What do you even say to that?
Sorry, I kind of thought you were going to ask me something else, but yeah, I still want to move in with you. Thanks for asking.
Not really a conversation I want to have.
"Hey," he says, standing and lifting my chin with his fingers. "If you were hoping I was going to ask you to marry me…"
Shit! He can read me like an open book.
Why is he pausing? Does he expect me to say something? To acknowledge the fact he's right?
"I am," he finally finishes, producing a ring box from behind his back.
I swear to God, if the rest of our life together is this much of a roller coaster, I'm going to be screaming in frustration and anger as much as I'll be laughing and crying in happiness.
"You're an asshole," I say as he pops the top on the ring box and holds it out for me to see.
"Is that a yes?" he challenges, wrapping his free arm around my waist and pulling me close.
"Of course I'll marry you," I reply, barely getting the words out before he seals out lips together.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Our friends were patiently waiting outside Ryder's office to congratulate us and whisk us away to a nice dinner to celebrate. My fiancé, damn, I like the sound of that, had been planning this for weeks. He put his plan into motion on Sunday night.
We were running late, so I dropped him off at the airport instead of coming in with him. Little did I know, Hunter was right behind me to pick him up. He didn't have a plane to catch; he was already home.
Monday morning, the moving truck arrived with all his things. He's been working on the house all week, texting me as if he were back in Miami. We even had a discussion about the weather and how the rain was making him wish he could cuddle up with me in bed.
Damn liar.
Well, probably not completely. We do like to cuddle in bed when it rains. What else is there to do?
On Tuesday, he and Hunter spent the day looking for office space for him. He's opening a second location here in Sunnyside. His father is going to come out of retirement and run the Miami location, with the help of his mother of course.
They secured it on Wednesday, and renovations start next week.
Then, yesterday, he went shopping for my ring with the help of Tyler. When I asked him why Tyler, he just smiled and said, "Well, I couldn't pull Hunter out of the office all week or you would have gotten suspicious."
I wouldn't have, I've been too busy with my own stuff and daydreaming about decorating our new house, but I don't mention that to him. He was attempting to be stealthy, and it worked.
That brings us to today. To the moment my life changed.
It's been a while since we've all been together. Since we've spent time celebrating something. Today we celebrate our engagement, tomorrow we celebrate Bethany's adoption being finalized. She's officially a Dixon, and I couldn't be happier for Hunter and Brianna.
"I'm so happy for you," Justine says, admiring my ring.
It's not as big as hers, or as fancy as Emerson's, but that's not the kind of ring I wanted. Somehow Zane knew that. I wanted simple. A plain band with a single diamond. Nothing too big or too heavy. I have small hands.
"Thank you," I say through my smile.
"Are you excited?" Emerson asks. "Do you need help planning the wedding?"
I don't even want to think about the wedding yet. I just want to enjoy this moment. Especially since I've seen all the stress Emerson's been putting on herself to make her wedding perfect. She has more than six months, yet every day she's working on something.
I actually think Justine and Devon did it right. Elope and then celebrate with everyone after it’s official. Less stress and, for me, there's no pressure to invite my parents or explain why they're not there.
"One thing at a time. Let's get you married first and then we can talk about my wedding."
Emerson's face lights up. Did I just agree to let her plan my wedding? I hadn't intended to, but I think I may have eluded to it.
I'm so screwed.
"Can I have everyone's attention?" Vinnie hollers as he stands. Once he's certain he has everyone's attention, he looks down at Megan who vigorously shaking her head at him. It's obvious she doesn't want him to say what he's about to say. Still, he nods at her once and continues. "I know this group is known for stealing each other's thunder. I haven't had a chance to do that until now."
Zane lets out a groan. "Seriously, dude?"
"I'm sorry. I can't help it. You've all done it to each other, and I'm sure we'll continue to in the years to come. It's my turn, deal with it."
Vinnie's voice holds a hint of whine to it, which causes me to laugh.
"I'm happy to announce that Megan and I are—"
"Don't!" Megan yells, jumping to her feet.
"Calm down. It's going to be fine."
"Not yet," she insists, pressing her bottom lip out. Her signature pout is in place. Whatever this is, it's a big deal, and I want the juicy details.
