Rewind It Back (Windy City, #5)

by Liz Tomforde

And personally, I’m trying not to rip off his clothes.

Rio is standing there, beanie pulled down over his ears, joggers cinching at his ankles, right above his bare feet. But that’s not what has my mouth hanging open. It’s the fully unbuttoned flannel cuffed around his elbows that he’s wearing without another shirt underneath. Like a hot lumberjack.

“You still like yours with vanilla?”

I look over my shoulder to find Rio, leaning his hip on the kitchen counter, right where he fucked me a few hours ago, sweatpants hung low. Smirk on his face and not wearing a shirt, showing off my tattoo. Mine. Only mine.

“I’ve spent a lot of time imagining and remembering what you can do with two hands.”

“Are we doing this? You and me. Because I’m all in.”

“I’m all in too. It’s you and me.”

rewind it back

“I want to start our lives now,” I continue. “I want to buy us a house. One that’s all ours. I want you to be at every one of my home games. And though I’m glad I get to see you once a month now, I spend all the days in between waiting for these ones. I don’t want to be away from you anymore.”

“A big one. With four or five bedrooms that we can fill with kids one day.” I can’t wait for that. I can’t wait to marry her either.

I make a mental note of those items because if there’s one thing I’m going to do, it’s make sure this girl gets everything she wants in life.

“You,” I answer quickly. “I just want you.”

“Friends are the family you choose, and I’ve got to say, I’ve got the best family a guy could ask for.”

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...