Page 36 of The Proximity Factor

Every day I was becoming more and more attracted to my roommate, even if he believed Pop-Tarts were a meal and not a dessert. The way he made me lemon water every morning and kept a tissue handy for me while we were watching Gilmore Girls, just in case I teared up, more than made up for his poor breakfast choices.

“Maybe next year he’ll actually join the team again,” I responded while still ogling Parker.

“I’m sure you’ll make sure he does,” Brynn sing-songed.

I turned my head toward Brynn and Anna, sitting close to me on the metal bleachers. They were both giving me goofy grins.

“Next year we probably won’t have anything to do with each other.” Those words felt like a punch to the gut.

“Please.” Brynn waved her hand around. “We have eyes. And it’s clear as day you two have a little somethin’ somethin’ going on.”

“Shh,” I begged, hoping no one around us heard. “We’re just friends.”

Anna burst out laughing. “Rigghhht. So what was Saturday night, when you two were all googly eyeing each other and Parker kept asking if he could get you another drink and you kept popping cherry tomatoes in his mouth?”

“He doesn’t eat enough vegetables,” I lamely defended myself. I knew darn well how I was behaving—like I was crushing on Parker. And I was. Like hard core, even though I swore I would never date an older and brainier man again. Not like I wanted some ignorant guy. I just didn’t need some smarty-pants telling me I wasn’t intelligent enough for him. For now, Parker thought I was smart. More of an evil genius, actually, but I would take that over eye candy any day. It’s not like Parker wanted to date me anyway. While he was friendly, even flirty at times, he made sure to keep me at arm’s length.

Both women giggled so hard they almost slipped off the bleachers.

I almost had to grab Jessalyn before Anna dropped her from laughing so hard.

“‘He needs to eat more vegetables,’ she says.” Brynn snorted. “Honey, listen, we’ve known Parker for a long time, and I’ve never seen him behave like a love-struck teen. Not even around his ex-wife.”

I wanted to believe her, but I wasn’t getting the love-struck-teen vibes from Parker. It was more of the you’re-irritating-the-hell-out-of-me-but-since-we-have-to-live-together-I’m-going-to-appease-you-but-as-soon-as-this-experiment-is-over-we-will-never-see-each-other-again vibes.

“I don’t think so,” I politely disagreed with her. “You should see him when we watch a movie together. He makes sure to keep a good ruler’s length between us.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “Darlin’, that’s just him being afraid. He’s extra sensitive about not wanting to look like he’s having a midlife crisis. And, honey, you look like every man’s midlife crisis wish list.”

I blushed and bit my lip. “That’s just silly.”

Brynn pointed out on the field. “If you think we’re exaggerating, look at Ethan staring at you with his tongue hanging out like the dog he is.”

My gaze drifted toward the field, and sure enough, Ethan was staring at me. Not sure about his tongue hanging out, though. He smiled and waved when he noticed I was looking at him. I gave him a little wave back. “You think he’s a dog?”

“Don’t get me wrong, we love him,” Brynn replied. “But the boy needs to grow up and stop serial dating, always thinking he’ll find a greener pasture. It’s getting embarrassing.”

Parker took notice of Ethan’s line of sight and who he was waving at. Without looking, he threw the disc he’d been tossing back and forth with Javon, jumped over the waist-high chain-link fence separating the field from the spectators, and worked his way up the bleachers.

Anna gave me a knowing look. “And you were saying he wasn’t acting like a love-struck teen. So, what’s this?”

I wasn’t exactly sure. Was Parker jealous Ethan was paying attention to me? Was he worried about looking like a midlife crisis? This was probably all just crazy thinking on my part. I mean, what did Parker and I really have in common other than a deep love for raw cookie dough? Sure, I could appreciate his fantasy movies and his love for Evanescence. But I would take a rom-com and Taylor Swift over those any day of the week. And ... this one is a doozy: Parker admitted to me yesterday he doesn’t really care for football. What? Football is like the South’s lifeblood. It runs through our veins. My job as a cheer coach centers on football, as does a lot of my social life come fall. Game days are sacred. Not to mention all the tailgating prep. You bring one bad dish to one of those and you could find yourself being an outcast for life.

But ... when Parker neared and smiled at me, I somehow forgot he would rather throw a Frisbee than a football. “Hi,” I said in my best come-hither voice.

Anna and Brynn snickered, but I paid them no attention. I just slid down the bleacher to give Parker room to sit by me, hoping this time it would be a little closer than normal.

He took a seat next to me, making sure there were a few inches between us. “Hey.”

“You looked good out there.”

“You think so?” He didn’t sound so sure.

“Real good,” I emphasized. “You should join the league again.”

He wistfully sighed as he looked out over the field. “I don’t know. It’s a huge time commitment, and I’m not getting any younger. Look at all those eighteen-, nineteen-, and twenty-year-olds out there.”

I dared to lean in closer to him, just to get a whiff of his spicy cinnamon scent and to feel the heat rolling off him. My fingers landed dangerously close to his on the bleacher, just aching for one little touch. “Those guys don’t have your experience. And ... I have a feeling that by this time next year, Ruptured Worlds is going to be the hottest MMO whatever around.” I was still having a hard time remembering all the acronyms. “So you’ll have an entire staff full of people to help. Which will give you plenty of time to play Ultimate Frisbee.”

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