Page 139 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

We’re going to Katie’s, Rhys had written.Rhett’s quit. I told Drew to buy me out of the gym.We need to talk about what to do with the house.

I blinked, feeling like I’d somehow walked in the middle of a conversation.

Or?I typed out.

Or you can come with us. I watched the bubble appear and something loosened the god awful pressure in my chest, letting me take a full breath. Leave your shit job behind. Each one of us likes to help people. How about we help the most important person in our life?

When? I asked.

Now, came his reply. We’re out front, Gar.

“I need to go.” That came out all croaky, but I didn’t bother to clear my throat, heading to the door.

“You’re on administrative leave, Garrett!” Cora snapped. “Until an investigation is complete.”

She was going to make me jump through hoops, flex her muscles just to make herself feel big by making me small. I shook my head.

“Don’t bother.” Finally, finally I felt like the haze in my head was clearing. “Because I quit.”

Both women called after me as I strode out the door, but they weren’t the ones that mattered. Katie did. I walked past hospital beds, other nurses and doctors, but didn’t respond as they turned to stare. Just keep on walking, I thought, to Katie. Beyond the doors, out into the night, my bag left in my locker, but I couldn’t bring myself to go back to get it. The hospital was like quicksand, ready to suck me back in. Instead, I breathed in the night air with greedy gulps.

“Well, we got him outside.” Rhys appeared, a broad smirk on his face. “That’s promising.”

“We need to make a decision,” Rhett said. “The right one, this time.”

“I apologised,” I snapped, all the frustration I tried to tamp down coming bubbling up. “I fucked up, and I apologised and?—”

“Now you need to put your money where your mouth is.” Rhett frowned. “Your body? That saying makes no damn sense.”

“What Mr Roboto is saying is words are cheap, Garrett.” Rhys stepped forward. “Action talks and bullshit walks. We just need to know, are you full of shit or are you a man of your word?”

“We can’t do this without you,” Rhys said. “Who’s going to patch us up after we undoubtably have an industrial accident on the work site?”

“Speak for yourself,” Rhett said, shooting him a dark look. “I use proper PPE and follow safety protocols.”

“Who’s going to annoy the shit out of Katie’s nan, co-opting her kitchen to cook amazing meals made from local ingredients? No more farmers’ markets needed when you live on a damn farm.”

“You need me to be the farm medic?” I asked, finding myself smiling despite everything.

“We need you to show Katie how serious we are about her,” Rhett replied. “We screwed shit up with Natasha. Let’s not make the same mistake twice.”

He was about to come with us. I saw it in the way he took a step forward, the first one in the right direction, but of course that was the moment some officious cow came marching out of the emergency department.

“Look, you have an acts of service kink,” Rhys said.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“It used to be enough for you making sure we ate, had showers and cleaned up after ourselves, but really you wanted more.” Rhys peered into my eyes. “Someone you can pour all that love into and get just as much back. Working here is gonna kill you. You know it and I know it. It’s just a matter of when. Don’t you want to put the burden down?” I glanced back at the hospital for just a moment. “Don’t you want to choose Katie?”

“And what if she doesn’t want me?” I barely whispered that. “I fucked up?—”

“So make it up to her,” Rhett replied. “Walking away from this shithole, that’d be a helluva good first step. Each one of us wants someone to love and something meaningful to do. Maybe…Maybe we can find a way to do that together.”

I couldn’t answer them straight away. All the habitual bullshit that kept me in this place was weighing me down. It was like concrete blocks tied to my feet, dragging me back under the waves. But I couldn’t let it. Not for myself. Rhys was right, there was something about that perfect and total surrender of my ego to a greater cause that was endlessly seductive, but for Katie… I wrenched off my scrub top and let it fall from my fingers.

“Let’s go and get our girl.”

It was midmorningwhen we rolled up the driveway to the farm. Bronson came bounding out, barking to alert everyone inside that we were here. Katie came stumbling out, still dressed in her PJ’s, her eyes slightly red and swollen. They blinked right now, as if unable to believe what she was seeing and that had me striding across the driveway to pull her close.

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