Page 58 of Uniquely in Love

I laughed. “That was mine.”

Owen licked his lips. “It was good.”

“Your mom has always made the best ones.”

He chuckled. “One of the things I missed the most this school year.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked. “What was the other one?”

Leaning in close, his breath warmed my face, and I could smell him—like forests and ice and allman.“You.”

Stepping up on my tiptoes, I pressed my lips against his cheek. “I missed you too, Hockey Boy.”

“And that’s our cue,” Quinlan muttered to the rest of my cousins.

I giggled as Owen wrapped his arms around my waist.

“They don’t want to see us make out, Birthday Girl,” he whispered against my ear.

“Mmm.” I hummed. “Maybe we should find somewhere more private.” I trailed my fingers up his chest. He was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

He wiggled his eyebrows. “Treehouse?”

A laugh burst out of me. Sure, we’d made out in the treehouse more than a few times, butnow? “Everyone’s in the backyard, Owen.” My cheeks felt warm as I dipped my head down, trying to hide my face from his view.

His lips pressed against my bare shoulder. “Not everyone…”

I groaned. “You’re killing me.”

Spinning around, I leaned against Owen’s shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me, swaying the two of us slowly. It was getting late, and the sun was finally setting, the sky painted in cotton candy streaks. It was beautiful.

“Are you excited about college, Daisy?” he asked, holding me tight.

My heart leapt. “Yes. Just have to get through my senior year, and then I’m all yours.” Even if I was nervous about uprooting my entire life, I would never be nervous about him. We were solid. I loved him more every day.

He hummed. “I like the sound of that. You and me, justthe two of us…” His lips brushed over my ear. “Just the way I want you.”

“Owen.” My voice came out breathy, even to the sound of my own ears. It was crazy how just being around him made me want to straddle him. But we had no privacy here, and I knew it. So, as much as I wanted to lose my virginity to him, as ready as I was, we were waiting. Luckily, making out and dry-humping weren’t off the table, assuming we were alone. Which, like I’d pointed out, we were not.

“I know,” he murmured, squeezing my hip.

But God, I wanted that. To live with him. To fall asleep in his arms and wake up next to him. The future was so far away, even if it felt like it was right there. Within reach, yet out of my grasp.

For now. I turned, wrapping my arms around his waist. He kissed me softly, leaning our foreheads together.

“One day, Ellie Bradford, you’re going to be all mine. You can count on that.”

But that was the thing—I already was.

If only I had known that in a few months, everything would change. That being his—really, truly his—would come at a cost.

One I knew I couldn’t let him pay.

TWENTY

Owen

NOW

---