Free All or Nothing by Dee Tenorio Page A

a straight line instead of his back end overtaking the front until the poor thing had to execute some sort of whole body roll to get facing the right way again. Plus it was hard to be mad when for the first time ever, someone was kissing him awake. It wasn’t Belinda, but at least it was genuine.
    Gross, but genuine.
    It was even kind of nice to be running outside again. The cold, moist air was more invigorating than temperature control and the pup made a great alarm clock. The only problem was that Lucas did his thinking while he ran. Without a problem in front of him to specifically concentrate on, he had only one other thing to think about.
    Belinda, naked in her bed, glaring at him, angry enough to spear him with something dull. Belinda wearing her work overalls and a tank top with goggles and a grin. Belinda, nervous as a cat while they applied for her business loan, her fingers damn near crushing his under the lip of the desk. Belinda, when he’d come back from his first year at MIT, defiantly daring him to make some sort of comment about her shorn black hair or her morose clothes. All the way back to Belinda in her red prom dress, sitting on that swing in the twilight.
    They never saw their prom party room, had no idea what the decorations were or who was there, but it was still the most memorable night of his life. Kyle went, of course. Lucas only put on his tux for his mother’s sake. He’d never asked anyone to go. He’d claimed he was meeting his date and went walking down the street. Essentially, that’s what eventually happened, but it wasn’t what he’d planned. Even in his wildest fantasies, he could never have even hoped for what happened.
    He’d found Belinda at the park completely on accident, sitting in the swing, looking lost. All her beautiful blonde hair swept back from her face, tied up in a chignon that would have made his mother sigh. She’d been wearing red satin, a strapless gown with black accents and a simple black ribbon choker. She’d been so surprised to be caught there…by him…crying.
    “My mom made the dress.” She’d plucked at her skirt when he sat in the swing next to her. From their vantage point, it was easy to see the city lights starting to flicker on, see limos arriving around the neighborhood. “I tried to tell her not to, but she said every girl deserved to go to her prom. She put a lot of work into it.”
    Work Amanda Riggs was probably too tired and busy for, but she’d found time anyway. Lucas hadn’t said anything, just held out the corsage his mother had handed him before he left.
    At the time, he didn’t have a clue what he was going to do with it and didn’t care what it was. But that moment, when Belinda’s eyes looked from his face to the flower box and back again, he knew he’d never be able to thank his mother enough. The white orchid with purple and burgundy and yellow dripping out of its center was cradled by baby’s breath and wide green leaves. It was probably the size of his hand and way too big for someone as slight as her, but she wanted it. She was moved by that flower.
    She accepted the box and let him pin it on her, the first time he’d touched her skin. The first time he made her gasp with just a graze of his fingers. The first taste of what would become an addiction.
    He wasn’t stupid. He knew why she had no date for prom. She’d waited for Kyle to ask her. It was the reason Lucas hadn’t asked her himself. By that time, he’d come to grips with the fact that he “liked her”—a lame kid phrase to explain what couldn’t be handled—and wasn’t prepared to be rejected by her. Their odd, tense friendship was enough for him. Until he’d touched her.
    They’d stayed on the swings for a while, watching the sun set, quiet until the cars stopped driving past the small park. It was easy to be quiet together then. They were accustomed to it. Belinda was a lot for silence back then. She never talked about what went on in her home or