Page 127 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

Chapter64

Rhys

“You fucking idiot.”

I’d heard that often enough in my life to not be too fazed by it, but from Mandie? She came storming up, finger pointing, obviously pissed.

But she wasn’t the one I was focussed on.

“Natasha?”

What the freaking hell was my ex doing in my gym?

Her mouth twisted as she stepped forward and Mandie watched her do so in confusion. So she didn’t know our history. Got it. She was about to, though. My arms crossed as all the frustration at being locked in a meeting with some suits came roaring out and then some.

This was the girl I thought I was going to live happily-ever-after with. She more than broke up with us. Natasha obliterated each one of my best friends, me most of all.

“I said I never wanted to see you again.” I was keeping my voice low, not shouting, because even now, I knew the difference between right and wrong. “So there’s the?—”

“And I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t have a good reason.” She shook her head, mouth tightening before she forged on. “You like Katie?”

“Like?” That was too thin, too small a word, for what I felt. In some ways, Natasha had done me a favour. I was infatuated by her, her confidence, her personality, but I… I loved Katie. She got me, made me feel ten feet tall when I was around her. Now that we’d worked things out, all I could see was a glorious future spread out before us. I thought I’d get that by skating on the world circuit, but really, all I needed was Katie. “Yeah, I like her. More than any other woman I’ve met before.”

My hand scratched at my chest, feeling the ache start up there the minute I started thinking about my girl.

“And if you’re here to fuck?—”

“Did you like the dress she wore to the pub?” Natasha skewered me with her gaze as she stood taller. “It was gorgeous, right?”

“Beautiful.” I breathed that out. “Stunning.”

“Yeah, well, you have me to thank for that. When Katie started talking about dating three guys from this gym, I thought no, it couldn’t be and then, of course, it was.” She shook her head slowly. “You three.”

“So you…?” Mandie pointed at Natasha. “And you…?”

“Natasha dated the three of us for a while,” I told Mandie. “Didn’t work out. We said we were looking for something serious on our dating profile, and Natasha wanted?—”

“Three whole guys.” Natasha bit the words off, leaving me wondering where the hell she got this anger from. “Not the scraps they decided to give me. Three whole people prepared to go all in, just like they wanted me to.” Mandie’s eyes narrowed as she looked me over, as if for the first time. “When it became clear that there would always be a hierarchy in the polycule, I was out.”

“Hierarchy?” Polycules founded on a couple opening things up to include other people got a bad rap in some circles of polyamory. The idea that two people were more important and had more say over the people in the arrangement didn’t sit well with everyone. From unicorn hunters (couples wanting a girl that they could share) to having the power of veto that other members of the polycule didn’t, it created a power imbalance some didn’t like. “What hierarchy? I’m not in a sexual or romantic relationship with any of the guys. I’ve never tried to have a say over what they do.”

“No, you’re not married to each other.” Natasha sighed. “Just to your jobs. I knew I’d always be second best, so I got out, and now…” She glanced at Mandie.

“Katie’s taken Bronson and left the city.”

Seeing Natasha wasn’t a gut punch, but Mandie’s words were. I had to think by her expression it wasn’t just for a scenic drive.

“She… left?”

“Something happened.” Mandie’s jaw flexed. “I don’t know what, but you need to work it out. Katie doesn’t show it much, but… she’s hurting.”

That was enough to get me moving. The gym, the girls, nothing mattered but those words.

“Drew!” My business partner turned around from where he was still talking to the potential investors. “I’ve gotta go.”

He was going to argue, but I brushed past him, walking out the door.

As I drove around to my place, I saw notifications on my phone. Helen, Garrett’s work mum, had been forced to ask him to cover her shift. Her daughter was pregnant and apparently had gone into early labour.

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