“We won’t do any work today will we? I’m spent,” I said. We worked so late the past few days to stay on schedule because we knew the owners would not like it if we finished late.
“Nah, just an estimate. See what they want to do,” he answered. He turned the radio on, the new Imagine Dragons song blaring through. Every radio station had it on permanent replay.
“Cool.”
The drive took about thirty minutes from where we were. The island was off the tip of Long Island, with no roads to it. Using the ferry made it a bitch to get there, but we could be reimbursed by the company for all that. We drove up to the house and…shit.
“We haven’t seen a place like this in years.” Levi leaned forward and stared with wide eyes.
I stared too; it was real messed up. Maybe it was a flip? I had no clue. There were no cars out front when I pulled into the driveway. The outside of the house was a sad, chipped, white color, with plank siding and a rickety porch. The roof would need to go. Everything needed to go, in my opinion.
“Let’s check it out.”
I parked and we left the truck. Levi knocked on the door but there was no answer.
“They didn’t put their number on the form for me to call,” Levi said. I shrugged and looked through the windows.
The couch looked like it had been laid on, but everything else was covered up or falling apart.
“Someone was here. We can wait. I don’t have any plans for the rest of the day.” I stepped over the railing and sat down on the steps.
The land was pretty decent, though it needed a lot of landscaping. But it would be a nice place to fix up, just really expensive. Probably our most expensive one yet.
“I’m going to walk around.” Levi stepped down the stairs.
“That’s trespassing. We haven’t taken the job yet.” I stood up and faced him. He laughed his careless laugh and set off anyway.
I had to follow him and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. Sometimes I felt like the older sibling trying to keep tabs on their brother. But we walked around and saw that the water tank would need to be replaced, unless Levi could fix it. He was good with lost causes. The foundation seemed fairly solid though. The backyard had a gorgeous view, but the back of the house was pretty worn out. It had vines going up the sides, and bricks coming loose.
“This is a complete disaster.” Levi said. He walked back around the front and I followed.
“Yeah, but that’s kind of the work we’re supposed to do.” I pointed out.
“True. I still don’t want to use a team though. Then we have to be on our best behavior and shit. Plus, more people just makes it take longer.” He shook his head.
We both sat on the porch steps. “Let’s just wait for the owner. They might not even want to give us the job.”
5
Levi
I loved finishing jobs. It made me feel super accomplished, like I was actually doing something worth shit. Maybe it was morbid, but it was kind of true. Everything was kind of broken until I decided to fix it, which was why I made a living out of fixing things.
Like this house. It was kind of a dump, but it had some charm to it. I believed we could do something worthwhile. Tate and I waited outside for a little bit; the weather was nice so it wasn’t like we were missing anything.
He and I had been partners for a long time. But we were always friends first, roommates too. That was why we worked so well together, and why we keep working together. Sure, we teamed up with other guys on the job but we were close with the boss, and he stopped separating us a long ass time ago. He had other shit he should be managing. But it had been years, and we always turned down management positions because it only gets offered to one of us at a time. We didn’t want to be each other’s boss. Sometimes we might talk about opening our own company, but that was only when we were swigging back beers and talking shit.
I didn’t ever want to be anyone’s boss. Running a business…not my style. If I couldn’t fix something that was broken, I would generally try to stay away from it.
“After this we should take a break,” I said to Tate. He shot me a funny look. Tate has those pretty boy looks that women go crazy for; blond hair and blue eyes. But when they want tall, dark, and handsome, they run to me. Sometimes they want both, and we make it happen for them.
I didn’t even know why some guys avoid threesomes with another dude, instead wanting only one man in the trio. I found sharing the impossible task of satisfying a single woman much better than having to please two. Besides, it was way hot watching a girl with another guy.
“Tired so soon?” He joked with me.
“We’re getting old, man,” I laugh. “I don’t know, nothing serious. But maybe just a few days. Boss will probably have us back on the job in no time.”
“Can’t argue with that. Maybe just go out for drinks,” he suggested. Tate could be a downer sometimes. He was always the responsible one but sometimes it was just a real bore.
“Agreed…will they even show up?” I glance at my phone. We had been waiting twenty minutes.
“Maybe. They know we’re coming, right?” he asked me. I was about to answer but then paused. Maybe they didn’t know. I didn’t ever reply with the time I was coming.
“Uh, not really. I didn’t give them a time,” I finally answered. He frowned at me and stood up.
“They’ll be here. Any minute.”
He still shook his head and paced the porch behind me. I just laughed. Everything with him had to be so planned. Sometimes it was annoying, but other times it just made it easier for me to be the one who never planned or was responsible.
I was about to say something else when I heard the car coming. We both looked at the Prius driving up; it screamed rental car. But what came out of it screamed hot and sexy.
Some women make you do a double take because something catches your eye, like big fake boobs or lips that were definitely shot up. Or maybe their skimpy clothing that shouted look at my ass or look at my tits. She didn’t make me do a double take. She made me just stop and fucking stare.
