Page 111 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

Chapter55

Rhett

Are you two on your way?

I sent the message to the group chat, then went to take a shower in preparation for meeting Katie’s parents.

It felt like I wasn’t the only one stepping in under the water. I had company, but it wasn’t one of the guys. Not Katie either, but the memory of her. I’d hated that she’d seen me so beat down. If I’d known she was home, I might’ve just crashed out at the station. But rather than freak out, pull away, there was a softness there in her eyes. I’d eaten my heart out, watching her look at Dave like that, sure she’d never turn that gaze on me.

But she did.

She saw me, dirt, soot, sweat, and all and then took me in hand and scrubbed me clean. Her arms went around me once I was done and she just… held me. My soul sucked that up like it was barren earth and she was the first drops of the summer rains. I’d slept with her in my arms and had the best rest I’d had in my life.

So that meant I needed to get my shit together and prove to her parents that I was worthy of her time. I emerged from the shower, and as I towelled myself off, I expected Rhys to barge in. The prick had no sense of boundaries. Unexpectedly, I had the bathroom to myself as I shaved my face clean, then raked my hair back neatly. Teeth brushed, deodorant applied liberally, I stepped back from the sink and stared into the mirror, surveying my handiwork.

Katie’s parents were going to clock me the moment I walked in the door. Even I could see how freaking desperately I wanted this to work in my haunted reflection. What if they didn’t like me? Shit, what if they had a very understandable negative reaction towards the idea of us sharing our girl? What if…? I quietened my mind with the same technique I used when we were on our way to a fire. I couldn’t fight possibilities, just deal with realities. The three of us had talked about how tonight would go, planned it down to the last minute. Garrett had raked through our wardrobes and pulled out the clothes he approved of. Just like a job, I had an objective, a uniform to wear and a procedure to follow.

So where the hell was the rest of my team?

“Rhys…?” I called out hopefully, but the house had that quiet, still quality that told me no one was home. “Garrett…?” With a shake of my head, I pulled out my phone and looked at the group chat.

Trying to get out of this damn franchise meeting, Rhys had replied.Should be leaving shortly.

Shortly? That wasn’t what we had planned. Katie had stressed that we needed to be on time for dinner and that meant we needed to leave in… shit, twenty minutes. Rhys was on his way. Garrett hadn’t even replied and— My hands turned to fists as the front door was jerked open and Rhys came stumbling in. I sucked in a breath, ready to bollock him out, but he held up a hand, Bronson coming barrelling along with him.

“I know. I fucking know.” Rhys never seemed to lose his shit, so it took me a few moments to work out what was happening here. “I’m having a shower.”

“We don’t have time for that.” I glanced down at my watch. “We have?—”

“Fifteen minutes.” He strode down the hall, tossing clothes off as he went. “It’s either the world’s fastest shower or I spray myself with half a can of anti-perspirant.”

My nose wrinkled, already able to feel the congestion that came from being overwhelmed by the cloying scent.

“Five minutes,” I barked.

“Got it. Get Bronson ready and find out where the fuck Garrett is, because he should’ve left work an hour ago.”

Work out what needed to be done and make sure that happened, it was a philosophy that got me through any number of scrapes, so I whistled to the dog, his head jerking up from his water bowl.

“C’mon, boy.” I nodded to the rear of the house and he came scuttling after me.

A piss in the corner of the garden, Bronson’s eyes on the neighbour’s fence the entire time, and then I was able to get him inside, place a bowl of food for him to wolf down before clipping his lead on. Rhys went stomping back to his room, the muffled sounds of his curses filling the air, but when I locked up the house and went to the front door, he was there.

“Aftershave!” he said, but I shook my head.

“We’ve gotta go. With peak hour traffic, I’m not sure if we’re going to make it on time.”

“What about Garrett?” A line formed between Rhys’ brows. “We can’t go without him.”

“He’ll need to meet us there. We can’t wait for him.”

But apparently we could wait for everyone else.

“Fuck!” I slammed my palm into the steering wheel because traffic had slowed to a trickle. Half the reason why we planned to leave early was for this exact reason. Every damn peak hour it felt like someone’s car gave up the ghost, or worse, there was an accident. The whine of familiar sirens had us both turning around to see not one but two fire engines in the distance.

“Accident?”

Rhys ground that out as he rumpled Bronson’s ears, staring fixedly at the windscreen.

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