Chapter one
Ozzy
Three Rivers, Michigan wasnot exactly a cultural hub. Ozzy hadn’t expected much, but he was still disappointed by howlittlethe town had to offer. It reminded him way too much of home back in Pine Point, but without the lovely mountain ambience of the Cascades to soften the rougher edges. The eponymous rivers were nice, at least, but those were the only thing of interest that drew his attention, and they passed by them entirely too quickly for his liking on their way to the hotel.
Maybe I’m not being fair. It wasn’t as if he was in the best mood. They’d just wrapped the job down in Springfield, which took fucking forever thanks to Jake and Quinn’s teenage-style romance shenanigans. Jake still had a big, goofy grin on his face as they all stood in the meeting room of the local hotel they were staying at, though that wasn’t completely out of the ordinary for him when hewasn’tsmitten. He was a Golden Retriever madehuman. Sweet. Great guy, much as the endlessjoygrated on Ozzy. No one could legit be that happy all the time.
Anyway, Ozzy couldn’t be too upset with anyone else. He’d played his own part in delaying their progress on the last house. It was a loteasierto blame everyone else, though, especially when he was annoyed. He’d needled and picked at Quinn and Jake both. Flew too close to the sun and burned himself along with everyone else.
Which was why Ozzy kept his complaints inside rather than letting them loose. His way of taking responsibility for his part in the whole mess. Jake passed him a box of donuts, which Ozzy set in the center of the semicircular table in the middle of the room. When Jake stepped back, he caught his ankle on the leg of one of the chairs and fell back on his butt. Still smiling, and he waved as though it was all part of the plan.
Amazing he still has fingers.A carpenter so accident-prone should have been down at least a couple digits after so many years. As he got up and bowed, Ozzy smiled in spite of himself. Jake was just sodamngood-natured…most of the time. Ozzy’s jaw was still sore from where Jake had smacked him around.But yeah. That one was on me.
Mason and Robinson walked back through the door. Mason was large and smiled almost as much as Jake. His eyes always sparkled, and dimples cut into full, rosy cheeks. Pure charisma. It was why he made such a good spokesperson for the Pine Point Fixer-Uppers crew.
Robinson was almost the exact opposite. He’d never been a happy-go-lucky sort of guy, but he was especially drawn and downtrodden lately. Hands stuffed into his pockets, smiling tautly at whatever Mason was saying, a depth in his eyes that was honestly a little hard to look at sometimes. He’d done time and hadn’t exactly lived the most pleasant life before that. He also didn’t share very much with Ozzy, so any specifics were guessesand secondhand rumors. He was still a solid plumber, and when it came to the show, that was what mattered. Not that theyweren’tfriends, just not BFFs forever.
“You just going to stand there or take a seat?” Aras was all angles, from his sharp nose to his peaked eyebrows to his elbows as he sat with arms crossed over his chest. He fixed heavy-lidded eyes on Ozzy and pressed one eyebrow even higher. “Earth to Ozzy?”
Ozzy sighed as he took the chair next to Aras. “You’re just annoyed because this job’s going to be a nightmare for you. Don’t take it out on me because you decided to be an electrician.”
“Last thing you’ll hear me complain about is doing my job. Some of us don’t need to be martyrs.” He mockingly raised his hands to his chest and opened his mouth in a mock wail. “Oh, woe is me. I’m Ozzy. I get my hands dirty doing landscaping. I’m an extra special boy.”
Ozzy rolled his eyes. “Have you considered a new personality? I’d recommend it. This edgy asshole shit went out of style in the mid two-thousands.”
“So did frat boy douchebag, yetyoudon’t show any signs of changing.”
Before Ozzy could get another barb in, the door to the meeting room opened, letting three figures inside. Eliza was the show’s producer, a young, slim woman with oversized eyes and shiny black hair. She cast a brief smile around at everyone, then set some papers down on the table and took her seat.
Then cameEvander. Ozzy could deal with everyone else just fine—in spite of any evidence, that included Aras—but Evander knew him too well. Years of on-again-off-again dating had revealed way more of him than Ozzy was comfortable with, now. He was constantly changing up his look. Back when they all went their separate ways, he’d been all heavy eyeliner and foundation five shades too light that made him look like he hadsome horrible illness. His family had come from Mexico several generations back, and he either spent plenty of time outside or had regular appointments at a tanning salon because his skin was a deep bronze, almost copper. He had a pair of sunglasses perched on top of his head and wore a halfway open Hawaiian shirt, showing off the cut lines of his chest.
I always did have good taste.Physically, Evander was a damn fine specimen. Ozzy could admit that.
Personality-wise…if they didn’t have totalk, the relationship probably would have lasted a lot longer.
Evander took a seat, thankfully not saying anything to set Ozzy even more on edge, and the third person walked in. She was heavyset with a heart-shaped face, and a pronounced widow’s peak. She was rather on the short side and wore a loose, flowing blouse over a tight tank top, both in shades of black, with white harem pants. Melanie Trang was their client for this job, and as she walked in, her eyes widened. Ozzy followed her gaze and realized she was looking at the cameras tucked off to the back of the room. Ozzy had spent the last three weeks with them, and had worked on their VideoHead channel before that. He’d already forgotten they were there.
Mason held out his hand. “Melanie. Don’t worry about the cameras. They’re harmless.”
She nodded and sat gingerly on one of the two empty chairs left in the room with a nervous chuckle. “I’m sorry. There’s just a lot going on right now.”
“Well, we’re all ready to help.” Aras of all people responded and leaned forward. “If Bunny ever shows up?”
Shewasusually Johnny-on-the-spot for everything. Jake already had his phone out before anyone else could ask. He tapped her up, then set the phone down to ring on the table.
She picked up after two rings. “Hey, love. I’m almost there. Marv was missing his momma, so I had to call and handlesome big feelings. I’m just slapping on some blush and I’ll be downstairs.”
“All right,” said Jake. “We’ll hold vigil until you arrive.”
He hung up and Mason leaned toward Melanie. “Well, we had a video chat last night to just make sure you know everyone’s faces. Need a refresher, or are we all good?”
“I’m good.” Another nervous laugh. “I really appreciate this.”
Evander grinned. “Doll, it’s what we do. I’m so excited about this already, just from looking through your file.”
Bullshit. There was almost nothing worth paying attention to in the brief packet of information they’d gotten about her and her house.Mr. Honesty my ass.He could pretend all he wanted.
Chapter two
