Page 114 of Rewind It Back

Sitting up, I rest my back against the headboard before grabbing my phone off the nightstand. I text her, not caring that she probably won’t respond until sometime later after she wakes up.

Me:Can’t sleep. Thinking about you.

To my surprise, three dots immediately start dancing on the screen as she types back.

H?:Thinking about me, or thinking about that shower?

A laugh warms my chest.

Me:Both.

Even more surprising than finding her awake is when my phone starts vibrating with a call from her. I answer immediately.

“Hey.”

Her voice is tired. “Hi.”

“Everything okay?”

“I can’t sleep either.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue, wanting to ask if she went into my closet after I left. If she found all the mixtapes and CDs I haven’t stopped listening to since she originally gave them to me.

I’ve never forgotten this girl, not even for a second, and it’s about time she knows that.

With the lights off, I scoot down to lie on my back again, phone pressed to my ear. “Why can’t you sleep?”

“I have a lot on my mind. Mostly you. Mostly us.”

Fuck.I like that.

“Do you want to talk through it?”

“No,” she whispers into the line. “I want you to talk me through something else.”

Fuck. Me.

She sounds so turned on right now. Earlier today, Hallie told me she knew when I was about to come. Well, that makes two of us. I remember exactly how she sounds when she wants to get off, and I can hear it in her voice right now.

“I still feel worked up from watching you earlier,” she says.

“Mmm. Well, we should take care of that. Don’t you think?”

“Could you do that for me, Rio?”

There’s something unguarded in the way she asks. Sure, it’s just phone sex, but the bigger picture is that Hallie’s not wearing her armor right now. She trusts me enough to be vulnerable in this way again.

“I can do anything for you, baby. Tell me what you’re wearing.”

She hums at that name. “A T-shirt.”

“Yeah? What else?”

She pauses on the other line. “Nothing else.”

My eyes screw shut. “Hallie, put me on a video call.”

“Not this time. It’s my turn, Rio, and I just want to hear your voice in my ear as you talk me through it. You owe me one, remember?”

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