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In fact, from the quick glimpse I’d gotten of her in the window, she seemed to be deep in thought but not panicked. That was a good sign, it meant Bryce must have been reining in his obnoxious impulses.
That, or married life agreed with him. It hadn’t escaped my notice he had far fewer admirers today. In fact, every time he glanced at Bianca, there was even a slight skip to his step. The man almost lookedhappy.
Now,thatwas interesting. So my plan was helpful on more than one level, it seemed.
The door opened, jarring me out of my thoughts, and the gaggle of students stepping into the hallway fell from my vision as Bianca crossed the room to me, a wavering smile on her lips.
“Hi…” she said, but something was wrong. She wouldn’t look me in the eyes, and she shifted her weight nervously from foot to foot.
“Bianca?” I reached for her. What was wrong? This was different than before. She wasn’t on the verge of an anxiety attack. I didn’t like this.
But Bianca didn’t answer. Instead, she evaded my reach and made her way out of the building. She moved quickly, and it took a minute for me to regain my bearings enough to follow her. The crowd dwindled as we reached the library, and—as we rounded the corner of the building—I finally caught up.
“Bianca, what’s wrong?” I tugged at her hand, pulling her to a stop beside me. The sun had set not long before, but the brick building protected us from the worst of the breeze.
“I want to quit school,” was her reply.
I was stunned into silence. This wasn’t what I was expecting. I was sure she’d tell me that Bryce had said something stupid again.
It wasn’t until she shifted nervously and continued to stare at the sidewalk I realized I hadn’t responded. “But why?” I asked. After all her lecturing aboutmyclasses, why would she want to drop out of college? Perhaps… “Did something happen today?”
We’d expected she might receive more attention, and we’d done our best to accommodate our schedules around hers. And when none of us were near, Kasai followed her. All the professors had gotten a memo she was married to Bryce, and rumors had spread across campus already. No one should have been bold enough to give her any trouble.
Maybe we’d missed something?
“I’m sorry.” Her voice was soft, and she continued to avoid my gaze. “I know you had this plan… But I don’t knowwhatI want to do anymore, and I’ve been on edge all day. I don’t think I’m ready to come back.”
“I thought you wanted to work in research?” I cocked my head, fighting the urge to wrap my arms around her shaking form. After learning about her past, I’d only touched her in my weakest moments. There was no way to know what might trigger a fear-based reaction, and Damen had told us what had happened in the hospital.
Not all of us felt the same, but they also didn’t understand. One of the worst things we could do right now would be to overwhelm her. While they were fine with pushing her boundaries and testing her limits, I wanted to become her safe place.
She shivered—guilt heavy in her expression—before she shocked me. Her small fingers wrapped around my wrist, and she held my hand between hers. “Are you angry?”
Had I misheard her? The surprise from her announcement faded as trepidation filled me. “Why would I be angry?”
If she wanted to take a break from school, it washerdecision. It had nothing to do with me.
“Because you wanted to tutor me in French,” she whispered, looking away. The guilt in her expression made my heart twist painfully. “Even before deciding this though, I already planned on switching to Chinese. Who cares what Damen says, he isn’t my boss.”
“Chinese?” But Mandarin was a far harder language to master than French.
Well, for people who aren’t us.
She nodded, biting her lip. “Damen told me that when I remembered more about my past lives, I’ll know how to understand it—”
“So Damen said you can’t take Chinese because it’s ‘cheating’,” I interrupted, nodding. I fought back a smile. This argument was familiar, at least. “Well, technically that is true.But”—I couldn’t stand the crestfallen expression on her face—“he’s the only one who really cares. He’s just jealous.”
“What do you mean?” The way she watched me caused my worry to fade. Her large hazel eyes were framed by a tiny amount of dark liner, and she blinked at me innocently.
There was no way she knew what that look could do to a man. At this exact second, if she were to ask me never to eat a danish again, I’d agree. She would be the end of me.
I almost forgot what we were talking about? But then she tilted her head, and clarity hit me.
She was waiting for an answer. I could daydream later.
“Damen took Spanish,” I replied, focusing on my breathing.
It didn’t help, because now her scent washed over me. She smelled like spring: roses and freshly-turned earth. My skin prickled and I fought back the urge to pull her to me.
