Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)(101)

“The other night when I said I hoped that one day you’d let me fall in love with you again, what I meant to say was that I hope to earn the chance to fall in love with you again. And that’s not going to happen if I’m too busy regretting the past. So, yes. I made the biggest mistake of my life, and it’s probably going to take some time to fully forgive myself for it, but I don’t want to waste that time without you.” With both hands, I cup her jaw, sliding my fingers into her hair. “It’s always been you, Hallie, and I think we both know it.”

She’s just standing there, smirking up at me.

“So, yeah . . .” I stumble. “That’s my big speech.”

“Are you done?”

“I’m done.”

“Then you should probably kiss me now. We already lost six years. I don’t feel like wasting any more time.”

I quickly agree. “I probably should.”

Smiling, I lean down and press my mouth to hers and it feels like the biggest sigh of relief, the way our bodies melt into one another. She wraps her arms around my neck, parting her lips and letting me kiss her deeper, harder, more urgently.

“That was adorable, you two!” Wren shouts from somewhere inside. “But if you’re going to finally fuck, can you do it at Rio’s house? I need to study.”

Hallie pulls her lips away from mine when we both start laughing, dropping her head to my chest.

But I think it’s the feeling of lightness between us that has us acting all giddy. It finally feels like it should. There’s no heaviness hanging over us. There’s no animosity.

She tilts her head back, chin on my chest, as she looks up at me, and I take my time searching her face for the answer. Because we both know what it means if we go there. We’re doing this again. We’re fully in it. Me and her.

I tuck her hair behind her ear. “What do you say, Hal?”

She nods. “I think you should take me to your house.”

I can’t hold back my smile. “Did I ever tell you how much I love the convenience of us being neighbors?”

Reaching down, I cup her ass with both hands, lifting her to wrap those pretty legs around my waist. She crosses her arms around my shoulders and lets out a little squeal when I quickly take off to my place across the yard.

I’ve got my house key in the lock when she runs her fingers through my hair and says something that stops me in my tracks.

“Rio.” Her eyes bounce between mine. “You should know. It’s always been you too.”





Chapter 32


Hallie


Rio carries me through all the construction that’s happening in his house and still doesn’t put me down even after we’ve made it to the bedroom.

He kicks the door closed behind us before turning and pinning me against it, his mouth immediately finding mine. There’s nothing soft about this kiss. It’s urgent. It’s needy, and it only becomes more frantic when I tighten my legs around his hips and pull him into me.

I immediately find a bit of needed friction, and so does he, it seems, with the way one of his hands grips my ass, the other slamming flat against the door by my head to keep himself steady.

He rolls into me again, and the movement has my lips falling open and my head dropping back to the door behind me.

“Fuck,” he exhales, resting his forehead on my shoulder and looking down to watch us move together. “I could come like this and not even be embarrassed about it.”

Chuckling, I slide my fingers into his hair, working my lips up his neck. “You’re hard already.”

“Mmm,” he moans, fingertips digging into my ass. “That’s a constant when around you, Hal. It’s quite inconvenient.”

I drag my tongue over his lower lip and watch his eyes flutter before I kiss him again. “We should probably take care of that.”

Unwinding my legs, I find the ground, ducking under his arm to move closer to his bed.

Rio leans back against the door, arms crossed over his chest as he watches me toy with the bottom button of the cropped sweater I’m wearing.

He nods towards it. “Take it off.”

And so I do, undoing one button and then the next. Quickly, because I’m eager and ready and I’ve missed this part of us.

He shakes his head. “Slowly, Hallie. It’s been a long time. Let me savor this.”

And dear God the way his eyes are hooded over, the way his bottom lip slips between his teeth as he rakes his gaze up my body. I hope he plans to savor me all night. Over and over again.

I make a whole show of it, slowly undoing each button and letting my sweater open a bit at a time, teasing what’s underneath. My bra isn’t anything special, plain white with a touch of lace over the cups, but Rio is watching me like I’m unwrapping a gift he’s been asking for his entire life and is finally about to get his hands on.

He takes slow steps towards me, green eyes tracking every inch as I give him his own personal striptease. When my sweater opens fully, he wets his lips. When I slip an arm out, his throat bobs with a harsh swallow. When I let the entire thing pool on the floor by my feet, leaving me in only my bra and midi skirt, he stops dead in his tracks.

Rio shakes his head in disbelief and that alone has me standing straighter, shoulders pushed back.

His eyes roam, cataloging every inch of me. He’s seen me naked countless times before, so I’m not sure if he’s looking to see if anything has changed since the last time, or maybe it’s been so long that he doesn’t remember.