Page 72 of Uniquely in Love

I opened my mouth to say something, but two of the other girls—Harlow and Bailey, from the box—popped into the kitchen, interrupting us.

“Soph, you’re totally monopolizing Ellie over here!” The brunette, Bailey, looped her arm through mine. “And we’re supposed to be watching the game.”

Sophia did her best to look sheepish, but I could tell that she absolutely did not feel bad about it. Not that I blamed her.

Looking over at the TV, I saw the score was 2-1 Los Angeles. I was too far away to track who was on the ice, but I hoped the guys could bounce back. I knew how much they hated to lose, even though it was just part of the game. No one was out here with a twenty game win streak, but they’d won their first four, so I knew they were hoping to keep up the momentum.

“Ellie was just about to tell me all about her and Owen and how they used to date,” Sophia said, and the two girls turned to me.

“I—” My heart leapt as I saw number eight skate off the bench and onto the ice for a shift.Owen.The LA players were surrounding our net, taking shots on goal, and Owen hit the puck out of the Seals’ end, sending it down towards their red line for an icing call.

I let out a breath when he hopped back onto the bench less than a minute later, and the camera panned over our guys. Brooks Hendrix was sitting next to Owen as they reviewed the game footage. The player next to him—number 20, according to his jersey—was chewing on his mouth guard, and I wrinkled my nose at the sight.

“Earth to Ellie.” I was poked in the arm.

“Huh?” I looked back at the girls, realizing I’d zoned out. “Oh. Sorry. I just?—”

“We’ve all been there,” Lauren said. “You get used to it.”

Biting my lip, I looked away from the screen. They had no idea how many games I’d watched of Owen’s, or how many times I’d watched him go down from a hard hit. He’d always gotten back up, and thankfully, he’d never gotten seriously injured, but that fear was always there. “I used to go to all his games,” I admitted. “We used to practice at the same rink, too.”

“Shut up, you skate?” Sophia brightened. “I practically grew up on ice skates. I think my dad was secretly bummed I wasn’t a boy, so I could follow in his footsteps and play hockey, but I learned really young. Tried hockey for a few years, too, but it wasn’t my style.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. I hadn’t talked about figure skating in a long time. For the first time, it felt like it didn’t hurt as much to talk about my past. “I actually used to be a competitive figure skater.”

“Wow. Did you ever think about going to the Olympics?” Harlow asked, tucking her hand under her chin.

“Yeah. But it wasn’t in the cards for me.” I gave her a weak smile. Even if it didn’t hurt, I still didn’t want to talk about my injury with all of them yet. “I stopped skating my senior year of high school.”

Bailey placed her hand on my upper arm and squeezed lightly. “You’re a teacher, right? I remember Lauren mentioning that.”

I felt a rush of relief at the change of topic. “I am. This is my first year of teaching, since I graduated this spring. I’m teaching fourth grade over in Bellevue.”

“Oh, that’s a great district to teach in,” Harlow piped in. “They’re some of the best schools in the state.”

“Are you living near there?” Sophia asked, looking at me with interest.

I grimaced, explaining the story of how my apartment flooded. “Luckily, Owen said I could stay with him. So, we’re roommates.Strictly platonic roommates.” Roommates who kissed, apparently. It hadn’t even been two weeks yet since I’d moved my stuff in, and we were already doing terrible at this friends thing. Not that I could complain.

Sophia giggled, waggling her eyebrows. “And they were roommates.”

Bailey rolled her eyes, grabbing Sophia’s now empty glass of wine. “I’m cutting you off, sister. What would your dad think if we let you get drunk?”

“I’m twenty-four. I’m a big girl,” she pouted. “Besides, I can take care of myself. It’s not like he can watch over me every hour of every day. Especially when he’s gone half the season on away games.”

We all ended up moving over to the couch during the middle of the second period, halfway through regulation. Everyone chatted about their upcoming team Halloween party—one I was enthusiastically invited to as they plannedout the details—and it felt like everyone had some sort of honing radar on the game whenever someone was about to make a goal or whenever the goalie made an amazing save and everyone would cheer.

In the end, the game was 3-3 and went into overtime, securing them a point. Though thirty seconds in, the Los Angeles forward scored on our goal. Our first loss of the season, and I knew that would be a rough start to the road trip.

By the time I got back to the apartment from Sophia’s, I was dead on my feet. It was late, and I had to wake up early for class in the morning. I hadn’t realized how quiet the apartment was without Owen until he was gone.

Was it weird that I missed him? In just a few weeks, I’d gotten so used to living together, to having him home every night when I got back from teaching. Though, I’d been missing him for the last five years, so this wasn’t any different, not really. At least now we were friends. I could text him while he was gone. And it was only a few more days.

The ice skates still sat in the same spot they’d been since we’d returned from the rink last weekend, and I still couldn’t believe he’d bought them. That he’d remembered what I said that first night in the bar.

I could still feel his kiss on my lips days later. And as hard as it had been, we’d needed to have that conversation. He was right, not that I wanted to admit it. I needed to come clean once he got back from his road trip. Maybe then we could finally move forward. After changing into my pajamas, I went into the kitchen to grab a glass of ice water and noticed Owen’s door was open—just a crack.

I couldn’t help but sneak in. God, I shouldn’t be in here. I knew it was wrong—especially when we kept insisting we were just friends. Just two friends who were roommates, whodefinitelyhad never seen each other naked before or kissed like theworld was ending. It would have been easier if I could pretend I’d never felt him inside of me.

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