Page 62 of Rewind It Back

“You have to study?” Hallie questions her brother. “Could you have not tried to come up with a more believable lie? We all know you’re going to go meet up with your girlfriend.”

He shrugs smugly. “It worked, didn’t it? And Lacey isnotmy girlfriend. We’re just talking.”

“And hooking up,” I add.

Hallie grimaces. “I didn’t need to know that part.”

A group of guys walks by but one of them stops and eyes Hallie up and down. “Hey, little Hart.”

“Hey, Dylan.” Hallie smiles shyly at the guy I recognize from Luke’s lacrosse team.

My eyes bounce between them, because what the hell was that?

“What’s a guy have to do to get you to wear his jersey the way you wear DeLuca’s?”

“Get lost, Dylan,” Luke cuts in, unimpressed.

Dylan holds his hands up. “I’m just being nice to your sister, Hart.”

“She’s off-limits.”

Dylan looks at Hallie with a smug little smirk. “Got it. Good to see you, Hallie.”

He leaves with his friends, but not before giving her one last look over his shoulder.

Luke refocuses on his sister. “You know you’re not allowed to date any of my teammates, right?”

She rolls her eyes. “Yes, Luke.”

“Or anyone in my class,” he continues. “And especially not any of my friends.”

“Mm-hmm,” she mumbles. “So you’ve said. Plenty of times.”

“I’m serious, Hallie. Guys my age are only after one thing, and I’m sure as hell not letting any of my friends near you when I know what’s on their mind.”

I’m not after only one thing from Hallie. I’m after everything with her, but still, it feels like he’s reminding me to not go there, though Luke has no idea of my feelings for his sister.

“Speaking of guys your age being after only one thing,” she says, head cocked. “Aren’t you late for yourstudy sessionwith Lacey?”

Luke smiles knowingly. “Yes, I am. Happy birthday, sis.” He gives Hallie a hug before turning to me. “Thanks for giving her a ride. I owe you one.”

“Happy to.”

Understatement of the year.

“Pick a song for the drive?” I ask Hallie as she sits on the passenger side of my truck.

She’s wearing this excited smile before digging into the glove compartment where I’ve stashed a combination of tapes and CDs. The best part about this old truck is that it still has a cassette player that works.

“What do you have in here?” she asks.

“You’d know better than me. You’re always leaving your music in there.”

The truth is, I have no idea what’s in my glove box because the only thing I listen to when I’m driving alone are Hallie’s birthday mixtapes. But I was smart enough to hide those before she got in my car. She gave me one on her fourteenth birthday last year and remade the two from her previous birthdays, the ones she had made before she started sharing them with me. And tonight, I’ll get a new one.

A few months after Hallie got that boombox for her thirteenth birthday, I asked for the same for mine, simply so I could listen to her yearly mixtapes in my room. And now, they play on repeat in the truck. Because yes, I have a huge freaking crush on the girl and want to know about all the songs that represent important moments in her life.

“Oh, I’ve been looking for this!” she says before clicking a tape into the cassette deck.

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