I'm not sure if he's pausing for dramatic effect, but no one seems to be catching on.
"Justine moved in with me earlier this week," he starts but is interrupted with cheers of congratulations. "Because married people should live together."
As I expected, there's a long silence. A collective gasp by everyone, including Zane, whose mouth is close to my ear, and then people start freaking out as Justine flashes her ring to the crowd.
The girls rush her.
The guys rush Devon.
Zane and I stay where we are. In the corner with his arms wrapped around me.
"Don't you want to go say congratulations?" he asks when I show no signs of moving.
"I already did."
"You knew." It's a statement. He doesn't even sound surprised.
"Not until a few minutes ago when we went inside to talk. She's been acting weird ever since she came back to work. Avoiding everyone. She missed girls’ night last week and never explained why. Then, I noticed the indentation on her ring finger when we were inside. She must have been taking it off for work until they made the announcement, but it was still there. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed it earlier."
"It's not like you weren't a little distracted with your own stuff this week," he notes.
Right. My own shit.
The shit I still need to tell Justine about at some point in time. Later. After the high of getting married dies down.
"Go. Celebrate with your friends." Zane practically pushes me out of his arms. "I'm going to talk with the guys. I'll meet you back here in a bit. If you need me to rescue you, tug on your earlobe."
Raising an eyebrow at him, he just laughs, lays a gentle kiss on my lips, and leave me standing there, suddenly wanting nothing more than to take him home and feel his lips on every part of my body.
Later.
There will be time for that later.
We've already decided to spend the rest of the weekend locked up at home. Alone. Naked.
"I can't believe you eloped," I hear Emerson squeal.
"It wasn't planned," Justine says. "It just sort of happened. We were headed to California and had a layover in Vegas. We all decided to stay there instead when our plan got delayed four hours. Devon made a joke about getting hitched so we didn't have to stress out like Angela did, or like you were doing, and when I agreed, not thinking he was serious, he dropped to one knee in the lobby of the hotel and pulled a ring out of his pocket."
"Um, so you weren’t planning it, but someone was," Megan points out.
"Doubtful. I guess he was planning on proposing in California, but eloping was never part of the plan."
"Please tell me Elvis didn't marry you," I interject, causing the girls to laugh.
"Hell no! It was a traditional ceremony. The hotel had this really pretty flower garden, and the lady who was checking us into our rooms was ordained. She offered to marry us when she got off work, and we took her up on her offer. It was short and sweet and perfect. No fuss."
We're all staring at Justine. Wanting more. More of an explanation. More details. More of everything.
"And..." Angela finally says.
"And what?"
"What else? What did you wear? Who was there with you? We need to know everything." Justine kind of stares at her like she's grown a second head. "Oh! And pictures. We need to see lots and lots of pictures."
Looking over my shoulder, I follow Justine's eyeline to where Devon is standing with the guys, staring back at her. There's something they're not telling us still. Something they're keeping to themselves.
"Hey," I say, getting her attention. "Can I see your ring?"
Justine complies, thrusting her hand into the center of the circle we've formed. Her eyes wander over my shoulder again, and I watch as she shakes her head slightly.
Yep. They're definitely not telling us everything.
Now is not the time to call her out, though. If it's something big, like she's pregnant or something, they need to be able to tell us when they're ready. Still, I'll pull her aside later and try and get it out of her. In private.
The DJ begins pumping music again and announces that dinner will be served in five minutes.
As soon as everyone is seated, Tyler's disgruntled voice comes over the microphone.
"So, I'm appointing myself best man so I can give a speech," he jokes. I watch as Devon shakes his head in laughter. After their interaction earlier, I bet he's mildly concerned about what Tyler is about to say.
Not to mention Ryder should be the one giving a best man speech, not Tyler.
"I've known Devon a while now. He's a good guy and he's going to be an amazing husband. In fact, if you think about it, he was Ryder's husband first. They used to spend a lot of nights together, eat all their meals together, and live together." The laughter Tyler was going for isn't happening. Everyone seems too nervous, including the happy couple. "Anyway, aside from his snoring, I heard he was a damn good husband, roommate, and I know for a fact, he's a damn good friend. I couldn't be happier that he found someone who makes him as happy as he used to make my little brother."
Nope, still no laughter.
"Okay, guys. Cut me some slack. You know I hate secrets." Stone silence. "Fine. Listen, I'm a little ticked I wasn't invited to the wedding, but I get it. Weddings are stressful, and that's a lot of stress for a twenty-minute ceremony. So, as long as you're happy, I'm happy. Really happy. For both of you."
That gets him a nod from Devon.
"So, please raise your glasses. Here's to Devon and Justine. May they fall in love more and more as each day passes. To a lifetime of precious moments and their happily ever after. Cheers!"
Everyone clinks their glasses together as Tyler drops his own bomb on the party.
"Angela's pregnant, by the way."
Someone drops their glass. I hear it shatter in my search to locate Angela among the sea of tables. She's smiling sheepishly, her water glass still raised high.
Tyler's going to get more than a slap to the back of the head later on. She's going to kick his ass. Pregnant or not, Angela is the only person who doesn't take Tyler's shit. She lets him know it too.
