Page 17 of Uniquely in Love

“Actually, I, uh—do you want to get dinner tonight?”

I bit my lip to hold back a smile. “Are you asking me on a date, Hockey Boy?”

“Depends, Skater Girl.”

“On?” I fluttered my eyelashes, enjoying the way he was looking at me. Like I was the only girl in the world.

“Whether you’re saying yes.” He winked.

I looked down at my outfit. I was still wearing the jeans I’d worn to school and my favorite scoop-neck long-sleeved bodysuit. “Can I have a few minutes to change?”

Owen laughed. “Of course, El.”

Rushing upstairs, I rifled through my closet. What did you wear on a first date, anyway? And it was my first ever. I’d never had a boyfriend before, let alone gone out with anyone. I didn’t have time to be flirting, not when I was constantly at the rink skating. But this was different.

Twenty minutes later, I was back downstairs, dressed in a white sundress—with a chunky cardigan in my arms in case I got cold—and a pair of flats.

“Ready.” I smiled at Owen—he was standing right inside the doorway, running his fingers through his dirty blond hair like he was nervous.

My mom came out, still dressed in her dance clothes, like she’d just come from the studio. “You two have fun.” She pulled her hair out of the tight bun she’d had it in, her blonde hair falling down to her shoulders.

He cleared his throat. “Thanks, Mrs. B. We won’t be home too late.”

“I know.” She focused on him, giving him a look that I’d been on the other end of too many times to count. “I trust you, Owen. Don’t give me a reason not to.”

He nodded, placing a hand on my back to guide me out the door and towards his truck. “She’s terrifying.”

I couldn’t hold in my laugh. “My mom?” She was five four and built like a dancer, and no one had ever described her as intimidating before. Especially not a six-foot something hockey player who spent his days slamming into people on the ice. “Really?”

“Uh-huh. Did you not see the look she was giving me back there?” He shuddered. “Pretty sure if anything happened to you, she’d never let me forget it.”

I wrapped my arm around his, leaning on him as we walked to his truck. “Good thing you won’t let anything happen to me then, huh?”

“Never,” he promised.

It was a statement I felt down to my bones. Because I knew he meant it. That he’d be there for me. He always had been.

Owen droveus to the edge of Forest Park, pulling into a parking lot where one trail-head started.

I frowned, looking down at my shoes as he put the truck into park. “I didn’t really dress for hiking…”

“Don’t worry,” he chuckled, looking over at me. “We’re not going hiking.”

Raising an eyebrow, I sat up straighter. “Then what are we doing in the woods?”

“Come on. You trust me, right?”

“Of course.”

He winked, swinging the door open and hopping out. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a second.”

Then, after scooping a mysterious bundle and large blanket out of the backseat, he closed the door. I heard him rustling around in the truck bed, but I didn’t turn my head to look at what he was doing. Whatever his surprise was, it felt special.

A few minutes later, my door opened, and Owen offered me a hand. Taking it, he guided me out and around to the back of the truck, where he’d lowered the tailgate down. The entire bed was full of blankets and pillows, plus apicnic basket and a bottle of sparkling apple cider in the corner.

“What’s all this?” I turned to him, shocked, and he looked bashful.

“Wanted to do something special for our first date.” He looked around at the calm woods. There weren’t any other cars out here, and it was surprisingly peaceful.

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