"Food for the road," he told her.
Allie didn't say goodbye. She took off the ring and threw it at the feet of the Holbrook men. Then she picked up her things and marched to her car. She hated the Holbrooks, hated New England, and wanted to go home and take a hot shower and climb into her own bed.
But first, Allie had a long drive back to North Carolina. Her whole body ached. She was too sore and tired to be angry with Carter. She tried to distract herself from the pain by mentally calculating how much she was going to charge Carter for the car accident.
As she thought about Carter, her thoughts drifted to the kiss. The last time Allie had been kissed, aside from sloppy drunks, was by Bryce. This was nothing like that. Carter's mouth was soft, and his tongue had traced her lips, promising more. She had just wanted to sink into him. But it would never be.
Her phone buzzed, jerking her back to reality. She glanced at the screen; there was a message from Carter.
Come back!
They can’t treat you like this
Plus I paid for the whole weekend
She used the phone's assistant to write back,
Your dad said he’d kill me and have my body dumped in the swamps so no thanks
Money is nonrefundable
She kept driving through the night and pulled into her apartment parking lot early in the morning.
"You're back already?" Stacy asked, yawning as she came out of her room when Allie unlocked the front door. "What happened to staying the weekend? How was it? Did you take pictures?"
"It was fine," Allie said, throwing her bag on the floor, and poured some water for Margot.
"Did you, you know, sleep with him?" Stacy asked.
"No, of course not!" Allie said sharply.
"Yes, you did!" Stacy cried. "I told you Carter’s mine."
"Stop being stupid," Allie said. "There's nothing between me and Carter. It was a business transaction. If you want him, you can have him. I don’t want him or his family ever again."
"That’s not very nice," Stacy said with a pout. "You’re so mean to him. You'd better be nicer! That’s my future husband." Stacy was starting to grate on Allie’s nerves.
"I have a headache," Allie said. "I’m going to sleep."
After showering and making an ice pack for her back, she received a text message from Tom Toms Oyster Bar. They did brunch on Sundays and holidays.
Can you come in?
Allie sighed and rubbed the ice pack on her shoulder as she replied,
sure
"How was your trip?" her boss asked when Allie arrived.
The place was slammed.
"I forgot you were going out of town. You told me, and I completely forgot. What happened? You're back early it seems, not that I'm not grateful."
"His family hated me," Allie replied, heading to the bar. She wasn't able to say much more because she was busy making pitchers of mimosas and Bloody Marys. In between making batches of drinks, she waited tables and tried to alleviate the pressure on the servers.
When the last of the brunch customers had paid and left, they were able to close and start prepping for dinner.
"I hate to ask, but…" her boss began.
