He hadn’t been able to shake off the feelings he’d had earlier when they playfully ran around the front yard like kids. That kind of playfulness was something he’d forgotten about. He’d been so absorbed with becoming the man Denny thought he was that he’d forgotten. He walked up to the door, anticipation coursing through him like one of the freight trains he and Denny stupidly decided to jump on when they were thirteen. By the time they’d been able to jump off, they were already in Wyoming and they had to call their parents to pick them up. That long ride home felt like the walk to Maddie’s door. He’d known her practically his whole life and yet…it felt like he was meeting her for the first time. He rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, she opened the door. Her hair was tied up in the back of her head in a clip. She’d put on a light coating of lipstick that made her skin glow. She’d changed out of her wet shorts into a fresh pair of cutoff jeans and a coral tank top.
