Page 44 of Hidden

His question cut through the stone in my stomach, and I forced my attention on that instead of the weight of his hand. I was too tired to care much about how he knew my roommate. But knowing him, he probably stalked my student records.

“No.” I pulled the jacket around me, trying to hide my shaking. “No, I don’t want anything they bought for me. I want to throw it all away.” My voice was firmer toward the end, my anger overshadowing my fear.

I didn’t needanything.

Bryce didn’t respond, and Damen and Julian only glanced at each other. But as my brother moved past me, I couldn’t stop myself. My resolve had only lasted ten seconds.

“Wait.” I grabbed his shirt, hoping he wouldn’t make fun of me.

He faced me, and I pulled him with me, away from the others. But he was still too tall, and I tugged on his arm until he bent down.

“I need my rabbit,” I whispered in his ear.

Bryce’s skin turned pale, and his eyes met mine. “What?”

“I have a pink rabbit…” I was pathetic for wanting it, but I was too weak to give it up. “Can you please get it? Jiayi knows where it is.”

Bryce’s expression was strife with dread, and it made me worse for asking. But I couldn’t lie and say it didn’t matter.

After a moment, he groaned. “Fine.”

“Thank you.” I was near tears, and I hated myself. “I don’t want anything else.”

“It’s okay,” he said, pet my shoulder, and left for real this time.

I returned to Julian and Damen, who were conversing in low tones under another umbrella Bryce had given them. They stopped when they saw me, and Julian reached for my hand once again. “Is everything okay? What did you ask him to get?”

I couldn’t tell them, they’d make fun of me. “Nothing…”

Julian paused, but then carried on. “That’s fine, are you ready to go?” At my nod, he fell into step beside me as we followed Damen. “We’re taking Damen’s car.”

“The Jaguar?” I asked, spotting aforementioned vehicle.

Damen pulled out his key fob and the engine turned over.

“We’re all wet,” I tried to warn him. Didn’t he realize? “We’ll mess it up.”

“It’ll dry.” Damen’s voice was still strange. “Don’t worry about it.”

Julian frowned at him again but didn’t say anything as we approached the vehicle. Once Julian opened the passenger door, waiting for me, I hesitated. I glanced at Julian, and then to Damen, who watched the two of us from the other side of the car. What were they waiting for? Julian’s legs were much longer than mine. “I’ll sit in the back.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Bianca.” Julian touched my back. “Of course you can sit—”

“Just let her sit wherever she wants,” Damen said. “It’s my car.”

I glanced between the two of them, this tension, again, making me feel sick. Perhaps I had made a mistake after all.

“I want to sit in the back.” I stared hard at the ground. “I want to lie down…”

Julian sighed. “Darling, you need to wear your seat-belt—”

“She can lay down if she wants!” Damen smacked the top of his car. “Why don’t you stop telling her what to do?”

“Why don’tyoustop acting like an ass?” Julian glared at him. “I know you agree, so why are you arguing? You’re going to scare her.”

Damen’s eyes zeroed in on me, and I almost flinched from the burning intensity in his gaze. He was angry again. But I had no idea what he was upset about now.

That wasn’t true, actually. I did know what his problem was.