Chapter 44
Rhett
Earlier that day
“Why the hell didn’t you talk to us about going to dinner tonight, before you asked Katie?” Garrett said. He paced back and forth, his phone to his ear, because he was trying to get someone else to take his shift.
“Because you guys took a massive step forward,” Rhys replied, reaching down to twiddle with Bronson’s collar. Somehow he’d found one that looked like a bow tie. “Because I want a chance to catch up.” Garrett sucked in a breath and I knew what he’d say. That Katie and Rhys should go out on the date tonight by themselves. “Because if we’re going to do this whole polycule thing, then we need to start trying that on for size and see if it fits all of us.”
That stopped Garrett in his tracks. His brows creased and then he was nodding, but before he could reply, someone answered the phone.
“Hey, Gloria? Yeah, it’s Garrett from work. Look…”
He walked off, talking fast as he tried to convince the woman to swap shifts with him.
I’d had it easier. Brent, my boss, wasn’t keen to see me back on deck after yesterday as it was. The factory fire was one shit fight after another. Nothing went right, and the hours stretched on and on, even when teams from other stations were brought in to relieve us. I worked fast now, rolling up my shirt sleeves over my forearms, and waited for Garrett to return.
“She’ll do it.” He looked harried as he strode over to his bedroom and started yanking shirts out of his wardrobe. One was dismissed, then another, until Bronson pulled free of Rhys’ grip and went trotting into the bedroom. He put his paws up on the edge of the bed and then pawed a gunmetal coloured shirt. “This one?” Garrett held it up against his chest and stared into the mirror on his wardrobe. “Yeah, that might just work. You’ve got good taste, fella.”
The dog wagged his tail in response, barking once Garrett was dressed. He was raring to go, and I knew exactly how he felt.
Yesterday… I woke up this morning hard, aching, the dream I’d had a glorious re-enactment of everything that went down in Garrett’s bedroom. No, even better. In my dream, Katie climbed on top of me, her brows creasing as she reached down between us and then there was a little sigh, then a long moan, as she slid down my cock.
Fuck…
I didn’t just want a repeat of yesterday. More, that’s what my heart beat, more. Every word I’d said to her, about not being her rebound, but rather becoming her final destination. I meant each one of them.
“Ready?” I asked in a gruff voice.
“Here.” Garrett squirted some spicy cologne on, then rifled through the other bottles he kept on his dresser and handed me one, then another to Rhys. “Not too much. Just?—”
“Enough to enhance our natural scent.” Rhys mimicked Garrett’s tone perfectly. “I know. Where’s Bronson’s?” The dog wagged his tail in response to his name. “Got some eau de doggy somewhere?”
“Cologne would be murder on a dog’s olfactory system,” Garrett said, feeding a belt through his pant loops. “Now, before we go, don’t go signing me up for anything next weekend. I’ll have to spend the entire weekend at the hospital in return for Gloria taking my shift.”
“Even though you bailed her out all those times her kids were sick?” Rhys’ hands went to his hips, his button down stretching. The guy never seemed to wear anything other than activewear, so non-stretch fabric always sat badly on him. “When she was sick?”
“I’m the one rostered on tonight,” he said and we both shook our heads, having heard this time and time again. “It’s my responsibility to find someone to replace me and no one is obligated to take over.” So how do other people’s obligations fall on his shoulders all the time? His phone started to buzz, but when he went to look at it, I plucked it from his grip and then pocketed it. “I need?—”
“To get to Katie’s on time.” His gaze locked with mine, but I wouldn’t be the one to look away first. “We’ve already spaced on her more than once. One more time…”
He saw it. We all did. A girl like Katie, she wasn’t going to put up with this kind of crap infinitely, and I didn’t want her to have to.
“OK, let’s go. Bronson, bud, you’re riding with the fellas and I…” Rhys walked over to the front door and opened it with a flourish. “Am going to pick up our girl.”
“Meet her at her door,” I instructed.
“And tell her she looks pretty… no, beautiful,” Garrett said.
“Won’t be able to stop myself.”
We walked out, Bronson following on his lead, tail held high, and that started the bloody dog barking next door. An angry shout from the new neighbour shut the bloody mutt up for a second, but the damage was done. Bronson yanked on the lead, dragging Garrett over to his car. Looks like we were going in his sedan tonight. We all scrambled inside and Garrett turned the key in the ignition.
“Ready?”
I was never more ready for anything in my life.
