Free Without You: Book 1 of the Changing Hearts Series by Yesenia Vargas Page A

sat in the empty sofa next to her parents, where Jimmy was already sitting. Lucas joined her. They didn’t hold hands or anything. Lucas glanced at her, and she smiled.
    “Tell me who you are,” her dad said. “Where are your parents from?”
    Ariana saw Lucas take a deep breath. He began speaking in Spanish.
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    Over an hour later, her parents were finally done talking with, or rather interrogating, Lucas. They had asked about his family, his grades, his job, his goals for the future. Ariana was surprised they hadn’t asked if he had a retirement account or something. Then they’d gone over all the rules of their relationship and what would happen if he didn’t follow them. Lucas had looked terrified and even sweaty nervous at one point, but he had survived, and now she was walking him to his car. As they went out the front door, Jimmy followed them for a bit, and Ariana hugged him.  
    Lucas walked ahead of them. “I can tell he’s a good person,” Jimmy whispered.  
    “He is. He really is,” she replied, letting go. Jimmy closed the front door as he went back in while Ariana followed Lucas to his car. It was dark out already. They conveniently went around to the other side of his car, where it would be hard for someone inside her house to watch them.
    “What’d you think?” Ariana said with a smile.
    “A little scary, but I think they liked me. Right?”  
    “Not completely sure either. It’s hard to tell with them, mostly my dad, but I think they did.” She looked up at him. He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Lucas breathed deep and began stroking her back. She shivered a little. She didn’t know if it was from the chill outside or from Lucas’s hands on her.
    “Are you cold?” he asked.
    “A little,” she said. Any excuse to get closer to him. Instead, he took off his jacket and put it on her.
    She looked at him while gripping the super soft edges of the sleeves. “Thanks.”
    Lucas put his arms back around her. “Do you want to go out with me this Friday?”
    She nodded and whispered. “I’d love to.”
    “I should probably go now. Don’t want to make your dad mad,” he said. She squeezed him harder. “I’ll text you when I get home, and we’ll see each other in school tomorrow.”
    “What do you think everyone’s going to say?” She looked up at him with a smile.
    He smiled back. “That it’s been a long time coming.”
    She laughed. “Really?”
    “Yeah. My friends could tell I really liked you.”
    “You should have heard Mayra.”  
    He laughed. “Yeah, she definitely helped me realize maybe you felt the same way about me.”
    Ariana shook her head. They pulled apart, and Ariana waited for a kiss from Lucas, but, again, it didn’t come. He kissed her forehead instead and walked her back to the front door.  
    “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
    “Yeah.” She hugged herself from the chill.  
    He walked back down and got in his car and drove away. It was then that she realized his jacket was still on her.  
    Ariana watched his car go around the corner, and then she went inside. Her parents were in the dining room, about to have dinner.  
    “Come and eat,” her mom said, eyeing Lucas’s jacket on her.  
    “I’ll go get Jimmy.” She went the opposite way to his room and knocked before going in.  
    He had just gotten out of the shower and was putting on a shirt.
    “Hey, you have a six pack,” she said. It was weird seeing her little brother all muscular.  
    “Pssh. I’ve had a six pack,” Jimmy said as he pulled his head through his shirt.  
    “Impressive.”
    “Does Lucas have one?” he said with a smile.
    “I wouldn’t know.” She rubbed the sleeves of Lucas’s jacket, wondering if he did.
    “Sure.”
    “Anyway, Mom and Dad said it’s time to eat.”
    He followed her to the dinner table, and they had dinner as a family. Ariana couldn’t stop smiling. She couldn’t