Page 195 of Rewind It Back

After so many years, this portion of the DeLuca and Hart families is okay again.

“Let’s go say hi,” I suggest, and this time when I go to stand, Hallie stands with me.

Holding hands, we make our way to our families, but once we’re close, Hallie lets go of me and quickly wraps her dad in a hug.

“Hallie girl.” Closing his eyes, he holds his daughter tightly. “Missed you.”

“I missed you too, Dad.”

With the renovation and my hockey schedule, we haven’t been able to make a trip back to Minnesota since we were there in the hospital. But we have a week-long trip planned to stay at Luke’s place in mid-June and they’re all headed back here for the Fourth of July.

Speaking of Luke, after he hugs my mom, he turns to me.

“Hey, man,” I say with a smile.

“The house is sick.”

“That was all your sister.”

Stepping forward, he opens his arms, and we quickly embrace.

We’ve talked a few times and it’s been nice, shooting the shit and catching up. I missed my old friend and I’m glad to have him back in my life.

I hug his wife too, then bend down to the little guy holding on to his dad’s leg.

“This is Hudson,” Luke says, hand on his head. “Hudson, this is our friend, Rio.”

“Hey, little man.” I hold my fist out and after a beat, Hudson smiles at it and slams his own fist as hard as he can against it. “Oh, dang!” I shake out my hand. “You’re super strong.”

Hudson giggles and holds out his fist to do it again. He keeps pounding his against mine until he spots Hallie and instead moves to his aunt to say hello.

I stand and find her dad.

“Hey, Mr. Hart.” As I hug him, he pats my back a couple of times. “I’m so glad you guys could make it.”

“Thank you for the invite. I’m looking forward to checking out the house.”

“Hal, you should take them on a tour. Show them everything you’ve done.”

She smiles excitedly and though I’d love to go with her, I know she wants to show off for her dad. And in equal measure, I know he wants to witness her living out her dreams, especially after she put them on hold for so long.

In fact, just last week, he and I discussed that on the phone. Well, the purpose of that phone call was for an entirely different reason that’s currently hidden in my pocket, but I also made sure he knew I was taking care of his daughter like he asked me to. I made sure he knew that Hallie was happy because at the end of the day, that’s all he wants for her.

Hallie’s energy is palpable as she guides her family back into the house, explaining everything that’s been changed. I can’t help the stupid fucking smile on my face as I watch her in her element. It’s permanent these days, I swear.

Back at the firepit, I find the guys have returned from Wren’s house, so I take a seat with the four of them as Isaiah hands me a beer.

Leaning forward, we all clink our bottles in a cheers.

“So.” Zee takes a swig of his drink. “You’ve got the house. You’ve got the girl. What’s next?”

Looking over my shoulder to make sure no one is looking, especially Hallie, I pull the ring out of my pocket. “Need to ask her for forever.”

Checking their surroundings too like some kind of secret boys’ club, they all lean forward. Zee takes the ring first before passing it around so they can all examine it.

“Hell yeah, Rio.” Kai clinks his bottle with mine.

“It turned out amazing.” Ryan turns the ring over in his fingers, looking over it from every angle. “Indy told me about it, but it’s so much better than I could’ve imagined.”

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