Page 1 of Uniquely in Love

Prologue

ELLIE

The first time I’d fallen in love with the ice, it had been watching himplay hockey. My five-year-old self had been dragged along to a game, and I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off of the way the players glided across the ice.

Especially not off of him.

But I’d turned to my mom—tugged on the edge of her big, cozy sweater, and then I’d asked a question that would change the trajectory of my life forever. “Mommy, can I learn how to skate?” My eyes grew wide.

I was already in dance class—my mom taught lessons, so I’d basically grown up in the studio—but I couldn’t explain the rush it gave me to watch the blond-haired boy float on his skates.

And two weeks later, when I was laced up in my first pair of ice skates and holding my mom’s hand at the mall ice rink, I didn’t give up. Not once.

No matter how many times I fell, I kept getting up.

Maybe my mom saw the determination there. Whatever the reason, she let me keep going.

The second timeI’d fallen in love with the ice, I’d been twelve years old, training as a competitive figure skater after I’d taken lessons for the last seven years. It was my dream. One day, I hoped to make it to the olympics. I’d already competed in competitions at the state level, but I cravedmore.

Staring out across the rink at our local practice facility, I waited for my ice time to begin. My coach was somewhere around, and I’d already warmed up, but the hockey team was still practicing.

Hishockey team. My best friend’s brother. Though in a lot of ways, he felt like my best friend, too.

I swung my legs back and forth as I watched Owen hit a slap shot. He wasgood. At least, I was pretty sure he was. He was fourteen, growing like a weed, and the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen, with that soft, dirty blond hair, and a pair of warm, chocolate brown eyes. I felt gooey inside whenever he looked at me. He had no clue that I had a giant crush on him.

Owen skid to a stop, creating a spray of snow behind him, before resting his arms on the ledge. “Hey, Skater Girl.”

“Hi, Hockey Boy.” I smiled shyly at him as he heaved his leg over the wall, hopping over it in a way I could never even hope to.

And he hadn’t even finished growing yet. He was already almost five foot ten, and his fifteenth birthday was still a few months away. Owen sat down next to me on the bench, bumping my shoulder with his before undoing his helmet and running his fingers through his hair.

“You waiting to start practice?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, just watching him as he grabbed a bottle, squirting the water into his mouth.

God, it should have been wrong how much of a crush I had on him. He was practically family. Our mothers were bestfriends, and we lived on the same street. I saw him as much as I saw my brother, who was a year older than me, and as into football as Owen was into hockey.

Part of me loved that this was our special thing. Owen and I’s.

Even if he had no idea that I liked him like that. I was just his little sister’s best friend. His cousin. That was all he saw me as.

It was okay. I was alright with that.

“How’s your solo coming?” Owen asked, and I watched as the rest of the guys headed off the ice and into the locker rooms.

“Good.” My cheeks warmed. Had he been watching me? “It’s fun. Mom’s making me a new costume for it, too.”

His eyes brightened. “What color? Yellow?”

That was my favorite. I cleared my throat. “No. It’s um… It’s blue.”

“That’ll be pretty,” he muttered, looking away.

“I should go,” I said, stumbling to my feet. “Get on the ice before my coach gets here and sees me talking.”

“Okay,” Owen said, standing up from the bench himself. “Bye, Skater Girl. Catch you later.” He winked, and I skated out onto the ice, trying to ignore the butterflies in my chest. How much Ilikedhaving his attention on me.

What he didn’t know was that I’d picked the fabric of my new skating dress because it was his favorite color. Light blue.

---