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My dad was a marketing executive, and if his promotions and accounts were any indication, then he was a good one. Always the level-headed one of our household, I’d never had to worry about homelessness, starvation, or anything that plagued a lot of families around the world. Dad had always taken care of our family, and when Kenzlee had come to live with us last year, it’d been nothing for him to automatically take her in. Kenzlee’s family had been spiraling out of control, and by the grace of God, she had managed to find her place with us; something that I was so grateful for.
As for Mom, she was a bank teller, and she was the brains behind their comfortable living. While dad wasn’t stupid, Mom knew everything there was to know about smart banking, money-management accounts, and stuff like that. So, when they’d gotten pregnant with me, the first thing that they’d done was set up a college fund for me, and that was also another thing that I was grateful for.
So, even though Kenzlee had come into all that money last year, my college had already been paid for, so she had chosen to pay off my parents’ house for them instead. Even though they had argued against it, Kenzlee’s reasons had been hard to refute. There was just something special about a person that wanted to share her wealth for the right reasons, and Kenzlee’s heart of gold was a right reason.
Nevertheless, even though my college was taken care of, and my parents’ bank accounts were a little more cushionier with their mortgage paid off, that didn’t mean that I was above getting a job while I went to college. While all of my academic responsibilities were paid for, everything else should fall on me. My parents had sacrificed enough, and if I was expecting people to start treating me like an adult, then it was time to act like one.
I could also admit that I felt a bit…behind in life. When I thought of Kenzlee and even Edie, I felt like they were both lightyears ahead in the maturity department. Granted, Kenzlee’s maturity had come with a slew of tragic events, but still. When most kids would have lost their minds, Kenzlee had managed to survive losing her twin, Kaden; something that still broke her heart on occasion. Then, my Aunt Gladys had dumped her on our doorstep last year because Kenzlee’s father, Donovan Mitchell, had lost all their family’s riches, later killing himself because of the shame. I still cringed when I remembered how my aunt had disowned Kenzlee because Kenz had refused to give her any part of the small inheritance that her father had left her. Now, by my standards, a couple of million wasn’t small by any means; not at all. However, when you were used to bank accounts that had balances of thirty million or more…then, yeah, two million didn’t seem like that much.
At any rate, even without all that tragedy tainting Kenzlee’s life, she had Talon Draven as her boyfriend, and that’d been one hell of a courtship. Talon was an old soul, and you’d never guess that he was only nineteen. He had the kind of commanding personality that you only saw in grown folks. Even his younger sister, Edie, seemed more mature than I was, and she was a senior in high school still. However, unlike Talon’s formidable presence, Edie’s superpower was that brain of hers. The girl was wicked smart, and if she ever discovered the cure for cancer, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Then you had those damn Finleys that were definitely way more mature than I was. Yeah, Lars was back in Lakeside with Edie, both seniors this year, but the guy used to be a part of a fighting circuit that hadn’t been for the weak. Though Talon had been the only one to fight in the bouts, Lars and Hunter had always been right there, making and taking the bets, making sure that Talon had always come out on top. Hunter and Lars were also bona fide kidnappers, but that was a story for another time.
Nevertheless, when I thought of our little group, I felt…sheltered, which was stupid. There was nothing wrong with the way that I’d grown up. There was nothing wrong with having a healthy and happy childhood. I’d been blessed, and that was agoodthing. Having lived on the poor side of town, Talon, Edie, Hunter, and Lars would have all jumped at the chance to have what I’d had growing up, so I knew how whoa-is-me I was sounding. However, while they weren’t scared to be off, living their lives, I was worried if my roommate was going to like me or not.
Pathetic.
Plus, it wasn’t even like I was doing this alone. While Talon had followed Kenzlee to Stanford, and while Lars was back in Lakeside with Edie, Hunter had followed me to UCLA.
Well, notfollowed.
When Kenzlee had gotten that unexpected inheritance, she had offered to pay for everyone’s college, knowing that it hadn’t been an affordable luxury for Talon, Hunter, or Lars. So, because men’s egos were a fragile thing, Talon had agreed to let Kenz pay for Edie’s college, allowing him to use all the money that he’d save from fighting for his own college education. Hunter and Lars had agreed to let her pay for their first year of college, leaving it up to them to figure out the rest. So, while I planned on looking for a job, Hunter Finley was probably going to look for two.
At any rate, when we’d all gotten back our college acceptance letters, Talon had followed Kenzlee to Stanford, I had accepted an offer from UCLA, and Hunter had done the same, though I hadn’t ever asked him why he’d chosen UCLA. While we’d known each other back in high school, we never would have hung out had it not been for Talon falling in love with Kenz.
I laughed to myself as I realized that Hunter Finley was my only friend on a campus of thousands. While my parents and Kenzlee were only one phone call away, if I needed immediate help, Hunter was the closest thing that I had to family right now. The boy that’d had no problem kidnapping me was my only real friend in this place, but I wondered how long that was going to last. All it took was one look at Hunter Finley to know that he was going to make friends rather fast in college.
That was another thing that was bothering me. Before we’d all said our goodbyes this summer, I’d been a feisty thing. I hadn’t been afraid of speaking up for myself or others, and I hadn’t been one to let people intimidate me. I’d had a loud voice, and I hadn’t been scared to use it. I could even remember threatening to murder Hunter, Lars, and Talon if they ever kidnapped me again.
