Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)

by Liz Tomforde

Here’s to the 10 characters, 5 couples, 3 teams, 2 sets of siblings, and 1 amazing friend group that changed my life. This one is dedicated to you, the readers. Thank you for hanging out in Chicago with me.

Fine. Rio, you back or what? Me Your care and concern for me hold no bounds. Honey, I’m home! Ryan I hate this. Me I know. The distance was hard for me too, Ryan. Ryan I’m leaving this group chat.

“I pick a song when something cool or important happens so I can remember it. Then when I want to relive a moment, I rewind it back and start the song from the beginning.”

HE DOES THE SAMEEEEE I CANT

That thing I’ve been looking for since I moved to Chicago? That connection? That one person some search their entire lives to find? I had already found her when I was twelve years old.

“The guy you were with tonight.” I slowly shift back to face her. “Who was he?” The set in her jaw is evident even from here. “Not your job to worry about.” Nodding, I turn back to my house, hands casually tucked in my pockets as I continue to walk. With my back to her, I make sure my words are loud enough for her to hear them. “Lose him.”

“What kind of delusional state are you living in, DeLuca?” Those dimples sink into his cheeks, that glimpse of my old Rio coming back to life.

And yes, I’m a self-proclaimed mama’s boy and completely unashamed about it.

Stevie is married to my teammate, Evan Zanders or Zee as we call him, but I originally met both Stevie and Indy years ago when they were flight attendants for our team’s private plane. She and Zee got together that first year we all met and the rest of our crew kind of formed from there. Indy went on to marry Stevie’s brother and then four more friends came into the fold when the Rhodes brothers, who play or have played for Chicago’s MLB team, started coming around more. Kai Rhodes met his wife, Miller, when she spent the summer nannying for his young son, and Isaiah Rhodes met his wife, Kennedy, when she joined his team’s medical staff.

I take my time choosing a song from the track list because I know this is a moment I’ll want to remember, and whichever song I choose is going to be one I put on next year’s mixtape because I’ll want to rewind it back and play it on repeat for a long time to come.

Every tense muscle in her shoulders and back screams that she’s distraught and something is wrong. And as if on instinct, my own body is bunched in anticipation, waiting to see what she needs, even though every fiber of my being would like to believe I don’t give a shit.

The image of that fucking guy pops into my head. Him sitting next to her at my game. I’m not one to be violent off the ice, but everything in me was wishing the glass that was separating us would’ve magically disappeared, so I could’ve reached out and grabbed him by the goddamn neck.

Fucking beautiful. She always has been though. But beyond that, I remember my other favorite things about her. She’s strong yet caring. Determined yet kind. There was a time when my absolute favorite thing in the world was to simply be with her. If I would allow myself to admit it, I missed Hallie Hart.

Reaching between us, I find the leg of her chair and pull, bringing her seat flush to mine. “What are you doing?” Hell if I know.

It hits me then. She’s doing it. This dream she had that we talked about for years, working for a big-name designer in a big city. Hallie is doing it. Pride swells when the realization hits me. And that pride feels conflicting too because I shouldn’t care anymore, but all I can see is the girl next door, the one I’d watch from my window as she redid her childhood bedroom more times than I could count. All to get here.

To an outsider, this might seem odd, him having a coffee bar when he doesn’t drink caffeine or having dairy milk in his fridge when he’s lactose intolerant. But the thing is, Rio has always been good to his friends, has always had this innate way of loving and taking care of those important to him. One of his best characteristics is making those around him comfortable and welcomed, so a fully stocked coffee station for friends who are visiting makes perfect sense to me.

“Focus, Hart.” He doesn’t look at me as he says it. “Have I told you that you’re infuriating, DeLuca?” “Not today.” A smile tugs at the corner of his lip.

I’ve always had this innate need to protect him. Growing up, he was an easy target because he made himself the butt of the joke most of the time, but I didn’t play into that. He could be a joke to everyone else, but he was never a joke to me.

