Beautiful Mistakes

"No, it's true. For instance, do you remember when those long, hippie-like skirts were in? Definitely my idea."

Groaning, Aaron pulled open the door and gestured for her to go through. "I don't have to listen to you talk about clothes, do I?"

"Okay, we can talk about hair," she replied brightly, stepping across the threshold with a big smile on her face.

Topic averted, Aaron closed the door behind them and they left for dinner, all thoughts and discussions about Matt neatly brushed aside.

Chapter Twenty Seven-

The next month was crazy.

Aaron bought the condo, so he was doing paperwork and packing for the move. His one friend was still living with the wife he was getting a divorce from—some kind of argument about their lease—so he practically invited himself over to help Aaron move stuff from the apartment to the condo since Julie wasn't allowed to do any of the lifting.

Aaron's friend's name was Steve, a blonde haired man of reasonable attractiveness with a really winning dimple in his right cheek. He was a little taller than Aaron, and he spent some time in the gym so he had no problem helping Aaron with the stuff.

Since Julie felt almost completely useless—being 7 months pregnant did not make a person useful at all—she made some lemonade and some sandwiches for Aaron and Steve so they could eat when they took breaks.

"You need to learn to throw stuff away," Steve stated as he sat down at their new island, moving one of the boxes so he could sit his drink down.

Smiling, Aaron said, "I throw stuff away—tell Julie. Thank God she never had to live on campus, because there's no way she could have had a roommate."

"Are you calling me a packrat?" Julie asked as she sat the paper plates down in front of both men.

"Without a doubt," Aaron replied, picking up the sandwich and offering her a smile.

"I disagree. It's not my fault that we have to move the entire contents of our apartment here. As it is I've had to buy some new stuff."

"A toy box and a bookshelf for the baby doesn't count," Aaron stated. "We've never had a baby before.”

Rolling her eyes, Julie said, "Whatever, the point is we needed stuff to fill the house up anyway."

"Ah, trust me, I don't mind," Steve replied. "If it gets me out of the house, I will help you move it all back to the other apartment and then back here again."

Grinning, Aaron said in a rather insensitive manner, "Shelby has always been a pain in your ass; I don't know why you ever got married in the first place."

Rolling his eyes, Steve said, "I don't know."

Julie waited for more, but apparently "I don't know" was his entire reason and explanation for marrying the "Shelby" person he was apparently divorcing.

And Aaron nodded, seemingly accepting it as a perfectly valid argument.

Man-talk didn't make any sense to Julie.

"I'll just be glad when I can get the hell out of the apartment. I couldn't believe that she was so petty that she had to pitch a fit about the lease of all things. She says she doesn't want to be stuck with the lease, but she's the one that wanted the apartment—I hated the damn thing from the time we signed the papers."

"Well, why did you get it if you both didn't like it?" Julie asked casually. "There are plenty of apartments in this city, it doesn't seem that hard to keep looking."

"Because it was the one she wanted and the schools were decent so she wouldn't be as worried about Trent."

"Your son?"

Steve shook his head. "Step son. Shelby was married once before, right out of high school. It lasted 8 months, but she was pregnant when they got married, so…"

"Oh, I see. Did you guys have any kids together?"

Shaking his head, Steve said, "Nope. We wanted to wait a few years. I guess it's a good thing we did."