Forced Proximity (Bluebell House Duet Book 1)
Forced Proximity: Chapter 4

By some stroke of luck, I managed to avoid running into Ethan for the rest of the week. Connor and I literally didn’t cross paths after that café incident, so that was a relief, but Andrew seemed unusually persistent.

By the following Monday, it was starting to draw attention in a bad way…mostly from his girlfriend, Laura Sandiconte, who’d taken an instant dislike to me when Andrew insisted I join them for coffee—even though I’d declined and taken my order to go.

Which was why I had seriously considered faking a stomach flu when he sat down beside me in my most dreaded class: Economics of Crime.

“You don’t mind if I sit here, do you?” Andrew murmured, keeping his voice low as Ethan—Professor Sullivan—started the lecture in his strong, commanding voice, not even bothering to use a microphone to be heard. Hot.

I wet my lips, tearing my eyes from the thirst-trap teacher and refocusing on Andrew. Gorgeous, up-tight Andrew, son of the president, and inexplicably determined to be my friend despite how irate his stuck-up girlfriend was about it. “I…um…no, it’s fine. Sorry.”

He quirked a brow, seeming like he wanted to ask something more but the bang on the lecture hall door opening and closing distracted us both.

“Brodie, how nice of you to join us,” Ethan drawled, pausing the presentation he’d just started on the huge screen. “And almost on time, too. You’ve only missed four days of the semester so far.”

The dashing blond who’d just sauntered into the class flashed a toothy grin. “Don’t get used to it, Eth, it’ll only get worse from here.”

My jaw dropped as he started up the stairs and I got a good look of him. This guy I definitely recognized. “Holy shit,” I whispered. “Is that⁠—?”

Andrew gave a small groan, shifting in his seat. “I take it you’re a superhero fan, then?”

I gaped at the late arrival who continued casually strolling up the stairs, looking for an available seat, then glanced back at Andrew. “You’re not? That’s…that’s Brodie Keller,” I squeaked in a hushed whisper. “He’s the Bloodstone Sentinel⁠—”

“Trust me, I’m well aware of his fictional alter ego,” Andrew muttered. “He doesn’t let us forget.”

My breath caught in my chest as Brodie Keller—superhero heartthrob and drop-dead-gorgeous icon—looked my way. For a second our gazes locked and he ground to an immediate halt. Color drained from his golden skin like he’d just seen a ghost, and then he shook it off, a smile breaking through whatever had shocked him as he approached and took the vacant seat on my other side.

That was super weird. Maybe I had something on my face? Or maybe my crazy obsession with his superhero character was written all over me and he was scared of a crazy fan girl? Nah. He wouldn’t sit beside me if that was the case.

“’Sup, new girl,” he drawled, propping his designer sneakers up on the seat in front. “I like your hair.”

Blink, dammit! Blink and breathe, Evelyn, stop gaping like a starstruck fool!

Forcing myself to look away, I glanced to the locks of purple-washed brunette draped over my shoulders. He likes my hair? Holy shit, I could die happy right now.

“Why are you sitting here, Keller?” Andrew asked in a low growl, his eyes narrowed. “This isn’t⁠—”

“Because the new girl is sitting here, and I wanted to say hi. Hello. I’m Brodie.”

Almost choking on my own breath, I nodded like a bobble head. “I know. You’re⁠—”

“Brodie!” Ethan’s voice barked from the front of the room, making me physically jump in my seat. “If your only purpose in attending class is to distract Miss Lewis, then you can leave. Some students actually attend this school to learn something.”

Brodie Keller—the fucking star—didn’t even seem the slightest bit humbled by our teacher, seemingly totally relaxed in his seat beside me. “Cool story, Eth.”

The green-eyed wet dream lecturing our class just scowled, then shifted his gaze to me in a way that made me squirm in my seat. Focusing on my notes seemed like a much better option, so I tucked my head and tapped out a few nonsense words on my laptop to act like I’d been paying attention all along.

Thankfully, both Brodie and Andrew seemed to take the hint that I was trying to concentrate and stayed mostly quiet for the rest of class. My notes on Ethan’s lecture were a goddamn tragedy, though, making very little sense thanks to how scattered my mind was for the whole hour. The only small mercy was that I didn’t get called on to answer any deeply thought-provoking questions, as I would have one hundred percent embarrassed myself.

When the class finished, I packed up my stuff at lightning speed, intending to escape the class before I could do or say anything stupid.

“Miss Lewis,” Ethan said as I impatiently waited for Brodie to get out of my way so I could flee. “Can you stay behind for a moment?”

Oh god. I knew I’d avoided this confrontation for far too long, and it was bound to happen sooner or later. But fuck, couldn’t we just pretend it’d never happened and move on with our lives?

Probably not, considering how I kept thinking about it. Damn him for being so hot and such a great kisser. It’s like I’d formed an addiction in just the brief time our lips had locked, and now I was forcing myself through a cold-turkey withdrawal. Weird.

“Um.” I wet my lips, unable to just ignore him entirely as he waited by the door while students filed out. “No.”

His brows hitched as I descended the stairs toward where he stood. “No?”

I shook my head, searching for a plausible excuse. “No. Sorry. I have…a thing. I can’t be late. Sorry.”

“A…thing?” he repeated, seeming equally confused and amused.

I nodded, sticking with my lame excuse. “Yeah.” Sometimes the best lies had the least details. Less to pick apart.

