Page 5 of Tell Me You Need Me

“I highly doubt this Eden would be permitted, but I will of course look into things,” Jack says. He never leaves a stone unturned. Both because he’s thorough and nosy as fuck. I can't say that I despise his gossip, nor that I ever actively seek it out. He expresses it freely when we are alone, which is typically the case. I’m not big on leaving my home. But here I fucking am, back on Lighthouse Landing.

Jack starts going back and forth with Rich about a few things. I'm sure I should be paying attention to things like the start of school and the date of graduation. That should be the big question. Then I can get the hell out of here.

Instead, I pull out my phone and reach out to one of my contacts. Theodora and Eden aren’t very common names. It should be simple enough to track down everything about them. I don’t miss the curious glances Jack keeps giving me, but I ignore them.

"So this means you're moving in here?" Teddy inquires, eliciting silence from everyone.

“It seems so.”

“I don’t like this,” Rich half-growls. That makes two of us. I can see Willa grow tense, but Teddy only remains curious.

"If you're thinking that I'm like him, you're mistaken. There is a reason I left this island and never returned.”

“We’ll see about that.” Rich pushes back from the kitchen island. “Karl was a good liar.” What can I say to that? Nothing, because as much as the little shit is annoying me, he’s not wrong. “Come on, guys.” He motions for Teddy and Willa to get up. They do.

Does she always do as he tells her? Irritation gnaws at me, tightening my throat. My entire body begins to tense, and I experience a sensation akin to that of a rubber band that is about to snap. That's the last thing I want to do at this moment. Not when I told them seconds ago I wasn’t the same as Karl.

“You can’t take a random girl up to your room if that’s what you think you’re doing,” I cut in.

“I’m going to Willa’s room,” Teddy challenges before Rich can. He was about to, but she beat him to it. Teddy slips her arm into Willa’s. “Come on.” She tugs Willa along. Rich lingers behind.

“He spoke about you,” Rich says when the girls leave the kitchen.

“Is that girl your girlfriend?” I ask my own question.

“Teddy isn’t your business,” he snaps out. I grind my back teeth, reminding myself he’s a protective brother and only just lost his father. Also stopping myself from saying the words that are on the tip of my tongue:She will be.

“I don’t care what my brother had to say about me.”

“He fucking hated you. When he got drunk, your name was always pouring out of him.”

“I haven’t spoken to him in over a decade.” I'm at a loss as to why Karl would harbor hatred toward me.

I’d never done anything to his spoiled, abusive ass. If he treated his kids the way he treated me, I can get why Rich is worked up. I’d flown into a few rages over my mother toward my father. I knew that I harbored a part of that within me, and I'm sure Rich does too. Fortunately, what I’ve seen so far of him, he uses it to protect the ones he loves and not hurt them.

“It gives me a ray of hope that since he hated you, you might be different.” With that, he exits the room, following after the girls.

“Well,” Jack sighs. “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but seeing a younger version of you was rather interesting.”

I run my hand down my face. I need sleep, but I know I won’t find it. My life is in chaos, the structure I need stripped away. I hate the sensation of being out of control. It brings me back to, ironically, here.

“I hate this place.”

“So you’ve told me. You’ve been mumbling it every five minutes since we landed.“ Is it the same? Jack rises from his chair to explore the surroundings. “They said there is a staff. This Eden. I’ll have?—"

“I already have someone on it.” I interrupt him.

“Of course you do.” Jack's smirk irritates me. Typically I ignore them.

“What does that mean?”

“You’re on edge, that’s all.” He opens one of the fridges. It’s industrial-sized.

“They have updated, but a lot of it remains the same.” My eyes linger on the windows that line one whole wall of the kitchen. There is a stone porch that lets you see out to the ocean. Mom loved eating breakfast out there.

How can a place hold some of my sweetest memories from my childhood as well as my worst nightmares?

Chapter Four

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