It's been the week from hell.

The footage from the nearby cameras from Allie's accident is "gone."

The single-page "file" for the accident has notes in it that don't make sense, and also paint Allie as the one that caused the accident. It reads that witnesses saw her texting while driving.

No information on those witnesses, of course.

She described the car in the report with very little information, but just enough I fucking know who did it. Now I see what Tom is talking about. He obviously knows but isn't saying anything and I know exactly why.

The officer that handled this retired, of course, and is unreachable.

I know of only one person in this town that would use his money to protect his family from legal troubles or a possible scandal. Only, I know enough about the family after being with Kat.

So no, I haven't broken up with her yet. I need her to stick around and think everything is normal until I can get some sort of evidence or confession. Kat's parents are gone for the next few weeks on vacation, so I'll wait until they get back to get what I can.

Kat's been acting like herself as of late. She took up the other bedroom that my dad and Jen used when they came here and made that into her "studio." She doesn't use it, but it's all laid out ready for use.

I don't even care because it's all going in a box the second she's out of my life. I can't even sleep beside her, wondering if she knew. If she knows.

And I can't even talk to Allie about it because I don't know how she would react. I don't need her to overreact and cross paths with Mr. Vandenburg. If he did have this kind of pull before, I know he has it still. He has more attorneys than actual friends.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was golf buddies with some judges at this point, either.

Tom called early this morning to ask me over for a boys' night, so I guess Allie and Ted are still together. Why wouldn't they be? I did the exact opposite of what I told her I would do and I don't have a valid excuse for her yet. Not one that I'm willing to share.

I feel like a damn jerk for avoiding her, but there's a kind of shame I feel keeping Kat around after the things she said about Allie and Jadon. Truthfully, it disgusts me. I've barely spoken to her and she hasn't noticed anything is off. Allie, though...

I'm still going to prepare to wait and probably be rejected. I look like a liar at this point, so I'm sure Ted sounds like the safe bet Tom said he was.

But dammit, she's definitely worth waiting and fighting for. I just need her to not marry the wrong guy in the meantime.

I took the day off to take care of some things. Tom was cutting the practice short today because of the unseasonal rain, so he let me take the entire day so long as I come over for dinner.

The road isn't busy with the holiday traffic yet, but the rain is coming down hard. I wonder if Joel is still going to have his barbecue tomorrow. He still has the actual cabin and a covered patio. I'll have to face Allie then since she an Jadon are coming.

There's a car pulled over on the side of the road on my way out of town with its lights flashing and it looks like...

Shit.

I pull over once I recognize it's Allie trying to change a tire in the damn rain. She's crouched down to the side of her car with a jacket over her like a blanket rather than actually on her body.

When I jump out of the car, the rain hits me hard and soaks my jacket instantly. It's louder than the actual cars driving by us. "Allie?"

She jumps and her hair is plastered to her face and she's fully soaked. But damn, if she isn't cute like this. "Lucas?"

Allie has a wrench in her hand and the spare tire laying on the ground. She has no clue how to change a tire. I already know that much. "What the fuck are you doing?"

She stands up and her makeup is running down her face. I can't really tell, but her eyes are red and she looks like she's been crying. "I tried calling a tow truck and they said twenty minutes and it's been over an hour and nobody is picking up their phones and so I just decided I would watch one of those how-to videos. So I did. But then," she starts sobbing. "I don't have the jack thing and I missed my massage and," her shoulders shake and she starts fully crying in front of me.

"I just wanted it to be a nice day and it's been awful! It's raining! The girl at the coffee shop made my drink all wrong. My tire went flat and now I missed my day at the spa! Nothing is going right!"

She drops the wrench to the ground and falls into my arms. "What did I do? The universe is being a jerk today!"

"Hey," I squeeze her in my arms with the rain hitting my face. "Why don't you go sit in my car and I'll do this for you, okay?"

