Snatched (The Collection Book 1) by Blake Blessing

Author:Blake Blessing [Blessing, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

"What do you mean you're not going?" Kim leveled a solemn stare on Lake. Even though his voice was quiet, the words settled heavily between them.

We were all in Lake's and Joaquin's room, watching Lake pack his stuff. He aged out. And Rosie said there weren't enough resources for him to stay here. We'd asked. Almost begged.

In the end, she shook her head and walked away.

Usually, I didn't care about Rosie one way or the other. She was there, she was a means to an end, but in that moment, I hated her. She could do so much to help us and she just didn't. Somehow, I'd managed to talk myself off the ledge of doing something stupid and really messing up our future. Or my future.

Curling my hands into fists, I pushed my back against the wall as Lake roughly pulled his clothes out of the dresser. He didn't have much. Five pairs of jeans. Six T-shirts. A couple sweatshirts. Rosie only had enough funds to cover a change of clothes for each day of the week. We all had jobs so we could buy more if we wanted, but none of us gave a shit about that. Usually.

Instead, we pooled our money and got a downpayment on an apartment. It was nasty and looked like roaches had a monopoly on the building, but it was the only place that would rent to Lake with no credit history and no adult to co-sign for him. It was shady. But at least he wouldn't have to go to a shelter or anything like that.

"Why? What good would it do? It's not like we have any family to come watch." He shrugged, but the movement was stiff. Lake also wasn't looking any of us in the eye.

"That's bullshit," Joaquin spat. "We're your family. We'll watch you walk across the stage. Graduating is a big fucking deal and you should celebrate it!"

"Yeah," Kim agreed. He was sitting on Joaquin's bed, gripping the edges like he was powerless to do anything else.

We were. We'd gone in circles around this conversation for two hours until Lake had had enough and jumped up to pack.

"Look. We'll have other things to celebrate. We're all working. I got that apartment now and you can all hang out with me..." Lake trailed off.

I would be fine going there. I was a big guy. A year ago, I was the tallest, but Lake had hit a growth spurt.

Joaquin might be okay walking to the apartment on his own. He wasn't as tall or broad, but he exuded asshole vibes. People didn't usually mess with him. And he fought dirty.

Kim? Who knew what kind of sickos hung around that complex. He'd be targeted for sure.

Not only was he more feminine in his features, there was just a softness about him that the jerks at school loved to pick on.

"We matter," I said quietly.

Lake froze before slowly lifting his gaze to mine. He sighed. "Of course, you matter. You three are the only ones who matter.

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