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The smile that spread across her face made my admission worth it. “I’m glad it wasn’t only me.”
“It wasn’t. And I want to go on record saying…that guy who hurt you? He’s a damn fool. You are as smart as you are beautiful. Creative and adventurous. Everything a man could want. And I’m not saying this as some guy who’s trying to make you feel good or get into your pants. I’m saying this as your friend.”
“Or brother.” She winked.
Then she pulled me in for a hug, one I definitely wasn’t expecting. I could feel her heart beating against my chest.
“Thank you for reminding me what it feels like to be alive,” she said.
We let go of each other, stood up, and began the long walk to our respective gates. With each second that passed, my feeling of dread got more intense. I didn’t want to go back to my pre-Maddie life, mainly because I’d been dealing with things in a very solitary manner. I enjoyed her companionship. She wasn’t even gone yet, and I found myself longing for what we were walking away from.
We got to a point where she would turn left for Terminal A, and I would turn right for Terminal B.
We stopped and faced each other.
“Well, I guess this is it,” she said.
Don’t ask me what came over me in that moment, but a voice inside me just said: The fuck it is.
“This doesn’t have to be it, Maddie.”
The words flew out of me so fast I wasn’t sure if I’d said them or thought them.
“This doesn’t have to be it?” she said. “What do you mean?”
“Do you really want to go back to Connecticut right now?”
Her eyes flitted back and forth. “Honestly? No, not in the least.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?”
“I don’t know offhand...”
“It doesn’t matter. Because I want the answer to be: said yes to a pseudo-stranger who asked me to go on a blind adventure with him.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I’m not ready to say goodbye to Milo, if you’re up for playing Maddie a little longer.”
Her breathing quickened as she seemed to be considering my proposal. “Where will we go?”
“Wherever the wind takes us? Wherever the hell we want? As long as it’s not Connecticut or New York or Seattle.”
She wiped sweat off her forehead. “Would I be totally crazy if I said yes to this?”
“Not if it’s what your heart is telling you to say.”
“Then...yes.” She nodded. “I say yes. I want to go.”
Relief washed over me.
“Let me ask you a question,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?”
“Said yes to a pseudo-stranger who asked me to go on a blind adventure with him.”
“Maddie, welcome to the craziest day of your life.”
She grinned. “Hookers Part Two?”
I lifted my hand and high-fived her. “Hell, yeah.”Chapter 6* * *Matteo“They’re on a first date. He’s worried his credit card is going to get declined because he overspent this month on his webcam-girl porn addiction.”
Maddie looked at me like I had two heads. I lifted my chin and pointed to the couple standing at the counter. The guy was rubbing his hands down the sides of his legs like his palms were sweaty, and he really did look pretty pale. Of course, that could’ve been because he was about to rent a machine that goes a hundred-and-fifty miles an hour with only a helmet for protection. But I liked my story better.
Maddie caught on to that I was playing our game again and leaned toward me. “He met Candi, his webcam girl, a year ago online. They never talk. He’s into voyeurism, so he sends her messages about different things he wants her to do, and then when he signs on, they both pretend he isn’t paying her to watch. The girl he’s with today, her name is Emily. She lives a few blocks from him. She thinks they met at the gym by chance. Poor thing has no idea that the new guy she’s seeing has been climbing a tree across the street from her for over a year. He watches her get changed through her bedroom window at night.”
My eyebrows jumped. “That’s a little creepy. I freaking love it. I didn’t think you had it in you, Madeline Ophelia Hooker.”
She chuckled. “Ophelia? That’s my middle name?”
I shrugged. “Our mom was a huge Hamlet fan.”
After Maddie and I decided to continue our adventure, we’d rented a car at the airport, and I drove us up to Steamboat Springs. Maddie had said she’d never been snowmobiling, and the trails here had some of the most gorgeous scenery. I figured we could incorporate her photography into our day exploring the beautiful Colorado mountains. Plus, the idea of spending the day with her body pressed up behind mine…well, that didn’t suck.
