Page 3 of Sturdy & Dirty

The name I once lived for made me want to vomit now. And until recently, I had zero inclination to try at another relationship.

It was a silent, giant of a man who held the door open for me at the gym that changed my mind.

Or… well.

Who might change my mind.

Only time would tell. And I wasn’t in a hurry to test him.

I only knew that if—and it was a biiiig if—I ever fell for someone again, it would be a kind man. One who held doors for strangers. One who ducked his head all chivalrous, like he was in the presence of a lady.

One who looked sturdy enough to fight dragons, yet gentle enough to know how to treat a woman right.

A delicious shiver ran down my spine to settle in the pit of my stomach.

Good men totally did it for me.

Probably a result of being with a shitty one for so long.

Rex never held a door open for anyone but himself.

“Tell me more about this brick guy,” I pushed, hoping my sister would continue spilling the tea.

“Oh, he’s not my type.” She gave an easy wave of her hand before continuing. “But he is terribly sweet. The gentlemanly type. A real good one, Holly. You’d love him.”

I tossed her a skeptical look.

“If he’s so good why don’t you?”

She avoided my gaze as she worked.

“I… I don’t know.” What was she not saying? “He’s a chunk.”

“Ivy,” I snapped, and her eyes grew wide. It wasn’t like her to judge based on size.

“What? Oh, it’s not meant to be derogatory. In fact, it’s a compliment.”

“How so?”

She grinned widely, and I knew that particular look. She only had it when she thought she was being clever.

And she was sometimes.

After all, it was her idea to call our place Bloom Babes since we both had plant names. Though it was mine to add Shavery to the mix to include our male clientele.

She was clever. I was industrious.

And it took both kinds to run this business.

“Okay, see. It’s like this… he’s a chubby hunk. Chubby plus hunk equals CHUNK. He’s a Chunk. Get it?”

“Oh, I like it,” our new client murmured. She was a quiet one. Low chat. But I thought I caught her name. Ruby, was it?

Ivy grinned. “Yeah, see? Because trust me, you can definitely still be hunky even if you carry a little extra chub. If you saw those guys at the gym…” She fanned herself dramatically and I couldn’t help laughing.

Kimmie nodded. “I agree. And I’m still working on Brooks to make the name official, but he’s a tough nut to crack.”

Ivy raised an eyebrow.

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