Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)

by Liz Tomforde

Of course, I already knew that Hallie loved me, but the words sound like music to my ears after not having the privilege of hearing them for six years. Like a form of music that I wish actually was a song, just so I could add it to our playlist.

It should be said as much as possible. Because I love you, Rio. I have loved you since we were children, and I will love you until we’re old and gray. But if you didn’t already know that, then I’ve been doing something wrong.” My smile only expands. “I know you love me, baby, and you know I love you. I haven’t stopped loving you.” “Not once,” she agrees.

To know that I’m loved, long before hearing the words again. To feel it in every fiber of my being. To see it in the way she looks at me. To hear it in the way she speaks to and about me. We are rare. What we have is rare and I’m going to spend the rest of my life protecting it.

“I love you, Hallie Hart. Spoken or unspoken, I’ve always loved you.”

“What important thing happened with this song?” she asks. I rest my head against hers. “This is the song I was listening to in the locker room right before I went out to play the game where I saw you for the first time again.”

“And this one?” “This is the song I played in my house that first day you came over for a design meeting. It was the first time you ever stepped foot inside that house, actually.”

“This is the song you fell asleep to in my car the first night I drove you home from work.”

“The night you came over to help me babysit,” I explain. “The first night it felt like maybe we could be us again.”

“The song that was playing the night you asked me to keep driving. It was the night we kissed for the first time again.”

“This is the song you played over the speaker system in the house. It was the first time I heard you voluntarily...

“This is the song we danced to in the kitchen when we decided to give us another chance.”

“They’re all our important moments.”

“Do you remember why you said you kept track of those songs?” “Something about when I want to relive a moment, I can rewind it back and start from the beginning.” “Exactly. I want to rewind all of it, Hallie. I want to remember everything. You made sure we could remember our first years together, so I made sure we would remember this one.”

She looks up at me. “What happened while you were listening to this song?” I smile at her softly. “This is the song I was listening to when I signed my contract extension with the Chicago Raptors.”

“Rio, playing for Boston is your childhood dream.” I shake my head. “You’re my childhood dream.”

“Playing for Chicago feels like I’m playing for my hometown because it is my home now. You’re my home. Being loved by you for the rest of my life is the only dream of mine that’s never wavered. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m already exactly where I want to be.”

“Our home?” “Our home.” Sliding my palms up her thighs, I pull her tighter against me. “I thought you would’ve realized it the first time you came over. Hallie, the irony of hiring you to design the house is that you’re the person I bought it for.”

thought there was no way, at first. I noticed the white walls and the four bedrooms. The proximity to the city while still being in a neighborhood, but I thought there was no way you would have remembered that.”

“The house has always been yours, Hallie. Ours. It was just waiting for you to come make it a home.”

Hallie leans in and kisses me, whispering against my lips, “How lucky am I to have been loved by you for fifteen years now?” “What do you say we get to work on making that number so high we start losing track?” She smiles against my mouth. “I think we can do that.” “Happy birthday, baby.” “Thank you for making it my favorite one yet.”

My smile blooms as I look down at her. I truly could not love this woman more than I already do. But I thought that yesterday and the day before. Shit, I thought that a decade ago, and daily, I’m proven wrong. Because each new day, I fall for her a little more.

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.

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.

With my attention locked on the group of women, Hallie is mid-conversation when those hazel eyes find mine from across the yard. She holds eye contact for a long while, still talking, still fully engaged, and when the smile lifts on my mouth, it reflects on hers.

She’s everything I’ve ever wanted, everything I’ve been looking for. Everything I was so desperate to find because I had already found her onc...

Hallie slides onto my lap, while the others find their way to their person. Then it’s the ten of us. How it was always supposed to be.

“Rio,” Indy calls from across the firepit, sitting on her husband’s lap. “Ryan has something he wants to tell you.” We all shift our attention his way. “Uh…” he stumbles, and Indy gives him an encouraging nod. “I just wanted you to know that…” He clears his throat. “I love you, man.” My eyes go comically wide while everyone else stays perfectly silent. I’ve been waiting to hear him say that for years.

“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.” “Oh, get fucked!”

Miller chuckles. “It doesn’t help that Hallie told him she loved him about two seconds before Ryan did. Not sure how you’re supposed to top that.”

“Yeah, well…” Ryan huffs. “I used to be the love of his life.” Hallie smiles at him. “Sorry about that, Ryan.” “Who would’ve thought?” Indy asks. “Rio found someone he loves more than my husband.”

“Ryan, I love you too, man. Less than her, but I still love you. I love all of you.” I look around at the entire group. “Friends are the family you choose, and I’ve got to say, I’ve got the best family a guy could ask for.” “Absolutely.” “Hell yeah.”

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.

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 sto...

I watched Kennedy learn how to love and be loved thanks to her husband who refused to go a day without showering her with it. I watched Isaiah persist in showing his wife exactly who he was behind the smile, all while kee...

I watched Hallie, with so much goddamn pride, as her heart softened again. She forgave me while also continuing to stand up for herself along the way. And I…well, I found love because it was always out there, waiting for me, even when I questioned its existence. In fact, I found it right next door—where it had always been...