She had bright, strawberry blonde hair that literally shined, even under the gloomy sky of the day. It flowed endlessly in the wind, and fell over her shoulders in tight curls. She was wearing faded jeans that hugged her legs and my, did she have hips. The kind you could grab and move anywhere you wanted. The kind that fuck you back when you take them from behind, where the flesh jiggles in a way that makes you want to sink your teeth in and bite. But her breasts were ample and full, pressing against her gray tee shirt. She looked so effortless, yet as sexy as could be.
“Uh…” Tate said behind me. I stood up and gave him a look.
“She’s um…she is fucking gorgeous,” I whisper. She was getting closer, looking at us with wide eyes. The closer she got, the more I saw how green they were. Very intriguing. Everything about her was pulling me towards her.
“Yeah, she is.”
“Are you going for it or am I?” I asked him. He gave me a funny look, but he was actually thinking about it. And so was I.
We both agreed she was hot, but we weren’t the type to literally fight over a girl. We’d never do that. But we would…
“Who says we have to do that?” Tate smiled his ‘I have a plan’ smile. But she was getting a lot closer and we had to stop whispering. I stepped in front of him so she wouldn’t even see.
“You mean ask an innocent, potential client if she’s down for the both of us? That doesn’t sound like you.” Usually all of the crazy ideas were mine, not his. But Tate did have his moments. And these were the ones I liked.
“Yeah. But not in so many words. We’ll just get a feel for it.” He nodded towards her and I turned, agreeing with my eyes.
“Hi there,” I smiled.
“Hello, are you with Restoration Home Improvement?” Damn, her voice was just as sweet as her smooth face. Even her cheeks were all flushed and cute.
“Yeah. I’m Levi Daniels. This is my partner,
Tate Andrews.” I shook her hand, and so did Levi. She smiled at both of us, but she looked so worried about something. I couldn’t place the cause.
“Um, I can give you guys a look around, if you want. I’m Adley Brown.” She shifted nervously on her feet and wrung her fingers out.
“Yeah. No problem.” Levi shrugged.
She nervously unlocked the door and we stepped inside, but then her shaky fingers dropped the keys and she offered an apologetic smile.
“Sorry. I just inherited this place from my grandmother. She uh, passed away and it’s all I have left of her. I just hope it isn’t so bad it can’t be fixed.” Once she said that, it seemed to explain everything about her demeanor.
“Don’t worry. We can pretty much fix anything.”
6
Adley
I fully intended on staying in the house until the construction workers came, but I had to run last minute errands. And I wasn’t familiar with the island yet, so I got a little lost on the way back. I had just bought a few frozen dinners to last for a bit. I wasn’t sure what conditions the house was even in to start using the gas stove or anything.
When I pulled up into my driveway, I didn’t expect what I saw. I even drove slower to get a better look. I saw the truck first, and then the two men on the porch. I guess it was my porch now. They were pacing across the deck like two masses of muscular prowess.
One had dark, messy hair and wide shoulders that looked like they could work as a bulldozer. Next to him was a man of similar size, but with lighter, sandy brown hair. They were engrossed in conversation. They seemed like friends. Once they noticed I was there, they both looked at me and stopped. I felt oddly self-conscious as I climbed out of the car.
They did an odd pivot. One stood in front of the other and I could tell they were whispering but I just walked up anyway. As soon as I was in their midst I was so nervous. I stood in the foyer and practically told them my whole life story. Well, my life in the past few days.
But they weren’t assholes about it or anything. They were nice. And very, very pretty.
Levi had this boyish charm, there was something young and free about him. His dark hair and green eyes offset each other in such a brooding way, it was hard to look at anything else. Except Tate. He was just…light, and airy. A breath of fresh air. His light hair and blue eyes gave him that same easy feel.
“So, um, how does this work? I’m not really sure. I’ve never had to use a construction company before.”
The two of them stood in the archway between the dining room and foyer. Levi flashed a crooked smile and shook his head.
“You aren’t using us, technically. It’s more like willing manual labor.” He grinned. Tate shot him a look, but Levi’s eyes were already passing over my body in a way that both unnerved and excited me. I wasn’t wearing anything special. But he looked at me like he wanted me out of my clothes just as much as he liked seeing me in them.
I cleared my throat nervously and managed a nervous laugh.
“Oh. Right.” I stuttered. I felt my face growing hot.
I had to talk myself down. They were just here doing their job. I had to get a grip.
“Let’s just take a walk around. Then we’ll uh, go from there.” Tate offered a kind smile. It reassured me somehow. I did feel more at ease with the whole thing, but I was still nervous about the pretty men in my house.
I was still getting used to this even being my house.
“Okay. Um, I’m not very good at giving tours. The house is still kind of new to me.”
“No worries. We do this a lot.” Levi smiled that grin that could mean so many other things.
Then Levi stepped in front and Tate followed him. I hadn’t noticed Tate holding a tablet, but he took it out and then straightened his face as he did some tapping. Levi walked into the kitchen and I just followed them both. They didn’t seem like robbers or impersonators or anything, where I felt like I had to constantly supervise them; I just wanted to watch them as much as I could.
