Page 36 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

She was announcing that to the whole bar, but thankfully the music and din of everyone talking at once kept anyone from hearing her.

“Shut up!” I hissed, plonking my butt down in the spare seat she gestured to, only to be met by a barrage of curious looks.

“Girls, this is my fabulous sister, Katie. Kate, these are my girls, Natasha and Gwen.”

“So is it true that three hot guys just asked you to be in an exclusive harem relationship?” one girl asked.

“Ahh…” I held up a hand as a waiter walked past and put in my order for a double rum and Coke, stat.

“Polyamorous,” the other girl corrected. She was this freaking gorgeous plus size girl, lucky enough to have an hourglass shape rather than my more apple proportion. “One girl and three guys that are in a relationship with either just her or her and the other guys? That’s polyamory.”

“Well, terminology doesn’t really matter.”

The waiter obviously knew my sister, because he reappeared with a tray of drinks, putting them down before us. I grabbed mine and took a long, grateful sip. Hell, yes, that sweet burn of the rum was exactly what I needed.

“The drinks are from those gentlemen over there,” the waiter said, gesturing towards a table full of men in sharp suits.

“Oh, well—” Mandie started to say, but I just held up my drink and toasted them silently before turning back to the other ladies.

“I swore off dating and now I remember why.” I had their undivided attention and, for once, that wasn’t an uncomfortable thing. “Men are…”

Shit, I couldn’t finish that sentence, because a messy tangle of all the disappointments, all the awkward surprises, all the treachery was dragged up from the depths of me. I sucked in a breath, the noise of the club fading away. For a moment there was just me and my rapidly beating, aching heart.

I said I wasn’t ready to date, but part of me…? It was beyond flattered by the guys’ attention. I wanted it to be real, wanted to be the girl two, if not three, guys were clamouring after. I hadn’t let myself think too far ahead. My brain was too burnt out by Dave for that, but… A few more dates, a few more speeches like Rhett’s, and I might’ve been ready to try. Of course, nothing could be that simple, could it? I sucked in a breath, sitting up straight and ready to vent, when a masculine voice cut me off.

“Hello, ladies.”

He sounded smooth, confident. Nope. When I looked up, suit guy was obviously pretty damn cocky, sure of his appeal. He smiled at the entire table, blinding them with those perfect white teeth, though they disappeared when they came to me. Instead, I got some tight, close mouthed thing.

Great.

And of course, where there was one well-dressed man, there were others. The four of them stood at the periphery of our table with an expectant air. These were the guys that bought the drinks and so they were now here to get a return on their investment.

“I’m Hamish,” the first guy said. “This is Jack, Leo, and Oscar.”

The guys all shifted slightly, edging towards the woman they’d chosen before they arrived at the table.

All except him.

I wasn’t sure if he was Leo or Oscar. They weren’t really my focus and anyway, his uncomfortable expression made clear that he was strictly here on wingman duty. I turned back to my drink.

“Right, so, thanks for the drinks,” Mandie said, lifting hers, “but?—”

“I’ve seen you somewhere before.” Hamish shifted closer. “Are you in modelling or work for the media?”

“Um, no?—”

“Oh my god, she’s just being modest,” Mandie’s friend who I think was named Gwen said. “She’s a fitness model. Mandie just won a TikTok award for her channel.”

“Yes, of course!” Hamish grinned. “I admit I watch your videos over my morning coffee, not in the gym, but damn, you lift heavy for a tiny little thing like you. Maybe you could look over my routine and see what I could be doing to increase my gains?”

“Sure.” Mandie looked flustered, then pulled out her phone. “I mean I do a bit of PT work, so maybe I could help. If you give me your number, I could touch base with you at some point about a training session.”

Hamish’s smile turned feline as he took the phone. I’m not sure how he got the numbers tapped in, because his attention was entirely trained on Mandie.

“So are you a trainer as well?”

I turned around, thinking who the hell would ask me that, only to find that Jack had sidled up to Gwen.

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