Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)

by Liz Tomforde

“Happy birthday, baby.” “Thank you for making it my favorite one yet.”

She’s fucking beaming and I love that. I love that she’s proud of herself, and I love that this house is everything she wanted it to be. I also love that it’s hers.

genuine smile curves on her lips, and I note the sparkle in her green eyes. It seems almost foreign because I haven’t seen her look this elated in over six years.

This house will host future birthday parties and celebrations, maybe even a few family dinners. We’ll have our friends over. One day, our kids will have their friends over, and I’m looking forward to giving our future family the same sense of home and community that Hallie and I were raised with back in our old neighborhood.

“I love you, Hal.” She turns back, smiling at me. “I love you, Rio. Always have. Always will.”

Before, when we were kids, I felt lucky. Love fell into our hands. We were neighbors turned friends who eventually fell in love. But this time, it feels like we earned it. We get to be in love because we worked for it. We decided to forgive and understand one another. This second chance doesn’t feel like luck. It feels like a reward.

And they wonder why I like attending girls’ night. But I don’t feel the need to explain the significance of that proposal location to anyone else. She’ll understand it. Hallie and I fell in love on the roof that connected our parents’ homes. I’m going to ask her to spend forever with me on the roof of ours.

Hallie just fits, but that’s no surprise. She’s always been outgoing and friendly, and now, I’m even more thankful she is who she is. Jumping into a very well-established group of nine friends would’ve been intimidating for just about anyone else, but not her. We were always meant to find our way back to each other, and she was always meant to be a part of this group. There’s not a world in which I could imagine anything different. I watch as each of my friends catch their partner’s attention from across the yard. I’ve witnessed this happening for years. This silent check-in in a crowded room. A soft smile before continuing their conversation. A discreet wink. A little smirk.

I’ve constantly felt like the third wheel catching a private moment I wasn’t supposed to be a part of, but at the same time, it was something I longed for in my own life. I’ve always wanted what my friends had. I always wanted what I once had.

Then it’s the ten of us. How it was always supposed to be.

“Uh…”

just wanted you to know that…” He clears his throat. “I love you, man.”

“I don’t know, Ryan.” I toss my head from side to side, studying him from across the firepit. “It just didn’t hit the way I always imagined it would.”

I just sit back and watch nine of the most important people in my life. I’m the luckiest man alive, I swear. When I was younger, I remember how much I wished I had a sibling. Someone to play hockey with. Someone to talk to. Someone who understood me. Little did I know, as a grown man, I’d end up with eight of them. These girls are practically my sisters, and there’s no question that these guys have become my brothers. I spent years complaining about being the single one of the group, the odd man out. But even though I was the last one, how lucky am I that I got a front-row seat to watch each of my best friends fall in love? I watched Zanders strip the façade he wore for so long to allow the flight attendant on his team’s plane to see the real him. I watched Stevie learn to love herself the way the arrogant hockey player who followed her everywhere loves her. The way we all do. I watched Indy come out of a relationship she wasn’t meant for and learn to be loved in a new, quieter way. I watched Ryan allow someone into his home and his heart after shutting everyone else out for so long, only for the brightest ray of sunshine to move in and light every dark space she could touch. I watched Kai learn to ask for help, only for that help to come in the form of a firecracker pastry chef who taught him how to have fun again. I watched Miller stop running and grow deeper roots than she ever thought she could by falling in love with a single dad and his little boy. I watched Kenne...