Page 24 of Uniquely in Love

I pretended I was fine, because really—what did I have to complain about? My life was amazing. I’d always been the happy-go-lucky guy on the team. The one who was happy to talk to the media and always had a smile on my face.

But I’d lied before, when I’d told the guys it was over.

Because as much as I tried to move on, Ellie Bradford would never stay in the past. She haunted me, invading my dreams as much as she did my thoughts each day.

Then and now… She was it for me.

Too bad I couldn’t have her.

NINE

Owen

THEN

Senior Year

It was the end of the third period, and we were up by two. My entire family sat in the stands, watching what was probably one of the most important games of my junior hockey career. I knew that there were talent scouts here tonight watching me. Despite that, my focus was on the blonde sitting three rows up from the bench, who I knew was wearing my name on her back.Myjersey.

My girlfriend.

Ellie and I had officially been dating for a year, and things were going great. Nothing had really changed, except now we were free to hold hands in front of our families. And as a bonus, I got to sneak her off alone and take her on dates. Thank fuck our parents trusted us to have time alone.

Not that I was going to do anything to jeopardize that trust. We were taking things slow. While the rest of my teammates might have been bragging about sleeping with their girlfriends, I was perfectly content with the fact that we’d onlykissed. Whenever we were both ready, I wanted to make it special for both of us. Though there was no pressure, no rush.

I liked the fact that her smiles were for me. That I could call hermine.

Taking another shift on the ice, I tried to put all of that out of my head as I just focused on my role, keeping the puck away from our goal and defending against the opposing team. With less than a minute left in regulation time, we worked the puck down the ice towards the opposing team’s net. Seeing an opening, I passed it to my teammate, and he hit a snapshot, burying it in the net.

The buzzer sounded, and—“GOALLLL!”

“Hell yeah!” I screamed, skating over to my buddy to wrap him up in a hug. God, I felt on top of the world. Like nothing could bring me down.

Turning my head, my gaze caught on Ellie, who was out of her seat and screaming. For me.

The five of us on the ice skated over to the bench, high-fiving our team members.

We’d have one last face off, and then we just had to run the timer out and we’d officially have won the game.

Settling back onto the bench, I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. The buzzer sounded, and we won the game.

For once, I wasn’t worried about anything else. Not when my team had won the game, my girl was in the stands, and my future was bright.

After a showerand a post-game meeting with the team, I headed out of the locker room to find my family waiting for me, including the blonde girl beaming in the front standing next to my sister. Everyone had Wolves apparel on, which felt meaningful, especially considering my dad’s favorite animalwas a wolf. Even Penelope, my younger sister, was beaming in a dark gray sweatshirt with purple accents, even though she was always dressed in bright colors, often with paint covering her hands since it was her favorite hobby besides reading and writing.

“Hey, guys,” I said, smiling.

“Great game, son,” my dad said, slapping me on the shoulder before pulling me into a hug.

We basically stood at the same height now, thanks to my last growth spurt. Just another sign that I was growing up. “Thanks, Dad.”

I threw an arm around my girl after hugging the rest of my family, dropping a kiss on the side of her head.

“Hi,” I said, brushing my lips against her ear.

“Hey.” She gave me a beaming smile as she nuzzled in close to my side.

She was sunshine. My Ellie. The girl who loved daisies and yellow and who radiated happiness whenever she was on the ice.

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