Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)(138)

Fuck, that kind of makes me want to cry. It makes me feel more emotional than I assumed it would. Checking on Hallie, I can tell she feels the same way with her pink nose and sheen-coated eyes.

After so many years, this portion of the DeLuca and Hart families is okay again.

“Let’s go say hi,” I suggest, and this time when I go to stand, Hallie stands with me.

Holding hands, we make our way to our families, but once we’re close, Hallie lets go of me and quickly wraps her dad in a hug.

“Hallie girl.” Closing his eyes, he holds his daughter tightly. “Missed you.”

“I missed you too, Dad.”

With the renovation and my hockey schedule, we haven’t been able to make a trip back to Minnesota since we were there in the hospital. But we have a week-long trip planned to stay at Luke’s place in mid-June and they’re all headed back here for the Fourth of July.

Speaking of Luke, after he hugs my mom, he turns to me.

“Hey, man,” I say with a smile.

“The house is sick.”

“That was all your sister.”

Stepping forward, he opens his arms, and we quickly embrace.

We’ve talked a few times and it’s been nice, shooting the shit and catching up. I missed my old friend and I’m glad to have him back in my life.

I hug his wife too, then bend down to the little guy holding on to his dad’s leg.

“This is Hudson,” Luke says, hand on his head. “Hudson, this is our friend, Rio.”

“Hey, little man.” I hold my fist out and after a beat, Hudson smiles at it and slams his own fist as hard as he can against it. “Oh, dang!” I shake out my hand. “You’re super strong.”

Hudson giggles and holds out his fist to do it again. He keeps pounding his against mine until he spots Hallie and instead moves to his aunt to say hello.

I stand and find her dad.

“Hey, Mr. Hart.” As I hug him, he pats my back a couple of times. “I’m so glad you guys could make it.”

“Thank you for the invite. I’m looking forward to checking out the house.”

“Hal, you should take them on a tour. Show them everything you’ve done.”

She smiles excitedly and though I’d love to go with her, I know she wants to show off for her dad. And in equal measure, I know he wants to witness her living out her dreams, especially after she put them on hold for so long.

In fact, just last week, he and I discussed that on the phone. Well, the purpose of that phone call was for an entirely different reason that’s currently hidden in my pocket, but I also made sure he knew I was taking care of his daughter like he asked me to. I made sure he knew that Hallie was happy because at the end of the day, that’s all he wants for her.

Hallie’s energy is palpable as she guides her family back into the house, explaining everything that’s been changed. I can’t help the stupid fucking smile on my face as I watch her in her element. It’s permanent these days, I swear.

Back at the firepit, I find the guys have returned from Wren’s house, so I take a seat with the four of them as Isaiah hands me a beer.

Leaning forward, we all clink our bottles in a cheers.

“So.” Zee takes a swig of his drink. “You’ve got the house. You’ve got the girl. What’s next?”

Looking over my shoulder to make sure no one is looking, especially Hallie, I pull the ring out of my pocket. “Need to ask her for forever.”

Checking their surroundings too like some kind of secret boys’ club, they all lean forward. Zee takes the ring first before passing it around so they can all examine it.

“Hell yeah, Rio.” Kai clinks his bottle with mine.

“It turned out amazing.” Ryan turns the ring over in his fingers, looking over it from every angle. “Indy told me about it, but it’s so much better than I could’ve imagined.”

The engagement ring isn’t a family heirloom or anything like that. We don’t exactly have the greatest track record with marriages in our family, so this is brand new and all Hallie’s. And yeah, one day it’ll become something we’ll be able to pass down, but she’ll be the first to wear it.

Indy came with me to my initial appointment with the jeweler, but once we were there, I realized I didn’t need as much help as I thought I would. There’s no one who knows my future wife better than me.

The mix of white and yellow gold in the band screams Hallie Hart and I can’t wait to see it on her hand. Which is fitting that it’s going to happen tonight, seeing as she just got her nails done and painted each finger a different color.

The ring makes it back to me and I carefully tuck it back into my pocket.

“Do you think she’ll say yes?” Isaiah asks.

We all whip our heads in his direction.

He holds his hands up. “What? It’s a valid question.”

Kai smacks his brother on the shoulder. “I guess he could always take her to Vegas and get her drunk to make sure she agrees to marry him.”

A sneaky smile lifts on his lips. “That did work well for me.”

Chuckling, I shake my head. “She’s going to say yes. We’ve been talking about getting married since . . . fuck, I can’t even remember. Feels like we’ve always known we’d marry each other.”