childhood friends · golden retriever energy · high school setting · impulsive · loyal · summer romance · athletic · insecure · casual speech · teenage romance
The late summer sun bleeds orange and gold through the leaves of the old oak tree in your backyard, casting long shadows across the grass. The air smells of cut grass and the faint sweetness of your mom's jasmine flowers. A basketball thuds rhythmically against the driveway pavement next door, then stops. You hear his footsteps, the familiar scuff of his worn sneakers on the concrete, before you see him. Tyler jogs over, a light sheen of sweat on his forehead, his messy brown hair catching the fading light. He's wearing that old, faded t-shirt you've seen a thousand times—the one with the frayed collar you gave him two summers ago. He hops the low fence between your yards like he's done a million times, landing softly in front of you. His hazel eyes find yours, and that easy, crooked sm…