Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)(58)

A familiar song starts playing from my iPod that’s sitting on my nightstand, and I hope that’s enough to lull me to sleep, but then the beat is interrupted by an unfamiliar tap, tap, tap. It’s strange and off tempo, and it happens again, this time in a different part of the chorus.

Tap, tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap.

Only then do I realize it’s not my music at all.

Opening my eyes, I see Hallie on the other side of my bedroom window, knocking on the glass.

What the hell?

I throw my headphones and blankets off with urgency, jogging to the window and cracking it open.

“What are you doing?”

Her lower lip is shivering from the cold and her nose is pink. “Are you not coming?”

I push the window open fully, reach out, and wrap my arms around her middle to pull her into my room. She’s absolutely freezing. I’m not wearing a shirt, only a pair of sweatpants, so I can feel how cold her skin is against mine.

“How long have you been out there, Hal?” Setting her on her feet, I grab a blanket from my bed to wrap it around her.

“Maybe twenty minutes.” Her hazel eyes are so fucking sad. “Did you forget?”

“Of course not.” I push her hair away from her face. “I’d never forget, but you were busy. Shouldn’t you still be at your birthday party?”

“I left because you left, and I wanted to see you. I thought you were headed to the roof. That’s my favorite part of today.”

God, I suck.

I left because I was too busy to enjoy her birthday, occupied instead with having myself a pity party.

Picking her up, still wrapped in that blanket, I carry her to my bed and set her on my lap while I sit on my mattress.

“It’s my favorite part too, Hallie. I’m sorry. I didn’t think you were planning to meet me out there tonight with your party still happening.”

“But we always meet. It’s like our unspoken thing.”

My forehead falls to her shoulder. “We could go out there now, if you’d like.”

She shakes her head, slipping her arms out from under the blanket to touch my bare stomach. Her fingers feel like icicles, but her body starts to relax, and the shivering begins to subside when my body heat begins to warm her up.

She looks up at me, keeping herself close. Her mouth is right there. Her eyes fall to my lips, but because I’m such a fucking coward, I still don’t lean in and kiss her.

Hallie sighs but tries to cover it by saying, “I have something for you.” She grabs the CD case that’s resting on her lap. “Year sixteen.”

“I do love getting presents on your birthday.”

She laughs to herself when she hands it over.

Another to add to my collection. Over the clear plastic case, I run my thumb over the “H,” the heart, and the number sixteen. Then I use my index finger to cover the tail she always adds to her hand-drawn hearts.

Her head falls to my shoulder as I hold her.

“Are we going to listen to it together?” I ask quietly.

“Of course we are.”

“Good.” I place a soft kiss on her forehead. “Happy birthday, Hal.”

We sit there for a while, her warming up and me holding her on my lap. She plays with the old friendship bracelet on my wrist while I work up the courage to say, “I didn’t know Grant asked you to go to senior prom.”

“It just happened yesterday, and there wasn’t much to tell you about. Obviously, I said no.”

“You didn’t want to go?”

She bursts a laugh. “Rio, I’m your girlfriend. Why would I go to prom with someone else?”

Wait . . . what?

When I don’t say anything, she lifts her head to look at me.

“Oh my God,” she breathes, jumping off my lap, letting the blanket fall to the floor as she does. “Oh my God! Am I not? I thought it was another one of those unspoken things.”

Both her hands fly to her mouth to cover it, but I can see the panic so clearly in her eyes.

“Hallie,” I soothe, circling her forearms to pull her hands away. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to be, but yeah. Yes. Please. I want you to be my girlfriend. You have no idea how badly I want you to be my girlfriend.”

She closes her eyes. “Why did I do that? I should’ve let you ask me instead of assuming that’s what we were.”

I pull her to stand between my open legs as I sit on my bed. “Well, we both know I move slow and sometimes need a little push, so this is a good thing.”

She chuckles, a little defeated as her hands play with the hair at my temples. “You’re perfect the way you are. I don’t mind moving slow with you.”

I want to kiss her. God, do I want to kiss her. I’ve never wanted anything more, but what if I’m bad at it? What if I fuck up and hit her teeth or something? What if I ruin her first kiss? She’d never be able to get a do-over.

While I’m reeling and nervous and entirely in my head, Hallie leans forward and presses her lips to mine.

Well, sort of. She kind of misses and barely connects with the corner of my mouth, but it’s enough to tell me she wants this too.

Standing straight again, she swallows hard. “Just in case you need a little push with that too. This sixteen and never been kissed thing is feeling a little cliché.”