Page 3 of Gym With Benefits

2

Jess

My Honda Civic rocked back and forth for a moment before becoming still. Startled, I smacked at the dashboard until I found the knob to turn down my music. The guy in the green Ford Bronco leaned out of the window and gestured angrily at me.

“What the hell, asshole?” he shouted.

I rolled down my window and yelled back, “Me?”

“Who the hell do you think I’m talking to?” he shot back. “You came flying around that corner!”

For a moment, I was speechless. “I… why were you backing up? You just pulled into that spot.”

“I was adjusting!”

He shook his head and finished pulling into his spot again, and I chose a parking space on the other side. I got out and surveyed the damage.

My bumper had a big fat dent in it. Shit.

Twenty feet away, Prince Charming was cursing while looking at his Bronco. “You scratched my bumper. For fuck’s sake.”

I rounded on him, and hesitated.

This guy was six-foot-gorgeous, wearing athletic shorts and a tank top that showed off bulging arms that proved this was a good gym. He had a messy mop of brown hair that swayed as he shook his head in disbelief.

I recovered quickly and walked over to get a closer look. At his bumper, not at him. “It’s hardly scratched. My car’s got a dent the size of a softball!”

He glanced past me at my car and muttered, “I’m surprised that piece of shit didn’t explode on the spot.”

“Hey! My Civic isn’t a piece of junk!”

He looked at me like I had said something crazy. “Yeah. Sure.”

I glanced at my watch, then pulled out my phone. “Let me get my insurance info. I have Progressive.”

“Woah woah woah,” he quickly said. “We don’t need to get insurance companies involved. I don’t want my rate going up just because some ditsy girl wasn’t paying attention in a busy parking lot.”

“I had the right of way!” I sputtered. “You’re the one who backed up without looking! I bet the gym’s security camera will back up my story.”

Mr. Tall and Douchey gave me a skeptical look. “We both know you flew around that corner way too fast while shrieking along to Chappell Roan. You’re just lucky my Bronco can take a hit.”

And then he justwalked away.

“Hey!” I called after him. “Where are you going?”

“I don’t have time for this,” he called over his shoulder. “I need to get my workout in.”

By the time I regained my composure, he was already inside the gym.

I stared in disbelief. Had that really just happened to me? For a moment, I considered calling the cops. Technically, that was a hit and run, right? Getting into an accident and walking away from the scene? The look on his face when the cops showed up would be worth delaying my first day at the gym.

But thiswasmy first day at the gym. It was supposed to be a fresh start, a positive new habit that would make me feel more like my old self. I didn’t want to begin things like that.

And I didn’t care about a dent in my bumper. Besides, I already had a few dents thatweremy fault. And a pair of unpaid parking tickets that were floating around in the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles database. Getting the cops involved would be a mistake.

That asshole was also right about the insurance. My rates were already obnoxiously high without adding this to my record.

I needed to brush it off. But for that, I needed a little help.