“Wait, wait,” Cal says, snagging me by the arm. “We’re just fucking with you.”
“Yeah,” Liza agrees with a smile. “You’re fun to mess with. But seriously, Zane. I think it’s amazing. Happy looks good on you.”
“So does whiskey weight,” Cal adds, tapping my glass. “How about another round? A celebratory round?”
“You got it,” Liza says. And while I probably shouldn’t, I also don’t really care. I’m riding high right now. After my conversation with Jett at the gym, something hit me. One, I don’t give a fuck what other people are saying. And two, nobody knows the truth about us. Nobody knows her and nobody knows me. But since meeting her, I’ve felt more myself than I ever have in my life. And Bentley has only amplified that. And for that reason, I know. I know what I want. And I want them forever and ever.
Liza sets down three shots of whiskey. Then all of us pick up the shots, clink them together and toss them back. The buzz hits my head the moment the whiskey hits my stomach; it feels good. I never give in to temptation. Well, unless that temptation is Ashlyn, in which case I plan to give in every day for the rest of my life.
“Look at him smiling like he’s got a secret…” Liza muses with a scrunched nose smile. “You’re so cute.”
“So how are you going to do it?” Cal asks. “It needs to be epic.”
“It needs to be romantic,” Liza says. “Roses, champagne, a live band.”
“A live band?” Cal coughs on his drink.
“Yes. Zane can’t do a less than the best proposal with a ring like that. He needs a surprise party with all his friends, a band, and food and–”
“Or you could fly her somewhere. Somewhere erotic,” Cal says.
“You mean exotic,” Liza corrects him.
“Both,” Cal says, and they both laugh.
“Or would you prefer something more private?” Liza asks. “I don’t think anyone would blame you for not going public with it.”
“Yeah, except maybe Nigel,” Cal mutters.
“I don’t care about Nigel,” I say. “I don’t care about anyone else but her and I. I also don’t care about the rumors.”
“What rumors?” Liza asks.
“Yeah, which ones?” Cal asks.
“All of them. I ran into Jett and I guess a lot of people are questioning if our relationship is real. And whether Bentley is hers. Which, in my mind? He is. She’s the one helping me raise him. Nikki is out of the picture and we are moving forward. And if her boss or my boss or anyone else doesn’t like it, they can kick rocks because I am marrying her and I’m going to be very public about it. No more bending to other people’s ideas of what we should do. No more hiding. No more secrets.”
“Fuck yeah. Cheers to that,” Liza says, clinking her empty shot glass against my Old-Fashioned glass.
“I’m proud of you, brother,” Cal says, patting me on the back.
“Thanks. I am too. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I am in charge of my own life. And I love it.”
“Cheers to whatever’s next,” Cal says.
“Cheers to whatever’s next,” I echo with a grin. Life has a way of dropping things in my lap, or in my case, my hot tub. Whatever it has for me next can come at me. Maybe it’s the whiskey, but I have a tingling feeling in my gut that whatever it is, it’s going to be big.
Chapter 34
Ashlyn
“Are you sure about this?”I ask, following Zane down the hall.
“Of course, I’m sure. Why wouldn’t I be sure?” he asks.
“Because the last time we were standing here, the only thing you were sure about was that you weren’t ready for this,” I say hesitantly.
“Well, that was before. But now I want this. I’m sure.”