“Hey, Rook?” He looks my way, so stupidly excited. “Yeah?” “Sit the fuck down.” “Yep.”

“Don’t let him call you that,” I say quietly. “He doesn’t fucking know you.” She lifts a brow. “And you think you still do?” “Yeah, Hal. I still know you. And you still know me. Better than anyone.”

“You sure look good in my shirt for not being mine.” “Get fucked, DeLuca.” I smile as I open the door. “Would love to. You just let me know when and where, Hart.”

I don’t know what to say other than something stupid about how much I missed her, or how I might not be as mad as I thought I was, or how the bedroom she’s going to be designing, I had only ever pictured sharing it with her.

But frankly, Hallie Hart is all I see.

“It was the first time I realized that you may feel the same way about me as I’ve always felt about you.” It may be her birthday, but I swear, with that single sentence, she just made all my wishes come true.

“You drive me insane, you know that?” “Hmm,” he hums. “That makes two of us, love.”

Plain and simple, I missed Rio DeLuca. All tonight did was continue to prove that to me. I missed driving with him in his truck. I missed listening to music with him. I missed those seemingly insignificant moments, the ones where I look back and realize how important they were to me. The way tonight felt. Laughing with him again. Smiling with him again.

“Why do I need to pick a song?” she asks. It starts playing through the boombox speakers and I can’t help but laugh at the lack of subtlety in her song choice. “Because I’m going to kiss you and when we listen to next year’s playlist, I want this song to be on there so we can rewind it back however many times we want to and remember this.”

But I’ve never been anyone but myself with Hallie. Smooth, awkward, it didn’t matter. That’s part of the beauty of us growing up together, I guess. We’ve always known exactly who the other is. There was no need to try to be someone we weren’t.

Together, we round the hood of his car. Rio opens the passenger side door for me and right there, sitting on the seat, is a folded blanket and a small pillow.

I have this strange urge to cry because it feels so foreign, yet at the same time, simple, having someone else look out for you. To care about the things that you might need, including an extra twenty minutes of sleep.

Rio pulls out of the parking lot, and I don’t waste time, reaching for the truck’s screen display and finding his music app. Because for the first time in God knows how many years, this is a moment I want to remember. I want to listen to music and allow it to give me hope. I want to associate a song with a memory.

“That…” “Felt exactly how it’s supposed to,” he finishes.

“You should go inside, Hallie.” It’s almost testing in the way he says it with his voice all gruff, paired with a slight flex of his jaw.

His attention moves back to my mouth, once again asking the question, “You single, Hal?”

“Good.” He takes a slow predatorial step towards me, tone sharp and leaving no room for question. “Because we aren’t fucking friends.”

His mouth is warm and soft yet unyielding. Firm in the way he knows what he wants. A little messy. A little untethered. A little unhinged.

Needy is literally my number one personality trait.

“Hi, Hal,” he whispers softly, before placing a kiss on the top of my head and leaving his lips to linger there. “Thanks for letting me get some sleep.”

“And that’s why I’m still dressed, love. There’s not a world in which I get in a bed with you, even partially clothed, and all we do is sleep.”

“Come here,” he whispers, pulling me into him.

After all this time, I just wanted my turn.”

Every March eighth.

HIS JERSEY NUMBERRRR OMG

“Hallie.” His voice is muffled from the water still, but it’s projected for me to hear. “If you’re going to stand out there and listen, you may as well come in and watch. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”

Maybe then you’d understand why I’ve been starving for you for six years now.”

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.

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

Getting the opportunity to fall in love with you is my best memory, and all I can do is hope that one day you’ll let me do it again.”

“I love that dress on you, baby.” “Thank you. It’s⁠—” “Take it off.”

Hallie, you’re in here.” I tap my chest. “Regardless of the years we spent apart, you’re still in here.”

“Are you sure that’s not just a first-love thing?” “No, baby. It’s a last-love thing.”

You want to see how fucking weak I am when it comes to you?”