Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read

Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.books2020.com Fri, 06 Dec 2024 20:22:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.books2020.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.books2020.com 32 32 Fake It for Christmas (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #9) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.books2020.com/fake-it-for-christmas-fixer-brothers-construction-co-9-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Fri, 06 Dec 2024 20:22:56 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/fake-it-for-christmas-fixer-brothers-construction-co-9-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 41373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >43

I’m a jock-next-door from Tennessee, and he’s a city boy running from his past.
But I need a fake boyfriend this Christmas… and now he’s in my bed.
I’m only good at two things: sports and holiday spirit. But this Christmas feels different, even though I should have everything I want. My family’s bugging me again about why I’m still single, and I’m getting desperate.
Rowen’s nothing like me. He’s smart, accomplished, and back in Tennessee from the city—not by choice. Even though he’s straight, he agrees to be my fake boyfriend for my family’s Christmas party.
He says I’m hot and could have any guy I want, but I don’t get it. I’m just muscle with a reindeer sweater on top.
…But he wants me to teach him.
About being with a man.
Who could resist a gift like that?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

SHANE

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the advertisement online, gleaming out at me like a bonfire out on a cold winter night.

Fixer Brothers Home Renovation Contest: Couples Edition!

I gripped my phone, staring at the simple ad on the screen like I was a kid who’d just found a golden ticket in a chocolate bar.

Yes. Fuck yes.

The jazzy piano version of “O Christmas Tree” playing on my living room speakers suddenly felt too calming compared to the surge of adrenaline hitting my veins.

This was what I needed. It would be my Christmas gift to myself. It didn’t matter what I had to do: I was going to enter the contest.

And I was going to win.

“This is not a drill,” I told my sister Mariel. “There’s a contest to be on the Fixer Brothers TV show.”

She didn’t even look back. She was reaching up high on a stepladder, pinning the last of the Christmas garlands around the living room ceiling.

I’d never won anything in my life—hell, I’d somehow never even managed to get so much as a participation trophy in anything I did as a kid. Soccer, baseball, basketball, football. I’d played and enjoyed them all, and I’d never been remarkable at any of them.

But I was not an average Fixer Brothers fan.

I’d wanted to be a home renovation client since the moment I’d first seen their TV show.

“You think The Fixer Brothers would come all the way out here?” Mariel said, stepping back down to the floor. “The middle of nowhere, Tennessee, to a house that’s a hundred years old?”

“Hey,” I protested. “I love my house, and you bet your ass they’d love it, too.”

“I’ll admit, it has a charm,” she said. “Especially around Christmas.”

It was the beginning of November, but my sister and I were steadfast: starting November first, we were allowed to hang holiday decorations. And that was exactly what we did, every year. She helped at my house, and I helped at hers.

She reached down to plug in the cord hanging from the garland and all around the ceiling, glowing white Christmas lights lit up, strung throughout the pine garland. These types of lights always had a way of making any room come alive, and suddenly my dusty old living room became more like a cozy, wood-framed hideout. Memories flooded my mind. The scent of ham roasting in the oven, Mariel and I as kids coming inside from snowball fights, and Gram laughing in the kitchen.

I felt like I came alive when those lights switched on, too.

The rollercoaster shitstorm of the past few years lessened, and I could remember what it felt like to be me.

To maybe even let myself want things again.

I glanced back down at my phone, the yearning in my chest almost too much to take. “The contest says it’s open to the whole United States,” I said. “Screw it. I’m applying.”

“It’s rare to win things like that. But I guess you’ve got nothing to lose.”

“Yeah,” I said, scrolling through the contest website.

She gave me a dubious look as she glanced down at my phone, seeing the details.

“Shane,” she said in a gentle tone. “Did… did you see that it says couples edition?”

I pulled in a breath of air, leaning back on the couch. “I did.”

“And that you have to showcase why you and your partner are perfect for the show,” she continued, “in a five-minute video you need to submit?”

I was like a stubborn puppy who wouldn’t give up his stick, not making eye contact with Mariel.

“I did see that,” I said, defiant.

She chewed on the side of her cheek. “How do you plan to… handle that? Being single, and all?”

That, of course, was the big elephant in the room.

Or the big elephant in my mind, because no one was more aware of my singlehood than me.

“How could I not apply, though? It’s my favorite show of all time,” I said.

It was an understatement.

I’d seen every single episode of their home renovation show, and I had re-watched all of them an embarrassing amount of times. I followed all of the guys on their individual social media accounts, too, and to me, the Fixer Brothers crew were even bigger celebrities than the damn Royal Family.

But my sister was right.

I was terminally alone, and the contest was supposed to showcase couples.

“I’ll… figure something out,” I told Mariel as she folded up the step ladder.

“This place looks damn good,” she said, glancing around at all of the decorations we’d hung.

We’d been at it for hours. We hauled home a Christmas tree, put up the lights outside, strung more lights and garlands inside, and arranged my seasonal plaid pillows on the couch.

“Gram would have loved it,” I said, already feeling the twinge of tightness in my throat.

It was our second Christmas without Grandma. We kept every tradition she loved alive, starting with these decorations and continuing into all the food we’d make on Christmas day. Her favorite was sweet potato casserole, and holiday garlands in particular were a must.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >43

Advertisement Wedding Bet (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #8) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.books2020.com/wedding-bet-fixer-brothers-construction-co-8-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Thu, 21 Nov 2024 13:34:55 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/wedding-bet-fixer-brothers-construction-co-8-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >73

I made a that I’d be his perfect fake boyfriend for this wedding.
Now I desperately don’t want to lose.

My dark all my life, I’ve felt like a fake.

I act like I have it together. But I fry eggs for a living and can barely pay rent. I’m a hopeless romantic but still chronically alone.

So here at my brother’s wedding, in the middle of snowy mountains at a fancy ski resort, I got… desperate.

