Chapter 7
Katie
“There she is!” Mum looked up from where she was cooking up a storm in the kitchen with a grin. Her hands were hastily washed and she rushed over, throwing her arms around me. “How are you, darling? It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve seen you.” Her damp hands went to my face as she looked me over closely. “Have you done something with your hair? You look different.”
“Gorgeous is what she is.” Dad walked in toting a pair of barbeque tongs. “Hello, love.”
I pulled away from Mum to give him a hug as well, but my mother was not to be deterred.
“Something’s changed.” Her eyes, the exact same shade of brown as mine, narrowed then. “Have you gotten a new job?” Mum had never reconciled herself to the fact I was working as a receptionist at a vets. I’d gotten great grades in my final year of high school, just not quite great enough. To be a vet, you needed to get 99 out of a 100 and I’d only achieved a measly 95. High enough to get into almost every other university course bar the one I actually wanted to study. “Something better than working at that damn vet.”
“Janey,” Dad growled, shooting her a dark look.
“Nope.” I forced myself to smile. “Still working at the vets, though maybe it's because I started going to the gym with Mandie?” I looked down. “Nope.” I grabbed a handful of my stomach and gave it a jiggle. “Same tummy, same thunder thighs.”
“Don’t talk about yourself like that.” Mum and I were carbon copies of each other, though she was sporting a few more greys in her red hair. “You’re beautiful. Just because things that awful man said?—”
“Jane.” Dad grew serious. “Enough.” His expression softened as he turned to me. “So, how’s work? And those dogs that you love? Did Bronson find someone to take him on?”
I sucked in a breath to reply, but Mum piped up.
“What about your love life? It’s been a few weeks now. Time to get back on that horse. Any contenders hanging around?”
“Well, there’s one.”
We all turned around as Mandie strolled in through the door.
“Hello, baby girl.” Nothing made Mum happier than when we came around. She gave my younger sister a hug, then held her at arm’s length. “And what’s this about a guy?”
“Yeah, what guy?” I asked with a frown. “This is all news to me.”
“Ohh, apparently you made a big impression at the gym.”
Half the reason our sharing an apartment worked was because Mandie and I didn’t see each other all that often. I was at work or volunteering at the shelter and she was shooting videos in the morning and often attending glamorous events in the evening. Right now I wished she had such an event to go to. Her smile spread slowly and Mum and Dad started looking at the two of us intently.
“No,” I said, trying for authoritative and failing, especially when the memory came flashing back. “No.”
The smoothie, the towel… those abs. I held out a hand to ward Mandie off, but it didn’t work.
“Katie collided with a hot guy at the gym,” my baby sister told our parents with a smirk. “She spilled her smoothie all over him, and apparently that’s all it took for him to be smitten.” A text notification went off, and she peered at her screen. “He’s been blowing up my phone since, wanting Katie’s number.”
“Oh you didn’t.”
Mum slapped a hand over her face to smother her laughter. She failed utterly.
“Some guy at a gym?” Dad’s arms crossed as his brows jerked down in a frown. “What do we know about him? Is he another dirtbag like?—”
Dave. He was going to say Dave. My situationship that kind of morphed into something else, yet was never defined, making it easy for him to twist things to suit himself. He was possessive and uncaring, sweet and a complete pig, depending on what was happening that day. My family had never liked him, and honestly, some days neither did I. The relationship… whatever it was, it kind of had a momentum of its own, carrying me to places I didn’t want to go.
Including the last night we talked.
I blinked, shoving that memory away.
“Rhys is co-owner of the gym I go to,” Mandie told Dad, yet she shot me a wink. That was the half-naked hottie’s name? “He’s a business owner and a good guy.”
“Business owner…” Dad stroked his chin, then looked at me. “You could do worse, love.”
“Is he kind?” Mum was all about my love life seconds ago, but now there was an actual person to discuss, her protective side was coming out in force. “Is he going to treat your sister well? I don’t care if he’s hot. That Dave certainly thought highly of himself and look at the way he treated your sister. Katie doesn’t need a ‘hot’ guy who’s too busy looking at the mirror, not her.”
“Mum—” I started to say.
“She needs someone solid, dependable, and not too full of himself, just like your father.”
She moved into his side and he wrapped an arm around her, staring down into her eyes.
“You saying I’m not hot?”
“You’re a stud muffin and you know it.” Mandie and I recoiled as Mum’s voice became a throaty purr. “All these big, strong muscles.”
