Chapter 33
Zane
“Old fashioned, rye,” I say as soon as I pull up a stool next to Cal at the bar.
“Whoa. Don’t you have a shoot coming up for that cologne company?” he asks.
“I do,” I answer.
“And doesn’t whiskey make you bloated?” he asks.
“It does,” I answer.
“Listen, I don’t want to nag–”
“Then don’t,” I say. “I’ll fast the day before. And whatever isn’t perfect can be edited out. That’s what airbrush and Photoshop and all that shit is for anyways, right?”
“Sure…” he says, sipping on a shot of vodka while staring jealously at the old-fashioned Liza slides in front of me.
“I mean, why the hell do we even bother, honestly?” I ask, swirling the glass before taking a sip. It tastes like Christmas. It tastes like sex and broken rules and driving with the windows down and pancakes at 2am. It tastes like freedom. And I needed it.
Cal is still staring at me, half worried and half amused. “Once you’re done having sex with your drink, you wanna tell me what’s going on?” he asks.
Liza laughs as she wipes down the bar in front of us.
“I’m going to ask her to marry me,” I say.
“Really?” Liza asks. “I thought you’d never pop the question.”
Cal laughs and I shoot Liza a look that says fuck off and you’re funny all at the same time.
“You’re not serious,” Cal says. “What do you think, Liza? You think he’s serious?”
I pull a small velvet box out of my pocket and pop the lid, revealing a glistening ring.
“That looks pretty serious,” Liza says. Then she picks it up for a closer look. Meanwhile, I turn my attention back to my gaping friend.
“You’re really going for it,” he says.
“I am,” I nod, taking another sip and sucking my teeth as the menacing liquid pours down my throat, leaving a beautiful trail of fire in its wake.
“So what made your foot hit the gas?” he asks, and my brow furrows as I look over at him.
“What do you mean?”
“Seriously, Zane. This is a whopper. I can practically see my reflection in it. Good Lord,” Liza says, holding the ring up in the light as she poses in all its facets.
“Simple,” I answer. “I love her. And she’s given me no reason not to.”
“You mean aside from being a paparazzi photographer?” Liza asks casually as she hands me the ring back. I snap the box shut and shove it back in my pocket.
“That’s not who she is,” I say.
“She’s not hot tub rafter girl?” Cal jokes.
“I mean, she is. But the whole tabloid photographer, it’s not who she is. She’s an artist, and she’s smart and passionate and real and…”
“Okay, okay, we get the picture,” Cal says. “You love her.”
“I do.”
“Then I suppose you should marry her,” he adds.
“I’m going to. Thank you,” I say, taking another sip. “Not that I was looking for your permission. But I was hoping you’d be the best man.”
“Look at you pre-selecting the wedding party before you’ve even popped the question,” Liza teases.
“You know, she’s right, bro,” Cal chimes in. “How do you know she’s going to say yes?”
I throw both of them a look to kill and start to hop off my chair. “You know what? Screw both of you.”
“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.