“Lucky” Landry Lucock is the definition of having it together. Wealthy, handsome, and completely out of my league. Guys like him don’t want me.

…But now he’s calling me boyfriend, even though we’re anything but.

I made a bet with Landry that I could be his fake boyfriend for this wedding week and put on a killer show for his awful ex. Now we’re sharing everything, and I keep ending up in his bed.

I’m telling myself this will never be more than pretend.

But he’s kissing me even when no one’s around.

And I never bet on something fake being so damn addictive…

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

❄

This book was a pure escape to write, in the best way. Recently I’ve needed it more than ever. A way to find magic again, when the burnout or *handwaves* the world in general is just too much.

Jamie and Landry helped me find that magic again. They went on a hell of a journey to find it for each other, too. Welcome to the snowglobe…

-Raleigh

1

JAMIE

I’d only been in the Rocky Mountains for an hour, and already, I knew I’d royally screwed up.

“I look like a marshmallow,” I told my brother Chase over the phone. I turned around in the light and watched myself in the camera, frowning at the screen. “Tell me why I chose a white puffy jacket, again? And can you go back in time and slap me for choosing a white one?”

“It looks good with your eyes,” he said, peering at me through the video chat. “Makes the blue pop. And you got it because it was the only one on sale.”

“Right. Because no one else wanted it,” I said. “It’s colder than a popsicle out there, though, so I’m going to need it.”

I was in a hotel room that was fancier than anywhere I’d ever been in my life. The lamps were gold-colored, there were old paintings on all of the walls, and there had been an assortment of fine local Colorado chocolates on the pillow when I’d walked in. I sure as fuck couldn’t afford it, but I’d gone all out, treating myself because everybody always said I never did.

I picked up a napkin sitting on the side table, tracing my thumb over the gold impressions around its border and the resort name at the top.

“I know you only picked this ski resort because of its name.”

Chase groaned. “Why does everyone keep telling me that?”

“Chase. It’s called Snowcock Ski Resort.”

“So what?”

I paused, giving him a look over the video call. “Snowcock. Ski. Resort. Snow, cock.”

My brother’s radiant smile came across the screen a moment later. “Okay, so Adam and I did slightly prefer it to the other ones, but it’s not just because it’s called Snowcock, okay?”

“Where does that name even come from?” I asked. “I can picture the owners now, sitting in a room with cigars and brandy years ago, laughing about calling their ski resort Snowcock. I’m sure they knew it would get all of the people like you to come here.”

“Snowcock is the name of a mountain bird, thank you very much,” Chase said, holding up a finger.

“So you like it because you’re such a bird lover, huh?”

“Oh, hell, no,” Chase said. “I love snow. And cock, for that matter.”

We both laughed, and I pulled in a slow breath, taking in the lavish room again. “I am happy to be here at Snowcock. Even if I’m going to freeze all of my limbs off by the end of the week.”

“You’re going to love it,” Chase said. “I give it three hours before you’re in love with the snow.”

“Not going to happen,” I said. My brother was lovely and kind, but he’d moved to this frigid-ass place years ago, and he’d never been as much of a beach bum as me. “I wonder what the temperature is like in Stellara right now.”

Chase and I were from Stellara Beach, California, born and raised. On the video call I saw Chase lean over, checking the temperature app on his phone. “It’s apparently… seventy-five and sunny over there.”

“You just had to have a winter wedding,” I teased him. “You always have to be different, don’t you?”

He smiled. “God, I’m so excited you’re actually here,” Chase said. “Adam and I are arriving there at the ski resort in a few hours. Your room looks fucking sweet, dude.”

Chase lived here in Colorado, about an hour further down the mountains toward Denver. He’d been planning his wedding for a year, and he and his fiance Adam had chosen one of the most beautiful ski lodges in the state. Up here, it was all fancy ski lodges and snow.

But I’d do anything for Chase. It was only the second time in years that I’d actually taken a vacation, and I never would have made it if it wasn’t for his wedding. I’d pinched pennies to visit him in Colorado before, and I had thought it was freezing even when I visited last fall.

I’d never even seen snow until today, when I got out of the cab in the mountains to see a blanket of snow over everything in sight.

“You’ll enjoy the resort,” Chase said.

“I’m going to head downstairs to try and find the bar soon,” I told Chase, taking my cell phone with me as I walked. I left the hotel room and meandered down the long hallway toward the gleaming elevator bay. “By the way, you didn’t tell me that people who look like billionaires hang out in ski lodges.”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >73

Advertisement Home Game (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #7) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.books2020.com/home-game-fixer-brothers-construction-co-7-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Sat, 05 Oct 2024 02:29:46 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/home-game-fixer-brothers-construction-co-7-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >76

He’s pro football’s hottest wide receiver…
But for me he’s pure, red-hot trouble.

Storm Rosling is cocky. Charming. A bad boy football player who can’t keep his name out of headlines and scandals.

In my life, he’s one big red flag.

I’m working with Fixer Brothers Construction to take their home renovation TV show to the stratosphere. I’m all business, and I’m damn good at it. But Storm Rosling is a marketing nightmare - and the new star of the Fixer Brothers’ show.

Every moment of his home renovation will be caught on film for the TV show, and from day one, Storm knows how to get under my skin. He hates my fancy suits and expensive cars. I hate that he could ruin my career with one spicy social media post.

…But I’m craving him, too. Millions of football fans watch him every week, and now I’m addicted, too, in real life and on the screen.

Storm said he was straight. But a challenge turns into a dare and the next thing I know, he’s on top of me. The fire between us burns hotter than ever, and I won’t deny pure attraction.

He wants me.

I want him, too—even if I hate every way he provokes me.

Don’t they say to keep your enemies close?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

EMMETT

It was early September, and a professional football player was about to ruin my life.

I didn’t know that, of course. Not yet.

