Forced Proximity (Bluebell House Duet, #1)

by Jaymin Eve

“I changed my mind,” I finally said, my voice rough and husky. Ethan lifted his head slightly, his body tensing. “Oh?” I grinned into the darkness. “Mm-hmm. I decided storms are actually pretty great after all.”

“Cheeky girl,” he muttered. “But I agree. Storms are my new favorite weather event. I hope it storms every night forever.” Every night. Forever.

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

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.”

“Bro, Eve’s missing!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Eth!”

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.

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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

“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,”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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?”

and all I could focus on was what it felt like to have Ethan’s head buried between my legs and⁠— “What are you thinking about?”

Something dirty, I’ll bet.” Brodie. Shit. Now I was thinking about his kiss and whether it was a one-off. What would he do if I leaned in right now and⁠— “Shut up,” Andrew hissed from my other side. “Some of us don’t have an automatic passing grade in this class.”

Because Drew looks shitty in a dress…and

“No,” he said firmly to Brodie, leaning forward to glare over me. “And I’d look fantastic in a dress. I look fantastic in everything.”

“You can go, Brodie. I only want Ms. Lewis.” Brodie slung his arm around my shoulders in an almost possessive way. “I just bet you do.”

“and how impressive it is that he knows every lyric of Taylor’s full set list. Not even I could nail all the eras like that.”

“Yes, well, he’s been to at least ten of the concerts. You should see his friendship bracelet collection.”

“More hot, I mean. The man is straight fire. Eve, you’d know⁠—” “Oh!”

“Con loves to sing Taylor Swift, huh?” I grinned. “I didn’t hear you denying it. In fact, I heard you adding fuel to the fire. Besides, if I can’t tell my friends anything true…why not make some shit up? It’s harmless.”

“You’re a nosy, annoying brat, and I will figure out how to punish you for this. But that won’t work if you pass out and die right now. So I need you to calm the fuck down. Now.”

“Excuse you. For one thing, it wasn’t an abuse of power. I kissed him the first time because I had no idea that he was a teacher.”

“Oh, for another thing, I wouldn’t let you kiss me even if I were about to pass out from hyperventilation.”

“Evelyn, shut your eyes and cover your ears,” he ordered, his voice like ice.

“What? Connor, you⁠—” “Do it, brat!” he barked, and I instantly obeyed.

“Come on, snap out of it!” a deep, gruff voice ordered. My eyelids fluttered in confusion. Green eyes framed with dark lashes met mine and my reality blurred. “Ethan?” His eyes widened and my whole body quaked in relief. “Holy shit, Ethan—”

then my lips were on his. My lifeline, pulling me from the depths of my trauma yet again.

He seemed startled but quickly wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close as he dominated my mouth with his own, stitching our very souls together with each stroke of his tongue. Rather than just pulling me from the darkness of my own mind, he kissed me like he was drowning, and I was his only hope for survival. A low moan rolled through me as I reached for...

Nausea ripped through me like a freight train and I scrambled on hands and knees to the nearest bush to vomit. “That’s a first,”

“You murdered that man,” I said out loud, turning my face to stare at Connor in disbelief. “You shot him. In the head. He was unarmed and⁠—” “And he deserved it,” Connor replied, utterly unrepentant. “Don’t cry over spilled milk. He’s done worse to plenty of better people.”

“Absolutely the fuck not. Nothing happened, Connor. Nothing. I never ever want to talk about it, and so help me if you tell Andrew—or Ethan—that we kissed, I will cut your dick off and make you swallow it.” His lips twitched, then curved into a full-blown grin. “Vicious brat. I meant your panic attack. You’ve got some real trauma with guns, huh?” Oh.

“Lilith,” he breathed, and there was no hiding the fine lines framing his tired face. “Fuck, sweetheart. I’ve been worried out of my mind about you.”

gasped against his lips, about to protest, but his tongue dove between my parted mouth and I was lost. It wasn’t until Brodie’s soft laughter startled us both from the kiss that he pulled away, and I sucked in air embarrassingly loud.

“My turn,” Brodie said, and despite his laughter from before, his expression was uncharacteristically somber as he took me in. I had no idea what I looked like but no doubt I was a disaster, my hair everywhere, and covered in dirt from being shoved into a trunk. Brodie didn’t appear to care as he moved Ethan out of the way, who to my surprise didn’t protest, and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me full-bodily off the ground. His kiss was gentler but no less demanding, as he too slid his tongue against mine, devouring

“Maybe I should get kidnapped more often.”

“And from now on, there are rules—rules you will follow.” “Or what?” I shot back. “Going to spank me? You wouldn’t have the balls.”

“What are you doing out here?” He flinched, his forehead bunching. “You locked your door.”

“You were having a nightmare, Eve. I’ve been sitting outside your door for hours listening to you cry and scream, and I couldn’t get in to help you.

“I was doing so much better with the nightmares when I first started school”—minus first day panic attacks—“but anything with guns triggers me right back to my past. I won’t lock my door again at night or maybe we can get you a key cut.”

Another muffled scream came through the door, and I jerked forward, reaching for the handle. “It’s locked,”

“She always locks it when she’s pissed off.”

“Eve? It’s Haze. Can we talk?” No response. Brodie gave a heavy sigh, sliding his back down the wall until his butt met the floor. “She’s asleep, bro. Though I’m tempted to kick the door down, because I’m not sure how much longer I can listen to her sobs without losing my mind.”

Eth and Brodes both kissed her when we got back.” I said it like I wouldn’t have if I were in their shoes. I would’ve.

“Excuse me? Brodie did what?” I rolled my eyes. “As if you’re shocked. I’ll go sort out some dinner in case Eve wakes up.” Another grunt from Connor. “She likes pasta.”