She nods her head against my shoulder. Is it weird to have missed her this week? It sucks that today has basically been shitty for her, but it doesn't have to be.

I probably don't have a right to cup her cheeks, but she doesn't fight me on it. "Go wait in the car and I'll take care of this. We'll make up for whatever you had planned."

She sniffles and wipes a raindrop from the tip of her nose. "It was a pedicure and a massage. I can't get in now because they always require appointments made in advance."

"I said I've got it. Okay?"

Her shoulders fall and I watch her sulk all the way to the car. She hesitates before getting in but rips the door open anyway.

The last time she was in that car, we knew each other for an hour.

Changing a tire in the rain is about as fun as it sounds. The tow truck shows up just as I finish up, and it happens to be a friend of my dad's. Allie doesn't say anything when he hooks her car up to the back.

He knows my address and agrees to drop Allie's car at my house after a handshake and in exchange for some cash and a simple favor. Free entrance to some games in the season, which is nothing.

"Are we going to follow him?" Allie asks when I get back in.

"No, he's taking it to my house."

She stiffens at that. "Why?"

I pull out my phone and send a text knowing I can call in a favor there, too. I guess it's one perk of my relationship with a person like Kat.

"Let's get you a new drink and head to the city."

***

Allie is better. Not entirely back to normal, but she isn't sniffling or crying anymore. She wiped off the runny mascara and touched up her makeup in the car before we made it to the spa.

Her initial reaction when I pulled up was along the lines of "absolutely not" because she "could never afford a place like this."

Veronica is a nice married woman that I have become acquainted with over the past several months and she has made her attraction toward me known. I don't mind her so much because she's not handsy like some of Kat's friends when they're drinking.

But nonetheless, Veronica was ready to cancel an appointment to see a "friend" of mine on short notice.

I just have to change the oil in her car for the next year.

She wants to negotiate whether I do it with a shirt on or not because apparently, she wouldn't want me to ruin a shirt because of whatever her car might do. I don't know her husband, but I'm assuming they have a solid foundation if he doesn't mind her shameless flirtations with other men.

It's the day spa Kat frequents and Veronica manages the place and has her own clients. The inside is supposed to be "champagne" which I've never understood. It's beige with glass balls and shit all over. It smells like some kind of flowery stuff and they have boring music playing that makes me want to sleep.

However, I've been able to spend the last three hours catching up on the latest celebrity gossip on the royal family and whether or not certain babies in Hollywood are cute or fashionable.

They're babies. Leave them alone. Don't bring them into popularity contests.

After the eighth "who wore it best" article, I have to give up and download a damn game on my phone to pass the time. I don't fit in here. I'm wearing old jeans and boots and am pretty sure there is an old grease stain on my shirt.

Allie's face lit up the second Veronica welcomed her inside with a hug and her bubbly personality.

That was what made sitting here all this time worth the wait. I'll take her for lunch after this and see if there's anything else she wants to do. Never mind the fact I was going to try and find something for her birthday. We're spending it together.

Take that, Ted. Have your stupid dinner date. Allie and I are... fuck, I'm giving her a girls' day.

She's getting pampered for her date. I'm willingly getting her ready for him.

I should have thought this one through.

"Ahem," I look up and she's standing a few feet away. I didn't even hear her walk out. Her clothes are not as soaked anymore and it looks like Veronica even got Allie to agree to a haircut. "Does it look okay?"

I don't know what all is changed but it looks lighter. I can't decide if it's her nervousness that's more endearing or the face that she looks relaxed and refreshed.

"They're highlights," she pulls some of the strands out. "She said I needed more layers in my hair and that it looked like I never learned how to condition it."

I'll cut ties with Veronica now for saying that. Fuck her.

Allie giggles. "She said it nicely and offered to take me on. Relax."

"Oh," my shoulders relax. "You look beautiful, Allie." And I want to kiss you, but will wait until you dump the loser. Or are cool with cheating on him with the person you should be with.

