Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
If this morning had already felt surreal, now it felt like a fever dream.
“Wow. I can’t believe it. Seeing you guys here in my house,” I said, reaching out to shake hands with the guys. “I’ve watched every episode of your show. Even though it’s not my usual kind of show. Not that home TV shows are bad, I just—I mean, I love you guys.”
Shit. When I’d met them for the behind-the-scenes meetings at their office, I’d been able to keep it cool, but now I was as scattered as could be.
Shawn and Nathan were cool and professional, though.
“We’re excited to get started on transforming your home,” Shawn said, already looking TV-ready. “This place is already great, and we can make it shine.”
“We’ll get started on the initial footage soon, but first, we always like to talk to our clients off-camera, just a little bit,” Shawn explained to Adam. “A few minutes to get comfortable. What do you do for work, Adam?”
3
CHASE
It wasn’t as if I expected Adam to say that his career was completely centered around putting explicit videos up on OnlyShots.
Yeah, guys, I upload videos of myself coming online multiple times a week. Oh, and no one knows it's me, by the way.
Adam was shy enough to begin with, and he certainly wasn’t going to admit that.
I knew it must not be Adam’s real job anyway, because there was no way in hell he was making much money from his videos. Finding his profile was like finding a diamond in the rough for me: almost no one knew about him, but he had a small, steadily growing follower base on the website.
But I sure as hell didn’t expect that Adam’s actual job would be something intensely demanding.
“I’m a data analyst,” Adam said, seemingly confident for the first time this morning. “I work with research doctors.”
“And because I know nothing about the world outside of construction, what does that… actually mean?” Shawn asked, grinning at him. “Me use tools. Me fix houses. Me not a smart man.”
Nathan snorted. “My brother’s being modest. He’s smart as hell. But I’m also curious what kind of data you work with.”
Adam was polite as he pushed back his hair. “I work with research neurologists to perform mathematical data studies.”
Shawn and Nathan both blinked at him.
Holy shit. So Adam Dix—Adam Richardsen—was a super-smart fucking nerd brainiac in real life.
Why the hell did he need any amount of money from uploading his OnlyShots videos?
He cleared his throat. “Ah, basically, I do the math part for doctors who study the human brain.”
“Wow,” Nathan said. “We’re in the presence of genius. Hell, when my teenage daughter’s having trouble with her math homework, I’ll know who to ask for help.”
Adam smiled, the sheepish side of him coming back in full force. “The math I do isn’t as complex as it sounds. Well, maybe a little, when it comes to the regressions and the statistical modeling, but in general, it’s a lot of standard data crunching.”
Sure as shit sounded more lucrative than solo jerk-off videos.
All week, the construction crew and camera crew had been talking about our new home renovation client, Adam Richardsen. The name had gone in one ear and out the other. I was a camera guy for a TV show, not a producer or director; I showed up, set up cameras, and got perfect shots. It wasn’t my job to know whose house we were filming in. It wouldn’t have given me proper warning anyway, because his real last name wasn’t Dix.
And now I was in his kitchen. It felt like a time capsule from the 60s, other than a few new appliances. I remembered one of the Fixer Brothers guys saying that Adam wanted a renovation that kept the same 60s-style spirit alive in the kitchen, while updating some completely worn-out features. The retro vibe in here was great, even if it did need some updating.
And then there was Adam himself.
The nice, shy, cute nerd next door. Who I’d happened to have come thinking about, many, many times.
Adam glanced over at me as Shawn and Nathan got pulled into a conversation with Flynn. I watched him for a moment, still marveling that he was a real, live human being, right there in front of me. He was wearing a simple light grey long-sleeve, fitted jeans, and a pair of glasses that I’d never have known he wore. In some videos, he showed the back of his head, and I was used to seeing his black hair all fucked up and going in a million directions as he moved around in bed. Today it was neatly positioned and combed into a perfect swoop.
“I’m impressed, Adam,” I told him. “Your job sounds important.”
“I like numbers,” he said. “It’s not as challenging as it sounds. More relaxing, for me, honestly.”