Forced Proximity (Bluebell House Duet Book 1)
Forced Proximity: Chapter 15

I drifted off during our third true-crime story, and when I woke up, I was instantly reminded of my nightmares and how awkwardly Andrew had been trying to comfort me. More than that, I wondered how long this would go on before one of the guys demanded to know why I was a bit messed up in the head.

Unless they already knew, which would explain why none of them pushed me for more information. At least, if they knew, we were all on the same page of not talking about it.

Not keen to chat about the night, I ducked out of the house before anyone else was up, and when Ethan asked where I was in the group chat, I made up a lame excuse about working on my assignments.

Not that I was about to head for the library, which was our place, so I decided to camp out in Nina’s room for the day. She was heading off-campus to go shopping with some of her friends but was more than happy to lend me her desk.

In the morning, I worked on my assignments and even read ahead in several classes. I grabbed an early lunch at the dining hall and took it back to Nina’s room, then spent the next few hours reading a book on my e-reader, with my phone turned off.

Nina came back in the early evening with pizza and sodas, and we ate on her floor while she told me all about her day, then showed me her stacks and stacks of new purchases. The girl had a closet to rival the Vogue magazine wardrobe, I was sure of it.

“What time is it?” I asked when I was so full of pizza I could barely move.

Nina grabbed my phone off her desk, then frowned. “Why’s your phone off? Did you need to charge it?”

“No, I just…didn’t want to be bothered while I was reading.” I shrugged, like it was a totally normal thing and absolutely not because I was embarrassed to face my hot housemates.

“That explains why you didn’t reply about your favorite pizza toppings,” she replied, passing my phone to me.

I powered it up, then groaned a little at how many messages popped up on the group chat notification.

Five-minute gap.

Another five minutes.

An hour time gap.

That message was sent at five thirty and it was now nine forty-five. Whoops.

At seven thirty, there was another message received but it wasn’t in the group chat.

Groaning, I rubbed my eyes. These guys were a lot.

“What’s up?” Nina asked, tidying up our pizza boxes.

I sighed, remembering my NDA. “Nothing. Just…house drama.”

She chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Someone left hair in the drain and Andrew Knightsbridge had an aneurysm?”

I grinned, picturing that scenario. “Something like that. Anyway, I should go. Thanks for letting me steal your room all day. It was nice to be alone.”

“Anytime,” she replied, “it’s the least I can do. Hold up, let me text Sven to walk you home through those creepy woods.”

Those creepy woods were supposed to be totally safe, considering they were within the campus grounds and therefore also within the security bubble. But I wouldn’t object to having someone to walk with, especially after the nightmare I’d had last night.

My phone dinged as I packed up my stuff, and I glanced at the new message.

I stared at the message a moment, shocked, then smiled as a warm, fuzzy feeling swirled inside and I replied to accept his offer.

“No need to bother Sven,” I told Nina. “Haze is heading that way now. I can walk with him.”

Nina’s brows shot right the fuck up. “Okay…”

Great. Just great.

I gave Nina a quick hug, then made my way downstairs to replace Haze already waiting outside the building.

“Did you skip dinner at the house too?” I asked him by way of greeting.

His eyes traced over me briefly, as if checking I was in one piece, before he said, “No one misses family dinner.”

Ah, fuck. I really was going to be in trouble when we got back, but it wasn’t my fault Andrew didn’t lay out the rules of the house beforehand. I couldn’t possibly be expected to know about their Sunday dinners.

“Wait. How long have you all been having Sunday dinners together?”

Their personas at college weren’t lining up with what I saw in the house. Behind closed doors, they acted like men who had a long history with each other and were more brothers than friends.

So what was with all the fighting on campus, and why did we all end up in that house together?

“You ask a lot of questions,” Haze said.

“It was exactly one question,” I said with an eye roll. “Are you going to answer it?”

“Nope.” Haze started to walk, and I had to hurry a little to keep up with his long legs, even though he wasn’t particularly hurrying.

“At least you don’t lie,” I muttered.

He stopped suddenly, and I almost crashed into him, which would have been a disaster. I hadn’t even realized I’d been walking in his shadow, not leaving enough space between us. “I’ll never lie to you, Eve,” he said seriously, as I sidled around to stand beside him. “But that doesn’t mean you will always want to hear the truth.”

“There have been a lot of liars in my life, Haze.” My father, for one, was very good at leaving me in the dark, oftentimes literally, as he shoved me wherever he needed me at the time. “So I appreciate the truth. I respect your decision not to tell me about your relationship with the other guys. But be aware, I know that all of you are not enemies. I’m not stupid.”

