Page 84 of Never Say Never
“I am, J. Dang, you’re stressing me out.”
Johnson’s face turnsextraserious, which is saying something for him.
“So, you know how much I love Grace, and how important she is to me—fuck, I hope you’re okay with this…” He runs a hand over his beard.
“Okay with what?” Landon says, now sounding like he’s about to jump through the phone and strangle Johnson if he makes us wait any longer.
“When we’re back here from her nationals, I…I’m going to propose.”
Landon and I look at each other, and he’s totally shocked like I am. “Propose…marriage?” I ask.
“Yes.” Johnson swallows.
I keep my mouth shut and watch Landon. He was pissed for weeks when he found out Johnson and Grace had been secretly involved, but that was cleared up months ago.
Now, my brother goes through a wave of emotions. Exiting the stunned stage, turning thoughtful, and then becoming emotional. “Fuck, J. That’s…I can’t imagine a better man for her. I’m thrilled for you. For you both.”
Tears are welling up in his eyes, which makes me start to choke up. “Same. She’s going to be so excited.”
“You think she’ll say yes?”
“Oh yeah,” Landon and I respond in unison.
Some might say Johnson and Grace are a little young for marriage at twenty-four and twenty-three, respectively. But they feel inevitable.
“What’s the plan?” Landon asks.
“I have the ring.” He brings out a black box and opens it to show off the sparkling diamond. “I’m also doing something cool to the field in my backyard.”
“You better not be messing with that field,” I joke. “I plan to put in a lot of reps with you there.”
He grins at me. “No, it’s going to be good for that. I’m adding a regulation track around the field so Grace can use it. They’re putting it in while she’s out West. It’ll be tight timing, but I’m paying extra to speed things along. No pun intended.”
“She’ll love that,” I respond.
“That’s going to be sweet,” Landon adds. “So you’re going to ask her when we’re back? I’m supposed to go to England after Oregon for Rori’s grass court season.”
“Yes, and I mean, I’d love to have you there to celebrate, but I understand if you can’t.”
Landon shakes his head. “No way I’m missing it. I’ll change my flights to come back with you guys to Florida first, and then head to Rori after.”
“Awesome.” Johnson looks a lot more relaxed than he did five minutes ago.
We chat for a minute longer before we say our goodbyes. I head to the gym while Landon jumps in the shower.
With nothing but time, I do a full-body lifting session, eating up over ninety minutes.
All while trying not to think about how everything evolved with Avery.
Let’s be honest though. Level: Fucking impossible.
With my mind swimming, I’m glad to exhaust my body. Once I finally walk out of the gym, I filter through options of what I could make us to eat. I’m going to be starving by suppertime.
The front door clicks open as I walk through the living room, and in comes Connor.
“Hey, I was wondering when you’d be back. Where were you?”
I look him over while I wait for him to respond, noticing he has gym clothes on, and no glasses.
