Maybe he found his little surprise funny, but I was ready to pass out.

"This little beauty is up for grabs to the first person who can tell me" he scanned his eyes around the room, building up the anticipation. Every neck in the place strained to look from him to me then back again. Damn, the boy really knew how to deliver a line. "At the Meadowlands in a single season Who holds the record for most minutes spent in the penalty box?"

Oh my God. My hand clamped to my mouth as my eyes blurred. I couldn't even find the words.

"Maniac McAllister!" Jerry Liverwurst yelled out.

Everyone just cracked up with their jeers, throwing coasters and straws at Jerry.

Zac's shoulders dropped, and he was shaking his head laughing as he said, "No, Jerry. Good guess, though." His eyes met mine as he asked, "Ave, care to correct the man?"

My hand was over my chest, trying to keep my heart from escaping. I saw Zac's brothers at a nearby table, leaning back in their chairs and smiling proudly at me. They knew he was going to do this, the big lugs.

Major event going down indeed.

I looked toward Zac, the man I loved, standing there waiting patiently on my reply. My eyes were tearing up and my hands were shaking, but I managed to answer, "It's me."

He smiled and shot back, "Damn straight it's you."

He hopped off the bar and got down on his knee, right there in the middle of everyone. He held the ring up toward me as the hopeful look in his eyes shot straight into my heart. "I love you, Ave. Whaddya say? You want to marry a broken-down, cranky old has-been?"

"No," I answered, smiling into his eyes. "I want to marry you."

A wide grin split his face as he stood up, grabbed my hand, and slipped the diamond ring onto my finger. "Here's your prize. Thanks for playing."

I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him as the entire bar cheered and started singing "When Irish Eyes are Smiling."

When I pulled back, I caught the elated expression on his face.

"You're happy," I said.

"I am. Because of you."

He gave a quick scan around the crowded bar, and decided to lead me into the pool room so we could have a bit more privacy.

Denny and Rachel were in the middle of a game, but Zac jerked his head toward the door, saying, "Shouldn't you two be working right now?" Neither gave any indication that they were planning on going anywhere, and they both looked at him blankly until he added, "I'd like a minute alone with my fiancee, alright?"

"Aww, hey, man. That's great! Congratulations," Denny said, coming over to clap Zac on the shoulder as Rachel piped in with, "Ooh. Lemme see the ring!"

Zac laughed, "Thanks, but guys! Get the fuck out of here already!"

"Yeesh," Rachel busted, as she grabbed Denny's sleeve and hauled him out of the room. "Check out Mr. Boss Man all of a sudden."

He shook his head in exasperation before leaning down to plant a sweet, soft kiss against my lips. "I talked to your parents, you know," he said, twirling a strand of my hair around his finger.

That was a surprising bit of knowledge. "You did?"

"Well, I needed to ask their permission to marry you."

"Oh my God! What did they say?"

Zac smirked and answered, "Well, your mother was crying too hard to say anything, so she just hugged the living hell out of me, which I'm going to assume was a good thing. But your father said we can thank him by naming our first kid after him."

My eyeballs almost popped out of my head. "He said that? About us having a kid?"

"Yes, and I think we should get started on that right away." He bent down to kiss me again as my mind raced, trying to register all the new information. Not only did we have my father's blessing, but our firstborn already had a name: Rudolph Benjamin McAllister.

Sorry, kid.

I tried to get lost in Zac's kiss until a thought occurred to me and I pulled back. "Wait a minute. Thank him for what?"

Zac gave a grunt, obviously not pleased about putting a halt to our liplock. "For two years ago. For suggesting the Stanley Cup party be held here."

My brows furrowed in confusion. There was no way my father planned that. He couldn't have Did he?

Zac chuckled at the gears cranking in my brain. "He said he was good at putting together a winning team. Guess the guy knows his stuff."

Whether it was a calculated plan to throw the two of us back together or not, there was no way anyone could have predicted where we'd go from there.

But I couldn't be happier about where we ended up.

"I love you, Zac."

His lips curled into a wicked smile as he slipped a palm behind my neck. "Well, that's good. Now I don't regret getting you that ring."

I held my hand out in front of me, watching as the light danced through the gorgeous, emerald-cut rock on my finger. "Wow. This is one hell of an ice cube you bought me. It must've cost a fortune. I have no problem with that, by the way."

He smirked at my appraisal, saying, "Some things are more important than money."

That beautiful man cupped my jaw and ran his thumb across my cheek, staring into my eyes with that knee-melting look he reserved only for me. "Besides, something tells me you'll be worth it."

THE END.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:.

