Page 133 of Uniquely in Love

“You can do anything you put your mind to, sweetheart. But you never know,” my mom added with a shrug. “Your father and I were best friends for almost a decade before we realized we were in love with each other.”

I was glad it hadn’t taken Owen and me that long to figure it out. Sure, we were still young—he turned twenty-five next month—but we hadn’t needed a marriage pact to decide to be together. A part of me would always love my parent’s story, though. Just like I loved mine.

Owen was my first and only, and I was his.

I slung an arm around my mom and my sister. “Come on. Let’s go put our pjs on and watch some cartoons. It’s Christmas, after all. I want to spend every second of these next four days celebrating.”

If it was all the time we had, I wanted to make it count.

I had always lovedthis time of year. There was something about the magic of Christmas, of the chill in the air and the way it brought everyone together that couldn’t be beat. This year, it was even more special.

Because everyone I loved was under one roof. I sat on Owen’s lap as we watched Christmas cartoons until the late hours of the night, drinking cider. The house was warm and full of laughter, and it was perfect.

Everything that I’d ever wished for.

I smiled, snuggling deeper into the covers and enjoying the warmth of my bed.

Something hard pressed into my ass, and I rubbed against it, letting out a small moan from my throat.

“Ellie?” There was a rasp against my ear. Blinking my eyesopen, I opened my eyes to find a smiling, handsome face looking down at me.

“Morning,” I yawned, stretching out my arms. “What time is it?”

“Time for presents,” Owen grinned.

It was almost strange having him here, sleeping in the bed of my childhood bedroom. When we were younger, we’d never had sleepovers. Our parents might have trusted us, but that had always been the rule. We could have stayed over at his house last night instead, but everyone was coming to my parent’s house for Christmas breakfast this morning.

He kissed the tip of my nose. “Come on. I already let Zambi out.”

I sat up, the sheets falling off of me, exposing my little red nightgown. “She likes the yard, huh?”

“Lovesit.” It was the perfect yard for a dog. I felt bad that our girl was cooped up in an apartment and didn’t have one, but with how much time he spent taking her for walks at home, she probably barely even noticed a difference.

“Mmm. Guess we’ll need to get our own one day.”

He smirked, grabbing a shirt and pulling it on, covering up those glorious muscles. I pouted a little, and he laughed. “You don’t like my apartment?”

I shook my head. “Iloveyour apartment. Are you kidding? It’s beautiful.” That was an understatement. And I had no desire to know how much it cost every month. “But I don’t want to live in the city forever.”

He leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “Me either. Now get that sweet ass out of bed and put something on so we can go open presents with your family, baby.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “This isn’t acceptable?” I circled a finger over my cleavage, lifting the little bow between my breasts. “You don’t think my family will like it?” I batted my eyelashes innocently.

Owen’s responding growl made me glad I wasn’t wearingany panties, because they would be soaked. I giggled, getting up and finding an old pair of Christmas pajamas that still fit, pulling them on and tossing my nightgown back on the bed.

He quirked an eyebrow as I turned to him, pulling my hair up into a high ponytail. “What?”

“You’re seriously not putting any panties on?”

“Nope.” I popped the p, and blew him a kiss. “Now come on, Hockey Boy. Let’s go open presents with our family. And then you can open yours later.” I winked.

His only response was a resounding groan.

The entire livingroom was full of us kids, and our parents had escaped to the kitchen. We’d already had Christmas dinner, and now we were enjoying the night, trading presents with each other and hanging out for the first time since May.

My brother had flown in last night, and I was so happy to have my whole family back together. Owen was sitting at my side, his hand resting on my hip possessively. I let him keep it there, because I loved how he needed to touch me all the time, like that reminder of my physical presence was enough to calm him.

Plus, after we’d opened presents and I’d tortured him all morning, we’d fucked in the shower and even though it had been a tight fit,my god.Teasing him was the hottest thing ever. I was considering asking him to wake me up with his tongue tomorrow, because I couldn’t get enough.

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