"Why do you hate me?" she hissed at Jack. "I’m employed, I have a college degree—two college degrees, in fact—and I even helped plan a whole wedding marathon extravaganza for one of your upper-class family friends."
His gaze narrowed.
"You act like I'm the one damaging Carter, but in my opinion, you've done far worse to him."
"If I did, then it was because I had to keep him safe, and if you actually cared about Carter, like you claim to, you would leave him alone," Jack said flatly.
Looking into Jack's eyes, Allie had a realization that if she tried to make whatever it was with Carter work, then Jack would be there every step of the way, trying to sabotage their relationship and force Allie out of the family. She was suddenly horribly exhausted just thinking about that.
"Fine. Whatever," Allie said. "I care about your son, but I don't know if I have the energy to keep fighting your classism. You never liked me, and that's understandable. I didn't make a good first impression. But if you and your whole town are going to continuously work against any relationship I have with Carter, then I don't know if I can do it."
After working late to try to keep her mind off of Carter, Allie arrived back at her apartment later that night. The landlord still hadn't fixed the damage that Trent and Bryce had caused. The detritus of the police department scouring her apartment for clues was also still there. They had left fingerprint dust, food wrappers, and dirty boot prints.
She knew she should clean it up, but she didn't have the energy.
"Jack is right," she said to herself, slumping onto her bed. "Stacy died and itwasyour fault. You should have figured out what Bryce and Trent were up to. You should have reported it, at the very least. You should have done something. Carter was almost killed because of you."
Her new phone beeped, and she jumped before realizing that Bryce would never bother her again. She checked the screen and saw a news notification about Carter Holbrook. She clicked on it and saw a picture of him with a girl grabbing his face and making out with him.
"I guess he didn't go home and rest," she said with a frown.
She heard a thump against the door. Then the wood creaked, and the broken lock, which she had tried to fix herself since the landlord was ignoring her maintenance requests, gave way, and Carter stumbled into the room.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, hurrying to grab him and guide him to the bed.
"Just drunk," he slurred. She frowned and poured him a glass of water.
"Seriously," she exploded, "you need to take better care of yourself! You can't just drink yourself into oblivion every time something doesn't go the way you want. Especially if you're still recovering from a major injury."
"But I know you'll take care of me," he said, ignoring the glass that she held up to his lips.
"You can't just show up drunk on a work night," she said.
His eyes glazed over.
"What happened to being better?" she yelled and threw the glass at the wall. What was one more broken thing in this apartment?
"I will. I am," Carter said, struggling to sit up. "But don't forget I'm the one who saved your life. Not just in the condo, but I gave you money. I helped you ingratiate yourself into my family and my world. You wouldn't have had that job if it weren't for me."
His eyes looked as if they went out of focus for a minute, then he doubled over and threw up what looked like several hundred dollars' worth of expensive liquor. Allie's breath hissed out from between her teeth.
"I don't even know why I bother," she said, her face burning from what Carter had insinuated about her capabilities as a professional. Well, he hadn't actually implied—he'd been very clear about how he felt about her.
"Get out," Allie said, pointing to the door. "I can't keep wasting my time, money, and energy on you and your family, and I just can't do this anymore. You and I aren't supposed to be together."
Suddenly appearing much more sober, Carter slowly stood up.
She thought he was going to plead or throw something, but Carter didn't say anything. He just walked past her and closed the broken door behind him.
"He'll be back," she assured herself as she tried to muster up the energy to clean up the worst of the mess.
Allie knew she should call him or text him. She almost did, but Jack's words, and even Brandy's words, flew around in her head, telling her she wasn't good enough for Carter and she didn't belong in his world. She wasn't the type of girl he wanted, deep down, or his family wanted. Some obstacles were too much to overcome.
Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. The whole thing with Carter—the nice cars, the beautiful houses, the money, the fancy parties—it didn't seem real, had never seemed real. Being with Carter had always felt a little too easy. And Allie knew her life wasn't supposed to be easy.
72
Carter
