I looked to Brody, and we shared a long, sullen look. In high school, we'd been chemistry partners – and not by choice.
Brody told Landon, "You thought wrong. No chemistry here."
"Yeah," I chimed in. "That goes double for me."
Undaunted, Landon gave me another long look. Something in his gaze made me feel just a little bit naked – not physically, but definitely mentally.
He reached up to stroke his chin before asking, "So what's your connection to the house?"
The blonde – Waverly – answered on my behalf. "Thereisno connection. And she was just leaving."
"Actually," I said, "my grandparents owned the place." I turned and gave Waverly a pointed look as I continued. "If you want thetruth, it's been in my family for generations."
At this, Waverly gave me a smile that looked more like a grimace. "How nice."
When I looked back to Landon, he was nodding again. "Interesting." Slowly, he turned and surveyed the lawn before turning back to ask, "So that's why you were mowing? To fix up the ol' homestead?"
It was a simple question. But the answer was obscenely complicated. Yes, family nostalgia had played a role in it. But I'd also been mowing out of misguided gratitude – to Brody of all people.
I mumbled, "Something like that."
"Right," he said. "So, how'd you like to join the team? Maybe do some consulting?"
I froze.Wait, what?
Chapter 14
Arden
The question caught me off guard. After a long, perplexed pause, I asked, "What kind of consulting?"
Landon pointed toward my grandparent's place. "You know they're fixing that up as part of the show, right?"
Boy, did I ever – now, anyway.
When I gave a silent nod, he continued, "And Iknowyou've seen the show."
Yeah, me and the rest of the world.Against all logic,Blastwas the network's number-one show of all time. Aside from the monster ratings, it had spawned countless memes, a cult-like following, and plenty of unique offers for the brothers – movie roles, cameos, endorsement opportunities, and even marriage proposals from multiple fans.
The whole thing was beyond crazy.
And yet, the brothers declined everything, unless it directly involved either the TV show or their tool company.
As far as the show itself, I was pretty sure that I'd seen all of the episodes.Multiple times.It wasn’t that I was a fan or anything. It was just that, well, I'd been curious, that's all.
Plus, I loved the whole remodeling thing. Seeing houses restored to their original beauty was oddly addicting, especially when I happened to know one of the stars.
I said, "I might've caught an episode or two."
"So tell me," Landon said. "Where are you working?"
"Sorry, what?"
"A job," he said. "Youdohave one, right?"
Oh, God. Talk about embarrassing."No. Not really. I mean, I just graduated from college, so–."
"Perfect."