The cocky, bad-boy, pain in my ass new star wide receiver of the Denver Ferals team wasn’t on my radar. I drove into the Jade Brewery parking lot and shut the door to the Porsche with a satisfying quiet click. It was a quiet afternoon, and a breeze blew through, shuddering the leaves and pine needles of the Aspens and Spruce.

For the first time in months, there was a promising chill in the air.

There.

It was there. The first hint of fall.

Everything is in its right place, and I’m in control.

Leaves were edging toward the gold that would soon fill the mountains, and I was about to be locked into the most promising brand deal of my entire career.

Aimed like a steel arrow right at a bullseye.

And all I had to do was make it happen. To get what I wanted. What I’d known for years that I deserved.

I smoothed out the front of my custom Zegna suit. I’d had it made with subtle lines of crimson on black, to match the red of my favorite car.

Jade Brewery wasn’t exactly the kind of place where I needed to be dressed up. All of small-town Jade River, up here in the mountains, was populated by more people in T-shirts and hiking athleticwear than anything approaching fancy. Even down the mountain in Denver—hell, all of Colorado—wasn’t the kind of place where tailored suits or Italian leather shoes were necessary.

But it was like my armor. Fine fabrics, custom tailoring. I could do anything if I was suited up—I’d once negotiated a client into a deal that ended up making us both millions in this suit, and I was about to do it again.

I caught sight of a couple holding hands, walking into the front doors of the brewery, and bitter regret hit my throat.

Everything was in its right place, sure.

But I was still alone, single for the second autumn in a row.

Had it really been that long since Sam had left? He’d been my whole world, and then one morning he’d been gone. And God, I craved a man’s touch.

Hell, who am I kidding? I craved watching my cock disappear inside of someone. I craved sweat, and skin on skin, and nights that blurred into mornings, delirious and spent and covered in bite marks that I wore like a badge of honor. I craved something physical.

I needed that surrender.

The breeze ripped through the air again, stronger and chillier at the back of my neck as a grey band of clouds crossed through the sky.

Onward and forward, Dad would have said.

No time for broken hearts and touch-starved desperation when there was business to be done.

I swung open one of the front doors of the brewery, heading inside with my head high. I’d long since decided that I was going to enter any business meeting with the same level of respect. Today it was a meeting with construction guys in a bar, but it may as well have been a meeting with a queen at a castle—I gave everyone my full presence and attention. Just like my father had, too.

“Emmett!” I heard from the side of the brewery as I walked under the awning and swung open the wooden front doors. I spotted Shawn and Nathan, the brother duo behind Fixer Brothers Construction, sitting at one of the bigger leather booths near the edge of the bar.

I gave them a wave as I walked over. Something intoxicating was filling the air, and it wasn’t just vaporized alcohol coming over from all of the giant metal brewing tanks at the side of the room.

“This whole place smells like beer, apple, and cloves,” I said as I approached. “Allspice, maybe? It’s like I just walked into fall heaven.”

Shawn held up a pitcher of amber-colored beer on the table in front of him. “Harlan is testing out batches of this year’s fall ale as we speak. We’ve got a sneak-peek sample pitcher here.”

“Lucky us,” I said, sliding into the opposite side of the booth. “Shawn, did you see the announcement for the new Preston Gildon book? Fifth in the series?”

Shawn’s eyebrows lifted. “A new Gildon book? Holy shit, we’ve been waiting almost six years to continue the series. That’s awesome.”

“Announced yesterday,” I said with a nod as Nathan poured me a golden, foamy pint of the fall ale. “Should be out by Christmas. Can’t wait. And Nathan, I bet your daughter is excited for that bubble tea shop opening up down the street.”

Nathan held up a hand. “Oh, she’s mentioned it about six times a day, every day. I don’t know why teenagers are bubble tea obsessed, but I guess I’ll find out once that place opens.”

“You’ll love it,” I said. “Your daughter’s onto something.”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >76

Advertisement For the Cameras (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #6) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.books2020.com/for-the-cameras-fixer-brothers-construction-co-6-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Sat, 22 Jun 2024 18:38:15 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/for-the-cameras-fixer-brothers-construction-co-6-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >82

Our fans get to see everything when we’re together on camera.
But what’s between the two of us is strictly for the videos… right?

I’ve been a socially awkward introvert for my whole life—and not a soul knows that I upload anonymous videos to an adult site. By day, I’m a shy office worker. At night, I have my hand, my phone camera, and a little secret.

Chase is my polar opposite. He’s a camera guy who’s in my house every day, filming for the Fixer Brothers Construction TV show as they renovate my place. Chase is confident. Flirty. A colorful social butterfly, charming the pants off of everyone he meets. When he finds out my secret, I’m mortified.

…But I never thought that I would end up in front of his camera.

Doing things I’ve never done with another guy.

But it’s all for the cameras, and for our fans. Chase doesn’t do commitment, and I can’t let myself fall for him. But when his hands are on me, I’m falling harder and faster than I ever thought I could…

Even when the cameras stop rolling.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

CHASE

On the day I met Adam Dix, I didn’t know I was going to meet Adam Dix.

In fact, I was watching one of his videos online that morning, edging myself for as long as I could before I had to finish and go to work.

Adam’s voice came through, deep and velvety even from my little laptop speakers as he talked throughout the video in his irresistible, addictive way:

“I wish this was your hand, instead,” he said, stroking himself before letting out a deep sigh that almost made me blow.

I gripped myself hard, knowing I couldn’t edge myself for much longer.

Adam Dix was an amateur in every sense of the word—this was one guy filming videos of himself on his cell phone camera at home in his bedroom. Not some grand, overedited production. And that was the way I liked it. Adam was a relatively unknown creator on the OnlyShots website, and he’d never shown his full face.

I liked wondering who he was. Part of me got off on not knowing, even though I was so curious it drove me crazy.

