Her Greatest Mistake

by Eve L Mitchell

  Me: No

  I put the phone down. It lit up again.

  Aiden: Do you want to?

  Me: I’m in bed, I was almost asleep. This isn’t the time for this.

  Aiden: Time for what?

  Me: You being YOU!!

  Aiden: Did you want to fuck him?

  Me: Aiden stop it

  Aiden: Are you in bed alone?

  Me: Are you?

  Aiden: You didn’t answer my questions

  Me: Sucks doesn’t it?

  Aiden: Answer my fucking questions

  Me: Goodnight

  I waited. When there was no response, I put the phone down again and resumed my earlier position. I fell asleep. Waking hours later, hot and having had a very realistic dream about Aiden, I picked the phone up to check the time.

  Aiden: You want to play games, Jemma? Let’s play.

  What the hell did that mean? I wasn’t playing games. Did he think I went into Steve’s apartment to provoke him? He truly was an arrogant bastard. I went to respond but then thought better of it. It was after four in the morning. He was probably sleeping.

  Did the devil sleep? Determined not to let him ruin my sanity anymore, I closed my eyes.

  I was in the kitchen, making toast, when the door was knocked. I quickly glanced at the phone. Aiden had been silent since his last text message. The door was knocked again. Glancing down at my checked flannel pyjama bottoms and my camisole top, I quickly tied my long woollen cardigan over my body as I hurried to the door when the knocking got louder.

  Standing on tiptoes, I looked out. It was Steve. Letting go of the tension I had been holding, I opened the door.

  “Hey there.” I smiled in greeting.

  “JimJem…” Steve looked me over as he frowned. “You’re not dressed?”

  “It’s eight thirty on a Saturday morning,” I reminded him.

  “And?”

  “And I have nowhere to be.” I laughed at him as he rolled his eyes.

  “This is where you are wrong, my little nugget of cynicism.” Steve beamed at me, and I knew instantly I was going to regret whatever he was going to suggest next. “We have a date.”

  “What’s that now?”

  “I volunteered you to help at the gym.”

  “I’m sorry, I think I’m going deaf, you did what?” I gaped at him.

  “We’re raising money for the animal shelter, and we’re doing a sponsored car wash.” Steve smiled in enthusiasm. “One of our PTs is ill, so I volunteered you.”

  “What’s a PT?”

  “Duh, personal trainer.”

  That made sense. “It’s March.” A car wash in March did not make sense.

  Steve looked at me, and his eyes twinkled with laughter. “So not deaf and still got all your faculties, I see no reason why you would not be suitable for this job.”

  “It’s freezing!”

  “I’m the one who’s gonna be washing the cars, you just need to man—sorry, woman—the hot drinks table.”

  “I can have my coat and clothes on?” I asked him, just to make sure.

  His laughter filled the hall. “Yes, JimJem, you can be clothed from top to bottom.”

  “Will you be?” Oh lord, just fling that out there, Jemma.

  “Would you prefer me not to be?” Steve’s eyes ran over me with interest. The smile hovering over his lips made me laugh.

  “Well, I don’t know CPR, so if you start to die of hypothermia, I won’t know what to do.” Lame. Lame. Lame.

  “I’ll be fine.” He chuckled. “Go get dressed. We leave at ten.” He turned to go back to his own apartment.

  “Are you just assuming I’m coming?” I called after him.

  “Course you are, you already told me you aren’t doing anything. Besides, think of the poor little animals, Jemma!” With a laugh, he closed his apartment door behind him.

  “You need to stop being a pushover, Jemma. Learn to say no,” I muttered as I closed my door and headed to my shower. I pulled my hair out of its topknot. “You just do as you’re told whenever someone tells you. Do you want to go out in the cold and man a coffee station for a charity? No. See? Easy.” But then I thought about it. It was for charity, and I wasn’t really doing anything else… Oh my God, you’re a lost cause.

  An hour later, I was finally eating my toast. I had jeans on with a pale pink mid-thigh knitted sweater, with a turtleneck. Knee-high boots with warm toasty thermal socks on underneath. My mauve coat, hat, scarf and gloves were all ready by the door. I’d left my hair down so I could wear my hat.