There was the faintest flicker of a smirk at the corners of his mouth. “Never thought you were. Now, let’s get you home so Andrew can lose his shit and get over it.”

Forcing myself not to groan out loud, I said, “I already have two father figures. I absolutely don’t need a third.”

This time there was no mistaking Haze’s smile. “Knightsbridge might be the worst of the lot.”

At this point I really hoped he was joking, but I got the sense that he was dead fucking serious.

We made it back to the house without incident, and I shuddered at how creepy the place looked in the dark. We were slowly working on improving and updating the interior, but the exterior was still the epitome of a haunted mansion.

Haze reached the door and held it open for me, and I took extra care not to touch him as we passed. Weirdly, there was a pull between us when we got closer, and it took more effort than I’d expected to maintain the distance. Whatever had passed between us in our shared time last night had created a connection my body wanted to explore.

Another freaking connection.

It was hard because my trauma and hormones didn’t understand a person’s preference not to be touched, but thankfully, my brain remained in charge.

At least for now.

Inside, the whole house was lit up, and I was no longer thinking about Haze. Nope. I was mentally preparing myself for the wrath of Andrew Knightsbridge.

“Think I can make a break for my room before he replaces me?” I muttered, and the big guy’s eyes softened in what I hoped was amusement. He was a tough egg to crack, that was for sure.

“You can certainly try,” he said right as I heard a yell.

“Not a fucking chance, Evelyn Lewis. Get your ass into the living room. Now!”

Jesus Christ. Who the hell did Andrew think he was? My voice rose as I yelled back, “I’ve already explained to Haze, but here it is again. You’re not my father, and I’m not part of your family, so there’s no obligation on my part to be at any arranged dinner.”

He appeared in the doorway, and I wondered how he got those perfectly pressed creases in his striped and monogrammed pj’s. Did he have a secret butler hiding in the walls or something? A house elf, maybe?

“Good evening, Evelyn,” he said formally, looking me over, and I could have sworn there was a flash of worry in his expression before he smoothed it over. “Can we please have a quick word in the living area?”

He’d somehow calmed himself after his first shouted sentence and was now ultra-polite and intimidating. It would have been more impressive had it not been directed my way.

“Absolutely, Andrew Knightsbridge. It’d be my honor.”

He grimaced as he waved a hand for me to proceed first. A quick glance over my shoulder, and I found that Haze still stood in the same spot, watching our exchange. There was the sense that he debated if he should come along and save me.

Had that been what last night was about too? Haze saving me from my nightmares?

I’d assumed he just couldn’t sleep either, but as I spent more time with him, I found that Haze was popping up a lot right when I needed him.

In the end, no one followed me as I marched behind Andrew into the living area. We stood close enough for me to see the flare of green in his hazel eyes, and there was a simmering sort of fury tangled up in his expression now. “It’s common courtesy,” he stated formally, “to let your housemates know when you’re dropping off the radar for a full day. For all we knew, you’d been kidnapped and murdered, and we didn’t have a clue where to even start looking for your body.”

Morbid but not out of the realm of possibility considering I still bore the scars of a bullet through my back.

“Okay,” I said, keeping my argumentative desires under wraps. “I promise not to do it again.”

Andrew scowled. “Okay?”

I nodded. “Okay. Is that all?”

Confusion creased his perfectly handsome face, and amusement bubbled in my chest. He’d 100 percent come at me full-throttle expecting a blow-out argument, and I’d given him nothing. Diddly squat. No ammunition.

“Um…” He blinked a couple of times, squinting at me like I’d grown a second head. “Yeah. That’s all, I guess. Just don’t miss Sunday dinner again.”

“You mean family dinner,” I corrected, unable to help myself. That’s what he’d called it, even though they were all “enemies.”

Andrew’s confused gaze shot from me to Haze somewhere behind me, then back again. “Yes. Family dinner.”

I shrugged. “Got it. Can I go to bed now, or did you want to bend me over your knee and spank my ass for ignoring your messages?” Whoops, there went my plan to not poke the bear.

Whatever I thought Andrew’s response was going to be, it sure as fuck wasn’t the heated flush in his cheeks. I definitely hadn’t anticipated the way his pupils dilated, and his gaze flicked down my body like he was considering how that scene might play out.

Shocked, I took a step back, which snapped him out of…whatever that was.

“Funny,” he muttered with a brittle smile. “You can go.”

Dismissed. Literally. I was more than fine with it, though, scurrying up the stairs like my ass was on fire. To my surprise, my room was all put back together. The floors looked amazing, and instead of painting the walls, they’d hung wallpaper. Way less fumes, and it meant I could safely close and lock my door.

Thank fuck for that stiff, old passage lock.