Forced Proximity (Bluebell House Duet Book 1)
Forced Proximity: Chapter 39

My lungs burned, my legs ached, and I thought for sure my head was about to explode simply from how hard my blood was pounding through my brain. Surely this wasn’t survivable. Something must be wrong. Maybe I was dying?

“Come on, brat, you’ve barely done two miles,” Connor drawled, catching up to where I was currently bent double and wheezing like a pack-a-day smoker.

I gasped a few times before summoning the breath to respond. “Fuck you, Connie.”

Lacey snickered, not even slightly out of breath as she waited for me to catch my wind. I was sweating so freaking much, and my face was hotter than the surface of the sun. Was running always this awful? When Lacey asked if I wanted to go “jogging,” I had pictured a nice casual outing barely any faster than a brisk walk where we could chat and enjoy ourselves. Not this military-level marathon-training bullshit with Connor tailing us the whole way.

A sharp smack on my rear end made me yelp and straighten up with shock. “What the fuck?” I exclaimed in a strangled voice, glaring at Connor. Did he seriously just smack my ass in front of his girlfriend?

He shrugged. “Told you not to call me that. Come on, we’re not even halfway, get moving.”

My eyes narrowed in a glare. “Why are you even here? No one invited you.”

“And yet, the last time you went wandering the grounds surrounding Meadowridge, you got kidnapped. So consider me your safety blanket, trauma bestie.” He folded his thickly muscled arms over his chest and I tried really hard not to check them out. His arms or his chest or those ridiculous amount of abs. Why wasn’t he wearing a shirt for fuck’s sake?

Lacey sighed and handed me a water bottle from the little backpack she’d worn. Apparently she knew what sort of endurance we were getting into and had failed to inform me. “Here, drink some water. We can take it slower from here, okay? I just got a bit caught up in the zone.”

“Fuck that,” Connor disagreed. “It’s about time Evelyn learned how to run as though her life depends on it. Someday, maybe it will.” His hard look my way made me shiver, reminding me I’d recently been kidnapped.

“Maybe,” I mumbled, dropping my gaze to my feet with embarrassment. “It wouldn’t hurt to lose a few pounds anyway. Let’s keep going, Lacey.”

She frowned, glancing between me and Connor for a moment, then nodded and put the water bottles away. “Okay, just let me know when you want a break.”

She set off once more, but Connor grabbed my wrist before I could follow her. “To be perfectly fucking clear, brat, you do not need to lose any weight. You just need better survivability. That’s all. If anything, you should eat more.”

Scowling and a little off-balance, I jerked my wrist free of his grip. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

His lips twisted in a smirk and his gaze turned borderline seductive. “It means—” He cut himself off with a headshake. “Nothing. Just…let’s catch up to Lacey.”

With that confusing interaction, he gestured for me to run ahead and followed from the rear, just like he had for the last two miles. As if he thought something was going to snatch me right off the path. Or Lacey, for that matter. Maybe since her family was in a similar business as Connor’s, she could also be in permanent danger from creeps like Elijah?

Somehow, I survived another two miles trailing a long way behind Lacey’s perfect activewear-clad ass before I tripped on a rock and fell face-first into the dirt. Instinctively I put my hands out to try and catch my fall, but that just resulted in a jarring pain through my wrist and multiple lacerations on my palms and knees.

“Ow,” I moaned, lying still for a moment to mentally curse my own clumsy feet. Also, my whole damn body hurt from that tumble.

Connor caught up in a flash, skidding to a stop and dropping to his knees beside where I lay. “What the hell happened?” he demanded, seeming…angry?

“What the fuck do you think happened, Connie?” I snapped back, angry simply for the fact that he was angry. Fuck him and his attitude—I was the one bleeding. “Clearly I decided I was so done with running and figured I’d deliberately trip over a rock to break my own ankle.”

His eyes widened with visible concern. “Is it broken? Let me see.”

“No, it’s not broken, you asshole,” I growled, swatting him away as I sat up to inspect the damage. “I just tripped. Not a big fucking deal. People trip all the time.”

He scowled back at me. “Why are you snapping at me like this was my fault? You really are a brat, you know that?”

My jaw dropped. “Me? You’re the one who came at me all growly when I’d just hurt myself. Where’s the compassion, Connie? You’d be the worst nurse in the history of nurses.”

Barking at him helped me ignore the pain in my palms and knees. I’d somehow managed to graze myself in multiple locations, and the blood was oozing down my legs while the stinging pain burned right through me. Grazes fucking sucked but they weren’t exactly life-threatening.

Connor sighed heavily. “Brat…you know me well enough by now: compassion isn’t in my nature.” And yet, he scooped a gentle arm around my back and lifted me to stand. “Can you walk?”

I gave an irritated sound. “Of course I can fucking walk.” Sort of. Okay, it was more of a limp, but when Connor tried to carry me, I pushed him away so hard I nearly fell on my ass all over again.

