Page 141 of Rewind It Back

“Fuck me. You would’ve thought I learned something in all the years I’ve been coming to these girls’ nights, but apparently not.” I race around the house, gathering my keys and jacket. “I’ve got to go. I have to tell her.”

“Hell yeah, you do!” Miller cheers.

“Good luck!” Kennedy chimes in.

Stevie holds a hand over her heart. “They grow up so fast.”

Lastly, I look to Indy, who is fucking crying...again.

“Ind, really?”

“I’m not crying! I’m fine. I’m just really happy that you’re happy.” She cleans up under her eyes. “You deserve to be happy, Rio. You both do.”

I offer her a coy smile before I’m out the door and racing to my truck.

Because she’s right.We bothdeserve to be happy.

Parking in my driveway, I jog across the lawn and up the steps to Hallie’s front door, knocking frantically and praying that she’s home.

I pace the front porch, impatiently waiting for someone to open the door while reviewing everything I rehearsed on my drive home. There’s no answer, so I knock one more time, just to be sure, before I get back in my car and try to figure out where else she might be.

Finally, the porch light flips on and the door cracks open.

“Rio?” Hallie peeks outside. “Is everything okay?”

And suddenly, everything I had prepared to say flies out the window.

God, she’s beautiful. Has she always been this beautiful?

The easy answer is yes. I’ve known almost every iteration of this woman and have loved each version. She has been my favorite person since I was twelve, and fifteen years later, that hasn’t changed.

“I didn’t tell you something the other night,” I finally blurt out.

She lifts a brow in interest.

“Well, I didn’t tell you a lot of things, but the biggest one is that even though I am mad at myself, I am so proud of you.”

She opens the door fully, leaning on the doorframe to listen.

“I am so proud of you for taking care of everything you did these last handful of years. I fucked up. We both know that now, and I am so sorry. I’ll never be able to say that enough. I’d offer to start over with you, but I’m afraid if we do that, you’d end up introducing yourself again and I feel like twice in a lifetime is plenty.”

Her head falls back with a laugh, and the sound is so fucking lovely. It’s all the encouragement I need to keep going.

“And honestly, Hallie, I don’t want to start over with you. I want to accept that we went through some shit, you more than me. We hurt each other, and I made mistakes.”

“I did too,” she cuts in.

“And those mistakes changed us in certain ways, but in others, we’ve remained the exact same. It wouldn’t be our story if we ignored all the bad parts, so I’m not going to. I’m not going to run away because where could I go? Hallie, you’re in here.” I tap my chest. “Regardless of the years we spent apart, you’re still in here.”

She’s trying to hold back her smile, which seems like a good sign. “Are you sure that’s not just a first-love thing?”

“No, baby. It’s a last-love thing.”

I take a step closer, into the doorway, bracing my hands on either side of it and subsequently her. But I don’t go any farther because I have one more thing to say and I won’t be able to if I get my hands on her.

“The other night when I said I hoped that one day you’d let me fall in love with you again, what I meant to say was that I hope toearnthe chance to fall in love with you again. And that’s not going to happen if I’m too busy regretting the past. So, yes. I made the biggest mistake of my life, and it’s probably going to take some time to fully forgive myself for it, but I don’t want to waste that time without you.” With both hands, I cup her jaw, sliding my fingers into her hair. “It’s always been you, Hallie, and I think we both know it.”

She’s just standing there, smirking up at me.

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