“Oh my god, gag!” I said, spinning around as she stroked his chest, but when I did, I caught my sister in my sights. “And do you think maybe you could’ve told me about this situation before you announced it to the parental units?”
“Seemed too good an opportunity to waste,” Mandie replied with a grin. “Now they won’t start hassling me about settling down.”
“So are you going to get this Rhys’ number?” God, nothing threw Mum off the scent. “If Mandie thinks he’s a nice guy?—”
“He has to be,” I replied. “I walked head first into him and spilled my smoothie all over his very nice chest.”
“Well, that’s one way to get a bloke’s attention.”
My father was fighting to hold back a smirk.
“And then when I tried to clean him up with his own towel, I discovered he wasn’t wearing anything underneath it.”
God, that shadowy shape and all it promised had haunted my dreams since that moment.
“Oh, you didn’t!”
Mum started to giggle, tried to stop herself and instead let out a rude snort. My family, ladies and gentlemen. That started everyone else cackling, the bastards, and damn me, even I cracked a grin.
“So yeah, I saw his dick and apparently that was enough for him to want to get my number.” I sighed. “Maybe he thinks if I’m that keen to strip him naked, I’m an easy lay or something.”
Everyone went quiet then.
“Katie, no—” Mandie said.
“He wouldn’t want to,” Dad grumbled. “Give me this bloke’s number. I’ll set him straight. No bastard is coming sniffing around my daughters, looking to get his end wet.”
“He might not be a fuck boy,” Mum added.
“Mum, did you just say fuck boy?” Both my sister and I stared at my mother.
“I keep up with the lingo,” she said with a wave of her hand.
“Lingo…”
Mandie’s eyes met mine, and we both snorted.
“Mum, are you trying to be ‘down with the kids?’” I asked, trying for some kind of cool dude stance and failing utterly.
“Oh my god.” She stormed back to the kitchen. “I’ll have you know that I was very cool at school.”
“Gorgeous too.” Dad’s response, his steady gaze had us going quiet. No one, and I mean no one, loved my mother like my dad. “And funny, and sexy.”
“Oh no…” us kids moaned as he moved in behind her, cradling her body with his.
“And an amazing cook.” He nuzzled into her neck and she giggled. “Did I say sexy?”
“Well, if I’m to have any appetite at all, I need to go outside,” Mandie announced, grabbing my hand and hauling me outside. “So, did you want his number? I promised to ask tonight to get Rhys off my back.”
“New year, new me, remember?” I told her. “I’m done with dudes and am focussing on myself. And anyway, if things go south, and let's face it, they will, how awkward would that make it at the gym?”
“You wanna go back?”
Mentioning exercise always had my sister changing gear. It felt like I was with a bouncy golden retriever and I was the one with a stick in my hand.
“I can actually sit down on the toilet without wanting to scream,” I replied, “so yeah.”
“Oh my god, I can fit you in tomorrow after work.” She was tapping furiously at her phone, not to give me a guy’s number, but to slot me into her calendar. “It’ll be busier.” I shrank back involuntarily. Spending another quiet morning at the gym would’ve been preferable, but I only had one morning off a week. “But it’ll be fine. I’ll see if one of the girls can come as well. We’ll do some cardio and maybe some free weights…”
I let her words wash over me. It all made sense to her and that’s what mattered, because if anyone knew how to make me feel stronger, it was Mandie. I nodded along to everything she said until our parents rejoined us outside.
“Nibbles and drinks,” Mum announced, trying to carry a platter outside, but Dad had it out of her hands in seconds. He placed it on the table and then pulled out her seat for her, Mum’s cheeks flushing in response. “Now, come and tell us about your week. What’s been happening?”
She looked expectantly at me, so I did the only thing I could and glanced over at my sister.
“Mandie’s been out at influencer events every evening. Didn’t you go to that big TikTok soiree the other day?”
“TikTok is the video thing, right?” Dad asked, popping a piece of cheese into his mouth.
“Only the biggest social media platform in the world right now,” she replied, then flushed. It was strange to watch her sit back, avoiding people’s eyes. “And yeah, I went to an event.”
“Tell them why,” I prompted.
She shot me a dark look, but hey, this bitch dropped me right in it. I could always return the favour.
“It was the awards night.” She started to sink down in her chair as her cheeks went bright red. “And I…” Her hand reached for her drink and she took a big mouthful. “AndIwontheawardforbestfitnessinfluencer.”
“Oh my god, did my baby just win an Oscar?”
