Page 38 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

“Do?” I breathed that out and then performed another rep. “Nothing’s changed.”

Garrett shook his head with a hiss.

“Everything’s changed, Rhys.”

“Did you spend the day cooking for a girl you liked?” I didn’t wait for an answer, performing another rep. My muscles strained, the burn that started up better than the ache in my chest. “Did you adopt a goddamn dog for her? Did Rhett buy half a pet store? Did I ban Steve from the gym for hassling her?”

“You did?” Suddenly I had his full attention. “Thank fuck for that. He was a total wanker.”

“I did.”

I’d loaded the barbell a little heavier than I normally did and right now my arms let me know. They quivered as I strove to press the bar higher, but right as I began to wonder if I’d bitten off more than I could chew, two hands landed on the bar. Garrett threatened to tear his swanky shirt sleeves as he helped me place the bar back on the pegs. For a moment I just sucked in breaths. That was the weird thing about lifting. The more adrenaline, the calmer I felt. My mind felt sharp as a knife, and one way or the other, it would cut through all this bullshit.

“And I’d do it again. So would you if Steve was here or any other bloke that was bugging her, including that fuck, Dave.” His growl was a replica of mine. We’d heard Rhett’s stories, our already low opinion of the prick dropping through the floor, but it was different now that we knew the girl he was hurting. I gripped the bar again, performing shorter, faster reps in rapid succession. “And that’s the thing. She got hurt by a bloke that didn’t even deserve to look sideways at her, let alone…” My lips peeled back from my teeth as I thought about that arsehole touching Katie. “That has to have made her wary, but…”

I was coming to the end of my strength, the lactic acid build up making clear I only had a few more reps in me before I’d need to set the bar on the pegs again.

When the bar was safely back on the rack, I stared into the artificial lights, looking but not seeing them. “Who’s gonna look after her, get her smiling, laughing?” All I could see was Katie’s stricken expression, and right then, I vowed that would be for the last time. “Who’s going to look after the dog she loves so much?” I rolled up into a seated position, not even feeling the burn in my arms anymore. “Who’s gonna look after her better than us?”

Before Garrett could answer, we were all forced to look over as some of the guys moved to watch Rhett pound the bag like it owed him money or something. Some called out encouragement, others made comments about his fury, but he didn’t hear them. When Rhett was this deep in his head, he couldn’t hear or see anyone.

“Any reason why your mate is trying to beat the stuffing out of that bag?”

Drew appeared beside us, crossing his arms as he watched the proceedings.

“We found out we’re all chasing the same girl,” I told him, earning me a dark look from Garrett.

“Same girl… Katie?”

I watched Drew's lips twitch and knew what was coming. As I swapped the plates over, loading the bar lighter for Garrett, sure enough, he burst out laughing.

“Is this some straight guy thing? Like you can’t get it up unless your mates are panting after her as well?”

“Fuck off, Drew,” I told him, then nodded to Garrett.

“Are you sure you idiots are straight?” I ignored my business partner’s question, watching Garrett lift the bar, then lower it towards his chest. “What am I saying? Of course, you are. None of you have any sense of style whatsoever.”

“Pretty sure it’s more about not wanting to suck dick…” Garrett hissed out, then pushed the bar up again. “Or have a guy do mine.”

“We know what to do.” I watched Garrett closely, my eyes trained to identify moments of weakness, when your muscles just couldn’t take one more rep. My fingers itched to step in, take over, just to give them something to do. “The same thing we agreed to before. One girl, us three guys. This is a sign to try again.”

The bar rested on Garrett’s chest, making me think I needed to grab it, but he just stared up at me, a small frown forming.

“Try again? After…” He shook his head and then shoved the bar upwards, pumping out a few quick reps, then setting the bar on the pegs. “After the hell we went through?”

“This time’s different.” I grinned then, feeling it as soon as I said the words. A white hot flicker of something I’d given up feeling: hope. “We’ll be upfront from the start, be clear about what we want.

“And if she doesn’t want us?”

Garrett shot me a meaningful look.

That flame threatened to be blown out by cold, hard reality, but I forged on.

“Won’t happen.” I was a fire sign, so I was happiest when I burned hot, and fuck me if I wasn’t on fire right now. “This is meant to be. How the hell else did each one of us meet and fall for the same girl?”

“OK, so you’re still straight.” Drew nodded. “If that’s the plan, how the fuck are you gonna get Rhett on board? Because right now he looks like he wants to cage fight every damn guy in the gym.”

“He’s a Capricorn.” They groaned at my reply. “I’m a Sagittarius. Goat’s no match for a centaur.”

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