Forced Proximity (Bluebell House Duet Book 1)
Forced Proximity: Chapter 38

“Well, don’t you look rested and refreshed.”

I spun around to replace Nina with her hands on her low-rider jeans, staring me up and down. “I swear, this is the first time I’ve seen you without designer bags under your eyes. It’s a nice freaking look on you, girl.”

With a shake of my head, I had to laugh. “I know there’s a compliment in there somewhere.”

She waved me off. “You know you’re hot. You just always have that burning the candle at both ends vibe going on. And you pull it the hell off, which only makes me hate you a little.” Her expression softened. “But it is nice to see you so well rested.”

If only she knew that all it had taken was ten orgasms, a cock in my ass, and spooning between two hot-as-sin men all night. As per previous nights with my guys, I’d slept without a single nightmare between Brodie and Ethan. One of them was a sprawler, the other was a cuddler, and yet somehow, it had been the most comfortable sleep I’d had in years.

“Wanna grab some lunch?” I asked, my stomach rumbling as a reminder that we’d raced out the house without breakfast this morning. I might have slept well, but I’d also slept late. Again.

Nina groaned and glanced quickly at her phone. “Look, I’ve got twenty minutes. Let’s rush.”

Holding my bag against my side, we moved fast across the courtyard, dodging around the groups of students catching up and already eating lunch. We were almost at the cafeteria doors when a familiar, lanky bitch stepped into our path, and I had to grind to a halt.

Laura eyed me up and down, and I noticed she was dressed to impress today in a rich-bitch suit, including a short pink skirt, white blouse, and matching pink tartan jacket. Her knee-high black boots finished the ensemble.

“We need to talk, whore,” she said casually, and it was delivered in such a refined manner that it took me a second to register the insult.

“Did you want me to arrange another nose job?” I shot back just as casually. “Because I could probably fit you in.”

Nina laughed before coughing to cover it up. She might have been the one who’d actually arranged the first one, but I was okay with taking the credit for it now.

Laura’s face darkened. “You have no idea who you’re fucking with, but I’m here to educate you. My father is the vice president. Second-in-fucking-command. Andrew and I were destined to be married before we were born, and I will not have some whore with loose morals, who’s fucking her way through Bluebell House, ruin my future. I’ll kill you first.”

As if they’d been waiting for this line, three of her blonde, ass-kissing friends stepped out from the cafeteria doors and joined Laura in a line of pastel suits.

Nina leaned over to me and whispered, “On Wednesdays, we wear hideous suits.”

My laughter couldn’t be contained, because this was absolutely giving me Mean Girls vibes. These bitches were fucking stereotypes of real humans.

“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about,” I finally said, too hungry to deal with this shit any longer. “I haven’t touched Andrew. In fact, Andrew and I are star-crossed enemies, and it’d have to be the apocalypse before we’d be desperate enough to consider each other a romantic partner.”

It wasn’t the whole truth. I was attracted to Andrew, physically at least. His personality was a whole other issue.

“You should write romance novels,” Nina offered as a friendly suggestion. “I could get behind the whole star-crossed enemies-to-lovers trope.”

“Not helping,” I replied quietly.

She didn’t appear to care, crossing her arms as she leveled a glare on Laura and her mean girl army. “Are we fucking done here?”

Laura stepped into me, and I flinched as she jabbed her pink-tipped nail right into my chest, shoving me back an inch. “I don’t fucking believe there’s nothing going on between you two.”

I was so damn confused. “Why? It’s the goddamn truth.”

“He called her your name during sex.”

Laura and I both swung around to face blonde number one, who had just blurted that out. The dark pink in Laura’s cheeks told me she was considering the ramifications of killing of her sycophants.

Nina’s laughter broke through the awkward tension as she doubled over and slapped a hand on her jean-covered knee. “Oh, that is absolute gold. Like, I had scenarios running through my head of how this was going to go, and it’s even better than I thought.”

Laura lost her shit then, the fury and embarrassment clearly too much as she lunged toward me, all of her claws out this time. Bracing myself for the strike, I gasped when a small chick darted in front and slammed her fist right into Laura Sandiconte’s face.

It took me a second to recognize Lacey, and I blinked as she squared up again. “How dare you touch my friend?” she snarled, her pretty features somehow prettier when she was furious. “Eve is the nicest person ever, and she wouldn’t touch Andrew with a ten-foot pole. She respects other people’s relationships.”

Ah, right. Awkward. I mean, in general, she was absolutely correct, and there really hadn’t been anything with Connor outside of a brief, confused kiss and some trauma bonding. Which was absolutely his fucking fault. He’d never told me he had a damn girlfriend.

Laura looked between Lacey and me. “What are you even doing back here?” she asked, her chest heaving as she clenched her fists. “Thought you were off being a patron saint or some shit.”

