Chapter 16
Katie
“Gym!” I screamed when my sister leapt towards me the next morning, forcing me to drop my work clothes. “You, me, a set of weights.” She flexed her biceps in an exaggerated pose. “Time to feel the burn, baby.”
“I can’t. I—” I started to say.
“New year, new you!” Mandie stabbed her finger in the air in front of my face. “You said that was what you wanted.”
“I’m going out to dinner,” I explained, pulling on a shirt.
“Again?” Her grin was immediate as she flopped down on my bed, creasing my clothes. “Who with? Rhys? Rhett? Rhys and Rhett, and then the two of them devour you from head to toe for dessert?”
I tossed a pair of socks at her head, but the bitch caught them expertly. Damn sporty person.
“A guy who wants to adopt one of the dogs,” I told her, walking over to my dressing table and adjusting my work clothes. “I went round to his place last night, but he has two housemates?—”
“Who are smoking hot and he and his best friends want to make you the meat in a three man sandwich?” Her elated expression shifted to one of confusion. “How exactly would you do that? Like would their arms?—?”
“One very nice nurse who is going to give Bronson a home.” I turned to face her. “Get him out of the shelter. I don’t know how hot they are, but I need to make sure they won’t hurt the dog. That’s my focus.”
She went serious for a second, then cocked an eyebrow.
“Is the murse hot?”
“Murse… Oh my god, we are not calling male nurses…” I stopped myself. “Nurses, that.”
“But is he hot?” she asked, a slow smile spreading across his face.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s hot or not.” I sat down on the edge of my bed and started pulling on my shoes. “It just matters if he’s going to be a good pet owner.”
“So he is hot.” Her arms went around me, locking me in place. “He’s hot, and he’s got two friends. You had dinner with gym hottie, then dinner with firefighter hottie, and now you’re bailing on me to dine with nurse hottie.”
A hard kiss was pressed to my temple.
“Lucky, I’m just glad you’re finally getting the attention you deserve.” She bounced off the bed. “Did I, or did I not, say you need to start playing the field?”
“There is no field. There is no playing!” I yelped.
“Look, I’ll let you off training for a night so you can get it in all holes from three hot guys.”
Her hands moved, obviously trying to work out how that would go. It was when her mouth started opening, ready to gobble down ghost dick, that I was forced to intervene.
“No dick, no holes,” I shot back, and that was a mistake. You just had to let Mandie run her mouth until she was done. Any attempt to intervene just set her off again. “I’m just having some lasagna?—”
“Lasagna? Delicious layers of Bolognese and bechamel sauce, coupled with pasta and cheese?” Her grin widened. “Something that takes hours to prepare. Yeah, this has got nothing to do with dogs and everything to do with doggy style.”
“Did you have coffee?” I narrowed my eyes as I looked her over. “You know how you get when you have caffeine.”
“Nope, just high on life and the fact my big sister is building herself a roster. Rhys one night, Rhett, the next, the murse boy.”
“Garrett.” She stopped still, lips twitching as she watched me closely. “The nurse’s name is Garrett.”
“Of course it is.” She fell backwards onto the bed, then started wildly humping the air. “Garrett! Garrett! Give me the good dick, Garrett!”
I was forced to shove a pillow over her face lest she wake the neighbours with her idiocy. I grabbed a travel mug of coffee and made a beeline for the door to ensure I opened the veterinary surgery up on time. As I slid behind the computer and read through the schedule for the day, I lost myself in the details, right up until knock off time.
That’s when the nerves started up.
As I drove over, I realised that Rhys and Rhett had done everything right. By not letting me know they wanted me to go on a date, I was able to sidestep my usual anxiety. I had gone through a drive through bottle shop and bought a bottle of wine, never able to turn up to someone’s house for dinner empty handed, but… My sister’s stupid words haunted me.
The way Garrett had stared at me at the shelter…? That was just him being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of verbal diarrhoea coming out of my mouth, right? The way his eyes dropped down as I munched one of those cookies. That was just horrified fascination as I scarfed it down. This offer of dinner, to make me a labour intensive meal, was just him buttering me up… I came to a stop abruptly, blinking when I realised I’d parked outside Garrett’s house.
It was fine, everything was fine.
I’d get the introductions over and done with and then go home to pelt my sister with gym equipment, if that’s what it took to shut her up. That decided, I grabbed the wine and the checklist and then walked up to the front door. Before I could knock, it was pulled open.
“Oh… again.” I shook my head as Garrett grinned at me. “Is that something you do to all visitors, because it’s kind of unnerving?”
“Not usually.” He peered out at the street. “My bloody housemates are running late and I thought you were one of them. I was gonna ream them out for not getting their arse home in time.”
“Well, wine?” I held the bottle up, and his eyes were instantly drawn to the label. “It helps most things, I hear?”
“You didn’t have to do that.” Those long fingers plucked it from my grip. “But this is a bloody nice drop. Come in. We’ll have a glass while we’re waiting.”
“Wow!” I stopped midway into the living room, the savoury scent of good food cooking coupled with an expertly dressed table had me staring. “This smells… This looks…”
“Amazing?” He popped the cork with expert ease and the rolled up sleeves of his button down shirt showcased his thick forearms perfectly. Wine glasses appeared from nowhere and he filled them with a flourish, offering me one before putting the glass to his nose. A little swish and he breathed in the bouquet, making me really nervous about my choice. One mouthful later and he was rolling it around on his palate, then drinking it down with an appreciative nod. “Mm… that is good.”
I took a sip myself, but before I could just scull the entire glass, his hand was on my shoulder, steering me towards the table. My chair was pulled out and he tucked it under, sitting down beside me.
“So, how was your day? Adopted out any pets?”
He sat with his elbows on the table, his hand cradling his glass loosely.
“Um, no. I only volunteer at the shelter, so I don’t usually have much to do with that side of things. I work at a vets.”
“You’re an animal doctor?” he asked.
“No, not even a nurse. I’m just the receptionist.”
“Just a receptionist.” He shook his head. “I’ve worked on the front desk of the emergency department. Dealing with people is hell.”
“Try overwrought pet parents.” I slumped back against my chair. “Ones who want their precious seen right now. Others who don’t think they should have to pay. The worst are the ones that bitch the vets out.”
“Biting the hand that’s trying to help them?” He reached over and clinked his glass with mine. “Nice to know it’s not just people in hospitals that pull that shit. After the pandemic, we dealt?—”
“Hey!”
We both turned around at the sound of a masculine voice. A familiar one, it felt, but how could that be true? I stared at the doorway into the living room, hearing the sounds of boots clattering against the floor. It got closer and closer, my mouth falling open as soon as I realised who it was.
“Got caught up at the gym and…”
Rhys stood there, staring at me, then Garrett.
“Me too. The station chief…”
Rhett came around the corner and then stopped still, a smile forming instantly.
“Katie?”
Mandie theorised I’d be calling out the guys’ names before the end of the night, but it turned out they were the ones saying mine. Each man stared at me, then each other, when they couldn’t work out the reason why. Mandie told me that having a roster of guys was the only way to survive the avalanche of fuck boys out there, but she missed one crucial detail.
It was a really good idea to make sure they didn’t live in the same house.
“How the hell do you two know Katie?” Rhett asked.