Page 103 of Uniquely in Love

“Thanks.” I didn’t voice my concerns. That I’d get distracted. Most of the guys knew I’d had a serious girlfriend in high school and college before signing my contract and joining the team, but they didn’t know what had happened.

How I’d almost lost everything after I’d lost her. I couldn’t repeat that again.

THIRTY-TWO

Ellie

Owen kept glancing across the room at me, his eyes filled with heat. A bunch of the guys were in the kitchen with him, including the Hendrix brothers, Lauren’s husband Stefan, and Reid. Was it weird to be in the same room and still miss him? We’d been here for an hour, maybe, but had spent most of the time in our little groups.

My cheeks flushed when he grinned at me. He looked so ridiculous in his Ken getup, and I couldn’t believe he’d agreed to wear it. But it was perfect for us, and damn, he could pull off a black cowboy get-up. And you know what they say about cowboys… I bit my lip, thinking about all the horses I could save. Given his possessive grip when he’d squeezed my hip earlier, I was pretty sure he was thinking the same.

Damn, I couldn’t get enough of him. Maybe it was because this was so new, because we’d never had a chance before, but I was ready to pounce on him already. I took a long drink of my lemonade.

“So it’s serious?” Sophia asked after the third time he glanced over.

“Huh?” I looked back at my friend and then realized what she’d asked me.

I hoped it was. It felt serious. How could rekindling things with your ex be anything but? “He asked me to come to the rest of his games this season, so…” My cheeks were pink. I wasn’t exactly going to tell her about hisyou’re mineproclamation, even though it still made me hot just thinking about it. “And he gave me his jersey to wear.”

“Oh, honey.” Sophia patted my arm.

I frowned. “What, is that a bad thing?”

Lauren laughed from the couch. “No, Ellie. The opposite. If he wants you to come wearing his jersey, I’d say it’s definitely serious. And the way he looks at you…” She fanned her face. Her skeleton face makeup still looked almost close to perfect, even with her husband’s inability to keep his hands off of her. The Captain was pretty damn obsessed with his wife, that was clear.

“But most of you don’t wear your guys jerseys to the games, right?”

Bailey just shook her head. All of them looked like I was missing something. “That’s because we go to a lot of games every year, not because they don’t like seeing us in them. In fact, theyreallyenjoy seeing us in them.” She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

“I wore Owen’s sweater all the time when we were younger,” I said. “Whenever I went to his junior’s games.” I still had it somewhere, though it was probably back home in Portland. I hadn’t brought all of my stuff with me when I’d moved—I was glad I hadn’t, since I’d barely lived in that apartment before moving out. It would have been so much worse if I’d had all of my belongings since childhood there.

Part of me knew I should check on my apartment. Owen said he wanted me to stay with him, that he wanted me there, and I also knew I didn’t want to go back to that place, but I also felt terrible about living with him rent-free. Though now that we had Zamboni, I couldn’t imagine moving out, either.

“But did you everjustwear his jersey?” Harlow asked, leaning over conspiratorially. “That really drives Jonah crazy.”

I blushed. “Um. No.” We’d been too young back then. Not that I wanted to blurt out in front of all these women that we hadn’t been having sex as teenagers. Or that I could still count the amount of times I’dhadsex on one hand.

“Try it sometime,” Lauren suggested, giving me a little wink, rubbing her belly. “Pretty sure that’s how we made this one.”

“Oh.” My face was on fire. “I mean, I don’t think we’re quite ready for that yet—” I was only twenty-two. We’d barely gotten back together. It had been the blink of an eye, really.

Sophia burst out laughing. “Lauren,” she scolded, but there was a playfulness to her tone. It was almost amusing, because normally she was the one saying the most off-the-wall, out-of-pocket things. She seriously had no filter. “You’re going to scare off our poor, innocent Ellie.”

Maybe I wasn’t as innocent as she thought, though, because I liked the idea of it. Of Owen getting home, finding me wearing nothing else. Knowing how much he’d liked finding me wearing his shirt and asleep in his bed, I could only imagine how much he’d like that.

I’d just make sure I stayed up to date on my birth control, because we definitely didn’t need any accidents. Maybe we should start using condoms. It was probably irresponsible to let him keep coming inside of me, even though it felt so good for both of us. Damn.

Owen raised his eyebrow at me, and I was sure he could read the confusion spelled out over my face. I looked towards the back door. They had a large backyard, and their covered patio had a porch swing and a space heater. Harlow and Bailey’s guys came over to join us, settling onto the couches next to them, and I took that as a sign.

Okay, maybe I just wanted an excuse, but who could blame me when he was looking at me likethat?Like hecouldn’t wait to get me home, strip me down, and ravish me.Ravish?I mentally scolded myself, because what was this, a bodice ripper?

I headed outside, letting the cool air cool my face off as I breathed in the fresh air. That was something I loved about the Pacific Northwest, and one reason I’d never been able to imagine leaving. I loved the smell of the pine trees. Of the rain in the air.

The smell reminded me of Owen.

A pair of arms slid around my shoulders, and the man in question’s head rested on top of mine. I liked our height difference. How I was just short enough to fit tucked inside his body. How he was tall enough that I had to stand on tiptoes to reach his lips.

“Hi, Daisy,” he said against my ear, swaying us back and forth.

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