Page 91 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

I sat opposite her, and in some ways that was perfect. It gave me the perfect opportunity to stare openly at her. The drinks I’d already bought for her were pushed forward, and she accepted them gratefully.

“What looks good here?” she asked, glancing down at the menu and that had each one of us freezing. She leaned over the printed card and, for a moment, I both feared and hoped her breasts would spill free. “What?”

Katie glanced at all of us in confusion.

“I’m pretty sure we all want to see if we can order that dress in ten different colours.” Rhys had his eyes trained on her breasts. “That and get you a jacket or something…”

Shit, if we were openly ogling her, then so could everyone else. The place wasn’t packed yet, but still, people stopped to stare. I moved to place myself in their line of sight, blocking the world out.

“Because…? Oh!” She looked down and then straightened up, and it felt like the gates of heaven just clanged shut in my face. “Mandie made me buy this dress.”

“Send flowers to Mandie. Got it,” Rhys said.

“And it’s a bit more revealing than I usually wear.”

That’s when I felt a flush of warmth. My hand snaked across the table and grabbed hers.

“You wouldn’t have worn something like this for Dave.”

Her eyes met mine, right before she shook her head.

“Nope. There was no point. We never went anywhere as nice as this.” It felt like I saw the beer garden for the first time. The barn-like structure of the pub, the stout wooden tables, I took them in but my attention refocussed back on Katie. “He wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble.”

“Because he was a fucking idiot,” I said.

“Because he was a fucking idiot.” She repeated my words back to me with a definite nod, then reached over to pat Bronson’s head. “But this?” Her hand made a gesture at the table. “This is the standard all other dates will be judged by.”

“Because you’ve got all three guys standing to attention for you?” Rhys said, reaching over to snag her rum and Coke and then taking a sip.

“Standing? But you’re all…”

Katie looked around and then blushed in earnest, realising what that meant.

“I’ll drink to that,” I said, clinking my beer glass against hers.

Chapter45

Katie

So this was what real dating was like.

Mandie’s hatred of Dave made sense now because for the first time in forever, I was the centre of attention. The pub, the beer garden, none of it mattered, because the guys’ attention was completely focussed on me.

“So yeah, the owners thought the dog had bloat,” I said, relieving a particularly horrendous experience that had happened at work. “But really they just had gastro of epic proportions.” I shook my head and took another sip of wine. “It took me, two of the vet nurses, and one of the vets to clean up the mess the dog made everywhere.” I shrugged. “Working with animals sounds cute in theory, but the reality is kind of gross.”

“Tell me about it.” Garrett shot me a long suffering look. “Working as a nurse?—”

“Is all hearts and flowers.” Rhys shut him down quickly. “Don’t let him start talking about work, Katie. I’m still not over some of the stories about things he’s removed from people’s rectums.”

“Cucumber,” Rhett said with a smirk.

“Banana.” Garrett nodded. “Fruit and vegetables are frequent offenders.”

“It was the football trophy that traumatised me.” Rhys screwed up his face. “Like all the pointy bits and the sharp edges?”

“Nah, that kid’s toy was the worst.” Rhett leaned forward. “What was it?”

“A Buzz Lightyear action figure,” Garrett admitted with a groan, then took a long drink from his glass. “Could not watchToy Storywith my nephews ever again.”

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