Tyler's announcement prompts Devon to stand.
"You asshole. You stole my thunder. And you kept your own secret, so suck on that."
"Yeah, but we had to wait until she was far enough along to tell anyone," Tyler retorts before hugging his highly suddenly irritated wife.
"Dude," Ryder interjects. "You stole Devon's thunder the night you proposed. This isn't a pissing contest. Grow up."
"You stole mine, announcing Em was moving in with you after I proposed."
Well, shit. This is getting out of hand.
The waitresses are standing just outside the kitchen, trays in hand, ready to serve dinner. They all look hesitant to come any closer. Ryder, Tyler, and Devon are all standing, staring at each other like they want to start throwing punches.
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it happened. It wouldn't be the first time, I'm sure.
"That's enough," Hunter says, standing. "Grow up. Act your age. Congrats to everyone. Now, sit the fuck down and eat your dinner."
All three of them turn their heated glares to Hunter before sitting down as he demanded. I guess it pays to be the boss sometimes. At the office or at a party, everyone listens to the boss. He holds all the cards.
Speaking of cards...
Reaching into my purse, I pull out the deck of cards and poker chips that I picked up on the way in. Opening the cards, I slide the entire deck onto the table and smile when I realize what I'm looking at.
Pictures.
Each card is a different picture of Justine and Devon's trip to Vegas. Flipping through them quickly, when I reach the queen of hearts, I find what I'm looking for.
My bestie.
In her wedding dress.
Looking gorgeous.
Of course, the king of hearts is a picture of Devon before the wedding. Looking dashing in a suit.
And, finally, the ace of hearts. A picture of the happy couple. Married. Looking more in love than I've ever seen. There's a twinkle in their eyes.
"You know," Zane says as the waitress sets our plates down in front of us. "I think their plan was genius. Elope and have a party to celebrate later on."
"Really? You don't want to watch your bride walk down the aisle? The big party right after? Months of planning and worrying that she won't actually show up?" I joke as he cuts off a piece of his chicken.
"Oh, she'll show up." Shoving a bite in his mouth, Zane smiles as he chews. "The girl I marry will be so in love with me she'll want to run down the aisle toward me. She won't be scared; she'll be sure about her decision."
All I can do is laugh. Zane may act like he's full of himself sometimes, but he has every reason to be. He's the kind of guy that doesn't make hasty decisions. He goes into everything with eyes wide open. At least, that what it feels like we did.
We talked about only being a weekend thing.
We made the decision to ignore Hunter's request because we knew there was something between us.
He knew the consequences. So did I. Still, we went ahead with it.
Things could have turned out differently for us. They could have gone the opposite direction. Hunter could have blown up and disowned us both.
Still, we would be together. Zane promised me that much.
Because Hunter doesn't define our relationship. It's bigger than that. Our connection is deeper than that. He may have been the reason we met, but he's not the reason we're still seeing each other.
He's not the reason I fell in love with Zane.
Hell, even that's getting easier to admit every day. To myself, anyway. I haven't told him yet, but I think he knows.
Shit!
I hope he's not talking about me. Getting married to me. That's so far off in the future it's not even a blip on the radar right now. Is it?
Oh, God.
Now I’m freaking out.
"Calm down, Ally," I hear Zane says. That's when I realize I'm cutting into my chicken with such force I'm scraping the knife against the plate, making a sharp scratching sound.
"What? I'm sorry. I didn't realize—"
"Don't freak out. I'm not going to drop to one knee anytime soon. Just take a deep breath and let it out slowly. We're not there yet."
Doing as he suggests, my breath gets caught in my throat when his final words smack me across the face a few times.
Yet.
Chapter Fourteen
Justine and Devon's wedding reception was a night to remember. Especially after dinner, when the guys continued to rib each other about thunder-stealing.
I get it.
Girls, when they want to be the center of attention, will go bat-shit crazy if someone tries to one-up them. If people had made a big deal about Zane's presence or Tyler had announced Angela's pregnancy before Justine's announcement, she would have been pissed. It was her night, no one else's.
That doesn't mean things didn't get said.
That announcements weren't made.
That lives didn't get changed in the blink of an eye.
Once plates are cleared, fresh drinks are poured, and everyone crowds around the fire. Girls on one side, guys on the other. My urge to crawl in Zane's lap is strong. The looks he’s giving me are promising.
"Mr. Hickey?" Emerson's voice is loud enough to draw unwanted attention from the guys, who all shoot Zane a look. He shrugs and smiles at me.
The little shit knew exactly what he was doing.
Marking me.
Claiming me.
Words escape me as I stare at him. Watch him. Admire the man that he is and remind myself he's mine. At least for now.
"You better start talking," Angela demands when I don't confirm or deny Emerson's accusation.
"I think congratulations are in order," I start, raising my glass to the center of the circle. "To new marriages, engagements, and babies. We all have something to celebrate it looks like."
"And to new relationships," Megan adds as we all clink our glasses together.
"So how far along are you?" I ask Angela before anyone can start interrogating me again.
"Eighteen weeks."