Levi started talking construction speak about the baseboards and the foundation. The appliances, wiring, a bunch of technical stuff.
“Were you wanting any structural changes?” Tate asked me after we went from the kitchen to the living room.
The couch I slept on was the only thing that even looked live-in at the moment.
“Structural changes?” I stared back at Levi, blinking like a deer caught in the headlights. He just gave me a kind, reassuring smile and explained.
“Yeah. I mean, do you want to change anything like removing walls or something like that?”
“Oh. No, I don’t think so. I just want it updated. I know it really isn’t right now.” I crossed my arms and shifted my weight. That nervous guilt fell over me again. They must have realized I hadn’t taken good care of my grandmother. She had been living in these conditions and I didn’t help her. I wouldn’t have had much money, but I would have insisted she live with me. My apartment wasn’t much better, though…I supposed things were just supposed to run the way they did. This was it.
“Cool. Gotcha.” Tate and Levi looked over something on the tablet and then they pressed forward.
They checked the dining room and then walked up the cramped staircase to the second level. Being alone in their presence was definitely intimidating. They were both so broad and tall. They could easily grab me and have their way with me, and I wasn’t sure why I was more intrigued by that than afraid.
“The place has a lot of charm,” Tate said.
“Thanks. Is that bad?” I bit my lip nervously and glanced between them both. Levi chuckled, a deep sexy rumble I felt in my toes.
“We’re not finished yet, hun.” Levi winked and crossed the landing to the first bedroom.
The master was very old fashioned. I vaguely remember seeing pictures of what this had looked like when she bought it. From the real estate listing. It had been cute at one point. A cottage feel. The bed and dresser were very dark wood. The bed sat on a high platform and had four posters. The couch and all the furniture were covered in tarps, too.
They went through the room and then through the bathroom as well. There were a lot of stolen glances between all of us. I got the feeling they were both checking me out, and it wasn’t even from an over-confidence standpoint. I could literally feel it. I just didn’t know if they both knew each of them was looking at me like that.
Or maybe they did. And that was almost more unnerving than anything else.
“The only other room is the library.”
I led them to the small hallway that would otherwise be missed. I remembered it from when I walked through the night before. There were barely any books and the curtains were so dark no light was even coming through. The built-in shelves were barely hanging on, and most of the books were almost out of their binding, too.
After they looked around that room they reconvened in the kitchen. The countertop looked very unstable, especially under their solid arms as they leaned forward over the tablet. They mostly spoke in hushed whispers and jargons I didn’t understand.
“I’d offer you guys something to drink but there’s nothing here. I don’t want you guys to think I’m a bad host or something.” I leaned against the far wall and I thought I felt the sheet rock crumble. I figured it was just my nerves crunching against each other.
“No problem, hun.” Levi winked at me. I swallowed at his pet name and wondered if he called every other woman that. He looked like he got a lot of women easily. Tate, too. But he just smiled and shook his head at his friend.
“So, based on everything we saw we can get the job done,” Tate said.
I felt like a weight was lifted off me. “Really? That’s great!” I smiled wider than I had in a long time.
Tate smiled and turned it to Levi.
“But, there are some red flags here. The electrical already looks bad, so we’ll need to get someone in here for that. The plumbing too. It smells like there is some mold, so we have to err o
n the safe side and do a complete inspection. But it’s doable.” Levi grinned like he didn’t just spin my head in a million circles.
“Whoa. Okay.” My face fell and I felt my nerves creeping up again.
“It isn’t as bad as it sounds. You can trust us,” Tate added. I felt a little better, but it was still very overwhelming.
“How much will it all cost? Like a very rough estimate.”
“Uh…fifty to eighty. It really depends on how bad the electrical and plumbing are. If the whole place needs a re-do, it will be on the higher side.”
“Oh. Okay.” Fifty thousand dollars. Thank God she had left me some money.
Levi saw my panic. “When we’re done, you’ll double your money if you sell. Promise.”
“Okay then I guess that isn’t too bad. When can you start?”
I swallowed nervously.
“Today. Tomorrow. Whenever,” Levi replied. It sounded like he was talking about sex but that could just be me with my head in the gutter. And my eyes unable to peel themselves from either of their muscled bodies.
“Awesome. Thank you.” I crossed their space to shake their hands. I didn’t even know if that was something done, but I did it anyway. And the feeling of their calloused, rough, large, hot hands…I was bubbling with nervous energy, among other things.
“No problem. But, while we work you’ll want to stay with a friend or in a hotel. It won’t be livable in the early stages,” Tate said. “We like to do all the demo at once.”
“Oh.”
I don’t know why I was partially disappointed. Time in a hotel could be a mini vacation.
Maybe it was because I wouldn’t have a reason to be here. Staring at their muscled bodies, working and using their hands…
It was good I’d be in a hotel. Really good.
7
Adley
The only long term hotel I could stay in was about twenty minutes away, on the New York mainland. I didn’t want to get anything too expensive because I wasn’t sure how long I would be there, and I needed a place with a fridge so I wouldn’t be eating take-out every day.
Cuff Me Page 13