Of course I would like to start this gratitude train off with YOU, the readers! This entire book was only made possible due to your enthusiasm and participation. Your clever ideas and witty suggestions really helped to flesh this story out, and I am so grateful that you took such an active interest in our little project. So, thank you!

It was both easy and difficult to create a story that was locked into an established framework. Normally, I'll just tap away and see where the story takes me. TBH, sometimes I cursed the lack of freedom. But being forced to stay on point sometimes opened a new door that I never would have found had I ventured out on my own. It's been a really interesting experiment, and I feel a very successful one as well. Zac and Avery have evolved into two new favorite characters for me while writing, and I didn't think it was going to be possible to love anyone as much as Trip and Layla. To tell you the truth, I was more than a little paralyzed at the thought that you wouldn't, which is why it took me so long to get this story on the shelf. But I love the people we ended up with! I hope you do, too.

Special thanks goes out to Caro Clarke. Her website was invaluable to me years ago when I was first starting out. While dealing with the most debilitating writer's block of my life earlier this year, I sent her an email, and it was her advice that snapped me out of it. Thank you for your words of wisdom, Caro. I highly advise any author (or aspiring author) to go check out her site and soak up the pure awesomeness: www.caroclarke.com To Kari Matthes: Could you BE any more of a cheerleader? Your constant words of encouragement seriously got me through some rough moments. I'm glad that I picked you as a friend, and I'm honored that you've chosen to be mine right back.

To LB Simmons. Gurrrl, sorry I didn't give you enough time for payback, as I know you would have enjoyed slashing this story to bits way too much during your read. But I can't thank you enough for what you were able to tackle. You offered some amazing suggestions, and I am grateful every day that we found each other. I love you to stinking pieces! Now get out of my head!

To Shay Ray Simmons: It's bizarre when you can find someone with whom you share a brain. I hereby relinquish all rights to said brain until further notice. It's all yours, so enjoy. It's a little fried around the edges right now, but don't worry, that thing will snap back into shape like Stretch Armstrong soon enough. Thank you for your advice and encouragement.

To Kay Miles: What to say here? Your brutal honesty during your initial read was exactly what I needed to hear. I am so grateful for your insight, because I love where this story ended up. Thanks for the nudge in the right direction.

To Stevie Kisner: As usual, you are the macaroni to my cheese, the chocolate coating to my chewy nougat. Thanks again for the offered shoulder, the tireless cheerleading, and all that lovely red slashiness. xoxo To Casey Smith: Being a new mommy hasn't stopped you from acting as my ruthless book ninja once again. You are The Little Ninja That Could. If you were a founding father, you'd be Beninja Franklin. If you had red hair, you'd be a ginja. But as my editor, you're awesome. Thank you for squeezing my life into yours. *mwah* (Now let's get cracking on DTS!) To my bloggers: Kelly, Joanne Kim Jenny, Gitte, Sian, and the Rachels Heather, Selene, and Brandi Jennifer, you schmexy bitch Every last one of you who has read my books and supported them-including the multitude that I didn't call out by name Thank you. I sound like a broken record, but indie authors truly couldn't do this without you.

It's never redundant to thank my family and friends for their support and encouragement.

De Paul girls, thanks for your excitement. Special thanks go out to my high school friend Maria Chappa of Turnkey Productions www.turnkeyproductions.net for your event-planner insight.

Special thanks to Dad O., yet again, for the use of your house. Barb, I promise I'll write a clean book someday. ;) Mom and Dad, thanks for dealing with my cranky self and for helping out with the boys so I could write. Diana, thanks for talking me through my nervous breakdown on Halloween. LOL Michael, Tanner, and Mason: The three coolest guys I know. Thank you for letting me write this story even though we're Flyers fans. Also, thanks for not letting the house fall apart (too much) while I was working. You guys are incredible, and you own my heart. I'm so honored to give my forever to you. Xoxo Lastly, there were many of these posts over the months, but here are some of my favorite Facebook links of your awesome contributions: PICKUP LINES:.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=338409846340094&id=127136890800725 BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=335296223318123&id=127136890800725 INJURIES:.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=304117829769296&id=127136890800725 DRUNKY:.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=292709707576775&id=127136890800725 CONFLICT:.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=292507104263702&id=127136890800725 As always, I'll ask that if you enjoyed this book, to please leave a review, loan it out, and talk about it every chance you get. : ) Indie authors are only able to bring you new stories when there's an audience waiting for them, and we rely on word-of-mouth above all else to make a living.

If you haven't already, please come join the fun on my Facebook page!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/TTorrest-Author-Page/127136890800725?ref=hl Here I am on TSU: https://www.tsu.co/TTorrestAuthor And here's my email: ttorrest@optonline.net You can also check out my webpage: www.ttorrest.com and join my mailing list for updates: http://eepurl.com/318-n NOW TURN THE PAGE FOR A PREVIEW OF MY NEXT BOOK!!!.

