CHAPTER ONE

Trevor Dixon looked across the desk at his younger-by-six-minutes brother. His dark brown hair lay flat on his head, reminding Trevor that he hadn’t combed his own this morning. He didn’t much get the point. It wasn’t as if his fingers didn’t run through it a million times a day.  Plus, they worked construction for God’s sake. They wore hard hats most of the time, their hair either wet with sweat or the water they poured over themselves to keep cool.

Still, today, Trevor and Blake’s hair each behaved much in the same way as Trevor and Blake themselves, in that Blake behaved...and Trevor didn’t.

Trevor scratched the side of his head, where it was buzzed shorter than the couple inches it was on the top.

“How you doing, big brother?” Blake asked him. It was a simple enough question, and Trevor knew that he only asked because he cared, but it still grated on his nerves.

It wasn’t a how you doing today, kind of question. It was a you’re not having the urge to drink, right? question.

“Rock solid.” Trevor grinned at his brother, who laughed.

“Pun intended, right?” Rockford Hills. It’s where they’d lived most of their lives. Trevor left to get clean, and he was in San Francisco a lot when he wasn’t clean, but for Blake, Rockford had always been home. Add in the fact that they were co-owners of a new construction company, Rock Solid Construction—yeah, the pun had been intended.

“You’re hilarious,” Blake added.

“I try hard. So, what do we have for today?”

“It’s the last week on the library. JT, Jason, and Andrea are already on their way out. We have to meet them there. We’re going to have to take two trucks, though. I got a call for an estimate this morning. It’s a remodel out at the old Stoneridge property. I didn’t know someone bought it, did you?”

Before Trevor could reply, his brother continued. “Anyway, could be a good job, which we need. I’d like to be able to keep JT and Andrea on after the library, but it depends on what we can land. I’d really like to remodel that house. It’s fucking gorgeous. Plus, there’s no doubt the money could be good. I figured I’d go out and meet with the guy. You can head over to the library and then I’ll meet you out there when I’m done.”

“Why don’t you let me go?” Trevor asked.

Blake paused. It was a shitty feeling to know his baby brother didn’t trust him to be able to close a deal. It wasn’t that Trevor didn’t get it, either. He’d fucked up a lot in his life. Fucked up badly. But that was in the past. He was getting his shit together now. He’d been clean for one year, one month, and three days. They were running a business together now, or trying to. Trevor could handle this.

“Blake, if this is going to work, you have to trust me. What do you think I’m going to do? Stop and get a beer on the way? I could do that just as easily on my way to the job site if I wanted to.”

“No. Hell no. That’s not it.” Blake shook his head, but Trevor knew it kind of was it. At least partially.

“I can’t only do the heavy lifting. I have to be able to do both parts of the business. What if you’re sick or, hell, what if you want to go on vacation sometime? I can do it. I can nail this.” Because they really needed the work. Things were slow since they were just starting up. They were lucky to have enough work that they needed JT and Andrea right now. If they wanted to keep Blake’s friends on, they needed to get more jobs lined up.

It wouldn’t matter if they had no work at all, Jason would always be around. He and Blake were inseparable. They had been for years. But Andrea and JT...they couldn’t make the two of them any promises, but Trevor wanted to do his best by them.

“Yeah, okay. You go get this job and I’ll go work my ass off at the job site. I see your plan.” Blake winked at him and Trevor grinned.

His brother had every reason not to trust Trevor. Most people he knew had every reason not to trust him, but Blake was his twin. No matter what had gone down, they were always close. They read each other, and understood each other in ways most people didn’t. In a lot of ways, they were the same person, even though Blake always did the right thing and Trevor often did the wrong one.

Even when Trevor started going off the rails, drowning in a bottle like their father did, Blake never turned his back on him. He told Trevor when Trevor was fucking up, but he’d never turned his back on him, even when Trevor probably deserved it.

If anyone believed in him, it would be his brother.

“Thanks, bro.” They both stood and Trevor gave him a half hug, patting him on the back.