Rhys had found a nice little pub in the hills. The menu passed Garrett’s stringent inspection and when he rang up, they allowed dogs in the beer garden out the back. The night was cool without being cold and Garrett and I sat at a table, a beer for me, a bottle of cider for him, and a glass of wine and a rum and Coke sitting there, waiting for Katie to arrive.
Bronson let us know when.
He scrambled to his feet, straining against his lead, forcing me to grab it lest he rush up to Katie. I understood why.
“What the hell is she wearing?” I barely breathed that out, standing up without thinking, and Garrett did the same. “That dress…”
Like some kind of angel, she floated up the path to the pub on Rhys’ arm. The skirt swirled around her legs, flowing over those damn hips my hands had memorised, and then there was that plunging neckline. I was hard as a rock and standing there, almost about to start whining pitifully like Bronson was.
“I see it.”
“The way it…” My hands moved vaguely through the air. “And her curves…”
“I know.”
His choked off reply had me glancing at him momentarily, but my eyes were always going to be dragged back to Katie. That little smile as she approached. It was everything. I gave Bronson his head, letting him drag me closer, uttering a quick command when he went to jump up on her.
“Well, look at you.” She bent down to scratch behind his ears, and the dog started to wriggle his butt in excitement. “And you…”
When she looked up, my eyes locked with hers and my mouth opened, wanting to say something, anything. It was like there was all this stuff inside me, and it was all coming to a head at the same time, creating a log jam inside my head.
“You look incredible,” I mumbled out.
“Beautiful,” Garrett added.
“Stunning.”
Rhys stared at her then like he couldn’t believe his luck, having her hang off his arm. Turns out that was accurate because I was halfway towards shoving him to one side and claiming Katie for myself. Instead, I darted forward, pressing a kiss to her cheek, only for Garrett to do the same.
“Thanks.” That blush, it had me thinking of whole other things that had her cheeks colouring pink. Her hand rose, tweaking the collar of my shirt, then running it down the front of Garrett’s. “You look pretty good yourself. Smell nice too.”
“That was me.” Garrett shook his head. “I mean, I chose the colognes. I… Shit. I’m pretty sure you need to do a twirl for us, because that dress...”
“Yeah, I nearly swallowed my tongue when Katie answered the door.” Rhys looked inordinately pleased to have our girl on his arm. “The boobs, the hips, the butt…”
I was about ready to punch his teeth down his throat when I caught her flush. She looked away and then back again with a smile. That had to mean she was flattered, right?
“So should we…?”
She nodded to the table and then Garrett and I were there at her chair, fighting to pull it out for her. I won, drawing it back with a flourish. Rhys just shook his head, taking prime position at her right, and as my hands gripped the back of Katie’s chair, Garrett took the other side.
Fine.
I sat opposite her, and in some ways that was perfect. It gave me the perfect opportunity to stare openly at her. The drinks I’d already bought for her were pushed forward, and she accepted them gratefully.
“What looks good here?” she asked, glancing down at the menu and that had each one of us freezing. She leaned over the printed card and, for a moment, I both feared and hoped her breasts would spill free. “What?”
Katie glanced at all of us in confusion.
“I’m pretty sure we all want to see if we can order that dress in ten different colours.” Rhys had his eyes trained on her breasts. “That and get you a jacket or something…”
Shit, if we were openly ogling her, then so could everyone else. The place wasn’t packed yet, but still, people stopped to stare. I moved to place myself in their line of sight, blocking the world out.
“Because…? Oh!” She looked down and then straightened up, and it felt like the gates of heaven just clanged shut in my face. “Mandie made me buy this dress.”
“Send flowers to Mandie. Got it,” Rhys said.
“And it’s a bit more revealing than I usually wear.”
That’s when I felt a flush of warmth. My hand snaked across the table and grabbed hers.
“You wouldn’t have worn something like this for Dave.”
Her eyes met mine, right before she shook her head.
“Nope. There was no point. We never went anywhere as nice as this.” It felt like I saw the beer garden for the first time. The barn-like structure of the pub, the stout wooden tables, I took them in but my attention refocussed back on Katie. “He wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble.”
“Because he was a fucking idiot,” I said.
“Because he was a fucking idiot.” She repeated my words back to me with a definite nod, then reached over to pat Bronson’s head. “But this?” Her hand made a gesture at the table. “This is the standard all other dates will be judged by.”
“Because you’ve got all three guys standing to attention for you?” Rhys said, reaching over to snag her rum and Coke and then taking a sip.
“Standing? But you’re all…”
Katie looked around and then blushed in earnest, realising what that meant.
“I’ll drink to that,” I said, clinking my beer glass against hers.