Page 3 of Uniquely in Love

They say you never forget your first love.

If only that wasn’t true. Especially considering we’d grown up on the same street. I couldn’t tell you when I fell in love with Owen Harper. It wasn’t one moment, one instant. It had been a slow, gradual thing, until I looked up one day and realized I loved him. He was my first everything—first love, first kiss, first… Well, you know. I never thought there would be anylasts. That I’d call him anything but mine. But that was the thing about first loves. They weren’t supposed to be forever.

Today was supposed to be happy. A monumental, joyous occasion. Theend of an era. Putting my college years behind me.

That was why we were all here, celebrating. The ceremony was tomorrow afternoon, and then we’d go back to my house for a big grad party. My family took up two tables in the coffee shop, and for the first time in a long time, everyone was here.

Okay,almosteveryone. There was one person missing, someone whose absence I felt deeply. I stared at the text I sent. The one that hadn’t received a response. Maybe it was wishful thinking that he’d reply. But he should have been here.

Ellie

Are you coming?

Sighing, I locked my phone and looked around at everyone.

The eight of us had grown up in this coffee shop. It was my Aunt Noelle’s—though we weren’t related by blood—and somewhere I’d visited at least once a week for years. All the people surrounding me were my cousins—some of them by blood or marriage, and some by choice, since our moms had been best friends since college. When we were little, our moms used to bring us here, and we’d play on the floor while they’d talk about books.

I tried not to explain my family tree in too much detail to people, since their eyes glazed over when I did. Aunt Angelina—my dad’s sister—was married to my Uncle Benjamin, and his brother was Hunter, who was married to Gabbi. That entire clan shared the last name of Sullivan. Then there were the Harpers, Matthew and Noelle, who might not have been related to me by blood, but I loved just the same. My parents, Charlotte and Daniel Bradford, rounded out the group. Between the four couples, there were nine of us kids, and they were some of my best friends and closest confidants.

“I can’t believe you two graduate tomorrow,” my older sister, Abigail, muttered. She ran her fingers through her dark, curled hair, separating the individual strands before smoothing down her pink tailored dress, one I knew she had designed. Abigail was twenty-five and thriving, running a successful fashion line. I’d always looked up to my older sister, probably because she’d always had everything together.

My cousin Zachary Sullivan, sitting by her side, snorted. “I’m just glad we have a few years until we have to go to another ceremony after this.” He’d graduated two years ago with his degree in history, and now he was in grad school, with his goal to be a history professor. His twin, Wesley, was sittingon the opposite side of the table. They were identical, and I couldn’t count the number of pranks they’d pulled on us over the years. Wes was the quieter twin, though he had a mischievous side too.

Penny was walking tomorrow too, which meant there would only be one of us left—Angelina and Benjamin’s youngest, Lucy. She was fourteen and desperately wanted to be one of the big kids.

Between all of us, there had been college graduations the last four years in a row.

Lucy rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her iced pink drink as she thumbed through a young adult book from the bookstore portion of the shop. Aunt Noelle was a bestselling author, and when she’d been younger, she’d always dreamed of opening up a bookstore and coffee shop.

I wondered if she knew she’d be creating the future home of the Cousins Coffee Club. That we’d hang out here during college breaks and summer vacations even after we’d grown up. Though after today, who knew how often that would happen? Everyone had jobs and was getting busier. Beau, my older brother, had moved to California to play professional football in Los Angeles.

I nudged Penny at my side. “You ready for this? Getting our diplomas?”

We’d been roommates through all four years of college, driving home together some weekends when we missed our family—not that it was very far away. Growing up on the same street and only being ten months apart, our friendship had always been assumed, but from the time we’d been walking, we were tied at the hip—practically inseparable from birth.

Penelope was graduating with her degree in English and a minor in art, while I’d studied Elementary Education. While I’d been student teaching all of last year, I hadn’t found a placement at any of the Portland-areaschools yet, so I was going to have to move back in with my parents after our current lease ended. Her dad was a professor at the University of Portland, the same school we were both graduating from.

While she’d found her love in art and writing, my love had always been figure skating.

Until it wasn’t.

And then there was my massive crush on her older brother. Owen Harper.

A crush, until it… wasn’t.

But I’d lost both at the same time.

“So ready. I’m so glad to be done with classes.” My best friend nodded, her red hair catching the light with the movement. She was the spitting image of her mom, all curves and freckles, but with her dad’s blue eyes.

Not that I could talk, since I was practically my mother’s twin, with her blonde hair and a set of blue-gray eyes. I could never quite describe the color, though my dad always said they reminded him of storm clouds on a typical Portland day. I was a few inches taller than my mother, though I’d also inherited her slender build. A body I’d worked hard to keep strong when I skated, loving the sensation of the air flowing past me as I soared across the rink. But I hadn’t laced up my skates in four years. Not since the accident.

“Is Owen going to make it back?” Beau addressed Penny. He was home for a few weeks from California, since the football season was over and he didn’t have to report back until later in the summer for training camp. Though he spent a lot of his time in the gym, keeping in shape.

“I don’t think so,” she frowned. “At least not for the ceremony. He’s driving down from Seattle.”

My heart leapt at the mention of my ex. I never asked about him, and somehow, I’d avoided him over the last four years since I’d ended things. It was easier said than done, considering his childhood home was on the same street as mine and our mothers being best friends. But there were perksto him being a NHL hotshot. Namely, that his visits were few, and I was pretty sure he had no desire to see me.

“Ellie?” My name was called, like it had been repeated a few times.

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