Page 22 of The Forever Game

“I know.” I grab her hand in appreciation. “But I don’t want to walk out of here with a gray cloud hanging over me, so let’s talk about something uplifting, like… weddings or… proposals or—” I quickly swallow, silently cursing my stupid mouth.

Lani gives me a questioning frown. “Proposals?”

Of course she was going to pick up on that. I couldn’t have just shut up after saying the wordweddings? We could be talking about Baxter and Tammy right now, about how we’re both bridesmaids. We could be planning another bachelorette party for our friend. But no, of course I had to sayproposals, and she had to notice that I said the P-word, and now she’s wondering who I’m talking about and?—

“How did you know I was thinking of proposing to Asher? I haven’t told anyone.”

“What?” I whip around to gape at her. “You are?”

“Ye-ah.” She drags out the word and points at me. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” I squeak.

“Rachel.” Lani’s teacher voice is just a touch scary, and I end up swallowing.

Then I quickly blurt, “The fact that Tammy told me that Baxter told her that Asher wants to surprise you with a proposal.”

Lani goes still, blinking for a second, before crossing her arms with a sly smile. “Does he now?”

I gasp, my eyes bulging. “I’m so dead if he finds out that I let it slip! You can’t tell him that you know!”

Her smirk grows a little bigger, her eyes gleaming. “He’s trying to surprise me, huh?”

“Yes.” I wince, then grab her wrist. “You can act surprised, right? Just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

“Or I could surprise him first.” Her sharp gaze zeros in on my face. “Do you know when he’s planning to propose?”

I shake my head, panic coursing through me at what I might have just started. Why did I say anything?

Ugh!

Lani’s eyes are sparking with determination as her phone dings. She checks the screen, then jolts from her seat. “I’ve gotta run. A student is waiting to see me about his assignment. But I’ll catch you again soon.”

“Okay.” I give her a nervous smile. “You won’t give away the fact that I told you about Asher’s surprise?”

“No way.” She grins, lightly kissing my cheek. “I’m grateful.”

“But…”

She walks away before I can say anything else.

Crap.

Slumping back in my seat, I frown at my empty coffee mug and close my eyes. All I can hope is that I haven’t gone and rocked too many boats with my little slipup.

CHAPTER9

MIKAYLA

“And Galloway slips up, missing that shot by a mile. What is going through his head right now?” The commentator’s voice is starting to grate as I watch my man skate around the back of the goal with a frustrated frown.

“Come on, baby. You can do this.” I chew my thumbnail, watching the game on my phone because I’m supposed to be working, and my boss will be pissed if he catches me cheering on my husband when I should be proofing the contract on my desk for spelling and grammar.

At first I was stoked when he started giving me that job. I felt like it was a great chance to learn legal jargon and get my head around it all, but it’s actually painfully tedious. I can’t suggest any changes, other than a few typos, and every contract starts to look the same after a while.

I’m just another set of eyes to make sure nothing is amiss. After that, I’ll probably be sent off to do another coffee run and no doubt have to empty the dishwasher and clean the conference room after the meeting is over.

I want to be in that meeting, dammit!

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