  As I put my plate and coffee cup in the dishwasher, my phone rang. Unknown. I ignored it. I never answered unknown numbers; if they wanted me, they could leave a message.

  My door was knocked, and I glanced at the time. Steve was early. I put a bank card in the back cover of my phone and grabbed my new keys. He knocked again.

  “I’m coming!” I yelled as I checked I had everything. Grabbing my scarf, hat and gloves, I jogged to the door. “I’m here.”

  He was in his heavy black woollen jacket, a sweater and jeans. He looked good. Steve noticed me noticing and gave me a warm smile. He took off his backpack and offered it to me. “You need to put anything in there?”

  “Nope, got everything I need,” I answered as I went to close the door.

  Steve’s large hand stopped the door from closing. “Keys?”

  Smiling, I held them up in my hand. “Keys.”

  “Good, let’s go.” Steve led me to the back stairs.

  “Why are we sneaking out the back?” I asked curiously.

  “Car.”

  “You have a car?” I asked in surprise. Why was he always on the bus?

  “No, Tyler does.” Steve told me as he mimicked my earlier movement and held up a car key.

  “Does Tyler, the policeman, know you’re taking his car?” I had a feeling I knew the answer.

  “Nope.” Steve winked at me. “We’re almost definitely certain to be back before he notices.”

  “You can’t steal his car!” I whisper shouted at him as I hurried after him down the stairs.

  “It’s not stealing. It’s borrowing. And he told me I could borrow it whenever I wanted,” Steve explained.

  “Did he say as long as you ask him first?” I persisted.

  Steve stopped, and I bounced off his back as he turned to look at me over his shoulder. “JimJem, I live with the guy. I can take the car.”

  Well, when you put it like that. “Okay.”

  Tyler had a very nice Jeep sitting in his allocated car parking space. “Oh, this looks expensive,” I said as we got in.

  “You don’t have a car?” Steve asked me.

  “I can’t drive.”

  “What the fuck?” Steve looked at me in surprise.

  I shrugged. “Don’t need to drive. My family’s in Boulder, and if I want to go anywhere, we have a perfectly good greener bus system.”

  “Okay that’s fine for not owning a car, but you can’t drive? At all?”

  “Never had the reason to.”

  “Huh.” He looked at me in consideration. “Okay, so today the car wash, tomorrow driving lessons.” Steve nodded as he drove.

  “What if I don’t want to learn to drive?”

  “You’ll love it, there is nothing more freeing than getting in a car and driving.”

  “Driving to where?” I asked.

  “You’re in Colorado, woman; do you know how beautiful this state is? Who cares where you drive to, just knowing you have the freedom to go anywhere…it’s liberating.”

  “I like the bus,” I protested.

  “JimJem, nobody likes the bus. The people driving the bus don’t even like the bus.”

  “I can read on the bus, I can’t read while driving.”

  “Audiobooks. Huge things. Move with the times, Jemma.” Steve turned to me and shook his head. “Driving lessons start tomorrow. Wait.” He signalled to turn left, effectively cutting me off, and then continued. “You may now
tell me your reasons for why you don’t want to learn to drive.”

  I scowled at him. I didn’t actually have any reasons other than I never saw the need. When we were younger, Jeremy took me wherever I needed to go, or mom did. I never really needed to go anywhere, and if I did, I took my bike or I walked. If my friends and I were going hiking or walking the trails or even to parties, I went in their car.

  “I just don’t see the appeal,” I told him honestly.

  “That’s because you haven’t tasted freedom. This will change.” He pulled up at the back of a building that was obviously his workplace. Two guys were standing waiting and then jogged over to the Jeep. They got in the back, and Steve turned to them with a smile. “Warren and David.” They both nodded in greeting. “Jemma’s taking Kelly’s place on the hot drinks table,” Steve told them as he set off again.

  “We’re not doing it at your work?” I asked as we turned onto the main street again.

  “Well, that’s actually against company policy,” one of the guys in the back joked. “We’re not allowed to do it at work.”

