Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)

by Liz Tomforde

Because she’s not her. No one else has been.

It’s a whole lot easier when you grow up with the person and innately know their character inside and out.

Regardless, she’s somehow even more beautiful than the last time I saw her, and that pisses me off. Because first off, how is that possible? And secondly, she fucked me over. Shouldn’t karma come into play here and give me a win?

“Happy birthday, Hal.” Okay, if I could scream without causing our families to stare at me, I totally would. I love when he calls me Hal. It’s like a secret only he and I have.

“Well, maybe that was the first time you were told, but I know for a fact it wasn’t the first time someone liked you.”

And that all happened after that scary phone call from Luke regarding my dad and the shit show of a meeting with Rio.

but a lingering stare, letting me know that the reason he’s on his front steps is because he’s waiting for me.

a past in which he obliterated my heart and left me to figure out life without him.

started keeping my window unlocked after that, and he started sneaking in to sleep on the ground by my bed when he couldn’t find rest on his own.

After one final glance, I turn off the porch light and it’s only then Rio finally walks back home.

We’re not friends. We’re just trying not to kill each other. And personally, I’m trying not to rip off his clothes.

“Your lying hasn’t really improved since I last saw you, Hal.” Rio realizes what he said the same time I do, and the awkward tension settles in around us like it has so easily since seeing each other again.

I don’t tell him that I don’t like almond milk. I only ordered it when we were younger because I knew he’d ask for a sip of my latte since he couldn’t handle the amount of caffeine if he ordered

“Do any of these draw your eye? Do you see anything that you’d like to wake up to every morning?” Waiting for his response, I pull my attention from the books to him. Only to find him already looking at me.

“If this were your house, what would you do?” The answer sticks in my throat. Because there was a time I thought I would be designing our house.

“Would it be okay if I took some before pictures of the house?” I ask. “For my social media.” “But you don’t have social media.” The

He and I always had large circles of friends when we were younger, but the last few years have felt isolated from taking care of my dad.

Even after watching my parents’ divorce.

how the bedroom she’s going to be designing, I had only ever pictured sharing it with her.

I’m not after only one thing from Hallie. I’m after everything with her, but still, it feels like he’s reminding me to not go there, though Luke has no idea of my feelings for his sister.

“But have you told him that you’re in love with his sister?” That earns my attention. “Ma!”

Anger that she’s working two jobs and brutal hours to make ends meet because I left and didn’t take her with me when I promised I would.

A few years after my dad’s diagnosis, I begged for Luke’s help. At the time, he refused, wanting to focus his time and finances on his new family.

Don’t get me wrong, if this were anyone else, without all our history, I’d happily let them help. But with Rio, it just feels sad.

“Hmm,” he hums. “That makes two of us, love.” The old term of endearment gives me pause, but it doesn’t affect him one bit.

“Rio, I’m your girlfriend. Why would I go to prom with someone else?” Wait….what?

Wait until he finds out I got my Bachelor of Science in Interior Design degree from taking night courses online.

“You shouldn’t be embarrassed to let people know how hard you’re willing to work to get what you want.”

He’s right about that. I am willing to work hard. I’ve been willing to work hard since I decided to make sacrifices to help my dad. Since I had to drop out of school and figure out how to get an education from home.

“She wouldn’t be cool with you two spending time together again?” My sigh is heavy. “Not even a little bit.” He’s

At a certain point, our parents’ opinions can’t be more important than our own.”

There’s this nagging part of me that’s questioning whether the homesickness I’ve felt for years now has been for Boston or if it’s actually been for her.

“And that’s why I’m still dressed, love.

And that’s one hundred percent due to the guilt he feels about hiding our relationship from my brother.

Every March eighth.

His new number

“Are you excited to go home?” That question gives me pause, because for a moment, my first thought is that I am home. But then I realize she doesn’t mean this version of home, with her in my house.

“You cheated on my mother! I’m not going to get over it, Dad.”

How could I leave Hallie behind like that? It wasn’t her fault that my dad blew up my family. It wasn’t her fault that his decisions had me questioning everything. What the fuck is wrong with me?

And I threw it all away because I couldn’t see past my own hurt. Past my mom’s hurt.

Because that’s what happens when you’re in your second remission from blood cancer.

“Hallie, baby,” he whispers. “I’ve got you.”

Crying

“It was, but it was a whole lot shittier that you did that to my sister, and she’s clearly not pissed at you anymore, so why should I be?”

And be careful with my girl.” That phrase feels too familiar.

“A big one. With four or five bedrooms that we can fill with kids one day.”

“White walls. Boring. Like a big plain box, so when we get there, I can start renovating it to be ours. I’ll paint every wall exactly how we want them, and I can add all the finishes we decide on together.

Though, you should know, there’s a good chance I’ll be changing both that title and that last name one day.”

This man has no shame, acting like a love-sick idiot on the ice with twenty thousand fans watching him.

“Do you want to explain to me why I went online to make a loan payment, only to find that it’s fully paid off? In fact, both of my loans are.”

The firm has been buried with inquiries and it’s a huge reason why I was offered a full-time position after my internship ends.”

He shouldn’t be okay with his mother not liking the woman he’s with. And I know with every fiber of my being that I can no longer be that woman.