He bit his bottom lip in the video and panned the camera back down lower again, pumping himself with his fist like I was doing right now, too.

Adam’s videos always did it for me.

And I was about to blow.

I shifted on my seat and right as I was about to lose control, my front door buzzer rang out, filling the air. I jumped on the chair, broken from my Adam Dix trance.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath as the buzzer rang out again.

It was the world’s most heinously timed alarm.

I loosened my grip. Reluctantly.

I had no idea who the hell would be at my door this early on a weekday, but I had to get to work anyway. I had no time left to waste drooling over Adam’s latest upload like I was some sort of animal. I closed the lid of my laptop, shoved my pants up, and grabbed my bag, hauling ass out my apartment door in a rushed daze. I looped down the stairs that led to the street and opened up the door.

I squinted in the morning sun, looking down to see a pink envelope resting on the red brick outside the apartment doorstep.

Nobody was outside.

The envelope had my name written on it and was sitting next to a single red rose. Beside them both was a colossal plastic cup of iced coffee, dripping with condensation in the summer warmth.

My chest tensed. Something told me that there wasn’t going to be anything good contained in that envelope.

I picked it up and tore it open, finding a handwritten letter inside.

Chase,

Our time together has been nothing short of beautiful. You’ve opened my soul, in a way no words could express. But as I leave Colorado, some doors opening means others have to close. I’ve decided not to return.

But remember: no one has ever sucked me off like you do.

Loveliest wishes, Victor

PS. Enjoy the coffee. I know you like them iced, sweet, and bigger than your head.

“Fuck me,” I said under my breath.

At least Victor had said I sucked good dick.

I reached for the coffee, taking a long sip through the straw. Icy cold and ribboned with cream and caramel, just the way I liked it. A squirrel running by on the sidewalk took one look at me before he ran away, too.

I crumpled up the letter and shoved it in my pocket to throw away later.

Victor was a guy I’d met at The Rowdy Box, a gay club down in Denver. He and I had only been having a casual fling for three weeks, but like all things with me, it had been… intense.

I may or may not have hooked up with him every single night for the past three weeks. My dick tended to lead me to places where my brain couldn’t quite catch up, and attention was what I craved most.

I’d known that my latest fling would be flying off to New York City soon, but until now, he’d led me on, making me think we could still hook up regularly when he visited Colorado.

I wasn’t heartbroken. Not in the slightest.

I was just insatiable.

But that was a problem for future me. I needed to get to work. I took another chug of the iced coffee, praying that the cold, sweet, caffeinated nectar of the gods would fuel me for a long day of filming ahead.

I found my beat-up blue Honda Civic parked nearby on the side of the street, swung open the door, and sank into the front seat.

My elbow caught the steering wheel, and in a flash, the plastic lid popped off the coffee. A rush of cold liquid and ice waterfalled down the front of my body.

“Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me.”

Ice and coffee pooled in my lap. I sucked in a breath through my teeth, saying every swear word I knew in a singsong voice.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >82

Advertisement Bear’s Best Friend (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #5) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.books2020.com/bears-best-friend-fixer-brothers-construction-co-5-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Sat, 27 Apr 2024 17:49:16 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/bears-best-friend-fixer-brothers-construction-co-5-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >72

He’s a ray of sunshine. I’m a loner lumberjack. We don’t make sense……But my straight best friend keeps ending up in my bed.

Sawyer Hendricks is the best friend I’ve ever had—the Goose to my Moose, and the shoulder I’ve cried on even though I’m not the crying type. The difference between us? Sawyer brightens any room in an instant, and I’m the gruff guy wearing flannel who’d rather be alone.

My first mistake was admitting to Sawyer that I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been kissed--because the punk leaned over and kissed me, right then and there.

…And then he ended up in my bed. Just friends, right?

Now I’ve gotten a taste, and he wants another taste of me, too. But no matter how hot it is when we’re together, Sawyer’s straight. This is innocent fun for him, and I’ve long since learned to shove my true feelings for him where the sun don’t shine. I’m no good at feelings, anyway.

He’s renovating the brewery where I work, and now we’re in closer contact than ever. My heart’s been shattered before, and there’s no chance I’ll let anything threaten the deepest friendship of my life.

But I’m only human. How can I resist when my best friend is begging for more?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

HARLAN

“Finally decided to show up, huh?” I teased my best friend as he walked over toward the bar.

Sawyer raised an eyebrow at me. “Miss me much? I said I’d get here at six, and it’s two past six right now.”

“That’s what we like to call late.”

Something twinkled behind his eyes. I didn’t know if I wanted to hop over the oak bar top and wrestle him to the ground or pull him into a big hug.

Sawyer tossed my bullshit right back at me, teasing me like no one else did. “Not my fault you were twiddling your thumbs waiting for me to get here. Where’s my red carpet?”

I gave him a look of mock anger when in reality, we both knew I was glad every time he walked through the brewery doors. He could be as late as he wanted, and I’d still melt whenever I saw him. Sawyer brightened any room he walked into, and my heart may as well have had his name tattooed all over it.

I grabbed a frosted glass. “Sit your ass in that chair and get ready to try this. I’ve created the best IPA in all of Colorado, bar none. No competition.”

“Those are some big words,” Sawyer said. He leaned over the bar, peering at my phone, which I’d been looking at before he’d walked in. “Hold on. What’s this?”

I glanced over at my phone screen, a flash of embarrassment bolting through me in an instant. “Fuck. Don’t look at that. Sawyer Hendricks, I swear to—”

But it was too late.

Sawyer was wide-eyed, leaning over my phone and reading one of my private dating app messages while I was pulling the tap on our new pale ale.

“Hi, Daddy,” Sawyer read the message out loud, affecting a smooth, sultry tone of voice. “I’ve never seen a bear as perfect as you on this app. I would suck you dry before you could even scream my—”

“That’s enough,” I said, reaching for the phone and swiping it away. I locked it and slid it into my pocket.

