Page 37 of Uniquely in Love

I’d notice Owen anywhere. With his six-foot-three frame and that dirty blond hair I loved, he was impossible not to recognize in any crowd. He was built like a hockey player, and he had the muscles to prove it, too. My heart sped up any time he was near, like it knew something I didn’t. Every kiss, every touch, every smile… They were all mine.

“Hey, Daisy Girl.” Owen tugged one of my blonde curls. I’d spent almost two hours getting ready for today. Not that I wanted to impress him, or that I wanted to look pretty for him, but… I liked when he looked at me likethat.Like I was beautiful. He smiled at me, and my heart swelled.

“Hi.” I threw my arms around him, and he picked me up, twirling me around. “Happy graduation.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” I said. There was nothing that could keep me from being here today.

His grin was bright enough to rival the sun. “I know. We’ll be there for all the big moments, won’t we, El?”

I nodded. “Of course we will.”

“It’s a promise.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “I’ll always be there for you, El.”

I smiled against his mouth. “I’m so proud of you. First, high schoolgraduation. Next, the NHL draft, and then… college.”

“I might not get drafted, you know.” His words were low. “I might have to walk on to a team after I graduate.” From everything he’d told me about the NHL, that seemed like a much harder way to make it, but it was doable. Still, I had faith in him.

“It’ll be okay, either way,” I promised, curling my fingers through the long hair at the nape of his neck.

“Yeah?” He held my gaze, those beautiful brown eyes I loved staring back at me.

“Uh-huh,” I nodded. “Because we’ll do it together.”

“Damn right we will.” He placed a soft kiss against my mouth.

A throat cleared, and we both laughed as he set me back down on my feet. His parents had let us have our moment—our bubble that had felt impenetrable—and now it was their turn to tell their precious baby boy how much they loved him. How proud of him they were.

It shouldn’t have been possible to have been so happy and yet… devastated at the same time. Because every step forward he took felt like one further away from me.We’ll do it together. I had to believe him, because that was the only way I was going to survive.

So, I smiled, and I held his hand. I laughed with him, with our family, with the dozens of friends that gathered in the backyard of my aunt and uncle’s house, and I tried not to think about the few months we had left before he would be gone to Seattle.

And I’d still be right here.

Right where he left me.

THIRTEEN

Ellie

NOW

Ithink we should try to be friends again. Like we were before.

Before we’d dated. Like he somehow expected me to erase all the moments we’d spent together. We’d been together for almost four years, even if we’d spent the last five with radio silence between the two of us.

God, I was so dumb. I’d moved here for him, and he wanted to befriends.But I couldn’t exactly run back to Portland with my tail between my legs now, crying about how my professional hockey playing ex-boyfriend wouldn’t take me back just because I’d moved to his city and gotten a job here.

This was about more than just him now, anyway. This was about finding myself and my identity outside my family. Sure, I’d still talk to my mom every day, and I didn’t foresee the group chat of my cousins getting any less active—or annoying—but I’d turned twenty-two this summer. It was time to figure out who I was. Seattle was as good of a place to do that as any. I’d make some friends, and Owen could be one of those. Maybe we’d find our way back to each other. I had to have faith that everything was going to work out the way it was supposed to.

“I can’t just pretend like we were never together,” Iwhispered. I’d spent so many hours with him when we were younger, we’d almost melded into one person. Everyone knew us as Ellie and Owen, like we were one unit. My friends were his friends, and his friends were my friends, and everything was great. I never had to sacrifice family time to spend time with my boyfriend, either, because our moms being best friends and all of us growing up on the same street meant we got to see each other all the time.

He grunted. “That’s not what I’m asking you to do, Ellie.” Owen seemed tormented, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him like this before. He’d always been so easy-going. The guy with a huge grin on his face who was always cracking jokes and making me smile. The one who would hang around the rink after his practice to watch me skate, and then drive me home.

“Then what are you asking, Owen?” I picked up my drink, taking a long sip of the strong alcohol. I wasn’t a huge drinker, but my dad had gotten me started on drinking whiskey sours, and it felt like a tiny part of him was with me now.

His elbows rested on the table, and he placed his head in his hands. “We used to tell each other everything.”

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