Page 47 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

“I don’t know.” It would’ve been better if I said yes and tried to sweep her up in this feeling, but even I knew that was too much, too soon. “All I do know is I feel something.” I moved slightly closer and Bronson looked up at me as he was panting, as if assessing whether or not I was worthy of his mistress’ time. “I’ve tried since the breakup, asking girls out, going on dates, but…” I shrugged. “Nothing comes of it. They’re nice. I do my best to show them a good time, but there’s nothing there. No spark, no connection.”

I dared to reach out then, taking her hand in mine. It was small and soft and I felt a weird need to protect it.

“You’re totally my type, but it’s more than just a physical thing. We could spend the day in bed, fuck our way through whatever this is, and I think…” My eyes met hers and suddenly I felt like I was standing on the side of the road, completely naked for the world to see. “I think that wouldn’t be enough for me.”

I watched her facial muscles twitch. It was like she didn’t know whether to smile or frown, but I knew which one I wanted to see. Instead, she pulled her hand away, using it to fidget with the lead instead.

“That’s insane,” she said finally, then turned to walk the dog up the road.

“Maybe.” If she thought she was putting me off, she was mistaken. I bounded after her, the spring in my steps the same as Bronson’s. “Maybe it’ll all come to nothing. We go to dinner and don’t know what to talk about, or worse, you like seafood.”

“You don’t like seafood?” she asked.

“You do?” I shook my head. “OK, I take it all back. No dates for you.”

“I don’t.” This came out in a much smaller voice, but that little look out the corner of her eyes made clear she knew what this meant. “The smell kills me. Like maybe it tastes awesome, but?—”

“You can’t get past the stink?” I finished for her. “I’m the same. Drew tortures me with his stinky ass lunches all the time. Wasn’t until the clients started complaining that he stopped. So you see, this is meant to be. Together we’ll work to stamp out seafood eating.” I wrinkled my nose. “Starting with Garrett. He’s always cooking some shit with prawns in it.” I linked her arm with mine. “You and me, baby, we’ll save the seas from being raped and pillaged.” I pulled her closer, feeling a rush when she didn’t resist. “And create something beautiful.”

I was just talking shit. There was no real hope that Katie would agree to what I was saying. The fact she even listened to me at all was what I was focussed on, but right as she opened her mouth to reply, Bronson let out a thin whine. He was keeping pace with us the whole time, but now he hung back. He fought the lead, shaking his head and digging his claws in, forcing us to work out why.

We were near the beach and “suns out, guns out” was the motto, and these guys were doing just that. They piled out of their cars, pulling down surfboards and talking loudly about the waves they were going to catch. My eyes flicked between Bronson and them, seeing what he did. Not fellas looking to spend a lazy afternoon surfing, but a large group of loud men.

He was scared.

“We need?—”

“Right there with you,” I said, darting forward and scooping the dog up in my arms. “It’s alright, mate,” I said, over and over in a low voice. I walked swiftly but surely, feeling him shiver in my arms as I put some distance between us and the beach. “It’s alright. Everything will be alright.”

I marched us right back to the gym, not taking a full breath until we walked in through the door and into my office. Bronson scuttled under the desk the minute I set him down, panting hard.

“This is why you need to take things more slowly!” I blinked and turned around to see Katie was obviously furious. She kept her voice to a low hiss, but the anger was palpable. “You can’t just… manifest Bronson being OK. He’s been through…” Her voice caught on that and I rushed towards her, but she held me off. “He’s been through a lot, and he needs you to be aware of that. You have to introduce him to new things slowly, otherwise his nervous system gets completely overwhelmed. Fear biting is a real thing. What if Bronson hurt someone?”

That didn’t seem possible right now. The dog was curled up in a ball, trying to make himself small.

“What if he hurts a child? The kid would face injuries or even death, and Bronson? The council would be around to put him down, no questions asked. Rhys.” I knew what she was going to say before she said it, because so many people had said my name in that exact tone. “Do this right or… don’t do it at all.”

At that, Katie turned on her heel and walked out of the office.

Chapter25

Katie

“So how did that go?” Mandie asked me as I stormed across the floor. She was doing some kind of shoulder stretch, keeping pace with me easily.

“Bad, now want to show me how to lift something super heavy? I’m feeling like that’s what I need right now.”

“Whoa, whoa, Lady Hulk,” she said, holding out a hand as I made a beeline towards a piece of equipment I did not know how to use. How hard could it be? Guys did it every day, and so— “We’ll work up to really heavy, OK, but first?” She tilted her head towards the office. “What did Rhys do, and how hard do I need to punch him in the nuts?”

“Hard.” I frowned. “You can do that, right? I mean I know you’re a string bean and everything, but you’re strong, aren’t you?”

She punched one hand into the open palm of another.

“I can hold my own just fine. What did he do? Make some sort of shitty comment? Look at another’s girl’s arse when you went walking? Told you that you should have decaf when you ordered a coffee?” She bounced on her toes. “Just tell me. I’ll sort him out for you.”

“No…” I let out a long breath, feeling the tug of Bronson’s lead, hearing his whines in my head. I wanted to wrap the dog up in cotton wool, but of course, that wouldn’t work. “Look, it’s nothing.”

“You were ready to kick the hip thrust machine’s arse right then, so obviously it's not.”

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