His Dangerous Love On Ice Chapter 187: Olive's Pov

"JT, why the fuck are you calling me at this ungodly hour when I'm out with your girlfriend?" I said, my voice coming out louder than I'd intended, probably because I had to compete with the bass still thumping through the walls even in this supposedly quieter corner.

"I'm sorry, Olive," JT said, and he actually sounded sorry, his voice tight with anxiety. "I just—I need your help. Please. I know the timing is terrible but I didn't know who else to call."

I stared at my phone for a second, trying to figure out if I was actually speaking with the right person, because I genuinely couldn't remember the last time I'd had a real conversation with JT except maybe at Brenda's birthday party almost a year ago, and even then it had been mostly small talk about work and sport and whether the appetizers were any good.

My mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario, panic flooding my system.

Was everything okay with Brenda? Was Brenda hurt in some way I didn't know about? Had something happened and JT was calling me because he couldn't reach her?

Instantly I was on high alert, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"Did something happen?" I asked urgently, pressing the phone harder against my ear. "Is Brenda okay? JT, what's wrong?"

"What? No, no—Brenda's fine," JT said quickly, seeming to realize how his opening had sounded. "She's perfect. She's more than perfect, actually, which is kind of the whole reason I'm calling you."

I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding, my shoulders sagging with relief even as confusion replaced the panic.

"Okay, so if nothing's wrong, then why are you calling me right now while I'm literally sitting in a club with Brenda?" I asked, leaning against the wall because my legs suddenly felt unsteady. "What could possibly be so urgent that it couldn't wait until tomorrow?"

JT was quiet for a moment, and I could hear him taking a deep breath like he was preparing himself for something.

"I'm going to propose to Brenda," he said finally, the words coming out in a rush. "Next week. On her birthday. And I need your help to make it perfect."

I froze, my entire body going completely still as my brain tried to process what he'd just said.

Propose.

Marriage.

Brenda.

"You're—wait, what?" I managed to get out, my voice coming out strangled. "You're going to propose? To Brenda? Next week?"

"Yes," JT said, and I could hear the smile in his voice now, nervous excitement bleeding through. "I know it's fast, I know we haven't been dating that long in the grand scheme of things, but Olive, I'm so sure about her. I've never been this sure about anything in my entire life."

I pressed my free hand against the wall to steady myself because this was not at all what I'd been expecting when I saw his name on my screen.

Brenda was getting proposed to.

Brenda was going to get married.

My best friend who'd sworn up and down for years that marriage was a patriarchal institution designed to trap women into domestic servitude was about to become someone's fiancée.

"Olive? Are you still there?" JT's voice cut through my racing thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm here," I said, trying to organize my brain into something coherent. "I'm just—I'm shocked. This is huge, JT. Does Brenda have any idea?"

"No, that's the whole point—it's supposed to be a surprise," he said. "But that's why I need your help. I need to make sure I'm doing this right, that she'll actually want this, because the last thing I want is to blindside her with a proposal she's not ready for."

"Are you sure she wants to get married?" I asked carefully, because this was Brenda we were talking about, and Brenda had very strong opinions about marriage and commitment and whether either of those things were actually necessary for a healthy relationship.

The phone went quiet for a whole minute—so quiet I almost thought the call had dropped—before JT finally spoke again.

"I've been noticing things," he said slowly, carefully, like he'd been thinking about this for a while. "Little things that she probably doesn't even realize she's doing. The way she rubs her stomach sometimes when she thinks no one's looking, like she's imagining something there. The way she looks at herself in mirrors lately and smiles this particular smile I've never seen before. The way she stops and stares at baby clothes when we walk past stores, even though she always makes some joke about how annoying kids are."

I felt my breath catch because I'd noticed those things too—had seen Brenda touch her stomach with this wistful expression, had caught her looking at families in restaurants with something that looked almost like longing.

"She wants kids," JT continued, his voice getting more confident. "Maybe she doesn't even fully realize it yet, or maybe she does and she's scared to say it out loud because it goes against everything she's claimed to believe for years. But I see it, Olive. I see the way she looks at the life we could have together. And I want to give her that. I want to marry her and build a family with her and spend the rest of my life making her happy."

I was stunned into silence, my throat tight with emotions I couldn't quite name.

Because he was right—JT had seen something in Brenda that even I had started to notice but hadn't fully acknowledged, those small signs that my fiercely independent best friend was maybe starting to want the traditional things she'd always claimed to be above.

"What do you need from me?" I asked finally, my voice coming out softer than before.

"I need help with the logistics," JT said, relief flooding his tone. "I want to propose at her birthday dinner next week—you know how she always does that girls' hangout thing at that restaurant she loves? I was thinking I could show up halfway through, make it look like a surprise appearance, and then propose in front of all her closest friends."

"That's actually really sweet," I admitted, already starting to picture how it would go.

"So you'll help?" JT asked. "You'll make sure she actually shows up to that dinner? And you won't tell her what's coming?"