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“I’m blocking you on my phone,” Hue added. “From now on, when you call, my screen’s just gonna show a skull and crossbones.”
Annoying, bitchy reinforcements. But Hue had the expertise Sully needed, and his friend could also badger his supplier into getting them all the roofing materials they needed in a single day—an honest-to-God miracle. Despite his constant whining, Hue was a hard worker. This roof should have taken them three days to replace. Instead, by pushing right up to dark, they were going to get it done in two.
“Did your big epiphany about fixing up Historic Yucca Hills include any sort of payment?” Hue asked as he clipped his final set of tiles to the roof batons.
Sully shook his head. “The whole point is that we’re saving business owners money by doing the work for free. They just need to pay for the supplies. Consider it your community service.”
“I do plenty of community service. It’s called paying my taxes.”
And yet, as much as he complained, Hue had shown up when Sully had asked for his help. He’d even seemed grudgingly impressed when Sully had explained theYucca Hills Renovation Project(aka—Sully’s Grand Purpose Project).
The plan was simple. Sully intended to devote two days a week providing free remodel work to local businesses that needed anything from a new exterior paint job to window installations, electrical upgrades, refinished flooring, and more. The business owners paid for the supplies, and Sully would do the rest. During the other five days of the week, he’d focus on his own goals. The enthusiasm he’d received after his initial round of visits to the businesses on Chaparral Drive had blown him away. One after another, the local shop owners had embraced his offer to help fix any problems in their building or take on desperately needed renovations. He was already booked out for the next six months. He was tempted to give three or four days a week to the effort, at least in the beginning.
Sully clipped the last tile to the roof.
“Done,” he said. And it was a good thing, too. The sun had all but disappeared, and Sully’s fingers were starting to blend in with the tiles.
“Good. I was going to go on strike in the next minute,” Hue grumbled as he carefully made his way to the ladder.
“You guys done or you going to have a sleepover on the roof?” Cam called up.
“Coming down now,” Sully said. As he climbed down the ladder after Hue, he enjoyed the ache in his shoulders and back. Nothing like a long day of fulfilling work to keep his mind off other things… specifically,thingswith arctic blue eyes and scarlet lips who had probably forgotten all about him now that she was living it up in Los Angeles.
“How’d it go?” Cam asked, peering up at the roof. The gym owner’s only concession to the cool night air was a sleeveless hoodie that still barely seemed to fit around his massive shoulders.
“You guys were up there a long time,” he added.
“Yeah, we were,” Hue said pointedly to Sully. “There’s no reason why we couldn’t do it in three days. But this one wants to work until it’s too dark to tell his dick from his balls.”
“I’ve got a lot of projects to do,” Sully answered defensively, “and I’m closing on Diamond next week. As soon as I get the keys, I’ve got to hit the ground running.”
The two adult children of Sheba’s original owner had been all too happy to snatch up his “as is” cash offer on the decrepit house. He’d gotten the call from them yesterday. The place was a wreck, and Sully knew this particular diamond would require a hell of a shining. Fortunately, he had all the time in the world and an almost manic need to turn off his brain.
“So, it’s done?” Cam asked.
“Yup,” Sully affirmed proudly. “I know it was more expensive than you expected for all the supplies.”
A tight smile twitched on Cam’s lips, and he shoved his hands into the front pocket of the hoodie. “No big deal. Worth it, right?”
“Definitely,” Sully assured him. Was it his imagination, or did the normally bright-eyed, bushy-tailed Cam seem a bit worried? “That underlayment was about to give up the ghost,” he told his friend. “If we had just patched the current leak, you would’ve had a dozen more next year. This way, you’re good for the next two decades.”
“You should notice much better insulation, too, so your energy bills will probably go down,” Hue added with a touch of pride. For all his friend’s constant bitching, Sully could tell that deep down Hue enjoyed helping others.
“Good. That’s good,” Cam said, rocking on the balls of his feet. “I can’t thank you two enough. Free gym memberships for life. Don’t even think about paying me.”
Hue groaned. “That supposed to be a reward? I gotta spend more time listening to grown-ass men wax poetic about true love?”
“Absolutely,” Cam said. In the last rays of sunlight, his wide grin returned. “The lifting club is going to turn you into a romantic if it’s the last thing we do.”
“Then buy some stock in ice skates, 'cause hell is gonna freeze over first,” Hue shot back.
“It was our pleasure,” Sully assured Cam. The warm, satisfied feeling in his chest told him that he’d truly discovered his purpose.
The three men shot the shit for a few minutes longer until Hue practically dragged Sully to his truck. Janet stretched across the front bench seat snoring like a steam engine. The basset hound didn’t seem the least bit interested in moving to allow Sully the shotgun seat. Instead, he squeezed into the back row.
“God, that was just about the longest day of my life,” Hue complained. “Janet and I missed Jeopardy. Janet loves Jeopardy.”
“Actually, I was hoping we could make a stop before you drop me off,” Sully said, giving best friend—possibly ex-best friend—a sheepish smile.
