Page 131 of Rewind It Back

Chapter 29

Hallie

His light is still on. It’s the middle of the night, we’ve been back home for a couple of hours, and his bedroom light is still on.

Sure, I’m still awake too, but that’s because I got to sleep most of the drive home. But not Rio. When I offered to trade off so he could have a break from driving, he refused, assuring me he was wide awake.

He still is, judging by the glaring light coming from his bedroom that I can see from mine.

His demeanor was off as soon as he left my dad’s hospital room. He was quiet and in his head. The silence between us on the ride home felt suffocating, and I knew then that he knew everything.

I waited for him to ask some follow-up questions, for us to talk about the things he now knows, but he didn’t say a word. But whenever I looked over at him, it felt like I could physically see him attempting to wrap his head around it all.

Standing at my window, I check on his room again, willing the light to go off next door so he can get some sleep. After traveling for work all week, catching a last-minute flight to Minnesota, and driving us all the way back to Chicago, I know he’s exhausted.

I also know his mind is probably moving at a mile a minute right now.

Screw it. We can talk if he wants or I can lie down next to him so he can get some rest, but either way, I’m going over there.

I grab my keys, throw on a pair of shoes, and cross the yard to his house. It’s pitch black out. Only the light from his bedroom is on. I use it to find the latch on his gate, going through his backyard and unlocking the back door with the house key he gave me.

I don’t know why I didn’t choose the front door. I guess I’m so accustomed to sneaking around with Rio that slipping through the backyard in the middle of the night feels more on brand for us.

Locking up behind me, I quietly make my way through the first floor, up the stairs, and to his bedroom door. It’s left open for me to see Rio sitting on the edge of his bed with his back to me. He’s bent forward, elbows on his knees, and shoulders slumped.

I’m about to knock, to make my presence known, when he speaks first.

“Use the front door, Hallie.”

I stay frozen in the doorway, unable to move.

“We don’t need to sneak across rooftops and through windows anymore. We’re adults and I’m not hiding this again. Use the front door.”

Oh.

Still he doesn’t turn around to look at me, so I cross the room and round the bed. Moving to stand between his legs, I force him to sit up and look at me. It takes a second for those green eyes to make their way to mine, but when they do, the anguish in them cracks something inside of me. I think it’s the rest of that armor I’ve been trying to wear around him.

“I take it he told you everything.”

Rio’s jaw tics and he pulls his eyes away from me again. He doesn’t seem angry though. He looks like he’s on the verge of crying and trying his best not to.

I’m exhausted. Tired from today. Tired from trying to resist this, but I can’t imagine how exhausted he is. His mind has been running nonstop for at least the last six hours, but after listening to that voicemail he left me while he was visiting his mom, I’d imagine he hasn’t stopped overthinking all day.

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know, Rio. You can ask me anything.”

He’s quiet for a moment before he finally makes eye contact again. “Are you okay?” is his first question. It’s gentle and sweet, with an edge of worry in his tone.

Nodding, I ask, “Are you?”

He gives me the slightest shake of his head to tell me no.

“Talk to me.”

Standing between his legs, I feel him cup the back of my thigh with his palm. His thumb strokes back and forth against my skin as he mulls over something in his mind. “Why are you working so much, Hallie?”

Well, that was not the question I was expecting.

But I’m not lying to him anymore. Today felt like a shift. An important one, so I swallow my pride and tell him the truth. “Because I’m in debt.”

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