Page 2 of Solid Foundation
“How was work?”
“Fine.” I sighed, sipping my perfectly poured drink. “They want to make my next job into a reality TV show.”
“Wait, what?” Slade’s cue slipped as he took the shot and he missed the ball he was aiming for. He grimaced at the pool table before he gave me a look of confusion. “What are you talking about?”
I took a sip of beer and shrugged. “Apparently some TV bigwig wants to do a show about restoring old homes. They’ve picked Port Grandlin, and they want that old house I was working on last week to start with.” I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. “Guess I won’t get to restore it after all.”
“Why the hell not?” Knox narrowed his eyes at me before refocusing on the pool table. He took a clean shot and sank a solid ball in a side pocket, which caused Slade to mutter a swear.
“I don’t want to be on TV. Can you imagine?”
Axton chuckled and shook his head. “Your surly ass? On TV?” He snorted. “Hardly. What would they do with your perma-scowl?”
I flipped him off and took a long pull from my beer. “So I guess that’s it for me. I really liked that fucking house, too.” I wasn’t sure why I felt so drawn to the house that wasn’t even mine. It needed a ton of work—in some places it needed strip-to-the-studs work—but it was beautiful and I felt like the restoration efforts were calling to me. My hands itched to get inside and start demolishing things.
Knox took another shot and missed. “I think you should go for it.”
“Yeah, yeah, fuck you too,” I muttered.
Slade tapped his cue on the concrete floor twice. “He’s right. You should do it.”
I rolled my eyes. “What are you two even talking about? Me? On reality TV?”
Axton lifted his glass and nodded at me. “Who gives a fuck about the reality TV part? You want this job, right?”
“Sure, but—”
“No. But nothing. You want the job, you were offered the job, you take the job.” Axton nodded at me. “Right?”
He made it sound so simple. “I’ll think about it,” I conceded finally. “But no promises.”
Chapter Two
Max
As I filled my coffee cup from the pot in the break room, footsteps echoed across the vinyl tile. The second I finished pouring, I glanced over my shoulder to say hello and saw my boss, Doug Cutler, entering the room. I nodded and smiled by way of greeting.
“Morning, boss.”
“Max,” he said with a wide smile. “Just the person I was looking for.” He leaned casually against the counter and I raised my eyebrows, curious.
“What can I do for you?”
“I have a new project, one I think you’d be perfect for.”
I nodded and sipped my coffee slowly, trying not to burn myself. “I’m listening,” I said as I lowered the cup.
“We’re planning a pilot for a home makeover show, one with a twist. This is more of a… well, it’s a makeover-slash-construction hybrid. We’ll be taking an old house or building in a small town and restoring it. We need a producer with a strong vision for this one and I’d like to put you in that position.”
I frowned into my coffee cup. “I don’t know. I don’t have much of a construction background.”
He held up a hand and shook his head. “No need. We have a great construction crew on the ground locally we’re working to get on board. They specialize in this sort of work, and the foreman we’re hoping to get is very experienced. He’ll be a great liaison for you. And the homeowners have experience with reality shows already. They were onDestination Lovelast season.”
“Which ones were they?” I was a sucker forDestination Loveand the previous season had been the first season that followed exclusively LGBT couples, which was especially of personal interest to me as a gay man working in reality TV.
“Jared and Matthias.”
“They’re in Virginia, right? That’s not too far away.”
