Lucas

Kat's been screaming for two hours while I load the boxes into her car. She's been following me every step of the way, but not even carrying anything to help.

I get it. She's pissed, but I have a feeling she knew about the accident and if I find out she was in the car that helped Ted, I can't even control the thoughts I have about choking her. It's not okay, so I have to actively think of other things.

Like teasing Allie.

She constructed a pillow wall between us last night because she said we shouldn't even be jumping into bed together. She fell asleep and I lightly touched her and watched her squirm.

Okay, I felt her up. What was I supposed to do? She was right there and I can't stop thinking about the night we met and how much I wish I hadn't answered my dad's call that night.

We would definitely be two kids in by now, sharing a last name, and saving for some kind of family vacation where we could be working on number three.

An hour later she had already rolled over the wall and was in my arms.

I think tonight I'll stay over again and see if I can push her buttons a little. Oh, and actually push her buttons some way. I can't get the sounds of her out of my head and I need to hear them again.

Kat says something that brings me back to this moment.

"What the fuck did you just say?" I drop the next box into her car with whatever belongs to her.

I changed the locks earlier so when she tried to get in on her own, she screamed and then knocked her fists against the door.

Her hair is fucked up a little bit she otherwise looks normal. She's not drunk so she will be good for the drive home.

Oh, but her face is a little red. "I said, you are going to regret leaving me for some tramp with nothing to her name but your bastard child but you'll be back. You may buy the innocent act now, but that girl is nothing but a whore."

I've never wanted to hit a woman before. I still don't.

But Allie should have come with me to this.

Just as I'm about to open my mouth, Joel pulls up to my house in his squad car. Kat stiffens.

"Am I interrupting something?"

He looks like a different person in uniform.

"Joel, so nice of you to join us. Kat was just leaving."

She pulls a face and surprisingly only slams the door to her car shut.

Joel and I watch while her tires screech on the pavement. Part of me wants to feel sorry, but then I just can't. Yeah, we've known each other for years, but like I just witnessed, it doesn't matter how long you know a person. They could be fucking you over while acting like the perfect boyfriend. Kat could very well know about this, and as much as I want to just ask her, I can't. Not without her running straight to her dad so he can just cover it up.

Joel gets straight to the point.

"The business that owned the footage was owned by one Mark Vandenburg, and it is no longer in business. Seems he had a small insurance company for a minute before it went belly-up."

"He would still have the footage, right?"

"We're going to make a stop and ask about it. Once we do, he's going to know you're looking into it and will probably know you borrowed that handy little file in his home."

Let him corner me. What the fuck is he going to do to me?

"If it was the boyfriend—"

"Ex-boyfriend," I correct. That's if Ted could even be considered a boyfriend to start. I would say not, since Allie doesn't act like someone that's been treated exactly right all this time.

"Ex. If he's being paid for whatever reason to be with her, there's possibly more than just an accident here. Just don't be surprised if he tries to come after you one way or another."

"What, you think it was intentional?"

Joel rests a thumb on that giant utility belt he wears for this job that is completely outside of his character. "I'll be talking to Ted about it. He seems familiar."

"He slept with half our school and his, apparently, and you know his sister Charity." I'm pretty sure we had this conversation before, but Joel wasn't exactly the brightest crayon or whatever. I should probably ask for someone else to help with this investigation, actually.

Joel has a low chuckle. "No shit? Might need to interview the whole damn family then."

"She's Allie's best friend and she was away for college at the time. She wouldn't have been involved."

He pulls out his phone and does something on it, I'm not sure. "Nah, that one knows trouble. I may need some assistance from her in figuring out her brother. Maybe a little undercover work, you know?" God, he's already about to turn stupid for this girl.

It's not my business. I really shouldn't get involved.

"You know I think she's seeing a fireman these days." As in last night.

Joel scowls at that. "I better get going." He climbs into his cruiser and rolls down the window. "What's your move until this is figured out?"

I'm going to learn how to woo the hell out of the mother of my son. "I'll figure something out. I'll be staying over at Allie's until she's ready to live here."

"You're not playing around then."

If the damn ring I bought earlier this afternoon doesn't prove that, I'll find other ways to do it. "It's the real deal." It'll be a few weeks before it's ready but I'm guessing she won't want to rush things anyway.