Coming in April 2015: DOWN THE SHORE.

A rock-and-roll romantic comedy.

Livia Chadwick is a photographer by day and a self-proclaimed rock slut by night.

Her dating life is a lackluster parade of evasive jerks and her boss is an unrelenting nightmare of a human being.

What else can a girl do but rent a beach house with her girlfriends And blow off a little steam every weekend?

But hey, she's from Jersey. Barhopping down the shore all season is sort of mandatory.

All is going according to plan until she meets Jack.

Jack Tanner is a contractor-turned-musician in a small-town cover band suddenly thrust into the limelight.

He's already had enough of the rock-and-roll lifestyle, and groupies have never been his thing.

Then again there's a gorgeous brunette in the audience tonight, checking him out with the most incredible green eyes he's ever seen.

She's looking for a fling.

He's looking for forever.

It's gonna be one helluva summer.

Set in the summer of 1995, DOWN THE SHORE takes the reader on a tour through some of the Jersey shore's hottest hot spots over one, sleepless, flannel-clad summer.

It's a look back to a time when the music was groundbreaking, the rock clubs were king, and bar bands ruled the world.

READ WHEN YOU'RE IN THE MOOD FOR: Sexy, funny, romantic, beachy, and nostalgic.

Add it to your GOODREADS TBR here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18809569-down-the-shore and turn the page for a preview!

LIVIA.

Friday, May 26, 1995 We had to cross over the crowded dance floor in order to shortcut to the other side of the large club. Jack was trying to carve out a path for us both when I saw him inexplicably reach his hand behind him and blindly grab for mine. I just as inexplicably put my hand in his, and had the oddest feeling as we wove our way through the crowd.

I became enigmatically aware of how electric it was to hold his hand, even though I barely knew the owner of it. Our palms were flattened against one another's, our fingers intertwined... It was as though we'd performed this act naturally a million times over, not just for the first time one minute ago. The thought left me baffled, but fascinated nonetheless.

Before I knew it, he led me over to the payphones situated near the restrooms. He gave my hand a quick squeeze before releasing his hold and ducking into the men's room.

When Jack let go of my hand, I was surprised at the loss that washed over me. What the hell was that? I didn't even know the guy and he had me sweating from simply holding his hand? I couldn't even imagine what holding his dick would be like. I'd probably pass out.

I had to dig through a ton of junk in my purse to find the number for the beach house, but it finally appeared and I made the call. Even though I wasn't in the main part of the club, it was still loud, and I burrowed into the alcove as much as I could while covering my free ear with my hand in order to hear.

Samantha answered.

"Hey, Sammy! What are you doing there? I thought you were sick."

"I was. But I slammed down a few Sudafed and managed to catch the girls before they left. Where are you?"

"Tradewinds," I shot back. "Came to see a band."

"Any good?"

"Yeah, actually. They're fantastic."

I glanced up to find Jack leaning against the wall having a cigarette, waiting for me. Fuck. He heard that.

"So, I'm going to assume you'll be spending the night elsewhere?" Sam chuckled at her dig, but it wasn't like I could take offense. My girls knew me too well.

"Well, yeah, but not because... We ran into Monty. We're crashing there tonight."

I thought Jack would've headed back to our friends, but instead, he just stood there watching me as I talked to Sam. His eyes were squinted as he blew smoke through those delectable lips, and I felt my stomach drop. It was unsettling, to say the least, and I made myself turn away.

"Lucky bitch. Tell him we said hi."

"I will."

Before I could get another word out, I suddenly felt the length of Jack's body pressed against my back. What the hell? It caught me by surprise, to say the least.

I figured he was just screwing around, trying to be funny by distracting me from my phone call, but my heart leapt in my chest anyway. He chuckled against my hair, swiped some away, and lowered his lips to the back of my neck, my skin shivering at the touch. The whole time, I was trying to have a human conversation with Sam, no easy feat while this god was ravaging me from behind. I guessed he wasn't planning on wasting any time before getting this party started, and that was fine by me. I was more than game.

I snapped back to the real world when I heard Sammy taunt, "Well, have fuuun!"

As if that wasn't the understatement of the night. How could a hot rock star against my body be anything but fun? I offered a quick "I'm about to," before giving Sam a rather abrupt goodbye and hanging up, my body completely rebelling against all common sense. My knees went weak, and I braced my hand on the wall above the phone, pressing my backside against him.

At that, he gave out a snicker and whispered against my ear, "Oh, so you wanna play, do you?"

Oh, hell yeah I did.