Unwanted (The Unlucky Ones, #1)

by Marley Valentine

Feelings and emotions I’ve chosen not to deal with. But now he’s here, and just like my addiction, he’s all I can think about. And just like my addiction, I couldn’t afford to relapse with him.

When you grow up in the foster care system, abandonment is almost always a trigger. Combine it with a lack of self-worth, the fear of never being enough, and the truth that maybe there really is no value in your existence—and you get a young boy whose first crush was alcohol, his first infatuation, cocaine, and his first love, heroin. With every high, I fell deeper. I was tangled in that web and I had no plans of getting out.

If I let myself think about it, there’s nobody else in the world, even with all our history, who could understand and support me in silence, the way Arlo did.

“What did you expect?” I ask him. I feel him shrug. “I just thought you would be different. I wanted some part of you to be and feel different.” Feeling bold, yet confused, I turn in his arms, our noses now almost touching and my palms resting on his naked chest. “Why would you want me to be different?” His hands cover mine. “Because I am.”

don’t want good things,” he whispers into the space between us. “I’ve never wanted good things. I just want you.”

Time and time again you’ve broken your own heart to try and heal our heartache. It’s incredibly hard not to fall in love with someone who would sacrifice his whole world to save someone else’s.”