I’d never let Sawyer know how embarrassed I was, and I hoped to hell he couldn’t see it. My cheeks felt hot. I shared almost everything with him, and I’d trust him with my whole world, but this type of message was unusual to say the least.

“I didn’t know you were on a dating app,” Sawyer said, his crystal-blue eyes going wide. “Since when?”

I clenched my jaw as I finished pouring his IPA, and I slid the glass over toward him.

“I am not on a dating app,” I said. “I don’t do dating apps. And am I really a bear just because I’m gay, I have a nice beard, and I look like a lumberjack?”

Sawyer gave me a mischievous, quizzical look. “Well… it seems like you are, considering I just read a message you got from a guy who wants to suck you dry.”

“Christ, don’t say that phrase.”

He laughed, and I took a beat to try and compose myself. In reality, part of the reason I didn’t want him saying that phrase was because it was liable to start getting me hard, and the last thing I needed was to be hard right now.

Not while I was on the clock, and not because of something my straight best friend had said.

“Still. It’s a dating app, and you’re on it,” he said.

“Well, I guess technically I am on this one. But only because Charlie swiped my phone and secretly made the profile for me while I was busy feeding the beer tanks last night. I woke up to a few messages today.”

Sawyer pursed his lips. “That guy sure seemed interested in you.”

“Not going to happen,” I said. “That guy was ridiculous.”

“What? You don’t like when guys call you a big, sexy, burly bear?” Sawyer teased.

“Shut up.”

My body had gone all molten even hearing Sawyer read the contents of that message. It had sounded so stupid to me over text from a stranger, but in Sawyer’s familiar, comforting voice?

It was a little too hot.

Not that it mattered. Sawyer was straight, and I wasn’t, and that was okay. I was used to it. Long ago, I’d trained myself to ignore my attraction to my best friend. Even if I was never shy about telling him how much I liked him as a person.

Wavy sun-kissed hair, striking blue eyes, and skin that had been tanned from years of working on a farm. I would be stupid not to think my best friend was hot.

“Hey. I’m proud of you,” Sawyer said softly. “Getting back out there into dating again can’t be easy.”

Sawyer knew better than anyone that I’d been through tough times when it came to dating in the past, and that it still wasn’t easy for me now. Eight years ago, my boyfriend Thomas had passed away, and healing from that grief had been a very long process.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >72

Advertisement Christmas with My Best Friend’s Dad (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #4) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.books2020.com/christmas-with-my-best-friends-dad-fixer-brothers-construction-co-4-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Fri, 15 Dec 2023 11:43:45 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/christmas-with-my-best-friends-dad-fixer-brothers-construction-co-4-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30218 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >32

When I met my best friend's dad in a bar, I didn't know he was my best friend's dad. Not yet, at least.

This Christmas, I only had two to get my kitchen renovated and to find a hot older guy to keep me warm at night. I never thought I'd find both in the small town of Jade River, where people take the holiday season very seriously (and always with beer or mulled wine). I ended up in the arms of exactly the man I wanted, and we shared a scorching night under my Christmas tree that I'll never forget. ...Then reality hit. His son is my best friend, and what we did should have been forbidden. Now our lives are more intertwined than either of us ever bargained for.

But on these cold winter nights, I'm starting to think I'm addicted to him...Christmas with My Best Friend's Dad is a short novella (appx 27,000 words) and is stuffed full of holiday cheer, snow, and hot guys in scarves (and even hotter under the Christmas tree).

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

CASEY

In my defense, the night I slept with my best friend’s dad, I didn’t know he was my best friend’s dad.

Not at first, at least. I’m not a monster.

It all started in my kitchen, where I was running my mouth way too much to the Fixer Brothers Construction crew.

“All I’m saying is that it’s December, and I need cock,” I said. “Christmas cock. Now more than ever.”

I bit my lip as soon as I’d said it, wishing I could shove the words back in my mouth. We’d been talking nicely and innocently about how much we enjoyed Christmas, and now I’d gone and brought up how desperate I was for dick.

Typical.

I glanced around the kitchen at Charlie, Nathan, and Shawn, the three very professional construction workers who were just starting in on my small kitchen renovation. Without missing a beat, though, one of them let out a whistle, and everyone cracked up.

“Oh, thank God you guys laughed,” I said, relaxing against my kitchen table. “I regretted what I said the moment I said it. Let’s talk about the weather, instead. How about that snow, huh?”

“Christmas cock? More like December dick,” Nathan joked, breezing right past my attempt to change the subject.

“Santa schlong,” Charlie added with a snicker.

“Holiday hog,” Shawn added.

“Winter wang. Present penis. Merry member. The Gift of girth,” Charlie said, smiling wide now. “I could go on forever.”

Relief flooded through me. I’d been working for the Fixer Brothers for a few months, after they’d hired me to do an overhaul of their website and online marketing—and now I’d hired them to do some work on my place. I’d already been friendly with the guys, but I certainly hadn’t talked to them about how badly I needed cock before. We’d been all business up until this point.

But anyone who talked about the gift of girth, I could consider a friend.

“I knew I liked you guys,” I said. “Maybe when I finalize the code for the Fixer Brothers website overhaul, I should add in a note that each home renovation comes with free dick jokes, too.”

“If the customer wants them, of course,” Nathan said from above the tile saw that was currently stationed at the edge of my kitchen. “I say we go deeper. Tell us more about your Christmas cock needs, Casey. We all need a little dick sometimes, right? Whether we’re giving it or getting it?”

“Ignore him,” Charlie told me, waving a hand toward Nathan. “He thought he was straight until he met Kace Tomlin and now he’s ga-ga for football player dick.”

“Just because I came out later in life doesn’t mean I don’t get it,” Nathan protested. “I’ve learned a lot of new things since dating Kace.”

