Page 36 of Rewind It Back

I remember the last time too, and that memory snaps me out of the stupid little spell that naturally lives between us.

What the hell am I doing?

This is why, even all these years later, it’s a bad idea for me to be alone in the same room as Hallie Hart. The pull between us is still there and I hate that.

“Yeah.” I clear my throat. “If you’re done taking phone calls, maybe we can get back to our meeting.”

Those hazel eyes flash with hurt and I hatethatalmost as much as I want to hateher.

Too mean.

“How is um...” I rub my palm against the back of my neck. “How is Luke, by the way?”

She looks up at me with confusion, thanks to my mental whiplash, but her face quickly morphs into a scowl. Asking about her brother was clearly the wrong thing to say. I haven’t spoken to my old friend in as many years since I last spoke to his sister.

Hallie’s attention is back on her computer screen. “He’s fine.”

“Is he still in Boston?”

“South of Minneapolis, actually.”

“He moved back to Minnesota? I had no idea.”

Her jaw tics, as if she were grinding her molars together. “And how would you? It’s not like you’ve spoken to either of us since you left Boston, and Luke didn’t even do anything wrong for you to cut him out of your life like that.”

She’s right.

Luke didn’t do anything wrong, but I was young and hurt and took all my pain out on anyone in close proximity to the situation.

Luke was a good friend growing up. Sure, he was a dick to his sister when we were younger, but he grew out of that and became the quintessential protective older sibling. For the entirety of my teen years, Luke was practically my brother, but when I moved away, I deleted his contact from my phone simply to keep myself from giving in to the temptation of calling him to check on Hallie.

Yes, Luke was important to me, but that relationship didn’t hold a candle to the importance his sister would hold in my life.

Hallie turns her wrist over, checking the time on her watch, before shifting her attention back to her laptop. “Let’s just focus on the meeting,” she says. “It’s getting late.”

It’s only four o’clock.

“Somewhere more important to be?” I ask.

She doesn’t answer me. Instead, she concentrates on filling out a client profile form on her computer without having to check with me for any of the answers. My full name, age, birthday.

Regardless of my attempts to keep our connection at a distance, there’s this weird warmth in my chest that I haven’t felt in a long time. I’ve been on so many first dates, been asked so many fucking times what my favorite color is, that this feels nice. Being known, even if it is just the basics, feelsnice.

But it can’t feel nice with her, so instead, when I catch her checking the time again, I push.

“Do you have other plans or something? I may be mistaken, but weren’t you the one begging me for this job?”

“Yes.” It comes out with a bite. “But our meeting was set for two o’clock, not four. I have another...commitmentI need to be at by five.”

The image of that fucking guy pops into my head. Him sitting next to her atmygame. I’m not one to be violent off the ice, but everything in me was wishing the glass that was separating us would’ve magically disappeared, so I could’ve reached out and grabbed him by the goddamn neck.

Okay, that’s dramatic as fuck, but I didn’t expect the blind possessiveness I’d feel after not only seeing Hallie again but seeing her with someone else. Someone who wasn’tme.

“A date?” I can’t help but ask.

She’s working away at the computer, filling out information she already knows. “Not exactly your concern, now, is it?”

So that’s a yes.

---