Forced Proximity (Bluebell House Duet Book 1)
Forced Proximity: Chapter 11

It was entirely no shock to me whatsoever that I didn’t sleep that first night. Not a single moment. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the gun in Connor’s hand and then it morphed into the gunman who’d attacked my last college. How many innocent bystanders had been shot and killed as he stalked through campus, calling out my name? Taunting me?

Evelyn Cromwell…come out, come out wherever you are…

Sleep was overrated anyway. Around two in the morning, I got up and distracted myself with studying. At least I could stay on top of my academic work even if my mental health had gone to shit.

My Friday schedule was light, with just one class in the late afternoon and—if memory served me correctly—none of the guys were in that class. Then again, I hadn’t been paying a huge amount of attention to Haze or Connor. Andrew was the only one who’d made a noticeable effort to befriend me, for some fucking reason, and Brodie was, well, Brodie Keller.

Since I’d been studying since two in the morning, I was more than ready for a break by the time the sun was up. The whole house was silent when I unlocked my room and headed downstairs. None of the guys really struck me as early risers, except maybe Ethan. But maybe he’d already have left for work? He must have other classes to teach…

Shit. Just thinking about Ethan had me touching my lips and remembering that kiss. And then remembering the fact that four guys who owe me no loyalty all saw it happen. Would they turn us in to the dean? There seemed to be no love between Ethan and Connor, despite the fact they were brothers.

Then again…would the NDA cover me as much as it covered all of them?

I made a mental note to check the contract, then headed out of the house in search of coffee, since the kitchen was largely empty. We really needed to tackle the grocery situation, because it was a decent hike to get to the dining hall for every meal otherwise. Trouble was, we’d need to leave the security of campus to get those groceries.

As early as it was, the coffee shop was quieter than I usually found it. Nina’s friend Sven was seated near the window, reading a Theory of Relativity textbook and sipping his usual matcha chai latte. He waved to me with a smile as I entered, so after I ordered my coffee, I went to join him.

“We heard you moved out of Marigold dorm yesterday,” he said by way of greeting, and I groaned. So much for keeping that quiet.

“Does everyone know everything around here?” Holy hell, what if people already knew that I’d kissed Ethan in the library? Did they know that the guys living with me in Bluebell House were all secretly friends of some sort? Surely not, or why did I sign that fucking contract?

Sven grinned. “You’ve met Nina, what do you think? She feels awful by the way. She even tried to go to Dean Attworth and explain it was her who had attacked Laura, but he wasn’t buying it. Apparently, Laura was adamant it’d been you and someone else confirmed her story with an eyewitness account?”

I glowered, folding my arms. “Probably Andrew, the fucking traitor. Totally took Laura’s side even though I was nowhere near the bitch.”

Sven shrugged. “He’s pretty whipped by her, it makes sense. So…is it true they made you all move into Bluebell House? That place is one hundred percent haunted.”

“Brodie thinks so too,” I agreed with a laugh. “It’s just a house. A really run-down, old house, but it’s got good bones.”

A sly smile crept over Sven’s face. “Brodie thinks that does he? Are you guys friends now?”

I groaned again, remembering his infectious energy last night, how he’d insisted on calling me bestie and then how he’d kissed my cheek and nearly made me faint. Fuck he was as gorgeous as expected, but I’d really thought he’d be a total arrogant twat in person. His celebrity status was so huge, surely he would have an ego to match? But no…he was just as likeable in person as he was onscreen. Infuriating.

“Just watch yourself, Eve. He’s a huge playboy. You’re alluring, mysterious fresh meat right now and he, among others, probably just wants to score.” He was warning me with the best of intentions, I was sure, but that comment stung nonetheless.

I gave a hollow laugh. “Or maybe I have a great personality, and he wants to be friends without wanting to fuck me. Maybe.” I shrugged, trying to cover my hurt feelings at being reduced to little more than fresh meat. No, I didn’t seriously think Brodie and I could fall in love, but was it really so preposterous to consider it a possibility?

“Eve, I didn’t mean—” Sven started to backtrack, but the barista called out my name and I stood up.

“It’s cool, Sven. I get it. I’m heading to the library, but I’ll see you around.” I hurried over to the counter and collected my huge drink, then exited the shop before Sven could apologize further. I was embarrassed more than anything, because it wasn’t until he said it that I realized I’d been getting a bit stupid about my friendship with Brodie. My therapist told me I already had attachment issues due to my daddy issues which were compounded after the attack. I clung to anything that made me feel good, even if it wasn’t actually good for me.

Brodie’s attention made me feel good, but that didn’t mean he actually liked me.

He wanted something, whether it be information or sex, but he wasn’t being nice for the sake of being nice. Was he?

With a heavy sigh and my mood sour, I headed to the library. I had my laptop in my room and plenty of high-speed internet, but there was just something about the smell of a library. The quiet simply couldn’t be replicated, and it gave a certain sense of calm that helped me sort my head out.

Like trying to figure out why Connor pulled a gun on me simply to make me sign a contract.

There was something seriously suspicious going on in that house, with those guys, and while part of me wanted to figure it all out, another part was sure I should have nothing to do with their drama. It wasn’t my business. I’d just been in the wrong place, wrong time.

