Page 7 of Needing You

“Oh,” I said with a final chuckle, putting my phone back in my purse. “Jackson’s badgering me to come home and cook dinner. We were at the grocery store before this and bought steaks for tonight.”

Ellie’s eyes were wide as she stared back at me. “You were at the grocery store? Like, just before this?”

“Yeah, why?”

Ellie’s gaze flicked to April and then back at me. “When I talked to Jake just now, he said Will was at the store buying stuff for tonight’s dinner. He cracked some joke about him doing Jenna’s grocery shopping, but Kate… what if you guys were there at the same time?”

4

WILL

I threw a spoon into the sink, followed by a string of expletives my mother would’ve given me an exaggerated frown over. She hated my “foul mouth,” and I had to admit, right now it was particularly nasty.

But how the fuck are you supposed to act when you find out your fucking first love had your fucking son and didn’t fucking tell you?Fuck.

I threw a colander in the sink, then tossed something else in the trash, then slammed the fridge door a little too hard. Stupid, and I’d probably end up breaking something I’d need to replace, but screw it. I had the money, and right now, the only thing that felt good was violence against kitchen appliances.

“You expect me to hire you in my kitchen when you act like this?” Eric had appeared out of nowhere and now stood sifting through a pile of mail on the counter where Mom left anything she got that was meant for us.

“Fuck you.” I busied myself with checking Mom’s lasagna in the oven—looked perfect, as always. I inhaled deeply, willing the scent of the sauce and cheese to supply me with even an ounce of calm.

“I can see we’re not going to have an adult conversation, but keep in mind this is doing nothing for your claim that you can handle Walker’s.”

My jaw clenched so hard my teeth should’ve turned to dust. I held in the explosion of frustration, but my insides felt like they were on fire. Why did he have to come here and be an asshole on top of what was quickly becoming the closest thing to a crisis situation I’d had in at least a decade?

I sucked in a breath but knew I couldn’t hold back. Plus, it’d probably feel pretty damn fantastic to let loose on Eric. “You know what? You can go—”

“Oh, come on. Are you guys really fighting after being in the room together for ten seconds?” Jake interrupted as he and Sammy wandered in and pulled up seats at the bar-height counter.

“I’m not fighting anyone. Will seems to be fighting the kitchen and anyone who dares talk to him,” Eric explained, like a little twat.

I let the oven door slam shut and spun on them, pointing at Eric first and working my way down the line. “You can shut the fuck up. And so can you. And so can you.”

They just stared back at me—Eric with something like disappointment and Jake and Sammy like wounded little boys.

Aw, shit.

“I feel like maybe you need to talk?” Jake leaned his elbow on the bar and waited.

They all did—even Eric. They stood there looking at me, compassion and concern filling their eyes like they could tell I wasn’t just losing it because of Eric needling me but because something else was going on.

And while I didn’t exactly want anyone knowing about the shitstorm raging inside me, I also didn’t want to destroy my mother’s home in my rage-fueled tantrum or whatever the fuck this crashing combination of anger and grief was.

I slumped back against the oven and ran a hand over my face. “Remember when I spun out after I turned sixteen?”

Sammy’s and Jake’s eyes widened, and Eric lifted a brow.

“I’d been dating a girl for about a year, and we were close. We were in love.”

Jake’s mouth literally dropped open. Sammy, honest to god, looked like he was in physical pain—like he knew my teen rage hadn’t been caused by love, but by the loss of it. And Eric waited for what came next. I’d always wondered if he’d known why I’d turned into such an asshole, why I’d pushed him away and yet needed him in my corner while I started fights and acted like a little teenage dirtbag.

“She left. All of a sudden. Out of nowhere.”

They nodded, understanding. Waiting.

“Shewas Kate Preston.”

“Oh, shit,” Sammy said, right as Jake said, “Damn.”

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