Page 68 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

“He invented over five hundred different tricks.”

“He…” She grinned. “I get it. Skateboarding is your hyper focus.”

“Was,” I replied. “Back in the day, I was sure I’d be the next skateboarding great. God knows I put in enough hours practising it. Trouble is, I turned out to be no Hawk. No nothing, really.”

“Oh, wow.”

Suddenly she looked incredibly serious, and that wouldn’t do. I shrugged and shot her a winning grin.

“It’s no biggie. Millions of dollars of sponsorship deals and skating in competitions all over the world wouldn’t really have suited me.” I looked around, seeing the cars passing by, the beach getting closer with every step. “My head would’ve gotten too big and I would’ve sold out, become a complete arsehole, spending my fortune on blow and hookers.”

“That is an oddly specific prediction,” she replied.

“I am but a simple man. I like the gym, the same neighbourhood I grew up in, hanging out with the guys I knew at school, and I like you.” That was just blurted out. I blinked, pretty sure this wasn’t the right time for confessions. “And here we are at the cafe. Black coffee or are you one of those girls that drinks those milky sweet things with all the cream and toppings?”

“Chocolate mocha with cream,” she said.

“Ugh, that’s a dessert, not a drink.” I looked down at Bronson. “Look after our girl and I’ll get you a pup cup.”

The bugger barked at me, making clear neither part of that statement was negotiable.

Walking away from Katie sucked. Half of me expected to turn around and to see her and Bronson gone like some kind of fever dream. I stared out the window as I waited to get served, watching her rub at the dog’s chest, Bronson staring at her like she hung the moon.

I reckon I knew exactly how he felt.

I didn’t want to look away, couldn’t, not while she laughed at his clumsy attempts to keep her giving him chest scratches. Not even when the barista spoke to me.

“What can I get you?” I had to put the order in, get my girl her coffee and my dog his pup cup, and yet I had to drag my eyes away to meet the barista’s. He smiled expectantly, no doubt wondering what the hell was going on, right before I rattled off our order.

“Here we go,” I said, carrying out the drink tray. “Frou frou coffee for the lady.” Katie snorted as she took the drink from me. “Has Bronson been a good boy? Does he deserve a pup cup?”

The dog started to dance on his back legs, making clear that he thought he really, really did.

“Of course, he does,” Katie said, right as I got him to sit and then put the pup cup down for him.

“Damn, boy,” I said, watching the dog lap the milk up in a series of frenzied licks. “I’m not sure you even tasted that.”

“I think he wants mine now.”

Katie was forced to lift her coffee higher as Bronson came to sit very still in front of her, eyes trained on her takeaway cup.

“C’mon, boy, it’s beach time.”

His rumpled ears pricked up, and he lunged on the lead, knowing what that meant now.

“Wow…”

Katie stopped when we reached the sands. Her eyes were on the sunset, tracking the way the colours shifted in the sky, whereas I couldn’t help but stare at her. Her little pink painted toe nails, wiggling in the now soft, cool sand. Her lips parting as she smiled, then took a sip. The way the colours of the sunset were reflected in her eyes, right as they refocused on me.

“Wow indeed,” I said, making clear it wasn’t the sky that had my attention. Her cheeks flushed the same pretty pink as the clouds, right as Bronson started to tug at his lead. “Ready to go, boy?”

“You let him off the lead?” I didn’t love that note of fear in Katie’s voice and when I looked up, she was frowning.

“Only when we’ve got the beach to ourselves,” I said. Bronson pulled against the lead’s constraints, obviously making it harder for me to undo the clasp. “And not at first. I did some exercises at home and at the local park, testing his recall.” Her eyebrow cocked up as I used proper dog training terminology. Yeah, I did my research. “He knows better than to go too far and doesn’t get himself in trouble. Take a look.”

Bronson went flying off the lead as soon as it was unclipped, going barrelling towards the surf. Katie let out an involuntary giggle as he chased the seagulls. I was concerned about his prey drive, but the seagulls weren’t about to let some mutt bring them down. They flew up into the sky, hovering there lazily on the air current as he barked furiously at them. Not for long, because a small wave rolled in. He ran into that, snapping at the waves, right before it went out again. Then the dog looked over his shoulder as if to say to Katie, ‘Look, Mum, I’ve got this.’

“He’s…” She lifted her free hand and then let it fall. “He’s a different dog. I knew getting him out of the shelter would help, but… I didn’t expect this. Rhys.” I loved the sound of my name in her mouth. “You’ve done an amazing job.”

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