“Say no more. I get it,” I said. “I usually go for older men myself, but Kace Tomlin is the hottest pro football player I’ve ever seen. You’re a lucky man.”

“I really am,” Nathan said, a dreamy smile landing on his face.

Each of the guys had white work T-shirts on, printed with their Fixer Brothers Construction Co company logo. When I’d gotten an email from them a few months back, seeking out a website developer, I’d jumped at the chance. Hell, I’d leaped on it like a ravenous lion. The Fixer Brothers were a huge deal, lately—not only were they an independently owned small business here in Colorado, but they’d also recently gotten their own home renovation TV show.

I was 23. I sure as shit didn’t have much money saved yet. I’d recently bought this little mountain shack house that was in need of about a thousand repairs, and all I could afford now was getting the grimy old tile backsplash replaced, getting a few light fixtures installed, and repairing a piece of the concrete foundation behind the stove.

Nothing glamorous. But owning a house at all at age 23 made me feel like a king, and I was determined to take goddamn good care of this place for years to come.

“Christmas cock,” Charlie said, glancing up at me and wiping at his brow with the back of his tattooed arm. “Say no more. Every time the holidays hit, I start to get this craving for it. The cold air, the snow, cozy fires, and the desperate need to get railed.”

I hummed. “You get it. Clearly.”

“Do you have any hookups in mind around town?” he asked me.

I shook my head. “I’m a nerd who codes websites. I work from home. And I’m new in town,” I said. “I have no prospects right now.”

Shawn and Nathan were the brother duo that owned Fixer Brothers Construction, and Charlie was their right-hand man.

“You don’t seem that nerdy to me,” Charlie said, grinning at me. “Do nerds usually look like James Dean and say phrases like I need Christmas cock?”

“You’d be surprised,” I said. “Who says nerds don’t crave big, strong Daddy types? The kind who could boss me around and then fuck me afterward as a consolation prize?”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >32

Advertisement Frat Bro (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #3) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.books2020.com/frat-bro-fixer-brothers-construction-co-3-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Mon, 02 Oct 2023 05:17:05 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/frat-bro-fixer-brothers-construction-co-3-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 68987 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >73

This fall, I have one simple rule: don't fall in love with my fake boyfriend.
I’m awful at following the rules.

One minute I was a nobody in a small Colorado town, getting by on contract work, home renovations, and a dumpster fire of a dating life—and then suddenly, my life was on TV. Fixer Brothers Construction is getting its own home renovation TV show, and I’m on camera, giving the film crew an all-access pass to my life.

The kicker: fans think I’m sleeping with Jax, my favorite, hotter-than-hell frat boy bartender at the brewery. He’s young, straight, and just a friend. But rumors spread like wildfire. Now I’m faking it with Jax, 24/7—and we don’t leave much to the imagination when we’re in front of a camera.

The fans want what they want, right?

And I want things, too. Every kiss was fake until the one that definitely wasn’t, on a night too scorching for TV. Jax has helped me through the worst time in my life as a friend, and I never let myself wish for more. But I'm only human, and when we’re together, it’s fire.

I’m addicted. And I know I’m going to get hurt. But behind closed doors, it feels so real.

And I’m desperate to know what makes this frat boy tick.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

CHARLIE

I gripped my phone, squinting down at the screen in the afternoon sunlight. Two new texts stared back at me like two middle fingers raised up right to my face. My camera crew surrounded me, waiting for me to do another take. But all I could do was read the two messages over and over, my chest tightening.

One was from my recent hookup.

>>Kitt: Yeah, I don’t think this thing between us is going to work out. Take good care, Charlie. We had a fun few weeks.

The other text was worse. A lot worse. And it was from someone I never thought I’d hear from again.

>>Unknown: Charlie. Baby. It’s me. Miss you, my little punk rock plaything. You look cute on TV, you know. Things are different for me these days. If you come over, we can talk it through. Please don’t ignore this message. -Jim

The nerve on him to still call me baby.

My stomach churned. I was going to be sick. A breeze rustled through the trees, and I realized that the air was finally turning chilly now at this time of year.

Fuck me.

I was supposed to love fall. I was supposed to be drinking pumpkin-spiced coffee, hand in hand with my boyfriend, walking under a canopy of red, gold, and yellow leaves.

But now it was official. It was my favorite time of year, and I’d gotten dumped again.

I crushed my thumb over the phone’s lock button and shoved it into my back pocket. My toxic ex messaging me at the same time was just the rotten cherry on top. It looked like he’d gotten a shiny new phone number just to try to worm his way back into my life. I’d blocked him months ago, and was just starting to claw my way out from under the mountain of shit he’d buried me in.

“All good?” one of the cameramen asked me, shattering the invisible bubble that it felt like I was trapped inside.

“Oh.” My voice felt strangely heavy. “Um, yes. Right. Good.” I barely knew what any of those words even meant right now.

Another gust of wind shuddered through the trees, hitting my skin. I was outside Jade Brewery, on the wooden front steps that were usually my version of heaven—especially with the golden sunlight gently filtering through the oak and spruce trees like it was this afternoon. But now it felt like a straitjacket was tightening around me.

I was getting the message, loud and clear: I just wasn’t meant for love. No matter how hard I wished for it. No matter how many guys I dated. No matter how good of a boyfriend I tried to be. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to throw up or scream or chuck my phone into an industrial-grade incinerator.

Something had to change.

I glanced up, heart pounding as I looked around at three gigantic black TV cameras surrounding me, waiting for me.

We were filming the first teaser promotional material for our upcoming Fixer Brothers Construction show, and they needed shots of me doing “real life things.” I’d even dressed nicely for this, which for me meant wearing the only dark jeans I owned that didn’t have holes in them and tossing a leather jacket over my shirt.

“Okay, Charlie, let’s do one more take,” one of the cameramen shouted to me, squinting into the late afternoon sun. “Remember: cool, calm, and casual.”