"Lucas-fucking-Kennedy, you're growing up. It feels like just yesterday when we had our blowjobs next to each other."

"Joel, don't ever bring that up again, or so help me God."

He laughs and drives off while I cringe at the memory. It was awkward and I had no idea what to do. Meanwhile, he was in the bathroom stall next to me making things even worse with the shit he told Makenzie Wright about how he liked whatever she did with her tongue.

I had Sabrina something and I didn't even pull it out of my pants. We sat there and stared at the crude writing on the walls of the stalls until Joel was finished.

Nope. I need to get out of that headspace.

But it's giving me ideas.

I pack whatever I need for a couple of days and toss it into my truck. No word from Allie, but I know she's waiting for me.

She would have already put Jadon to bed, so I missed that while talking about bullshit with Joel but that's fine. I get to wake him up in the morning.

It was an awkward morning coming downstairs in a polo Allie borrowed from Tom's closet for me, and neither he nor I acknowledged it.

He's already off to bed by the time I get inside and Allie is in the kitchen washing dishes. She's humming to some music playing on her phone with a slight shake I could watch all night.

She gets self-conscious about wearing sweats or those tight leg pants and old t-shirts yet it's all she ever wears at home. I think she looks sexy but I'm also making up for Ted's lack of, well, everything in the relationship.

But she's impressive regardless. She makes this stuff seem so easy. She never complains about it and keeps taking whatever life throws at her.

I could scare her by walking up behind her but I'd like to not have the pillow wall between us tonight. I opt for the light knock on the wall and she doesn't jump at the interruption.

"Oh!" Allie blushes a little and tucks her hair behind her ear. Probably embarrassed about being caught. That, or I didn't look away from her ass fast enough. "How did it go?" She kicks the dishwasher closed and leans back against the sink.

"Nothing too interesting. She yelled and said things. Said I'd be coming back to her. Acted like this was some big surprise and how could I do this to her after we were supposed to get married."

Allie scoffs and rolls her eyes. "While she was talking to older rich men? I wish I had her confidence."

I don't want to talk about Kat while Allie looks like she does right now. "Are you okay with my staying here?" I mostly mean with her because now that I have my in, why the hell would I leave?

"Yes."

"With you?"

Her cheeks change color and she bites down on her thumbnail. "Mhm."

I have to wait until she looks me in the eye again. "In your bed?"

She's fully embarrassed now. "Yep." Her voice is a little too squeaky coming out for me to believe her.

I don't really know much about romance or any of that, but I'm going by what feels right. The last time something like this happened, we stood in this exact room.

I drop my bag by my feet and make my way to her. She goes stiff and puts her arms to her sides. "What are you doing?"

She doesn't so much as blink while I pull the rubber band thing from her hair. It wasn't holding all of it in, so it wasn't really doing its job. "Your hair is so soft, Allie. You should wear it down more."

"I should?" She's cute when she's nervous.

"How slow do you need to go with someone you have a kid with?"

"Umm..."

"Because I can tell you now that I'm not going anywhere, and you're not going anywhere. We both want this."

She leans into the side where I'm combing my fingers through her hair. "If it's with the right person, why would we need to worry about timing? My parents got married three days after they met."

She looks up at me. "Really?"

I nod. "What the hell are you waiting for?"

"I told you I would want a serious commitment."

"And I'll be asking you to marry me before the first game of the season. Now you know how committed I am to this if you didn't think so before."

Her lips part and I'm thinking about kissing her. "You're... you're asking me?"

"Not at this very second. Do I look like I'm on one knee? No." I pin her to the counter with my hips.

Well, not my hips exactly, but she gets it. She feels it.

"W-when are you going to ask?"

Oh like I'm about to tell her. We've gravitated closer to one another in here. Our noses are pressed against one another and her eyes are shut. Her lips barely touch mine.

I've never wanted someone so damn bad in my life.

It's hardly even a kiss. Just a soft touch of her lower lip against mine.

"Why don't we take this upstairs?"

Her hands are pulling at my shirt and I consider just locking us in the pantry for an hour, but she stops me before I make a dumb choice like that.

"Okay."