I sighed.
I missed that girl, and I wished that she’d come back.
~
Hunter~
Not much intimidated me or scared me. While I’d been fortunate enough to grow up in a household with both of my parents around and involved, we had lived on the poor side of town, and we’d all seen our fair share of crime and poverty. Life hadn’t been easy, though it’d still been full of love and loyalty.
My parents, Henry and Viola Finley, had done their best by me and Lars, especially since they’d gotten pregnant with Lars almost immediately after I’d been born. So close together, it’d been a struggle to feed and clothed two growing boys on top of everything else that had a price.
My father was an insurance adjustor, and though good at his job, all his years of service had hardly made him rich. Even though we had lived in the poor section of Lakeside-which had no lake, mind you-the bills had never been simple. When people thought of bills, they thought of rent and utilities, maybe a car payment. People forgot about health insurance, car insurance, groceries, doctor co-pays, gasoline, clothing, shoes, and everything else that most households needed.
My mother was a car dealership secretary, another job that paid enough to pay the bills, but not much else. However, the fact that Mom was happy at her job was what’d had Dad refusing to let her look for another place to work. I could remember him telling her that he’d get a second job before he’d ever let her give up something that she liked to do. Viola Finley was a people person, and she loved watching people light up when buying a new car or their first car.
Nevertheless, while things had been tight financially, I still couldn’t complain about my childhood. At least, not without sounding like a jackass. I’d been lucky enough to grow up with a brother that had understood how life worked just as well as I’d had. So, instead of being an asshole or spoiled brat, Lars had stood by me through thick and thin, knowing that things could have been worse.
Whenever either of us would start feeling weighed down by our station in life, all we’d had to do was talk to Talon to shake that shit off. Talon Draven was our best friend, and he had spent his entire life taking care of his mother and sister because his father had taken off on them, leaving Talon to be the man of the house at too young of an age. While Mrs. Draven had worked her ass off, Talon had taken care of Edie, fighting almost every weekend in an underground battle circuit to pay for Edie’s college. Edie Draven was wicked smart, and Talon had refused to let that brain of hers go to waste. Even though Edie and Talon were Irish twins like me and Lars, Talon had raised her for all intents and purposes. There was nothing that Talon wouldn’t do for his sister, and he had the scars to prove it.
Of course, life had gotten easier for all of us when Kenzlee Mitchell had moved to Lakeside last year. She had moved in with her cousin, Alexandria, for her senior year of high school, and with that move had come an uproar that still made me smile whenever I thought about it. Talon had taken one look at the girl and had fallenhardon his ass. It’d been one hell of a courtship, and we’d all been able to breathe easier when Talon and Kenzlee had finally figured their shit out. Lars and I had even had to kidnap Alexandria a couple of times to pave the way for Talon.
At any rate, just when we’d all come to terms of college being a pipe dream, Kenzlee had come into a surprise inheritance, and she’d been gracious enough to offer to pay for everyone’s education. Since Alexandria hadn’t needed the money for college, Kenzlee had paid off her uncle’s house as a show of appreciation for all their support during her troubling times, and since Talon had saved up for Edie’s college, he and Kenzlee had agreed on a compromise. They had agreed that Kenzlee could pay for Edie’s college tuition if Talon used all the money that he’d save to pay for his own college education. Talon had reluctantly agreed, and now they were both at Stanford, doing their thing.
When it’d been our turn for her generosity, Lars and I had agreed to let her pay for our first year at college, leaving it up to us to pay for the remaining three years with scholarships or jobs. No matter how archaic it sounded, we’d been raised in a home where the man was the head of the household, and having Kenzlee pay for anything still felt a tad…emasculating. Still, it’d been either come up with a compromise that worked for all of us or hurt her feelings, and Talon didn’t go for anyone hurting that girl’s feelings. He called her White in reference to Snow White, for fuck’s sakes.
Nevertheless, that was how I’d found myself at UCLA. While Talon was at Stanford with Kenzlee, and Lars was back home with Edie, I had accepted an offer from UCLA, and I’d done it mostly because Alexandria had been accepted here, too. While we hadn’t really become friends until Talon and Kenzlee had gotten together, it hadn’t felt right for everyone to have someone close to them with Alexandria going off all by herself. So, because I’d been raised the way that I’d been, I had followed her to UCLA, keeping that little nugget of truth to myself. Alexandria Grant wasn’t the type of female that appreciated pity or unsolicited male protection. The girl was a bit of a spitfire, and I ought to know. Nonetheless, I still didn’t regret kidnapping her. Talon’s my boy, and I’d do anything for him, including kidnapping her again if I had to.
Now, again, while I wasn’t intimidated by much, it was hard not to be intimidated by the largeness of this campus, the people, money, and expectations. Luckily for me, my roommate, Baron Memphis, seemed like a cool dude, and he was here on a football scholarship, making me feel like we were going to understand each other perfectly. If he was here on a football scholarship, then he wasn’t here to fuck around. He was here for a purpose, and making something of himself seemed more important to him than partying it up or any of that other shit that was assumed about college life.
