Mike was a little nervous about dinner this evening. Ian had invited both men to meet him at his apartment. He hoped Tim could control himself enough. He knew that Tim was both jealous and angry at Ian. That could be a lethal combination. Tim might not have a quick temper, but he was protective and possessive. He did not know Ian enough to pass a judgment on him. High school was now a part of their past. People did not stay exactly the same after so many years had gone by.

“Tim, baby, promise me one thing,” Mike said as he turned around and glared at his lover.

They had just arrived at Ian’s apartment complex a few minutes ago and they were now standing in front of his door.

“Shoot.”

“I love you. I love your protectiveness. I even love your possessiveness. God only knows why,” Mike commented as he was rolling his eyes and smiling at his boyfriend.

Tim had only chuckled and pulled the other man into a tight hug.

“But?”

“But try to be friendly, please.”

“Of course,” Tim had thrown out casually and Mike nodded in return. “As long as he keeps his hands to himself.”

Mike looked up and heaved out a sigh. This might be a bad idea, but it was too late to change his mind. They were standing outside Ian’s apartment already. He just hoped that he would not regret this. He knocked on the door and Ian had answered it about a minute later.

“Hey ...” His greeting died on his lips. Ian had opened the door in nothing but a towel wrapped around his lower half. The other man’s hair and muscled upper body were still damp from the shower presumably.

“Sorry, I rushed home from the office and threw something I prepared last night into the oven. I thought I had time for a quick shower, but you arrived earlier than I expected. Come on in, guys,” Ian had apologized and stood aside so that his guests could enter the apartment.

Mike waved off the apology, but Tim snorted audibly. Mike elbowed his boyfriend and glared at him. Tim simply looked unrepentant.

“Ian, this is my boyfriend, Tim. Tim, Ian.”

The two men shook hands with each other and Mike noticed that Tim had intentionally squeezed Ian’s hand harder than he usually did. Ian had retaliated by squeezing even harder. Neither man seemed willing to let go.

“Nice place,” Mike commented quickly to fill up the awkward silence. “It’s an open space concept.”

“Are you implying that my apartment is barren?” Ian had responded teasingly.

Tim and Ian had let go of their hands, but they were now staring at each other in a hostile manner. Tim was obviously annoyed at the subtle flirty tone, but Mike was thankful that his lover had refrained from punching their host. He hoped that Ian would not flirt openly because he was certain that Tim would not be so forgiving then.

“Not at all. I’ve never liked my place to be overly furnished anyway. I also prefer little to no decoration,” Mike answered sincerely.

Ian then excused himself to put on some clothes after he had invited them to sit down on the couch in the living room.

“Tim!”

“What?”

“You promised!”

“He started it!”

“How?”

“Who opened the door to greet their guests while they were practically naked?”

“He explained. He just took a shower. Plus, he had a towel.”

“My point exactly.”

Mike restrained himself from strangling his boyfriend. Tim could be overly jealous at times. Mike chose to ignore him. Besides, Ian appeared right then and took a seat on the single sofa.

“So, Tim, we’d met once quite a few years ago.”

“Yeah, I think I remember you now. You used to be smaller.”

Ian had thrown his head back and laughed loudly at the backhanded compliment.

“Yeah, I’ve been hitting the gym a lot harder since then. You seem slightly bigger yourself.”

“Yeah, Mike likes his men big.” Mike turned an incredulous stare towards his boyfriend and tried to subtly chastise him for his rather obvious innuendo as to the size of his manhood. “Right, babe?”

Mike was seriously tempted to kill his boyfriend right here, right now. Lucky for Tim, Mike loved him too damn much to go through with the murder plan. He was pissed off though. This macho posturing bullshit had to stop.