Forced Proximity (Bluebell House Duet Book 1)
Forced Proximity: Chapter 20

The storm was long gone by the time I woke the next morning, a heavy arm draped over me, keeping me close to his chest. Ethan’s scent was everywhere, leaving me with memories of the many times he woke me through the night, his mouth on my body and that impressive cock inside me.

Professor Sullivan was fucking insatiable, and as predicted, there was a delicious ache inside as I languidly stretched.

“Morning, baby,” he murmured against my throat, his nose brushing across my skin as if he was breathing me in.

“Morning,” I squeaked back, feeling both aroused and a touch freaked out. I’d never done the morning-after thing before, and with no idea of the protocol, I wondered what I should say.

Ethan’s low chuckle dragged across my skin, and just like that, I was less interested in escaping and more wondering if I was too sore for round six. “Remember,” he rasped and pressed slow kisses to my skin, “there are no expectations. Our lives are both complicated, sure, but I also decided long ago not to waste days. You never know how many you have. Don’t expect me to walk away from you, Lilith.”

The very thought had my insides clenching and my body tense. “I don’t want you to walk away. And I promise to always be honest with you about what’s happening in this house with the guys.”

His rumble wasn’t angry—if anything, he sounded like he was about to snuggle me back to sleep.

It was Saturday, so neither of us had any classes to be at, which meant we could nap and fuck the day away. I’d honestly never felt more excited about staying home.

As my eyes closed, drifting to sleep, the door to Ethan’s room slammed open so hard that I almost flew off the bed. It was only Ethan’s strong arm around me that kept me from falling as he yanked us into sitting position, situating himself in front of me so quickly, it felt impossible that he reacted so fast.

“Bro, Eve’s missing!” Connor’s shout rang out through the room, and it took me seconds to get my heartrate to retreat from heart attack levels. “Oh for fuck’s sake, Eth!”

Trying to peer around the broad shoulders blocking me, I caught sight of Ethan slipping a handgun back into his bedside table. How in the… When had he grabbed that?

Weirdly, for the first time since the shooting, the sight of a gun calmed me. He’d been prepared for Connor’s intrusion, and if it had been an enemy, he would have me protected.

It was comforting.

“Are you actually kidding me?” Connor snarled, sounding more pissed off than I’d ever heard from him. “I should report you to the dean, you perverted fuck.”

I straightened and leaned even farther to the side to glare him down. “Listen here, you fucking spoiled ass bitch. I chose to come to Ethan’s room, and I’m twenty years old. Not a child. We’ve done nothing wrong.”

He opened his mouth to shout at me again, and I rose to my knees, completely forgetting I was naked. The sight shut Connor up temporarily, and he was no gentleman as his gaze dragged slowly down my tits.

“If you mention this to the dean and get Ethan into trouble, I will take your gun and shoot you in the leg. Don’t fucking try me.”

For a beat, his lips twitched, and I thought he was going to smile. Though his expression remained dark and framed in fury. “Don’t threaten me, Evelyn. I’ve killed more people than you fucking know, and I have no issue adding you to the list. Remember that.” His gaze flicked to his brother again. “Your gutter trash side is starting to show, Brother.”

“Get the fuck out,” Ethan drawled, but there was no missing the danger in his tone. He wrapped the blanket over me and yanked me back down, looking annoyed. I had no idea if it was just at Connor or at Connor seeing me naked, but whatever—they were just boobs and a waxed vagina.

If he’d killed more people than I knew, there was zero doubt he’d fucked more people than Ethan and I knew combined. He had gorgeous, dangerous asshole written all over him, and there was nothing like a bad boy to get girls to drop their panties.

Connor scoffed as he left the room, and I heard what suspiciously sounded like whore and magic pussy before he was gone, leaving me alone with Ethan once more. Unfortunately, that was the end of the day of lounging around though, the mood having iced out thanks to that prick.

“I should get up and shower,” I mumbled, feeling disappointed and put out. “Thanks for last night.”

My cheeks heated when I realized that he might not understand I was thanking him for the comfort and not the sex. Not that I wasn’t also thankful for that.

He appeared to understand. “My door is always open,” he said, gently capturing my chin in his hand, keeping my gaze locked on his piercing green eyes. “You don’t have to fight the dreams and trauma alone, Eve. Promise me you won’t let Connor stop you from taking what you need.”

“Promise,” I whispered, knowing that I couldn’t stay away from Ethan even if I wanted to.

Which I absolutely didn’t.

It took me a few seconds to replace my clothes, and when I slipped them on, I forced myself not to look back to the bed, where I’d left Ethan sprawled. No, Evelyn. No more professor for today.

My therapist would have a lot to say if he got me in his chair, and no doubt, I was desperately in need of advice. I was well aware that I had exchanged pills, anxiety, and bad dreams for lusting after my professor and obsessing over the comfort he offered me.

None of these coping mechanisms were healthy, but I knew for sure which was more enjoyable.

As Ethan said, we had no idea how long we’d be on this gravity ball, and I, for one, was glad not to miss out on the sort of mind-blowing sex we’d had last night.

I made it back to my room without running into any of our housemates and grabbed clean clothes and underwear, escaping into the bathroom. My body ached in many places, but thankfully all the love bites and bruises from where he’d gripped me were hidden under my jeans and shirt.

Not that it’d be a secret after Connor, but best not to go flashing the evidence around.

I was hesitant as I wandered downstairs, but it was quieter than I expected, and it was almost a relief to wander into the kitchen and replace it empty.

“Who are you really, new girl?”

