Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)(83)

“Yes. Yes. Please. I want it.”

I work my hand, moving in quick, short pumps.

“And you’d be warm and wet and fucking perfect like you always have been. You’ve always taken me so well, baby. You remember?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Then I’d fuck you. I’d fuck you right into the mattress while also holding your hand. Because it was always more than fucking, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, Rio.”

“Are you going to come for me, Hal?”

She whimpers and the breath that follows is short and desperate, unable to fill her lungs with air. And that, combined with her little noises, mixed with the sound of her rhythmically moving on her mattress, means she’s there.

“Hallie baby, be a good girl and come for me. Please. I need it. I need to hear how unreal you sound when you come. Fuck, I remember how pretty you are when you let go. You’re doing so good. Please. If you come, it’ll make me come.”

“I want you to come inside of me. Please, Rio.”

“Fuck.”

My name slips off her lips like a precious, pleading cry. I can tell that Hallie is coming on the other line as her moans fill my ears. Her noises coax my own release, and I join her.

The climax is blindingly blissful, regardless that I just came earlier today. The picture I painted for her is playing like a movie in my head as I come inside of her. As she holds me to her. As she tells me she’s mine and that I’m hers. I pull out and watch my cum drip down her leg before using two fingers to push it back inside of her.

Opening my eyes, I find my abdomen coated in my release.

In my ear, Hallie takes a deep inhale, attempting to find some hard-earned breaths, and I follow suit.

“Damn, Hal.”

Exhaling, she giggles this sound that fills every empty crevice it can find. It burrows in my chest, making a home where she’s always been.

“That was fun,” she says.

“I’m covered.”

She laughs again before sighing this sweet, soft sound. “I missed you, Rio.”

Closing my eyes again, I let that sink in too. I allow those words to replay on a loop. “I feel like I’m still missing you, Hal.”

I want her back. I want her to be open to the idea of giving us a chance.

“Maybe you won’t have to feel that way for long.”

I do my best not to react to that, not to ruin those words or push for more meaning. This could very well be her post-coital fog speaking for her. But I, instead, decide to assume those words mean what I want them to mean in hopes they might help me find sleep tonight.

Standing from the bed, I take my naked self over to the sink and wet a washcloth to wipe myself off, leaving the phone pressed to my ear.

“Are you feeling better now?” I ask.

I can hear the smile in her words. “Exponentially. Maybe I’ll be able to sleep now.”

Chuckling, I slip my sweatpants back on, dropping myself onto the mattress again. I want to talk to her all night. I want to leave this call going and set my phone next to my bed to see if that helps, but I’m also at the place where I just want to give her anything she needs from me.

“Thank you.” Her words are a whisper.

“Happy to help. Literally anytime.” I swallow hard. “I’ll let you get some sleep.”

“Wait,” she stops me quickly. “Would you . . . I don’t know. Do you want to stay on the phone for a while? Unless you’re tired.”

My chest squeezes the way it started doing again after she moved in next door. It might be foolish to let myself, but there’s something about her tonight that’s making me feel hopeful. We feel hopeful.

“Yeah. I’d love to talk to you, Hal.”

Tossing the comforter back over my body, I put my phone on speaker and leave it on the pillow next to mine.

And I can’t help the contented smile from lifting on my lips when she says, “Tell me all about your day.”





Chapter 26


Rio


The rideshare drops me and Zanders off in front of my family home.

My mom’s home.

The house I grew up in. Fuck, I don’t even know what to call it anymore.

Regardless, as soon as the car drives away, my attention immediately drifts to the house next door. Hallie’s house. Hallie’s bedroom window. The roof where we spent years falling in love with each other.

Zee zips his coat for the short walk up to the front walkway. “Hallie lived there?” He nods towards the house next to mine.

“Yeah, she moved in when she was eleven and I was twelve.”

“Is her family still there?”

“No, they moved out of the area sometime during my rookie year in the league.”

Zee is quiet for a moment and stops before we reach the front door, clearly understanding that the Hallie talk needs to be put on hold as soon as we go inside.

“Why didn’t you ever tell us about her? We’ve been friends for so long now, and this whole time, we all thought you had never been in a relationship before.”

I groan. “It’s complex, and kind of messy. And well, the entire time I’ve known you, I’ve tried my hardest to forget Hallie existed, so there’s that.”

A cheeky smile spreads across his lips. “I always wondered what you’d be like in a relationship. I thought you’d be a fucking idiot, not knowing which way was up. Like a too excitable puppy, but you seem . . . grounded.”