  My face flushed, and Steve laughed along with the others. “Be nice to my JimJem, she’s innocent.” He was laughing, but his look to the other two in the back was pointed. “The animal shelter has more parking, so we’re doing it there.”

  “Makes sense,” I mumbled as I looked out the window, my face still heated.

  “Do you train regularly?” One of them asked as we stopped in traffic.

  “Me?” I turned back to look at them. “Not at all.”

  “How do you know Steve?” the other one asked, and I couldn’t remember if he was Warren or David. “Warren.” He must have seen me struggle, and I smiled in gratitude.

  “Thank you, sorry.” I got more comfortable as I looked back at them. “We’re neighbours.”

  “Jemma lives across from Tyler,” Steve explained.

  “Oh, right, so she knows about—”

  “She knows everything she needs to know.” Steve’s eyes narrowed on Warren.

  “I do?” I asked him in confusion. “What might I not know?”

  “How to drive.” Steve laughed.

  “You can’t drive?” David asked, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

  “Nope.” Honestly, this isn’t that big a deal.

  “I’m going to start giving Jemma lessons.” Steve smiled over at me as we left downtown Denver and headed to Lakewood.

  “Oh.” I saw the two guys in the back exchange a look.

  “What?” I asked them both. “What was that look?”

  “No look,” Warren said immediately.

  “There was definitely a look.” My eyes narrowed on them both.

  David started laughing. He was tall and lean with a beard and short brown hair. I saw his wedding ring and internally applauded him for being an open and honest man. Aiden has screwed your head up, Jemma! “It’s just Steve isn’t known for his patience.”

  “That’s not true!” Steve protested.

  “Oh man, you know it’s true. You make everything a competition.” Warren rolled his eyes at me. Equally as tall as David, his light brown skin contrasted nicely with his white hoodie. He was clean shaven with startling blue eyes, and his hair was closely shaved all over. He reminded me of Jesse Williams, the guy from Grey’s Anatomy and I am sure many other things, but I knew him best as Avery on the show.

  “You a competitive jerk, Steve?” I asked him with a cheeky smile.

  “Look, if you want to enter a race for ‘participation purposes only,’ be my guest. I enter a race to win.”

  Huh, I know someone you could be friends with. “But driving lessons aren’t a competition,” I noted.

  “Of course not.” He gave me a warm smile, but I noticed the smirks from the other two in the back. “Don’t you listen to them, JimJem, you’re safe with me.”

  My eyes narrowed on Warren as he snorted. “What am I missing?”

  “The freedom of driving,” Steve answered promptly with a death glare to his friend. Steve turned into the animal shelter and parked the car well away from where the event was obviously taking place.

  As we all got out, David who had been behind me in the car, caught my elbow. “How do you do with dominating teachers?” he asked me quietly.

  “Is he really that bad?” I whispered.

  “Oh girl, you have no idea.” David looked at me in sympathy. Warren and Steve joined us, and we all headed over to the shelter. I kept glancing at Steve until he stopped.

  “What!” he exclaimed.

  “Nothing,” I said hurriedly. “You guys are gonna be freezing,” I commented.

  “They have heaters.” Warren pointed to the side, and I saw the industrial heaters. “So when we’re freezing our coc—I mean junk—off, we can jump in front of the heater and warm up.”

  “Of course, we’ll be working hard, so it’s not going to be too bad,” David added.

  “Is your gym closed for this?” I asked as I saw the number of people already gathering.

  “No, this is about half of us,” Steve told me. “These two don’t work Saturdays, and I only hold three appointments in the afternoon.”

  “Nice.” I nodded.

  “So you said you don’t keep fit?” Warren’s eyes ran over me. “What do you do at home?”

  “Read and drink wine,” I quipped.

  “Exercise bike?” David asked.

  “No.” I shook my head with a smile. “I go down the stairs in the morning, I walk to the bus stop, I get off the bus and I go to work. I take the elevator at work. I sit at my desk all day. After work, I walk to the bus stop, I get off the bus, I climb the stairs to my apartment. I sit down.”

