Page 99 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

“What?

We all clustered closer.

“Gloria didn’t turn up for my shift.” All the lazy, good feeling was leaving the building. “Shit. Shit! My shift manager rang me… ten times. Fuck.”

“Take a breath, dude.” Rhys put a hand on his shoulder, but Garrett threw it off. “You’ve covered how many people’s shifts? That’s gotta count for something, right?”

“Not on a busy night in the ED when no one else answered their phones to take my shift,” Garrett groaned. When he shoved the phone in his pocket, I knew how this was going to go. He stepped forward with an apologetic look, cupping my jaw in his hands. “I am so sorry, but I’ve gotta go into the hospital and talk to the shift manager, see if I can smooth this over.”

“That’s why I have three boyfriends, right?”

I made myself smile, even as I felt my stomach sink. That wasn’t fair. Garrett wasn’t spacing on me. He had an actual work emergency and he needed to attend to it.

“Look after Katie,” Garrett instructed the others. “Back rubs, breakfast with some protein in it, and lots of water.” I snorted. “Babe, aftercare is important.”

“Nothing an ice pack on my nether regions can’t fix,” I said, trying not to wince and failing.

“We hurt you?” There were two Garretts, and right now the caring, gentle one had control. “Shit, I knew we went too hard last night. Paracetamol and ibuprofen can be taken at the same time, alternating one for the other every four hours, with no more than eight tablets of each taken in a twenty four hour period.”

“Go,” I said, grabbing his wrists and squeezing. “I’ll be fine. The others will just have to deal with hand jobs or blowies if they want anything from me today.”

“Mm… would your pussy feel better if I kiss it better?” Rhys slid in behind me. “I know what I want to eat for breakfast, and it's not bacon and eggs.”

“Enough sex.” Rhett stepped forward and scooped me up into his arms before carrying me down the hall. Bronson followed along, thinking this was a fine game. I was placed on the kitchen counter. “If aftercare is what’s needed, that’s what we’re doing. Now, I can make you a protein shake.” I wrinkled my nose, remembering the horrible, chalky tasting things I’d drunk in the past. “Scrambled eggs? An omelette?”

“Stick to scrambled eggs.” Garrett grabbed a bottle of water and a protein bar. “Rhett can’t flip an omelette to save his life, so it’ll just end up scrambled, anyway.” I let out a little giggle, but he pressed a kiss to my lips, silencing me. “I’ve gotta go, but will you be around tonight? I can make you dinner?”

“Maybe…” I slapped my palm to my forehead. “Actually, scratch that. Mandie organised a family dinner tonight.” Usually those words were enough to strike fear into the heart of any red blooded man, but not these three. They all went perfectly still, watching me closely. “Can I take a raincheck for tomorrow night?”

“You got it.” Garrett made for the hall. “Give me time to grab some real ingredients. How do you feel about a genuine carbonara, with no bloody cream?”

I didn’t get a chance to answer. He was in his room, having a quick shower before getting ready.

“Scrambled eggs it is.” Rhett spun a frypan around in his hand, then put it down on the range, turning the gas on. “And how about a bit of toast?”

“A girl could get usedto this,” I moaned.

We were all lying on the couch now, watching the shadows shift in the late morning light. Rhett might not use artisanal eggs when cooking, but he made a massive pile of scrambled eggs we did our level best to get through.

“A girl will get used to this.” Rhys stretched me back on the couch, following me down with a little kiss to my nose. My head ended up resting on Rhett’s thigh and he stroked my hair as he stared down at me. “Now that we’ve got you right where we want you.”

“This girl needs to call work if she’s not going in,” I said, going to rise, but Rhett pushed me right back where I was. Those big, strong fingers started moving, digging into my scalp and forcing my eyes to flutter shut. Responsibilities, life, it all got shoved to the side, right up until the sound of a phone ringing cut through the air. “Shit!” I sat bolt upright. “Work.”

I was right, just not about which person’s employer was ringing. Rhett’s boss had called, not mine.

“Brent,” Rhett grunted, shooting me a sidelong look. “Yeah, I’m off… A big fire in the hills? You’ve called all the on-call guys?” You know how sometimes things feel too good to last? This was one of them. I gave him my best understanding smile. “They’re all there? Shit.”

He pulled the phone away from his ear and I knew what I was going to say. “Go,” I mouthed. I had no idea how this worked, but I was assuming that being a firefighter was a little more high key than being a receptionist. A vet nurse could sub in for me at the front desk, but the same couldn’t be said for a firie.

“Katie—”

Rhett was going to apologise and I hated that he felt he had to, so I moved forward and kissed him.

“It’s OK. Go and save the world or whatever it is you’re doing.” I glanced at my phone and saw I still had time to make my shift if I moved my arse. “I need to get going myself.”

“What?” Rhys threw himself down on the floor and wrapped his arms around my legs. “No. You’re staying.” Bronson started to bark and lunge at the two of us. “See B Dog says the same thing.”

“B Dog?” I cocked an eyebrow at the new nickname. “Well, Bronson here is going to be a very good boy for Rhys and keep him amused, and I might see him tomorrow.”

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