Page 57 of Uniquely in Love

And sitting up here, surrounded by the wives and girlfriends, I was realizing that I wasn’t sure if I could survive without more. I wanted all of it. I wanted his name on my back. To know that I was the only person he’d be coming home to.

The problem was… was it too late? Could I win his heart back, after all this time?

NINETEEN

Ellie

THEN

Summer

Dancing Queenby ABBA was playing over the speakers at my seventeenth birthday party, and I was dressed in a blue eyelet lace sundress with a Birthday Girlsash on. It was a warm summer evening, but that wasn’t uncommon for July in Portland. My entire backyard was filled with cousins, family friends, and loved ones. It felt like everyone important to me was here.

And I was thankful, for once, that I had a summer birthday. It sucked during the school year, when everyone else got to have cupcakes or cookies on their birthday, and I never did. But this year, I was grateful for summer vacation.

Because it meant my boyfriend was home, and he could be here.

We’d survived our first year of long distance, and it wasn’t easy. Not with his hockey schedule and living three hours away. But luckily, he’d come home whenever he could. And this year, I finally had a driver’s license. Which meant I could go visit himon long weekends if my parents said yes. I was pretty sure they would—they knew we weren’t having sex, and we somehow got away with way more than my brother and sister ever had.

This year, for the first time, I’d missed Owen’s birthday, since he’d been back at college in Washington and had a hockey game on the same day. But having him home made up for that.

I never thought I’d be that girl who was sitting around, waiting for her boyfriend to come home, but this year had felt like it was barely creeping by.

Finally, we were in the same place for more than just a long weekend and I intended to take full advantage of that.

Even if I had no idea where he was at the moment. Since the rest of my guy cousins were suspiciously absent from my party, I assumed they were all together in my parent’s basement, most likely playing video games.

“Happy Birthday, El!” Another girl I trained with at the rink came up to me, wearing a short purple sundress with her dark hair pulled back in a braid.

“Hi, Brigitte,” I said, hugging her. “Thanks for coming.”

“How’s your summer been?” she asked, running her fingers through her dark hair. At the rink, she often had it in a slicked back bun.

“It’s been great,” I offered. “Working on college applications and stuff. You know, the usual.”

She nodded. “Oh, I remember that well. I’m so glad that’s behind me.” She was going to UC Berkeley this fall, a school that was well known for their figure skating program. “What are you going to do about your boyfriend if you go to a different school?”

I frowned, because I hadn’t really thought about that. Of course, I’d applied to go to the same school as him. I’d applied to the University of Portland, too, my parent’s alma mater, which was also where Penny had applied. She was luckyenough to get free tuition, though, since her dad was a professor there.

I couldn’t imagine going somewhere where Owen wasn’t. Namely, because the distance was feeling so big.

“We’ll make it,” I promised, though my voice came out shakier than I meant for it too.

“Gosh, it’s been weird not seeing him at the rink this year. You two were always glued at the hip.”

Itwasweird, but that was because I was so used to our routine. Us sitting on the bench together. Owen tying my skates for me. Now, I normally sat on the bench before my ice time with a pair of earphones in, listening to my favorite playlist before getting on the ice.

I bit my lip. “Yeah. I know. But he’s having a great time up in Seattle.” And it didn’t hurt that he was going to college in the same city where he’d been drafted to play in the NHL. Though looking around here, I couldn’t imagine my life away from home. Yes, I’d applied there, but was that what I wanted?

Yes,I scolded myself.That’s what you want. Owen is what you want.

Quinlan, Penelope, Bianca and Avery were all gathered around the dessert table, and after thanking Brigitte again for coming to my party, I sauntered off towards them.

“Anyone seen Owen?” I asked, grabbing one of my Aunt Noelle’s brownies—she’d made them for me by request—and taking a bite.

“Right here,” his voice called out, deep and soothing against my ear. It was strange to think that it had gotten deeper in our year apart, but I was pretty sure it had. Even with endless calls and FaceTime sessions, nothing beat this, having him in person.

He took the rest of the brownie from my hand and ate it.

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