouting as he followed closely behind Michael. He deliberately stomped his feet as a sign of protest while they ascended the stairs to Michael's apartment.
Michael realized what Justin was doing and shook his head. "You can pout all you want, Justin. I'm not going to change my mind.
"I don't get it. Why do we have to do it here?"
"We have no choice. My store is still under renovation so we obviously can't work there."
"What about the loft? Brian wouldn't mind us working there."
Michael shook his head frantically. "Oh, no. Definitely not the loft. Uh-uh."
"Why not? I mean, the place is spacious enough for me to do my sketching. I have all my stuff there and we can walk around without bumping into something."
"Hey, I know my apartment isn't the best place but I really don't think we can get our work done at the loft either. There's too much distraction."
Justin gave Michael a quizzical look. "Distraction?"
"Yeah. Remember the last time we tried to work there? We were just getting started and we were doing fine until Brian came home with his trick. And then suddenly you were too horny to think and you kicked me out of the loft!"
"Yes, I remember that, Michael. For the hundreth time, I'm really sorry about that. I can assure you, it won't happen again. I swear."
Michael stood at the doorstep and reached into his pocket to find his keys. "Look, the deadline is almost up and we have to come up with something, one way or another. We're already here so why don't you just stop whining and let's get this over with. As soon as we're done, you can go home to your Brian and fuck all you want, okay?" He opened the door and dragged the reluctant Justin with him.
Justin let out a heavy sigh before setting his stuff on a small coffee table. Suddenly his eyes caught something on the couch. "I thought you said that Ben had a meeting today."
"He does."
"Then what's this doing here?" He pointed at the brown leather bag.
"I don't know." Michael paused to think for a few seconds. "Maybe the meeting was cancelled."
"Michael, is that you? I'm in here." They heard Ben's voice coming from the study room.
"Great. Your boyfriend's here. Let's call Brian and we can have an orgy!" Justin said with mock enthusiasm.
"Shut up. He probably forgot something and just stopped by to look for it. Why don't you start on the sketches. I'll be right back." Michael made his way to the study room and when he opened the door, he got the shock of his life.
Ben was crouching in front of the bookshelf with a power drill in his hand. He was shirtless and had a pair of faded, tight-fitting blue jeans with a tool belt hanging around his waist.
Michael was almost speechless. He stared at his boyfriend in disbelief. "Ben?"
"Hey, baby." Ben walked towards Michael and gave him a quick kiss.
"Hey... wh... what are you doing here? I thought you had a meeting today?" Michael managed to choke out. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Cancelled. The dean had to fly to San Francisco because his mother had a heart attack. So I came home and decided to do some research for my next class. I was reaching for a book when this shelf suddenly collapsed. I hope I can fix this soon. This place is a mess."
Michael was distracted by the sight of half naked Ben standing in front of him. He had seen his boyfriend in suits, tuxedos, and casual clothes before but right now, he was incredibly turned on by Ben's blue collar get-up.
"Baby?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Oh, nothing. It's just that I've never seen you wearing a tool belt before. I didn't even know we have one."
"I bought this a few weeks after I moved in here. I've never had the chance to use it until now."
"Hmm..." Michael couldn't stop staring at his boyfriend and instinctively licked his dry lips.
Ben grinned when he noticed Michael's fascination with his new look. "You know..." He closed in on Michael and reached for a hammer. He held it in one hand and started stroking the handle suggestively. "When you're done working, I could show you how to work the tools."
Michael let out an audible grunt and took a step back. "Hold that thought. I'll be right back." He turned and made a mad dash towards the bedroom.
"Oh, yeah!" Ben held up his hands as a sign of victory. He started stripping off his jeans and decided to leave the tool belt on.
Justin was getting bored. He stared blankly at his sketch book and twirled a pencil with his fingers. He looked up when he heard Michael's footsteps. He was about to open his mouth to say something but stopped short when Michael ignored him and headed towards his bedroom instead. He was surprise to see Michael came out with a bottle of lube and a few packets of condoms in his hands.
"Michael!"
Michael froze when he heard Justin's voice. *Shit!* He had completely forgotten about Justin and what they were suppose to do in the first place. "Justin. Hey."
"Where do you think you're going? We have a lot of things to do."
"Uh... yeah, I know. Listen, can we do that later? I have to take care of something." Michael held up the condoms and grinned sheepishly.
"You've gotta be kidding me! Whatever happened to deadlines? Work now, fuck later?" Justin yelled at Michael. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I know, I know. But you should've seen Ben. He's in the study room, fixing the bookshelf and... and he had a drill in his hand and he's shirtless..."
"So, fucking what? It's not like you haven't seen him naked before!"
"Yeah, but he's wearing a tool belt and he's all sweaty. Did I mention that he's shirtless? C'mon, Justin. I'm really, really horny here."
"Oh, okay, I see what you're doing. It's payback. I threw you out and now you're throwing me out."
"What? No!"
"Oh, yes. I think you and Ben have been planning this from the beginning. God, I should've seen this coming. Distraction my ass!" Justin grabbed his sketch book and shoved it in his bag.
"Look, I'm so sorry okay. I promise I'll make it up to you." Michael tried to sound guilty but the truth was, he couldn't wait for Justin to leave so he could have his way with Ben.
"Fine, I'll leave. It's not like I could get anything done here anyway."
"Thanks, Sunshine."
"Screw you! And you know what? I hope your boyfriend accidentally drops a hammer on your foot and breaks your toe!"
"Okay, Justin. Love you too. Bye!" And with one final wave, Michael slammed the door shut.
"Baby?" Michael's dick was growing hard again when he heard Ben calling out for him.
"Coming, Tool Man!"