Lacey crossed her arms and stared her down, even though Laura was taller. “It’s none of your business. Just because you’re in an archaic arranged marriage with Drew, doesn’t mean you get to know anything about his friends.” She leaned in. “Which includes Eve. Don’t freaking forget that or you’ll replace that the arrangement”—she flicked her fingers in front of Laura’s face—“can go bye-bye that fast.”

Turning her back on the basic bitches, she stepped forward and linked her arm through mine, waving Nina over to join me on the other side. “Come on, girls. Let’s get some lunch.”

Inside, Lacey and I grabbed trays and food, and with Nina having to run to her class straightaway, I found myself staring at Lacey from where she sat across the table. “Thanks for that out there,” I said, meaning it. She’d stepped up and defended me when I’d done little except run away from her at every opportunity. I’d put my stupid embarrassment before replaceing a possible new friend, and that wasn’t who I was.

“Never liked Laura,” she said, wrinkling her little nose. “She’s only ever been interested in what she can get from a person. Chasing those with more power, money, or status than her, while belittling anyone beneath her. It’s the worst of the worst kind of chicks, and I could never stand by while one of my friends was being bullied.”

To my surprise, I reached out and briefly grasped her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. “If you ever need my help, I’m there for you. And…I’m happy that Connor and the guys have you in their lives as well. They all need someone in their corner.”

She waved me off while also looking a little teary. “Those five have been blood-brothers since they were in middle-school—and Ethan was in high school, obviously. They’ve never really needed anyone else in their lives.” She leaned closer. “Chicks have come and gone, with only a few of us sticking around, but we’re still always on the outside. If that makes sense. At the end of the day, I know that if Connie had to choose between me or one of his brothers, I wouldn’t like the end result.”

I pondered on her words for a moment, trying to figure out why it hadn’t felt that way for me. Maybe I just didn’t know these guys well enough, but I’d never gotten the impression that I was an outsider. Not even with Andrew, and we all knew how that asshole felt about me.

He called your name during sex. I mean, firstly, ew. Andrew and Bitch-face having sex turned my stomach, but secondly…why would he do that?

Lacey must have been watching the cascade of internal thoughts and emotions flitter across my face, as she patted my hand. “You make them different, Eve. I wanted to tell you the other night when I watched them with you, the way they all kind of orientate themselves around you, but I don’t think you’re just an annoyance like the rest of us.”

Swallowing hard, I couldn’t let myself believe her words. I’d already lost a lot in my life, and if I let myself fall into that fairy tale, I’d only set myself up for more hurt. “Why are they such good friends? Did they all go to school together?”

She shook her head, taking a bite of her pasta. “Nope, they met at summer camp. Would you believe it? Apparently they didn’t even grow up in the same state, but their parents all had the means to send them to one of those survival-style summer camps when they were around ten and eleven. Ethan was coincidentally there as an older camper too, even though he and Connie were estranged.”

I wanted to ask why they were estranged. I wanted to ask every fucking question. But the whole point of this friendship with Lacey wasn’t to grill her about the guys. They should be telling me their stories, and if they orientated themselves around me like Lacey appeared to think, they would have.

“The guys are weird with me,” I said, playing with my salad. “There’s been a lot of things they’ve done that haven’t made any sense, and I admit, I didn’t ask the right questions at the time. But…can I truly trust them? Their motivations? They made me sign an NDA for fuck’s sake, which means I can’t even tell you the shit that’s been happening.”

For the first time, the open expression that I was coming to associate with Lacey shuttered. “I trust them with my life, but as I said, they’re not very welcoming to outsiders. The fact that they moved you into Bluebell House with them…they would have had a reason, of that I have no doubt. But I don’t think it’d be the same reason they’d keep you there now. Does that make sense?”

It didn’t really because I didn’t have enough answers to believe what she said. “Connor never told you?”

She shook her head. “Yeah, he doesn’t tell me that much. We grew up together, you know. Our families run in the same circles, sort of not dissimilar to Drew and Sandy-cunt. It’s a comfortable relationship, but…” She cleared her throat. “Anyways, I was actually looking for you in the courtyard earlier to ask if you’d like to come dress shopping with me on Friday. I’ve got this huge event with my parents coming up, and I have nothing to wear after months overseas.”

“I’d love to,” I said, trying not to overthink what she’d almost said about her relationship with Connor. Now that I’d met Lacey, I had to stop thinking of him as anything to me other than an annoying housemate.

He wasn’t mine. He belonged to this kind, generous, caring woman, and I would never betray her trust by trying to steal her boyfriend.

Lacey’s face lit up as she bounced in her chair. “Oh, that’s so exciting. I don’t always love shopping, but if it’s with a great friend, then it changes the whole vibe.” She held out her phone to me. “What’s your number? I’ll figure out a time and let you know.”

I input my number quickly, and she shot me a message almost instantly so I had hers.

“And if you have any issue with Laura again,” Lacey said when we got to our feet, trays in hand, “let me know. I may not look scary, but trust me, she doesn’t want to mess with me. I will destroy that vapid bitch.”

I laughed. “I’m really happy you returned from Africa.”

Weirdly, I meant every word of it.