Within This Frame by Lindy Zart Read Free Book Online Page B

a true first kiss. Shared with Maggie Smiley. It should have felt wrong. It didn’t. It felt like it meant something.
    When she pulled away, he opened his eyes, mesmerized by the fan of eyelashes on her cheeks. He wanted to kiss those as well. She looked at him and touched trembling fingers to her puffy lips. Lance ached for her.
    “That’s the kind of first kiss I wanted,” she told him shyly.
    Lance grinned. “Are you going to make me work for the five dollars, or are you going to concede? I can play the wounded soul if that helps.”
    “Are you playing?” she wondered, head tipped to the side.
    “Of course,” he replied coolly.
    Maggie narrowed her eyes. “Hmm. I’m not sure.” Grin stretching her lips as her expression cleared, she skipped backward, eyes on him. “I think you need to work for it a little more.”
    “Oh yeah? We’ll see about that.” Lance chased after her, grinning as her eyes widened. “Get moving, or you’re mine.”
    Maggie laughed as she spun around, sprinting along the beach, kicking off her sandals to move faster. Lance did the same, water folding over his feet as he ran. It was cool against his skin, but he was on fire. She whooped, hands above her head, jumping and dancing farther down the beach. Lance stilled, mesmerized by her graceful movements and carefree spontaneity. She turned into the water, became a part of the ocean instead of a person separate from it.
    He blinked, shook his head, and jogged the remaining distance.
    When he reached her, Maggie grabbed his hands. They spun in a circle, faster and faster, kicking up sand as they moved. Laughing into each other’s eyes. Lance felt like a kid. He was only sixteen, but he felt so much older most of the time. Not with Maggie. With Maggie, he felt free and invincible.
    “Tell me a secret,” she called, grinning mischievously.
    Lance shook his head, heart pounding, pulse racing. It was silly, but he wondered, if they kept spinning, would they twirl into non-existence, like a time-traveling machine? If he could go back in time, where would he go? And in that question, there was a secret, one he’d never admitted to himself, let alone anyone else. He focused on Maggie’s face, the two of them moving so fast they seemed to not be moving at all.
    “I wish I could have known my mom better.”
    Her expression changed, and they slowly came to a stop. He was dizzy, awkwardly trying to keep his balance, and then Lance released her hands and let himself fall to the lumpy sand. Maggie plopped down beside him, face lifted to the moon, chest moving up and down as she breathed. A hand, small and cool, clamped over his, squeezing it. Lance shifted his position and stared at the star-filled sky, wondering if his mom was watching him. He closed his eyes against the thought.
    Maggie didn’t offer condolences, or try to make him feel better, and he appreciated that. He’d heard it all through the years, good and bad, and none of it changed what was.
    You’re better off without her.
    She couldn’t be what you needed.
    She loved you, in her own way.
    Think of what things would be like, if she were still around. Think of how much more messed up you’d be.
    “I hate spaghetti.”
    He turned his head and met her odd-colored eyes.
    “That’s my secret,” she elaborated. “I hate spaghetti. The noodles make me think of worms, and with the red sauce, it’s like bloody worms.” She shuddered, a small smile on her face. “I don’t tell people that, though, because then they make fun of me.”
    “What would you do if someone cooked you spaghetti and expected you to eat it?”
    Maggie’s smile grew as she showed him her profile. “Suddenly feel ill.”
    “What about Ramen noodles?”
    “Same. And have you ever actually tried to eat them? It’s impossible to chew them. They just sort of slide down your throat, like slippery, thin, malnourished worms.”
    Lance laughed, tugging his hand from hers to place his arms behind his head. It