"What's the big deal? Are you pregnant or something?" My joke has gone terribly wrong.
Megan's pout turns to shock, and Vinnie's face lights up.
Holy shit! She is.
"No way! That's awesome!" I shriek, standing and moving around the table to pull her in for a hug.
The rest of our friends congratulate the happy couple on their announcement. My eyes fall to Ryder. His reaction is the only one I'm concerned with. He and Megan are at a good place in their relationship, but this changes everything.
I find him smiling, shaking Vinnie's hand, and it warms my heart.
"I'm sorry. I wanted you to have your moment," Megan insists as she squeezes me back.
"Don't worry about me. This is fantastic news. I'm so happy for you."
"Thanks. I'm happy for you two. It was killing me to keep everything a secret from you this week."
Pulling back, I raise an eyebrow at Megan. She knew and she didn't tell me? Did everyone know?
"Justine almost let the cat out of the bag the other day when you walked in on her and Emerson."
Thursday. They were deep in conversation in the break room, talking in hushed tones. Neither of them saw me approaching. The only thing I heard was my name.
When I asked what they were talking about, Justine stuttered and finally said there was a rumor going around about me. The idea of that made me laugh. The rumor mill is alive again, I'm just not controlling them like I used to, which means I'm often at the center of them. I have a feeling Helen is controlling the others now, spreading the drama to keep herself entertained.
Since it came out that I was the source of all the office gossip, people have done nothing but talk about me.
First, they somehow found out about my husband. That wasn't fun. The gossip mill went wild with assumptions. I killed him. He wasn't really dead, he left me for another woman. He died serving our country. You name it, it was a possibility.
Then they seemed to think Zane and I were some kind of sex-crazed couple at one point. Zane made the mistake of picking me up from the office one Friday afternoon, and he may have gotten a little hot and heavy on my new couch. He claimed we had to break it in. Well, we broke it, literally, and everyone in the office heard us.
The best one, in my opinion, was when they said I slept with Hunter to avoid getting fired. Apparently he promoted me to cover up his infidelity. It was laughable until the rumor made it back to Brianna and she stormed into the office, pulled everyone into the conference room, and threatened their jobs if they didn't stop spreading rumors.
Things went quiet for about a week after that.
The rumor Justine claimed the other day was complete bullshit, and I knew it the second it left her lips.
I was going to break up with Zane.
Ha! Anyone who knew anything about our relationship would know better. Hell, I'd be more apt to believe the one about us being sex-crazed. That's a more accurate picture of our relationship.
&n
bsp; "Well, she did a good job covering herself," I state, looking at Justine and giving her a thumbs up.
"You're really not mad I stole your thunder tonight?" Megan asks. I can hear the concern in her voice, her nose is scrunched up, and her lips are pressed tightly together.
How could I be mad at her? She's pregnant with my godbaby. She may not know it yet, but I'm deeming myself godmother.
With two pregnant women at the table, both of whom look tired, we call it an early night. As we part ways with our friends, Zane wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me close to him.
"You know, that's our next step," he says as he helps me into his car.
"What?" I ask, my confusion evident.
With a wicked smile on his face, Zane closes the door between us without a word. I'm scared to ask what he's talking about now.
He doesn't offer any type of explanation as he pulls away from the curb and drives out of the city toward our new home. I guess this solves the issue of me inviting myself to live with him.
Lifting me into his arms, Zane insists on carrying me over the threshold.
"You know we're not married yet," I point out as he makes his way up the front steps.
"Just practicing."
Pushing through the front door, I expect Zane to set me down, but he doesn't. He kicks the door closed and continues down the hall toward the master bedroom, depositing me in the middle of the bed before crawling in with me and pulling me into his arms.
"This is our life," I state. The words are simple. He can interpret them any way he likes. I'm not even sure where they came from.
"This is only the beginning of our life. There's still so much more to come."
"Like what?"
"Kids. Anniversaries. Vacations. Kids." Each word is enunciated. Each word holds its own excitement and promise.
"You do realize you said kids twice, right?"
"Oh, I know. I was kind of hoping we could start practicing making them tonight."
"Haven't we been doing that for a while now? Practicing, I mean."
"Yeah, but you know what they say. Practice makes perfect. Why do you think I carried you tonight?"
