Page 58 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

Only for the phone to open on my messages.

It was hard to reconcile the happy pup in the photo with the one that scuttled back as the motorbike roared past, but with that memory came something else. Garrett throwing himself in front of us, trying vainly to protect Bronson from the sound, then him crouching down, talking to the dog in a low voice. Calm words, reassuring words, I’d watched him closely, ready to give advice when needed, but he knew exactly what to do. Bronson had chosen Garrett for a reason.

And could I do the same?

I let out a puff of breath, thinking about what Mandie had said. I couldn’t admit that to her without her kicking down my door and performing the ‘I told you so’ dance on my bed, but… The Smiling Samoyed was a pub/brewery outside of town and the pizzas were supposed to be amazing. The fact there were a couple of gorgeous Sammie dogs there was the icing on the cake. Maybe… Perhaps… My fingers moved across the screen, tapping out a message before I could think twice about it.

If the offer is still open to go to the brewery, I wrote.I’m in.

Mandie was right. I did invest too much into these things. She was the one that became blasé about male attention, not me, so my heart started race. Garrett wouldn’t see the text right away, so I couldn’t expect an immediate response. He could be asleep or?—

A ping cut my train of thought off abruptly.

You made my night, came his reply.Pick you up at 11am, Saturday morning?

Chapter30

Rhett

“No,” Garrett said in a definite tone to whoever decided to call him at this stupid hour on a Saturday morning. “No, I can’t…”

“Who’s that?” I whispered as I poured myself a coffee.

I’ll say one thing about having a housemate that was obsessed with getting good quality ingredients. There was always amazing coffee brewed and ready to drink. I took a sip, the bitterness of the black coffee the perfect approximation of my mood.

“Work,” he mouthed back.

No. No fucking way.

If I thought firies had difficulty getting enough staff to cover shifts, we had nothing on nurses. Turns out being around sick people had medical professionals getting ill at record levels. I settled my butt against the counter and watched this shit show play out.

“I’ve got… Yes, I know… I need…” Garrett’s hand scrubbed at his forehead. “I know.”

That note of resignation had me shaking my head, because I knew how this was going to go. He had Katie agreeing to go on a date with him and he was gonna blow her off for work? Honestly, I wouldn’t even have answered my phone if I was the one taking her out. Garrett looked completely defeated when he ended the call.

“I can’t?—”

“Take Katie out on that date?” I finished his sentence for him.

“Fuck… Fuck!”

He turned around, gripping the counter tightly as every muscle tensed.

“Why are we yelling fuck?” Rhys came in with Bronson and then bent down to cover the dog’s ears. “You’re scaring the baby.”

The pup was starting to settle in, as evidenced by the fact Rhys had just taken him around the block for a run. We’d reasoned that all that adrenaline coursing through him on the regular needed to be used more productively than getting anxious all the time. Bronson seemed considerably more balanced and calm. He even walked over to me, tail wagging, obviously wanting a pat. I couldn’t help but crouch down to indulge him. The way he pressed into you, staring up as he made clear how much he loved this, was pretty damn cute. That’s just not something I admitted too often.

“I have to cancel the date.” Garrett didn’t need to explain. We all knew what that meant. Bronson and I watched him pace back and forth. “I can’t. She wasn’t going to say yes and then she did, and now she’s gonna think I’m some dick who’s breadcrumbing her and?—”

“I’ll take her instead.” Rhys looked totally pumped by the idea. “I’ll explain that something happened at work and I’ll… shit.”

“Shit? What’s shit?” Garrett asked.

“Drew’s still sick and I don’t think I’ve got anyone that can cover me at the gym.” Rhys looked down at his phone. “I’ll make some calls.”

“I can go.” Why the hell had everyone turned to stare at me? Oh, because I said that. Shit. “I mean, if Katie’s OK with that.” Did she even want to go on a date with me? And how the hell was I supposed to be someone’s stand in when it was obvious to anyone looking on how into her I was. “Would she be OK with that?”

My voice trailed away.

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