Ethan’s jaw tightened like he wanted to call bullshit, and maybe flex his authority to force me to stay. But then his lips twitched in a ghost of a smile and he sighed. “All right then. Have a good day, Miss Lewis. I’m sure we can speak another time…in the library perhaps?”

Fuck a goddamn duck, is he flirting?

Panicked, I just nodded. “I do like libraries.”

Ethan’s smile spread wider and became somewhat wicked. “As do I.”

“Ahem.” Andrew fake coughed beside me. “Eve, didn’t you have a thing to get to?”

I jerked a little, realizing I was getting a little lost in Ethan’s gaze and glanced around. The class had almost entirely emptied in those few moments, and I was very close to having that private chat with the teacher after all.

“Yep!” I squeaked, hugging my bag to my chest. “See ya next week, Professor Sullivan.” Academic distance. That’s what we needed.

“Or in the library,” Ethan murmured as I hurried past, and it took a lot of concentration not to trip over my own feet.

Andrew kept pace with me as I hauled ass out of the building; Brodie had disappeared already. At least that was one less thing to stress me out. I never thought I’d be the fan-girling type, but I also never thought I’d be meeting Brodie freaking Keller in real life.

“So where’s the thing you need to get to?” Andrew asked when we started down the cobblestone path.

The imaginary thing that I absolutely did not have on my schedule? I only had one other class on Mondays, and it wasn’t until later in the afternoon so my only plan was to meet Nina and her friends for lunch.

Thankfully I was saved making up a lie when Andrew’s girlfriend called out from across the immaculate lawn. “Andrew! Over here!” She waved at him, her expression pinched even at a distance, and I bit back a smile. She really didn’t like me.

“You better go,” I said, gesturing. “Bye.”

Andrew frowned but murmured a farewell and started across the grass to where his friends all sat under an old oak tree.

As pretty as he was, I wasn’t interested in breaking up the future of American politics. No fucking thank you. The Sandiconte family was likely to put a hit out on me if I threatened their little girl’s perfect relationship, and I’d already survived one near-death experience. Which was more than enough.

A shiver ran through me as my mind skipped back six months to the attack…to the utter terror I’d experienced while hiding from a gun-wielding psychopath. The pain that had ripped through me when his bullet found my back as I tried to run…

“Stop it,” I hissed to myself, pinching the bridge of my nose in an attempt to keep the waking nightmares at bay. Beneath my shirt, my scar itched. “You’re alive. You’re safe.”

That was the whole point of transferring to Meadowridge after all. For safety…because although I’d survived the attack, the gunman wasn’t caught, and his motives remained a myster⁠—

Boom!

The sound came just a split second before the impact, which knocked the air from my lungs and my feet from the ground. A forceful blast tossed me through the air moments before my tense body smacked into the grass so hard it rattled my brain inside my skull.

What the fuck?

“Ow,” I moaned, blinking against the stars dancing in front of my eyes.

“Evelyn!” someone shouted, but it was dim through the ringing in my ears.

Holy shit, had something exploded? My vision swam but it soon became clear that I was on the grass, surrounded by what seemed like chunks of brick. That explained the all-over body-bruise sensation.

Someone skidded to their knees in front of where I lay, their huge hands cupping my face ever so gently, and it took a moment to recognize who it was.

“Ethan,” I groaned. “What happened?”

“You’re conscious,” he said, sounding out of breath. “That’s good. Can you move your legs?”

I frowned, my head still ringing. “I’m not paralyzed.” At least, I didn’t think I was. My left leg was hurting a whole lot and I doubted I’d be able to feel that if I were. To prove my point, I pulled away from his gentle touch and sat up.

“Evelyn, fuck, you shouldn’t—” Ethan protested, his handsome face wrought with worry.

“I’m fine,” I growled, angry at the intense waves of fear rolling through me, at the way my skin was covered in a cold sweat. In the back of my mind, I could hear echoes of the taunts of my attacker from six months ago. “What happened? Was it… Did someone…?” I couldn’t even form the sentence out loud.

Did someone just try to kill me?

Because if yes, then I needed to get the fuck out of here ASAP.

“Explosion in the chemistry lab,” Ethan replied with a flick of his hand toward the smoking rubble of a classroom. “We need to get you to the medical center. Can you stand?”

I was pretty sure yes, but when I pushed to my feet, the whole world tilted dramatically. Before I could eat grass, though, Ethan caught me in his strong grip, sweeping me up into his arms.

“That’s a no to standing,” he murmured, seemingly to himself. “You could be concussed.”

He started walking with me cradled in his arms, and for a moment I panicked about what people would think. Surely this was setting off alarm bells about inappropriate student-teacher conduct? But then I glanced around to replace the entire campus in chaos. Security guards in dark suits swarmed the students, guns at the ready as they assessed any potential threats.

“Holy shit,” I whispered. “That’s different.”

Ethan just grunted and shook his head. “Protecting the VIP students first, regardless of who was in actual danger.”

It made sense, though. An explosion goes off in the general vicinity of the president’s son, of course they’ll think it’s a targeted attack on literally anyone except a nobody like me. In this case, I hoped Ethan was right and that it was just an accident.

“Don’t worry, Evelyn,” Ethan murmured. “I’ve got you.”

God damn it straight to hell, why was he making it so hard not to like him?

“Eve,” I mumbled, the pounding in my head so intense I needed to close my eyes. “Call me Eve.”

He gave a small, husky laugh. “More like Lilith than Eve with lips like that.”

Shock rendered me speechless so I just kept my eyes shut and pretended I hadn’t fucking heard that because holy hell. What was this man doing to me?!