Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)(76)

It’s not that I’m worried about him being unfaithful. Rio doesn’t have an unfaithful bone in his body. But I’m human, so yeah, there’s a part of me that’s scared he’ll get a taste of life outside of our little Boston neighborhood and realize he wants more.

“You don’t think you’ll forget about me?”

He bursts a laugh. “You truly have no idea how ingrained you are in here, huh?” He taps his chest. “You’re basically living rent free, Hallie Hart.”

I burrow into him even more.

“I wish you could see inside my head, Hal. You’d see the picture I’ve got painted of our future, and every part of it revolves around you, okay?” With his knuckle, he urges my chin up so I look at him. “It’s you and me. I promise.”

I offer him a smile. “Okay.”

He leans down to kiss me. “Okay.”

I place the mix CD on his stomach and that grin on his lips turns up even more.

“I was waiting for this.”

I may cringe a bit when we listen to it together later and he realizes that every single song is from a moment with him, but that’s okay. He was a part of all my best memories this year, just like he is most years. Any memories I wish I could rewind and relive are all the ones he and I have had over the years, growing up together. Learning each other. Falling for each other.

He wraps his arm around me tighter, pulling me into him as his other hand traces over the number seventeen and the letter “H” written in permanent marker on the CD. This year, he lingers for a while, following the lines around the heart I draw to represent my last name. Then, as always, he covers the little extra tail with his forefinger.

I don’t push his hand away. I don’t give him a hard time for teasing me and my wonky drawn hearts. I simply stare at his fingers, trying to ingrain the image into my memory because I know we won’t be on the roof this time next year.

It makes me want to cry, thinking about it. Thinking about all the change that’s about to happen in our lives.

“Hallie, do you know why I’m not scared?” He holds up the mix CD. “It’s because I know I’ve got a lifetime of getting these from you. We’ve got a lifetime of best moments ahead of us.”





Chapter 23


Rio


I took a hard hit during today’s game that fucked up my back, so I try to align the tight area with one of the jets.

This hot tub is, hands-down, my favorite purchase I’ve made for the house. There’s nothing like 103-degree water when it’s winter outside in Chicago. Not to mention, it has a prime sightline to Hallie’s bedroom window, and I’ve caught her checking me out a time or two from up there.

It’s been a couple of weeks since we got home from New York. It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve gotten a decent night of sleep too. It’s also been a couple of weeks since we kissed, but I’ve done exactly what I promised I’d do that night. I haven’t pushed her to want more or pressured her into giving us another chance. But I sure as hell haven’t gone away either.

If she’s working at the bar, I stop in. Sometimes with my teammates. Sometimes by myself.

Always to drive her home.

And most of the time, those drives turn into longer ones, either because we’re having fun listening to music together again, or she fell asleep and I’m not ready to wake her.

I leave a vanilla almond milk latte at her front door each morning with the shittiest version of foam art and a note that tells her what the design was before I took a sip.

I drop by the design firm to say hi if I’m downtown after practice or before a game because, yeah, I want to see her. I just want to be around her. Everything quiets when she’s around. These past few weeks have served as a reminder that we’re still so good together. That we’re the same two people who were in love once.

But no, I haven’t pushed her or asked her to give us another try. I’ve simply been me, allowing her to remember who I am.

I check the time on my phone, knowing I need to get upstairs to pack for our flight tonight, and hoping to have enough time to stop next door to see if Hallie is home so I can say goodbye. The team plane leaves in a couple of hours for a game in Philadelphia before we head to Boston, so I’ll be gone for almost a week.

I can’t wait. I’m stoked to go home for a night and play in front of my family and friends. It’s also an important one with free agency coming up in a handful of months. It’s one thing to have a nice-looking stat sheet and a career of accomplishments under your belt, but it’s another thing to play a solid sixty minutes of hockey live in front of a team you’re hoping might offer you a massive paycheck soon.

So, with all that floating around in my head, I climb out of the hot tub, turn off the jets, and pull the cover back on. I grab my towel, run it through my hair, and jog back to the house to get out of the cold.

But before I make it all the way to my back-door slider, I look up and halt in my tracks. Because right there in my kitchen, Hallie is standing behind the island, watching me.

And she’s not just watching me like she’s wondering what I’m doing out here, but she’s watching me as if she’s cataloging every new muscle I’ve earned since she last saw me naked. She’s not even trying to be subtle about it and I fucking love that.