"You got pregnant on your honeymoon?" I’m attempting to do the math in my head.
Angela glances in Brianna's direction quickly before looking away. "Yeah. We were just waiting for the right time to tell everyone. We weren't trying to get pregnant yet, so it was a bit of a shock when we found out."
Shocked would be an understatement if I were pregnant, I think to myself. That's when I realize why they waited so long.
Brianna and Hunter.
They tried for a long time, and it never happened. Angela and Tyler weren't even trying, and she's knocked up on their honeymoon.
If it upsets Brianna at all, you can't tell. There’s a huge smile on her face as she listens to Angela go on and on about how freaked out Tyler was when she told him she thought she was pregnant. How she waited to take a test until she was sure she wasn't just sick in the mornings.
How she faked drinking wine in the Bahamas and how sick the smell made her.
Then she's laughing.
"You know, when I told him he couldn't tell anyone yet, I thought he was going to burst at the seams. He hates secrets more than anything, but I think keeping a secret is the hardest part for him. Good or bad. He's been begging me every morning to tell just one person, and I wouldn't let him. Not until we saw the doctor today. Although I had no idea, once he could tell someone, he was going to announce it and ruin your party, Justine. I'm really sorry."
"Don't even worry about it. I'm so excited for you. And a little jealous if I'm being honest. Did you see the look on his face when he said it? He was grinning from ear to ear. He's so happy."
"Yeah, but this is your night. What is it with those guys trying to one-up each other? It's like, they see the other person doing something amazing and they need to do something even more amazing. I swear they're all still ten years old," Angela says, chuckling to herself as the guys erupt in laughter behind us.
That's when I hear it.
My name.
My head whips in Zane's direction to find him blushing. His entire face is beet red and he's smiling, but his fists are clenched.
"Lay off," I hear Hunter shout.
"Dude, are you serious?" Tyler asks.
I should have known he was at the center of it. He seems to be on some kind of button-pushing kick lately. First, it was Ryder while Hunter was taking time off to spend with Bethany, and now, it appears his attention is on Zane.
Before I can stand, Angela's hand is on my shoulder and she’s shouting Tyler's name. First, middle, and last.
"Tyler. Herman. Dixon."
All heads slowly turn in her direction, mine included.
"Are you being an asshole? If so, we can leave right now."
"Babe, everything is fine. I promise," he quickly replies, looking around for support. It doesn't appear he's going to be getting any judging by the fact everyone is avoiding eye contact with him.
"Apologize for whatever dumb-ass thing you just said." Her demand is met with a sigh and a mumbled apology in Zane's direction.
Zane keeping his lips pressed together to prevent himself from laughing at the situation as he nods his head in acceptance.
"Thank you," Angela continues. "Now, care to share with the rest of us what's so funny?"
"Nothing," all the guys say in unison.
My curiosity wasn't piqued until now. They're all looking from Zane to me to Angela and back to Zane. Whatever was said was obviously about us. I expect to see a look of concern on Zane's face, but he looks the most relaxed among the bunch.
He's leaning back in his chair, one leg crossed over the other, with his hands clasped behind his head.
"It was my fault," Zane says, drawing Angela's attention away from Tyler. "I threw the first stone. I'm sorry."
&
nbsp; "Nah, man. I shouldn't have been so shocked. My bad." Tyler's second apology is more sincere than his first.
"You know that song 'It's my party and I'll cry if I want to'?" Justine asks but doesn't wait for a response before continuing. "Well, I'm changing the words to 'it's my party and I'll be nosy if I want to.' Someone tell me what the big deal is."
She sways slightly when she stands.
I've been nursing the same drink since we arrived. I'm too nervous to drink tonight. I want to have all my wits about me in case someone starts to ask questions. With all the confessing I've been doing lately, I'm bound to slip up if I'm not careful.
"I was just telling the guys," Zane begins, but the rest of his words don't register as little spots start to fill my vision and the world goes black around me.
"How are you feeling this morning?" Zane asks as soon as I open my eyes.
"Like I drank an entire fifth of vodka," I say as visions from last night start coming back to me. His words coming back to me.
I was just telling the guys that I was in love with Ally.
"Well, you did hit your head pretty hard when you fell out of your chair. I didn't realize you'd faint when I professed my love for you in front of all our friends."
Zane's voice has a hint of laughter to it. He's been laughing about this since I came to last night. He was hovering above me, a worried look on his face until he realized I'd opened my eyes. Then he smiled and chuckled.
No one else was laughing except him. Megan socked him in the arm when he tried to make a joke about all girls falling at his feet. It was a lame joke. I didn't even have the urge to laugh. Although, that could have been because my head was throbbing.
If I had been sitting next to anyone other than Angela, I could have been caught. She was still shooting Tyler dirty looks when I fainted. The rest of my friends were watching me closely, and Megan claims she almost caught me before I hit the ground.
She didn't.
I have the bump on my forehead to prove it.
Yep, I went face first. My chair tipped to the right, and my body flipped.
Not my finest moment. That's for sure.
"What did you expect to happen?" I ask, pushing myself into a sitting position.
Rumors: Allison & Zane Page 9