Screw it. If I was going to be lonely for the rest of my life, I may as well look hot while doing it.

I saw the red light appear on the front of the cameras as they started filming. I cleared my throat, saying the same thing I’d already said on the last three takes. The words felt weird coming out of my mouth now, but I forced them out anyway.

“And after a long day of hard work on a construction site,” I said, “there’s only one place I’m headed. Jade Brewery, baby. Come on in with me.”

I turned and walked up the old steps onto the brewery’s front deck, reaching for one of the double doors and swinging it open.

“Great,” the camera guy told me, his scarf blowing in the wind. “Lighting was perfect in that one. I think we’ve got it. Let’s head on in. Maybe get some shots of you drinking beers, chatting with locals, whatever.”

“Or shots of you doing shots,” another crew member said, waggling his eyebrows at me. “How’s some tequila sound?”

I bit the inside of my cheek, stepping inside the bar. “Oh. I’ve, uh, actually been trying to avoid alcohol these days—”

“Charlie!” a voice called from the bar, the moment I stepped inside the brewery. I walked over to the young woman who was beaming at me, a huge smile plastered on her face. “Oh my God. You were my favorite on Life of Tomlin. Can I get a selfie with you?”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >73

Advertisement Straight Dad (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #2) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.books2020.com/straight-dad-fixer-brothers-construction-co-2-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Sat, 24 Jun 2023 21:48:00 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/straight-dad-fixer-brothers-construction-co-2-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >84

Straight dads don’t get crushes on 22-year-old star quarterbacks. Right? Kace Tomlin is the nation’s hottest, youngest pro quarterback at age 22, and he’s out and proud. When Kace hired my little construction company to work on his multi-million dollar mansion, it was the quickest hell yes of my life. Usually I’m in Dad Mode, 24/7—boring, predictable, and dependable. But being plunged into a young hotshot football player’s world is anything but predictable. I can’t stop watching him. Craving him. And after one blazing hot night, we can’t keep our hands off each other. I hate that he gets my wires all crossed, and makes me feel like I’m nowhere close to straight. But Kace has a TV crew filming every moment of his private life. We’re on the show now, for all of Kace’s fans to see, keeping our smoldering secret hidden. Is this all just another game? Or will he be reckless with me, for the whole world to see?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

NATHAN

He’s just like any other client, I told myself as I stood outside two massive glass doors at the front of the mansion.

He’s just way younger than you, way more famous, and worth millions.

No fuckin’ biggie.

My heart was pounding. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been nervous for a client. I’d been a contractor for years, and most days were just business as usual. I shifted from one foot to the other as I waited, regretting the three cups of coffee I’d downed this morning.

But… this was Kace Tomlin.

I was at Kace Tomlin’s house, and I was three minutes too early for my appointment. Did famous football players like it when people were early? Did they hate it? Fuck if I knew.

Dad, quit being a dork and just ring the doorbell. My daughter Maddy had gotten so good at making fun of me that I pictured her little comments on a loop in my head even when she wasn’t standing next to me.

I leaned in and rang the doorbell, my adrenaline at a low, constant buzz.

Kace Tomlin wasn’t just a star quarterback—he’d been the breakout star for the past year, ever since he’d gotten a whopping multimillion-dollar signing bonus from the Denver Ferals straight out of college. Kace was only 22, a hot shot, and already the best player the Ferals had had in decades.

He was also out and proud as a gay man.

In other words, Kace was an MVP. America’s golden boy. He’d been nicknamed The Favorite for a reason. And he wanted to hire my construction company to work on his mansion, tucked away here in the Rocky Mountains.

I’d stared at shirtless photos of Kace Tomlin for the past year on the cover of magazines, and also sometimes in the comfort of my own home on my laptop. Sure, I was straight, but I had to appreciate a good body, and Kace Tomlin’s was about as perfect as they come. Workout goals, and all that.

The scent of grilling steak floated through the air and my mouth started to water. I didn’t see any movement from behind the big, glass front doors, and I hesitantly reached forward to ring the doorbell again. It was one of those fancy ones that played a little song, and it was attached to a state-of-the-art security camera. I’d thought about installing one on my own house, but I’d decided that the doorbell had better come equipped with a robot butler and a lubed-up fleshlight for it to be worth how much it cost.

But Kace Tomlin was now the richest man in town by a mile. He could afford it.

“Anybody home?” I called out as I stepped onto the pristine stone path that led toward the backyard, following the scent of grilling meat.

The property was massive. Six months ago, I’d heard about Kace Tomlin buying a place at the far edge of Jade River, the tiny town where I’d lived for years. I still couldn’t believe a house this fancy existed in the same zip code as my little hometown.

The scent of pine surrounded me as I walked past the endless panes of glass that made up the modern home. Along the side of the house there were fountains trickling away, more security cameras, and then finally, after rounding the path, I arrived at the side gate.

Over the sleek metal railing, I could just make out a group of people who were all standing around a big silver grill, in one section of the enormous backyard.

“Howdy!” I called out, waving my hand in a large arc. “I’m Nathan. Nathan Wood. Here from the construction company. Sorry I’m a little early—”

A woman with a tight, slicked-back blonde ponytail noticed me and began walking over, her shiny heels clicking on the stone paving in the backyard. She touched an earpiece in her ear, saying something to someone in a hushed tone as she approached me.

“Hi there,” she said. “Your name, please?”

“I’m Nathan Wood, from Fixer Brothers Construction Co. We spoke on the phone this morning and last week, I believe. Vivienne, right? You’re Kace’s assistant?”

“Kace’s Colorado assistant. That’s right,” she said with a nod, finally punching in a code and opening up the large, black metal gate for me to step through.

“Hot damn. Kace has multiple assistants?”

“Colorado, New York, Los Angeles, and Miami,” Vivienne confirmed with a nod. “Kace is finishing up a cycle in the sauna, he will be out in just a few minutes. Come, sit.”