I don't care either way at this point.

She blushes at that because it's Allie and I don't think Ted has ever paid her a genuine compliment before. That, or I have the effect on her I would hope for. "Thanks."

Veronica waves at me when we leave. If she spills this little visit to Kat, I don't really care. It'll be a fight, but Kat won't leave on her own. Not permanently.

"Are you taking me home now?"

"No," we rush to my car in the rain and I open her door for her. Once she's in, I slam it shut and run around the front. Why in the hell is it raining today?

Also, I'm glad it is raining.

"Where are we going?"

"Lunch and then I'll take you home if you want."

She purses her lips together and digs through her purse, pulling out an opened card. "Want to see a movie?"

I don't know what I did to get this damn lucky today, but I'm sure as hell glad it's raining and that she got a flat tire. "Absolutely."

It's like the kind of date I probably would have and should have taken her on had we done this right. We share an Allie-approved popcorn in a relatively empty theater and I spend two hours fighting some stupid move like the yawn-stretch before my arm "accidentally" ends up around her and wondering what color she had her toes painted.

Red, she tells me, when I finally give in and ask her. She had them painted red.

The rain stopped while we were inside, and I take her for a smoothie. Our time is probably up, but I'll milk it for however long I can.

"You get anything for your birthday?" She has the straw between her lips and starts choking. "Are you alright?"

"Mhm," she shakes her head. "Nothing."

Her eyes move all over the inside of the shop suspiciously.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

The way she says it makes it an obvious lie. "Did Ted say something?"

I don't even need an excuse, but I'll take whatever just to punch him in the face.

"What? No. I mean, we haven't talked. It's..." she has a dry, sarcastic laugh. "We're friends, right?"

For now. "Yeah?" What the hell is wrong?

She leans across the table and crooks her finger at me. Fuck, does she want to kiss me? I lean in and wait for her to make her move when she does nothing of the sort. "Charity," she whispers, "got me a..." Her head falls to the table momentarily and she giggles before she picks herself back up. "She got me a..."

"What?"

She starts giggling again and sits back before she pulls out her phone. She types something into it and shows me the screen for something on a website. "I can't even say it."

"A vibrator?"

"Shh!" she waves her hands around. "Someone will hear you!"

"Who? No one is here."

The way she is overly embarrassed about it is exactly like her. I lean forward and meet her halfway to whisper. "Are you saying you've never used one?"

I know she hasn't had sex with Ted. That much is so obvious. So what the hell does she do when the mood hits her?

"Of course not!"

Oh, she's cute. "Do you just use your hand?"

"Lucas!" Her whispering yell almost becomes an actual yell. "I have to throw it away, but I can't just toss it at home without my dad seeing it in the trash can."

I'm going to bite a hole in my cheek from trying not to laugh at her, but it's Allie. "Do you want me to get rid of it for you?"

Her eyes go wide. "You would do that?"

I'd do anything for her. "Or you could toss it at work."

"We work at a school! Are you insane?!"

The way she can carry herself confidently in normal circumstances but then be completely innocent in something like this is so Allie. "I'll get rid of it for you."

"Really?"

"Yes." She relaxes, but come on. "But," her eyes snap up to mine. "Only if you use it at least once."

Allie glowers at me. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

She scoots out of her seat abruptly and stands. "I'm ready to go."

I snort and follow her out to the car. She doesn't say anything about the vibrator for the rest of our time together, but she's clearly thinking about it.

"Um," she clears her throat. "Thank you for coming to my rescue today and for the whole day, in general. It was kind of better than spending it alone."

He should have taken care of her today if he really loves her.

"I know I said I was going to leave her." She hasn't asked, but it has to be on her mind. "I'm going to. I just have to take care of something first."

She shrugs and offers a small smile. "Maybe it wasn't meant to be. You've known her a long time and she's glamorous. I understand."

That's the thing. She doesn't get it.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lucas."