I jumped a foot in the air, and fuck, if Connor had meant me harm, I’d have been dead before I even saw him standing in the doorway to the living area. Was this asshole a ninja? How did he keep sneaking up on me?

Shrugging despite my absolute lack of calm, I casually replied, “What do you mean? I’m Evelyn Lewis.”

He moved closer, and I tried not to reveal my unease as he backed me into the side of the kitchen counter. Even as he dropped a hand on either side of me, completely caging me between his massive body and the island, I never lowered my gaze. He was the predator, but I refused to become his prey. “Where are you from, Evelyn? Who are your parents? Where did you live before you were here?”

Fuck. FUCK. Did he know? Did Ethan tell him? If I mentioned that I was from Tennessee, it wouldn’t take him long to search news stories and replace out what happened back there. The college had made news for weeks. I’d made news for weeks.

I’d been under the suspicion that the guys knew about the shooting, but I still refused to be the one to confirm the truth.

“I’m no one, Connor. You don’t have to waste time and energy trying to unravel my very basic life. I lived with my guardians because my dad couldn’t look after me any longer.” For reasons I didn’t even know. “My mom died when I was young. I’ve lived a very ordinary life.”

Outside of that whole school-shooting incident. Which fucked every part of my regular existence to pieces.

He leaned in even closer, and I swear his body threw off heat like a hot water bottle. We didn’t touch, but my exposed skin still felt flushed. “You have no fucking idea who you are, do you? Just a dumb, naive, uninteresting chick. Happy to float through life without a clue. Happy to let others take bullets for you.”

I jerked like he’d slapped me, the rush of memories drowning out everything else, and I didn’t even realize I was breathing heavily until Connor’s touch landed against my chest.

He pressed against me firmly. “Breathe. Be stronger than your demons, Eve. You can’t keep falling apart, you don’t have the luxury of it, and I wouldn’t rely on Ethan to keep pulling you together.”

We locked gazes for many minutes, and I was surprised to replace that his touch did ground me. “Who are you?” I threw the question back to him. “It seems you all know my secrets, but I know fucking nothing about you. Including why you five manufactured a reason for us all to live in this house.”

Abruptly, he released his hold on me and stepped back. I’d have thought I imagined his touch if my chest didn’t burn right where he’d placed his hand. “I’m your worst fucking nightmare, new girl. Don’t think you can bat those pretty blue eyes at me and I’ll forget the danger you pose to us.”

“Are you the dad of the group or something?” I said with a snort. “You keep coming in here, claiming I’m dangerous, as if you need to defend their honors. Last I checked, you were younger than Ethan. Pretty sure he can handle my pussy without losing himself.”

There was a flicker of darkness in his green eyes, until his iris was close in color to his pupil. “Can he though? I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty pussy but⁠—”

“Let me guess, don’t bat it at you either?”

His jaw twitched, and with a shake of his head, he turned and left me alone in the kitchen, and if I hadn’t already been leaning against the counter, I’d have collapsed on the floor. Holy intensity Batman. Connor was beyond intense, and I had no idea what information I could offer him to keep him from hating me for just existing.

Maybe it was time for me to try a little harder to fit into the house? A peace offering of sorts…

Deciding to briefly stop acting like being here was the worst thing to happen in my life, I got to work in the kitchen, preparing the breakfast of a lifetime.

An hour later, the old table was laden with my full breakfast repertoire, including homemade pancakes, fluffy scrambled eggs, stewed tomatoes, crispy bacon, toast, and fresh orange juice that I’d had to hand squeeze because there was no juicer here.

Brodie and Ethan had popped their heads in a few times while I was working, but I shooed them away, wanting to do this on my own.

“Breakfast!” I called, when I was satisfied everything had come out perfectly. My guardians had been huge foodies, and I’d learned how to cook at their side. This was a part of my life I was solidly confident in.

To my surprise, Andrew was the first through the door, perfectly pressed of course. He eyed the table I’d set, and then his gaze came back to my face. For a brief moment, I remembered that second we’d locked eyes in the girl’s bathroom, but there was no real awkwardness as he smiled. “This was a really nice thing to do, Eve.”

I gestured for him to sit as Brodie and Ethan arrived, shoving to see who got through the door first. Ethan ended up just in front, and he brushed a hand across the sliver of skin between my jeans and shirt before he took a seat too.

Brodie dropped a kiss on my cheek. “Bestie, this looks amazing! Marry me?”

Rolling my eyes, I shoved him away. “You know it’s illegal to have more than one wife, right? Sure you want to tie yourself down?”

“For you, I’d tie myself to anything. Mostly the bed, but also other things.”

Ethan laughed, and I was relieved to replace that he looked amused by the shit coming out of Brodie’s mouth.

When the three of them were seated, I glanced toward the door, wondering if the other two were still in the house. With a sigh, I almost gave up and sat too, but then Haze appeared—silent, as always—and the relief I felt at seeing him was beyond just wanting him here for breakfast.

He intrigued me and occupied my thoughts far too often for a guy that was both a ghost and an enigma.

“I made breakfast,” I said stupidly. Fuck, Evelyn. Get it together.

Haze’s stoic expression wavered slightly as he nodded. “I know.”

That had me wondering if he’d known before I called them into the room.

As he took a seat, Ethan shouted, “Connor!”

To my surprise, not even a second later, his brother strode into the room. He didn’t acknowledge me, or anyone else really, just took a seat beside Andrew and immediately started to fill his plate.

Yep, he wasn’t going to make it easy, but I was determined that by the time our punishment here was done, I’d win over everyone in this house.

I’d be the best fucking housemate they’d ever had in their lives, and they’d wonder how they ever lived without me.