“I hoped I would replace you here, Eve. Or is it Lilith today?”

I startled so sharply, I nearly spilled my drink. Nearly. That would have been an infraction worse than breaking Laura’s nose—if I had actually been responsible for that.

“Ethan,” I gasped, breathless in my shock. “What…um…what are you doing here?”

His brows hitched and a small smile curved his lips. He was leaning against a huge shelf, a book in hand like he’d been looking for something when I arrived. I glanced around with a small frown. This area seemed…vaguely familiar.

“You didn’t come here looking for me?” he asked, bemused.

Ignoring the twist in my gut at being near him, I realized exactly why this area looked familiar. This was where I’d run that first day in my panic attack, and I’d unintentionally walked right for it again. Searching for the calm I’d felt in those few seconds Ethan had kissed the thoughts away.

As I met his stare, I waited for embarrassment, but instead there was just this weird sense of right. “Are you saying this is our spot, Professor Sullivan?”

Fuck me. Was I flirting, or was I trying to remind him that he was my professor?

Or was I doing both?

Was Ethan another attachment issue for me to deal with? And did I even care when his mere presence silenced the panic and anxiety I’d lived with for months?

He moved closer, until we were only a few feet apart. “What if I said that it was? Would you meet me here again?”

He was so relaxed and casual in his approach, and I had no idea how to handle it. He was the teacher and would lose his job instantly if we were caught, but he showed absolutely no concern in pushing whatever it was we were doing in public.

“This isn’t a good idea.” That statement would have had more strength if my voice hadn’t been so breathless. I really just wanted to kiss him again—to lose myself in one of the hottest men I’d ever seen in my life, who didn’t hide in the shadows, who showed me what he wanted: me.

Ethan stepped even closer, and if anyone came across us now, there’d be some explaining to do. “I’ve got to get to class,” he said softly. “But I need you to meet me here tomorrow, sweetheart. Just make it thirty minutes earlier.”

He pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth, his tongue sweeping across my lip as if he needed to taste me, and then he was gone.

By the time I opened my eyes and caught my breath, it felt like the world had tilted. Everything spun, and I debated if I should race after him and demand he finish that kiss or race home and finish myself in the shower.

Because fuck. There was only so much teasing a girl could take before she combusted.

Stumbling over myself, I manage to get it together in time to collapse into one of the study desks. When I pulled out the assignment I’d been working on since two that morning, I got to work, only stopping when my skin suddenly prickled.

I wasn’t sure who I expected it to be, but when Haze’s dark eyes met mine, I found myself blinking like an idiot. His huge frame was crammed into a small study desk, and I was tempted to laugh. Or I would have been if every single part of him wasn’t intimidating as heck.

He had his computer in front of him, but he wasn’t bothering to even look at the screen, keeping that intense stare locked on my face. Was this about last night? Should I say something so he knows I’m not mad at him? I mean, he scared the fuck out of me, and I would like to know if there was a possibility that he’d actually physically hurt me if I accidentally touched him again, but other than that, I understood trauma.

He had trauma in spades.

It was almost bonding to know I wasn’t the only one super fucked-up.

Deciding that I didn’t mind his gaze on me—it almost felt protective—I got back to my assignment, and by the time I was packed up for lunch, my stomach screaming at me, Haze was gone, and I felt more at peace.

In the dining hall, I didn’t see Nina or anyone else I knew, so I just headed over to order. By the time I’d decided on the pasta special and grabbed a salad to go with it, there were more students piling in.

“Evie babe!”

Half the room turned as Brodie’s shouted, and I wondered if I’d be able to slip out the door and pretend I didn’t see him standing in the middle of the room. Fuck. He looked good, hands on his hips, giving Xander Stone from the Bloodstone Sentinel vibes. Brodie had been in the industry from a young age, one of those nepo babies whose father starred in daytime soaps. But his biggest claim to fame was when he was cast as the newest superhero in the largest franchise in the world.

Bloodstone Sentinel was powered from a rare stone found on an alternate Earth and cast into Xander’s chest during a blood supermoon. Brodie Keller filled the role like he’d been born to play it, and here in Meadowridge College, wearing jeans and a faded band t-shirt, all I could see was Xander Stone.

This could not be my life.

When I didn’t move, he called again. “Bestie, I know you’re not ignoring me. Baby girl, you’re breaking my heart.”

He pressed his hand against his chest, and when his lower lip wobbled, a chick sitting at a table nearby all but sobbed as she yelled at me, “Get your ass over there, new girl. If you hurt Brodie Keller, we’re going to hurt you.”

With that, the faked sadness on Brodie’s face dried up. He nailed her with a glare, and there was no mistaking him when he growled, “Don’t ever threaten, Eve. That’s my last warning.”

Shaking my head, I hurried across to him before another cafeteria fight broke out. There was no reason to avoid Brodie—at least not while I needed him as an ally in the house from hell. As long as I never forgot that I was nothing more than a conquest to him—he didn’t care about a deluded weirdo who formed inappropriate attachments to fill the gaping voids in her soul.

Thanks, Dr. Graystone for that enlightenment.

If I could remember that, there was no reason not to enjoy the benefits of a hot superstar flirting with me.