JC
picked up the can opening tool and pried open the top of the paint can. He
smiled as he spied the color of the paint, happy with his choice. He slipped the
can opener in the back pocket of his cut-offs as he lifted the stir stick,
placing it in the paint and swirling it around. Nodding again at his choice of
paint, he rose from the tarp-covered floor and walked to the pile of furniture
in the room. Moving under the drop cloth, he flipped on the stereo, choosing a
salsa cd and pressing play.
The
sounds of trumpets and guitars and castanets filled the room as JC picked up the
can of paint and brush and climbed the ladder next to the wall. He moved his
brush against the wall in rhythm to the music, his strokes of paint filled with
the passion he felt through the music.
JC
worked hard through the next two hours, steadily applying the paint to the walls
off his house. He’d gone from salsa to hip-hop and was currently belting out
disco. He’d gotten too hot doing his painting and had removed his shirt, and
somehow had managed to flick splotches of paint all over. He poured more paint
onto his rolling pan, loading up his roller and attacking the last wall with
glee.
That’s
how Justin found him. JC was totally involved in his work, belting out “Turn
the Beat Around,” diva hips swinging to the music. Justin smiled at the sight
of those hips, slender and taut and covered by sexy threadbare cut-offs that
should be illegal to wear. JC’s back was covered by a fine sheen of sweat.
Justin swallowed, watching the muscles of his back as he worked the roller
against the wall. Justin groaned as JC squatted down to roll the paint near the
bottom of the wall, then stood back up, flipping his hair as he turned around,
finally spying Justin standing in the room.
“Well,
hello, baby,” he said adding more paint to his roller. “What brings you over
here today? I thought you were meeting Chris before we went out tonight.”
Justin’s
mouth went dry. The front of JC was covered with flecks of paint over his
fabulous chest. “Uh, no, we decided to meet here.”
“Hmmm,”
JC said, silently laughing at Justin’s pained expression. The two men had
lived together for years, but sometimes Justin still acted like a scared virgin.
While it was puzzling to JC, it was also hot as hell, like initiating Justin all
over again. JC saw the bulge in Justin’s pants and knew this was one of those
times.
“So,
what do you think?” JC said, laying down the roller and waking over to Justin.
He stood close to the other man as they observed the painted room together.
“You
went with the green,” Justin said.
“Yeah,
I thought it would look good, and voilia!” He waved a hand at the room, making
sure he waved his arm in front of Justin’s face. “See how wonderful it looks?”
JC smiled as Justin’s eyes closed after getting a whiff of JC’s sweaty smell.
“Yeah,”
Justin said, his voice strained. “It looks great.” He turned to JC. “Looks
good on you, too.” Justin lifted a hand and ran it down JC’s chest, smearing
a bit of the paint against JC’s skin. “And here I thought you’d be a neat
painter, the kind that never got paint on anything but the walls.”
JC
looked down at Justin’s hand on his chest. “Hmm…maybe you should help me
clean up?’ he suggested, lifting Justin’s hand and licking the palm. JC
dropped the Justin’s hand and left the room, walking up the stairs.
Justin
stood frozen to the ground. Sometimes, JC just overwhelmed him. He heard the
shower running upstairs and grinned broadly.
And
sometimes, he liked to be overwhelmed. He ran up the stairs, peeling his clothes
off as he climbed up JC.