Laughing, I roll out of his arms and flip over so I'm facing him.
"I'm not ready for kids yet. Hell, we've only been engaged for a few hours. I'd like to at least get married first."
The idea of having my own child scares the shit out of me. Other people's kids, love them to pieces. I can give them back when they cry or poop. Your own kid, that's your responsibility. I feel like I'm just learning how to take care of myself again. I need more time before I'm responsible for another human.
"So let's get married. Monday. At the courthouse."
"Um, no," I state. I should have said hell no.
"We can do the Vegas thing like Justine and Devon," he suggests.
Shaking my head, Zane starts peppering my face with kisses in between throwing ideas my way. That's when it hits me. The perfect wedding for us.
A destination wedding.
To the place we first met. To the place that brought us together.
"The Bahamas," I moan as he kisses the sweet spot behind my ear, causing him to stop abruptly and pull back.
"That's genius."
"Thank you. I thought so."
"On our anniversary," he suggests.
"Um, isn’t that a little close to Brianna and Hunter's anniversary?"
"So what? They won't care. Plus, I know it's the perfect time to get everyone out of the office."
He has a point. Multiple points actually.
"It's a date, then. The Bahamas, on our one-year anniversary," I state.
My smile fades when I do the math.
I now have four months to plan my wedding. Four months to make all the pieces slide into place. And if I remember correctly, the event coordinator at the resort didn't have a clue as to what she was doing. Emerson schooled her on more than one occasion.
When Zane kisses my lips, all the worry fades away. I'll call Emerson tomorrow. We can make this work. Everything is going to be just fine. All I have to do is have a little faith.
That's what we've all done. Believed in ourselves against all odds.
Justine and Devon survived the shitty rumor I spread, and now they’re married.
Angela and Tyler stayed together, and now they’re expecting their first son.
Emerson and Ryder have written their own perfect love story and will be married in less than six months.
Megan took a huge step moving in with Vinnie, and now they're going to have a baby together.
Brianna and Hunter have been the strongest of all of us, though. They fought every rumor and everything else stacked against them, and tomorrow we celebrate their biggest victory in life. Bethany's adoption is final.
Then there's me. Everyone says they can't believe how much I've changed in the last year. When I really think about it, I can see why. I went from being a snotty, gossip girl to a respected member of the Dixon family. The person I used to be was only a shell of the person I wanted to be.
Of the person I could be.
Of the person I've become.
Change isn't always good, but when it comes to changes of the heart, the rumors will always be true. Falling in love will change your life forever.
THE END!
Thank you for reading the Rumors series. I hope you enjoyed it. The rumor mill is technically closed but if you subscribe to my newsletter, you’ll receive a bonus book. Audra, Justine’s roommate, has her own story to tell…
If you loved Ally & Zane’s story and have a moment, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave a review.
Click HERE to leave a review.
You can sign up to for my newsletter and to be notified of new releases, sales or giveaways here:
http://bit.ly/2KDE5dG
Imperfect Love Story
5… The number of years since I’ve been home.
4… The number of people who know my secret.
3… The number of times I attempted to move on.
2… The number of months I spent crying after I left.
1… The number of men I’ll love in my lifetime.
They say everyone has one true love, one person who was made just for them. A person they were meant to spend the rest of their life with.
The thing about life… it doesn’t always go as planned.
BUY NOW
About the Author
Rachael Brownell is an award-winning author of both young-adult and new-adult romance. She resides in the midwest with her husband, son and their fur-babies. To learn more about Rachael and her books, follow her on social media or sign up for her monthly newsletter.
For more information…
www.AuthorRachaelBrownell.com
[email protected]
Also by Rachael Brownell
Rumors Series
Rumors: Emerson & Ryder
Rumors: Justine & Devon
Rumors: Angela & Tyler
Rumors: Megan & Vincent
Rumors: Brianna & Hunter
Rumors: Allison & Zane
Imperfect Love Duet
Imperfect Love Story
Imperfect Love Story: New Beginnings
Stand-alone Novels
Dark Bishop
Dear Maggie
Lucky 13
Waiting on Someday
Always in My Heart
Take A Gamble
Chasing Fate
Sticks & Stones
">share
Rumors: Allison & Zane Page 16
