Page 28 of Change
“He didn’t tell you?” I gasped. After all his posturing, I’d at least thought he’d given Bryce some kind of forewarning. “He’s angry because I don’t want to study withhim.”
“Oh.” Bryce deflated a bit at my statement—like he was expecting something far more profound. “Why?”
“Does it matter why?” Because the two of them have been suffocating me with mundane activities. “I want to study with Ms. Protean.”
“Gloria,” Ms. Protean interrupted, lazily dipping her tea bag into her cup. “I’d rather you call me ‘Gloria’ if you’re going to be working with me,” she clarified.
Bryce glanced between the two of us, and I could see the hesitance in his face. The lines under his eyes were drawn and haggard, and I almost forgot what we were even talking about.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spoken to him alone, honestly, or even saw him around the house—even though Finn had said he’d been bothering him in the library.
Why did he look so tired?
“I don’t know.” He sounded so defeated and my breath caught. “I don’t understand why it’s an issue, but Uncle Gregory isreallyagainst it.”
Ms. Protean dropped her spoon, and it fell against the tiny saucer with a clatter. “He’s…what?” She stared, open-mouthed, at Bryce. “Why in the world—”
“Please don’t ask me.” Bryce began to rub his temples. “I don’t have time for this. He won’t even say why, and none of this makes sense. Maybe he’s afraid Bianca will get hurt?”
“That is…” Ms. Protean—Gloria—pursed her lips as she glowered at the man. “Insulting. You can just tellhimthat—”
“I’m not going to tell anyone anything.” Bryce opened his tired eyes and pointed at Gloria’s phone. “If you have a problem, you two can talk to each other. Otherwise, I don’t want to hear about it. I’m tired of this drama.”
All my protests and arguments faded at the furious glint in his eyes, and I found myself ducking down a few inches behind the seat. Thankfully, his attention wasn’t even on me, but rather on the wolf behind me.
Brayden was grouchy today, and now Bryce too?
I’d never seen either of them like this before.
Maybe…
Was there also a reason why Uncle Gregory was upset today too? Maybe it had nothing to do with Gloria. It seemed like something larger was going on that I didn’t know about.
My movements caught Bryce’s attention, and I pressed my nose to the back of the chair.
His eyes widened as the annoyance faded from his face, and when he spoke next, his voice was lower than before. “Bianca,” he cajoled, “what do you want to do?”
I didn’t respond—a million scenarios were racing through my mind, and I tried to figure out what I might have done wrong. Maybe I shouldn’t have yelled at Uncle Gregory on the phone, or been nice to Damen? That’s what made Brayden mad. But that wasn’t right, there was nothing wrong with me being nice to Damen, and I hadn’t even known that I was doing anything that might be noticed.
That wasn’t really my fault, right?
Or maybe there was something else—some way I’d been inadvertently offending them all without realizing.
What should I do?
“Bianca?” Bryce was watching me, eyes heavy with expectation. He was waiting for an answer.
My eyes filled with tears as my thoughts remained stuck in old patterns.
“Do you want to go back to Uncle Gregory?” Bryce asked, cautious gaze softer than what I’d come to expect from him. “He really would like for you to work with him.”
I shook my head. Even if it offended the older man, I wasn’t getting anything done that way.
“Okay.” Bryce took one slow step into the room. “Then do you want to work with Gloria when you come to the school?”
I nodded. But, wouldn’t they be mad—
“Then you’ll study with Gloria.” He looked behind me. “You’re not taking on any cases like in the past?”