  “You need to fix that,” Warren told Steve seriously.

  “I know, I’m working on it.” Steve fist bumped him.

  “I mean, that’s just not healthy,” David added. “How is she so skinny?”

  “I can hear you,” I reminded them snarkily. Skinny? Seriously?

  “Tyler has told her to come and eat at our place whenever he is home.” Steve continued to speak to his two friends.

  “At least she’ll get some nutrition,” Warren mused. “You should start with a light run in the morning.”

  “Or even after work, if she just sits and vegetates in the evening,” David suggested.

  “Are you guys freaking kidding me?” I stopped walking. “I’m right here. I’m not a pet that needs exercised.”

  “Has the walking tired you out?” Warren asked me with a cheeky grin.

  “I thought you were the nice one,” I said as I poked him in the chest as I walked past.

  “I am the nice one!” Warren laughed behind me.

  I slowed as we got to the car wash area. I looked around at all the people and looked over my shoulder for Steve. He came up to me quickly and grabbed my hand, pulling me along with him as he made his way over to a tall blonde goddess. There was no other way to describe her. She should have been on a cover of a magazine.

  “Heather,” Steve greeted.

  “Hi, is this my new helper?” Her smile was blinding.

  “Jemma.” I held my hand out.

  “Thank you so much for helping out on such short notice.” Her handshake was firm and brief, but she seemed genuine. “You’re gonna be on the hot drink table with Dee.” She gave Steve a knowing look. “Dee, who hasn’t turned up yet.”

  Steve glanced at his watch. “Seriously?” He looked over his shoulder. “We’re going to be opening in about twenty minutes.”

  “I know.” Heather frowned. “Can I show you around, Jemma?”

  “Absolutely.” I followed her into the shelter, and she told me they had complete control of the kitchen and then showed me the multiple coffee pots and the hot water boiler.

  “So I need you to start making the coffee and tea. Then there’s these.” Heather pointed to the large dispensers. “Fill them with the coffee, and get one of the guys to carry them for you.”

  “No p
roblem.” I smiled. “I’ll fill one with hot water for anyone who needs tea.”

  “Great, and the paper cups are out there already. You also have a small heater,” Heather told me. “The volunteers here have baked the most delicious looking cakes and cookies; I do not envy your struggle today.” She laughed lightly.

  “My struggle?”

  “To not eat everything!”

  “Yeah, I think I’ll be fine.” I smiled inwardly to myself. “Is there a charge for the drinks or anything?”

  “No, if they donate to the cause and they get their car done, then we thought it was too much, asking for donations.” Heather frowned. “Well, Steve and his band of merry men decided. I would ask them for a dollar personally, but they overruled me.”

  “I agree.” I thought about it. “I can put a box or something out and ask if they want to donate for the drink and cake, then they can.” I shrugged.

  Heather beamed at me. “Yes, let’s do it, but don’t tell the gruesome threesome.”

  “Are they that bad?” I laughed as I filled the first dispenser up.

  “Worse!” She shook her blonde hair. “And when Tyler is with them, you do not want in on that party.”

  “Steve’s roommate?”

  “Or stalker…” Heather muttered. “Anyway, you good here?”

  “I am.” Stalker? The policeman?

  “Okay, thanks so much, and when Dee gets here, I’ll send her to you.” Heather waved and then was off to join the guys out front.

  When I had all the dispensers full, I went looking for muscles, and boy did I find them. It was like my own personal porn show. I ignored the fact that there was already a queue of cars as I watched Steve, David and Warren all peel their T-shirts off. All three had changed into tracksuit bottoms, which was only going to be disastrous when they were wet. Parts of them were going to be soaked and on display. Yes, my mind instantly went there, and I blushed furiously. But how could I not stare? They were all trim, muscled and fit. So fit. Steve stood out because he was so tall and wide, but there was absolutely no fat on him. His physique was impressive and his skin flawless. Not a hint of tattoo or blemish. And you would know as you’re actually drooling, Jemma.

  I hurriedly looked away and was admiring Warren instead. Christ on a bike, I need to stop staring.