Lacey, thank goodness, had been far enough ahead when I fell that she probably assumed I’d stopped for another breather break. One person to witness my clumsy shit was more than enough, it was just a shame it had to be Connor.

When I took another limping step forward, the wince appeared on my lips before I could prevent it, and Connor cursed as he wrapped his hands around my waist. This time, when I batted his hands away, he completely ignored me, leaning down to scoop me up against his chest.

“You can’t carry me all the way back,” I snarled, trying not to think about how easily he held me and how good it felt to be in his arms. This trauma bond was really the fucking worst.

Connor shook his head. “Your sense of direction is as solid as your ability to run without injuring yourself. We’re almost back to Bluebell. Look—” I gasped as he lifted my entire body to the right, as a way to indicate direction. “There’s the edge of the garden and tree off to the side.”

Sure enough, we’d been going in a loop, and I’d been too busy trying not to die to notice. With a huff, I crossed my arms and settled back with the full intention of ignoring Connor completely.

“I was going to tell you about Lacey,” he said after a minute of silent walking. “It’s just…complicated. Not to mention, we haven’t been trauma besties for that long, and I know fuck-all about your life, so I don’t think it’s as big a deal as you’re making it.”

Men really were the stupidest creatures on this earth. “Not knowing that I hate olives and have a fear of continuous rolling waves isn’t the same as not knowing I’m in a fucking relationship, Connor. Yeah, we weren’t dating or fooling around or anything, and I get that the one time we kissed I thought you were your brother, but having a girlfriend is a big deal. I would have treated you differently. I’d have looked at you differently. We should never have gotten to this place.”

Oh, god. Shut the fuck up, Eve.

Sharing my deeper emotions with Connor was a huge mistake. He couldn’t be trusted, and I’d just been figuring out how to distance myself from whatever bond had been building between us before Lacey returned. Finding myself in his arms now was highly inconvenient. Especially when it caused my mouth to run away with me.

Connor stopped walking, his gaze blazing as he stared down at me. “What place are you talking about?”

Nope. Not a fucking chance. “Put me down. The house is right there, and I can walk the rest of the way.”

With a shake of his head, he ignored me once more and strode up the stairs and straight inside. He called out when we entered, and I could have smacked him up the side of the head. I did not need the others here witnessing my shame as well. It’d be bad enough when Connor told them what happened.

Footsteps sounded from behind us and we turned to replace Lacey racing into the house after finally realizing I wasn’t just taking a break. “Holy shit, Evie. What happened?”

Her expression was threaded with concern and not the slightest annoyance that her boyfriend carried me like a damsel in distress. “She tripped and hurt herself,” Connor said shortly, turning away from Lacey to head for the living area. “Can you grab a first-aid kit from under the kitchen sink? I think Haze stashed one there. I need to get her cleaned up.”

Haze had put the kit back there after rebandaging my hand last night, but that didn’t mean I needed Connor’s help as well.

“I can clean myself up,” I called in a rush. “In fact, I’m feeling much better overall. Think it was just a shock.”

“Nice try, brat,” Connor said with a snort of laughter. “But you’re quite possibly the worst liar I’ve ever met in my life. Everything you feel is displayed clear as day on your face for the world to enjoy.”

I really really hoped he was kidding about that, because I couldn’t be out here with feelings for multiple men clear on my face. That’d be highly inconvenient.

Lacey patted my arm. “Let Connie help you, Evie. He’s really good at this shit. He’s been patching up members of his family for years.”

Connor made a rumbling sound of annoyance. “Enough with story time. Go and get the fucking kit.”

Lacey just laughed lightly, not at all fazed by his cranky ass as she raced off. Meanwhile, I again wanted to smack him upside of the head, but my palm was too injured, so I settled on a jab from my elbow. “That was rude, Connor,” I told him coolly. “She’s a good person and doesn’t deserve you talking to her like she’s unimportant and annoying. Don’t fucking do it.”

He blinked at me, our gazes clashing for many long seconds as if he couldn’t quite process that I’d admonished his behavior. “You think she can do better than me?” he finally said, moving toward the couch and taking a seat.

I tried to wiggle out his arms at this point, but he just tightened his hold, keeping me in his lap.

“I think you can do better than treating her like that,” I shot back. “Your girlfriend should come first, you know. And that includes her emotions. You might think you’re covering all bases by protecting her from other people, but what about from you? Don’t be the guy she needs protecting from. If you can’t be better, then don’t be surprised if she replaces better.”

He still stared at me with that unreadable and unwavering expression. Thankfully, before it got way more awkward, Lacey raced back in with a red bag in her hands. “Found it. It was hidden behind some cleaning supplies. Andrew has really gone all out on the full cleaning kit.”

My lips twitched because, in this case, it was actually Connor, trying to add ease to his best friend’s life. I’d seen how well he could show love and knew he was capable of being an amazing boyfriend. I just couldn’t figure out why he didn’t do it for Lacey, when she was so deserving of an epic, forever love.