Page 115 of Uniquely in Love

“Hey.” I leaned down, pressing a kiss against her cheek. “Thought I’d surprise you.” After the way she’d taken care of me the other day at the game, I practically owed it to her. Luckily, I hadn’t had a concussion, and though I’d missed the next game, I was back in the lineup.

She blushed as I handed her the bouquet of daisies and a bag with a dessert in it. “Well, thank you. I’m definitely surprised.”

Leaning against her desk, I stared down at her. She was wearing a mint green dress with a pair of leggings on underneath, and had twisted her hair up with some sort of clip, leaving just her shorter pieces out in the front. Beautiful.

I dipped my head down, wanting a kiss, but before our lips met, the bell rang.

A few moments later, a bunch of kids rushed into the room, eyes widening as they saw me still propped against the desk.

“Ms. Bradford?” One of her students raised her hand. “Is this your friend?” She was soft-spoken and seemed shy, looking at me hesitantly.

My Ellie looked up at me, a soft expression on her face. “Yeah. This is my friend, Owen Harper.”Friend.Fuck, but I hated that word coming from her lips. Boyfriend, maybe. Her future husband and the love of her life, definitely. But friend no longer belonged in our vocabulary. And if she didn’t see that, I needed to make sure she knew it. “Everyone say hi, Mr. Harper.”

“Hi Mr. Harper,” the class called out, a few dozen kids smiling back at me.

Another kid—one wearing a Seals t-shirt—had his jaw dropped open. “Miss Bradford, you’re friends with ahockey player?”

She looked over at me, and I raised an eyebrow. Likethis isall you, babe.Ellie gave him a soft smile. “Yes, Tommy. We’ve known each other for a very long time. We actually grew up together.”

“Wow.” He looked mesmerized. “That’sso cool. I want to be an NHL player when I’m older.”

“You do?” I stood up, walking over to his desk. “You play hockey?”

“Uh-huh.” Tommy nodded. “Would you want to come to my game sometime?”

I crouched in front of his desk, grinning at him. “Absolutely, bud. Maybe you can have Ms. Bradford talk to your parents to get the details, and I’ll see what I can do, huh?”

The little boy absolutelybeamed.“Yes, please! Oh my gosh, this is so cool! Branden and Riven are going to absolutelyfreakif you show up.”

A few of the other kids asked me questions about hockey and my job, which I was happy to answer. Ellie looked pleasantly surprised at the occasion, so I played along, loving her attention on me.

Mentally, I was already making plans. The team loved PR opportunities like this, but I just loved the chance to hang out with kids who loved hockey. I could probably drag the Hendrix brothers along at the very least, if not Reid as well. None of them were seeing anyone this season, besides a few hook-ups here and there, so it wasn’t like they had anything better to do.

“Alright, everyone. We have to say bye to Mr. Harper now so we can start our lesson. Can everyone say thank you, Mr. Harper?

“Thank you, Mr. Harper!”

I nodded. “Bye, kids. Don’t have too much fun with Ms. Bradford here.” I leaned in close enough so I could whisper in her ear. “See you at home, baby. Zambi and I will be waiting for you.”

I lovedthese days where I didn’t have games, when I could spend the entire night with her. After I’d cooked us both dinner—making one of my dad’s recipes he always fed us as kids—we watched a few episodes of some show Ellie loved on television, curled up together with Zambi’s head resting in Ellie’s lap. She stroked our dog’s ears slowly, and I let myself just live in the moment. It was everything I’d ever wanted.

And I had it now. I had it all.

“You didn’t have to do that today, you know,” Ellie said, spitting out her toothpaste into the sink as we got ready for bed later. She was wearing a little blue nightgown with a bow between her breasts, and she looked absolutelyedible.

Looking up from my book, I took off my reading glasses to quirk an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t have to do what?”

Ellie gave me a look likeyou know what I meant.“Tell little Tommy Andersen that you’d come to his skating practice.”

Shrugging, I put my bookmark in to hold my page and set my book aside. “It’s no hardship to go support the community, El. Plus, you saw the way he was idolizing me, right? I couldn’t say no to that.”

She snorted. “He’s loud and has way too much energy, and is a pain in my ass most of the time, but overall, he’s a good kid. Still, you have a lot going on.”

“It’ll be fun,” I promised. “I liked seeing you in action today,Miss Bradford.”

“Oh?” She popped her hip, leaning against the doorframe. Her nipples poked out of the silky blue nightie, and I ran my tongue over my lip.

“Yeah, baby. You were hot. I liked your little teacher outfit.”

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