Page 9 of His Bunny Baby

“Fuck off, Tabitha. The bitch deserves it,” he seethes, ready to attack me again.

Tabitha steps in between us, crossing her arms. “Stay the hell away from her, Chester.” Like me, she knows reporting him won’t do a damn thing. They stand off for another minute before he spins around, cursing, and leaves.

I haven’t moved and can barely breathe, so when her hand touches me, I jump to the side, hitting the air dryer and likely bruising my shoulder as well.

“You okay, Bunny?” Surprised that the girl knows my name, I give a sharp nod. Tabitha ignores my skittishness and grabs some paper towel, dampening it before reaching for me. “Just gonna clean up some of this blood. We should go to the nurse, nonetheless.”

I don’t respond as she helps me tidy up. I’m unsure what to say because she’s never spoken to me before. I didn’t even know she knew who I was.

“Thank you,” I finally get out through my raspy throat.

Her smile is genuine as she nods her head. “You have Chemistry this afternoon, right?” I nod again. “Good, I need a new partner. Lizzie hasn’t got a lot going on up here”— she taps the side of her head—“so we’re failing, and I know you’re super smart. Do you mind?”

Surprised by her request, I accept, and she applies a bit of makeup to my neck to cover up the developing bruise. God, I hate Chester.

The afternoon passes with Tabitha sticking to me like glue before the final bell rings, and while walking to my car, I spot Chester and his group of friends before they dome—thankfully—and Tabitha and some of her cheer friends encircle me.

“Girls gotta stick together,” she says before coaxing me into giving her my number.

This entire day has been weird. I was happy for the most part until Chester, then Tabitha striking up a friendship threw me off-kilter, so when I arrive at work, I nearly forget about the cut on my head and the bite marks on my jaw and neck. I probably look like I was attacked by some wild dog, but I manage to cover them up enough that nobody says anything. Nobody I work with, anyway.

“Been texting you.” Caspian’s gruff voice has me spinning so fast I nearly fall off the ladder I’m standing on, putting some excess product up on one of the shelves in the bakery aisle.

Turning to the opposite side so he doesn’t see the new marks, my heart threatens to beat out of my chest. “Sorry, it was a weird afternoon.” That’s not a lie.

“How so?” He cocks his head and tries to catch both my eyes, but I keep my gaze averted as I move things around. If he sees me full-on, he’ll recognize that something is wrong and demand answers.

“A girl I’ve known for years decided we needed to be friends today. I didn’t even think she knew my name.” It was kind of nice. I just hope she’s being honest because I don’t think I could handle the betrayal.

“She a nice girl?” I nod. “Then good. You deserve that.” He’s quiet for a minute, and I feel nervous. “You eat that lunch?”Shit.“Fuck sakes, Bunny.”

“Sorry.” I had intended to. Chester ruined that for me.

“When do you have a break?” Alarmed, my entire body freezes. “I know you have one,” he challenges.

Glancing at my watch, I realize it’s coming up. “In about ten minutes.” Dread fills my stomach with lead.

“Good. I’ll grab us some food and meet you at the tables out front.” He waits for me to acknowledge him before leaving.

Dropping down on the ladder, I cradle my head in my hands. Everything is about to blow up, I just know it.

Putting my stuff away, I head back to the employee lounge to apply more makeup in the false hope that he won’t notice. But he will. Caspian sees everything about me.

Heading outside, the heat has me fanning my face. Caspian sits at the outdoor seating area with a couple of burgers, fries, and a gigantic milkshake.

I take two steps before he detects it, his face going from happy to angry in the blink of an eye. “What the hell happened?” His finger traces my jaw, where the first bite mark resides, then my head, where the cut hides in my hairline. “Don’t tell me nothing. Those are teeth marks in your jaw, and that cut is jagged.”

“I don’t…” My throat constricts as I swallow past the emotion bubbling to the surface. “I really don’t want to talk about it.” He glares at me, and it’s clear he wants to argue. “Please, Caspian.”

I’m a foot away from him when he finally grasps my wrist and pulls me into his lap with an angry growl. “This goes against every fiber of my being as a man who wants to do everything I can to protect you, but for now, yes, I’ll let it go, but you have to eat everything I feed you.”

I nod as he lifts a crispy french fry to my mouth before taking one for himself. The hot, salty flavor tastes like heaven on my tongue. Before long, I’ve eaten the entire basket of fries, half of the burger, and most of the shake.

“No more.” I shake my head. If I do, I might explode.

“Fine,” he grunts and takes the burger for himself, eating half of it in one bite. I don’t know why I find that so sexy, but I squirm in his lap. “Stop, or you won’t be going back to work.”

Giggling, I kiss his cheek and thank him for making me eat. I was starving but hadn’t realized it until he offered me the food. Even though I was dreading Caspian catching me in my current state, I’m thrilled he came.

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