Right then, I couldn’t have loved my mum more. When we were teenagers, we had been horrified about how excited she got about everything, but as an adult I appreciated it for what it was: love. I smiled and leaned forward to listen to Mandie explain what the hell the TikTok awards were in comparison to the Oscars.
“You know you don’t have to do that.”
We’d had dinner and I was in the kitchen, washing the dishes, when Dad walked in.
“The dishes? Could you have made that ruling when we were kids?” I flicked bubbles at him. “Because I remember doing a whole lot of this back then.”
“Not the dishes.” He pulled out a tea towel from the cupboards and started drying off the dishes. “I mean redirecting everyone’s attention onto your sister.”
Mum and Mandie were still talking about the event outside.
“Got me out of talking about Towel Guy, didn’t it?”
Dad’s eyes met mine when I handed him a freshly washed plate. He took it with a gentle smile, drying it thoroughly before putting it away.
“If Towel… The bloke’s name is Rhys, right? I can’t bloody call him Towel Guy. If he’s not the right one for you, love, then you’ll get no argument from me. I want someone who appreciates my daughter for the amazing woman she is.”
I turned around then, because sometimes it felt like my dad was like a warm fire on a winter’s night. He just warmed you right up, from head to toe.
“Like you do Mum?” I glanced over my shoulder, looking at the two of them through the glass sliding door. “I’m not sure they make guys like you anymore, Dad.”
“Course they do.” When I turned back, he pulled me close, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “They’re out there, love. Don’t lose hope. The right guy? He could be waiting just around the corner.”
“Hopefully not literally around the corner, as that would be creepy and weird,” I told him.
“Katie.”
He put his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes, waiting me out, but I pulled away and turned back to the washing up.
“I’m not going to put up with another guy treating me like shit, Dad. I can promise…” I started scrubbing the fry pan really, really hard right then. “That there will be no more Daves in my future, but…” I pulled the pan out of the water and inspected it before handing it to him to dry. “I need to spend a bit of time with myself to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m sick of dating, sick of putting myself out there.” I thought of my last time on the dating apps and winced. “I want to put me first for once.”
“Any bloke worth his salt would do exactly that.” He held up a hand when I sucked in a breath to answer. “Not saying you need to get back into the dating scene, just that if the right guy comes along when you’re ready, he should be putting you first every damn day. If he doesn’t…”
He smacked one fist into the other hand with a theatrical air, which just had me grinning.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Any time, sweetheart.”
“I’m just gonna tell Rhys I gave you his number,” Mandie said when we got back to our place. “That, or I’m gonna block him, because damn, this guy is persistent. I need to ask Drew what he put in that damn smoothie. Like an aphrodisiac or something?”
“Show me.”
Before she could react, I plucked her phone from her hand, intending to tap out a quick thanks, but no thanks message to Rhys. Of course, that’s when I saw the many, many messages.
Does your sister like flowers? What kind? I know most girls think roses are boring, so how about gerberas?
I blinked, not expecting this kind of puppyish energy from the big, muscly stranger I collided with.
What’s her star sign? Is she a Taurus? She looks like she would be.
I was, but hey, no girl likes to be told she looks like a bull.
Like she has curves for days and I would walk over broken glass to rest my head on her thighs and feed her bonbons or something.
God, I could just imagine him doing that, which had me smiling involuntarily.
Look, I know you must be wary, giving me your sister’s number, but I’m a good guy, promise. I just want to take her out, show her a good time, see if she likes me.
“So, what do you think?” Mandie asked, appearing at my shoulder. “I’ve known Rhys for a while now through the gym. Not super well, but enough to think he’s OK to go out on a date with. I mean, if there’s no chemistry?—”
“Oh, there’s chemistry.” My fingers flexed, able to feel that hard body under my fingertips with little thought. “I…”
Instead of answering her, I pulled out my phone and tapped out the number into a new contact and showed it to her.
“Smoothie guy?” She smirked. “Nice. OK, I’ll let him know the ball is in your court now.”
Much later at night, sitting in my bed, I stared at my phone screen. The ball was in my court, but was I ready to serve? The need to answer that question, coupled with a knowledge I couldn’t, had me flopping back against my pillow.
When I closed my eyes, shut out the world, it was far easier to think about. Here, no one saw me. Here, no one made a comment as I conjured the gym change room entrance in my mind. In my head, there was no one to witness as my hand slid through the mess of the smoothie, smearing it across Rhys’ chest. What would I have done if he just stood there, willing me to go on and no one else saw? As my eyes fell closed, I dreamed of just that.