She led me through a backyard that could put hotels and resorts to shame. The place was a fucking slice of paradise, with two hot tubs, multiple stone fire pits, and a backdrop of stunning pine trees and the sweeping Colorado Rockies. The showstopper was a long infinity pool that was perched along the edge of a hill, jutting out over a lower-level patio, glittering with water so blue it practically glowed.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >84

Advertisement Flip Job (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #1) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.books2020.com/flip-job-fixer-brothers-construction-co-1-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Thu, 06 Apr 2023 07:50:04 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/flip-job-fixer-brothers-construction-co-1-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: Contemporary, Gay, GLBT, M-M Romance, Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >84

My house needs a flip job…
And my best friend’s brother has all the right equipment.
I swore I’d never be back in this little mountain town where I grew up. But Dad left me his old fixer-upper house and a brewery full of employees who seem to hate me, and both are in need of some elbow grease and charm.
Lucky me: my best friend co-owns a construction company, Fixer Brothers Construction Co, ready to hire for renovations. Luckier me: his formerly scrawny little brother Shawn has grown into a tall, built, knuckle-bitingly hot construction worker.
He looks damn good in flannel… and better with it off.
I can have a little fun, right?
I want him in my bed, and I’m good at getting what I want. Turns out all those years of construction work have done him good, body and soul. He’s the whole package.
Shawn’s sweet, sensitive, and has been through hell. For a heartbreaker like me, he should be off-limits. And his brother knows way too much about my bad habits from the past: get in, get out, never commit.
But he’s flipping my whole world, and I know I don’t want him to stop.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

SHAWN

I grabbed the sledgehammer leaning on the wall next to me and hoisted it up, getting a good, firm grip.

“First strike, goin’ in,” I shouted over to my brother Nathan, who was in the nearby bathroom tearing out old cabinets.

“First strike!” he repeated back.

I aimed, and after a few practice swings, I let the even, heavy weight of the sledgehammer come down hard. Drywall and plaster caved in like butter, shards raining onto the floor. The sweet, sweet sound of demolition filled the air.

I paused for an exhale, rolling my neck to the left and right.

Today had been nothing but meetings, paperwork, and being on my most polite “yes ma’am” behavior.

This was the real work.

This was what got my blood pumping. Why I’d gone into construction in the first place.

After some more heavy swings, I felt the muscles in my arms starting to come alive. Nathan turned on some Led Zeppelin tunes in the other room and I let my sledgehammer come down with the music, getting in the zone.

“It has been way too long since I’ve been able to use my hands,” I called out.

“Thought you used your hands every morning and every night?” Charlie, our main stone and brickwork guy, said, winking at me as he walked into the room. “Maybe one particular hand? You a leftie or a rightie, Shawn?”

I raised a middle finger toward him, biting down a smile. “I can go both ways,” I said.

Charlie laughed.

“Give Shawn a break,” Nathan called from the bathroom, in between satisfying snaps of wood cabinets being pried off of the wall. “He’s been in a dry spell.”

“It’s not a dry spell if you do it on purpose,” I corrected him. “I needed the dating ban. And it’s over now.”

“Has it really been six months?” Charlie asked. “I can’t imagine going six days without fucking someone.”

“That’s because you fall in love with anyone who smiles at you,” I told him.

“Fuck off,” Charlie said, helping me chip off a tiny piece of drywall. “Sure, I’ll hook up with anyone who smiles at me, but I only fall in love with the special ones.”

I snorted. “Drywall’s comin’ down,” I shouted, eliciting a cheer from my brother in the other room.

“Charlie, come give me a hand with this vanity,” Nathan called out, and Charlie headed over.

There was a time when I would have agreed with both Charlie and Nathan. I didn’t think I’d be capable of going so long without dating or hooking up with anyone. But six months ago, I’d been thinking about proposing to my last boyfriend, only to have him call me and tell me he’d cheated on me at a bachelor party in Cancun—not once, apparently, but twice, with two different guys, both on the same trip.

“Shit happens,” he’d said. “Neither of them had a cock as nice as yours, though, Shawn. Not even close. Just FYI.”

Nice. Real nice.

Thinking about finding love and starting a family one day had become an impossible mountain to climb. Screw trying to find The One. I’d had my six-month break and it was time to have some fun. Operation Fuck or Be Fucked. Either one would be amazing right about now.

Once I’d made enough holes in the drywall I let my hands do the rest of the work. I pulled and pulled, ripping down the wall piece by piece. It was only another five minutes before satisfaction turned to panic.

“Guys,” I shouted, calling them in. My heart twisted into a knot as I looked down at the lower portion of the exposed insulation. “Tell me this isn’t what I think it is?”

“Ho boy,” Charlie said as he walked back in. “I’m a brick and stone guy, not a GC, but I know that doesn’t look right.”

“Shit,” Nathan said, putting his hand on his hip as he frowned at the insulation.

I let out a long sigh. The insulation looked mottled with rot, and it seemed like it continued into the rest of the wall.

“You said you wanted to go have some drinks tonight, right?” Nathan asked. “I think that's a good idea. A great idea. And that we’re going to need several, very strong ones.”

“That’s a lot of damage,” Charlie said.

“Water damage from a flood that happened years ago, probably,” Nathan said.

“And we’re going to have to replace all of this,” I said, looking around the spacious living room that connected all the way to the kitchen.

“This budget was already tighter than an unlubed asshole,” Nathan said, bringing an arm up and scratching behind his head.

“Sounds like my first time,” Charlie muttered.

“So we fix it,” I said simply. “We do our projects right, or we don’t do them at all. Even if that means loosening the budget.”

Charlie cleared his throat. “Lubing up the budget, so to speak?”

“That makes it sound a lot more fun than it is,” I told him. “I’m going for moonshine tonight, by the way.”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >84