Page 3 of The Proximity Factor

He stared at my hand like I had leprosy.

It didn’t deter me. I prided myself on winning people over. “Maybe we can do dinner tonight.” After all, Mama had taught me good food did wonders for breaking down walls and bridging gaps.

“Not interested,” he spat.

“Oh.” I let my hand drop. “What about breakfast tomorrow?” I persisted.

“No.” He unceremoniously shut the door in my face.

I turned, fuming, wondering if this social experiment was to see if they could turn someone like me into a Dateline psycho. “Val, remember when you swore you would bury a body with me if I ever needed you to? You might be making good on that promise soon.”

Parker Remington was the most appallingly rude person I had ever met.

“HEY, BIG BROTHER,” DAPHNE SANG over the phone.

I couldn’t help but smile, even if she woke me up. I stretched my long body on the queen-size bed the university had provided, wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into. “What’s up, kid?” my voice croaked.

“You sound so old and like my dad when you say that.” It wasn’t the first time she’d said that to me. But being eighteen years older than my little sister sometimes left me feeling more like her father than her brother. Especially since our deadbeat dad had abandoned Daphne’s mom the same way he’d ditched my own mom. From the moment she was born, I swore I would do whatever I could to take care of Daphne, and so I had. It was why I found myself living in what I could only consider hell.

“I am going to be forty next year,” I reminded her.

“That is old,” she teased me.

I sat up and reached for my glasses on the nightstand. As soon as I put them on, my cramped room came into view. The early-morning sun was just starting to filter in through the window shades. “Are you doing okay?” I wondered. She didn’t normally call so early.

“I’m just calling to check on you and say thank you again.”

I needed the money promised by the university to pay Daphne’s tuition. Despite only having half of it now, I was determined not to let her take out any student loans. The last thing I wanted was for her to be saddled with that kind of debt after graduation. I knew how burdensome that could be, having done it myself. It had taken me years to pay off my student loans.

Daphne was attending a private college in Connecticut and working two jobs of her own to make ends meet. I wished I could do more for her right now, but I’d run into a bit of a financial rough patch. “You don’t have to keep thanking me. This is what big brothers are for.” If I had to, I would sell my Porsche for her. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. My Porsche was all I had left of the life I felt had been stolen from me. For some reason, holding on to the car made me feel like less of a loser. But for Daphne, I would do anything.

“Well, you’re the best. So, how’s it going? Tell me about your roommate.”

My roommate. I’d been trying not to think about the sexy, infuriating woman who’d tried to drown out my Lord of the Rings soundtrack with Taylor Swift last night as she pranced around, depositing throw pillows on every piece of furniture she came in contact with like she was a pillow fairy. Initially, I assumed I would share the place with a guy. I wasn’t expecting Lanie Davenport.

“I’m doing my best to stay away from her.”

“Her?” Daphne spit out, laughing hysterically.

“Yes,” I groaned.

“Is she cute?”

The woman was more than cute. “Unfortunately, she looks a lot like Maren.” My ex-wife. The reason I was in the rough patch. Maren and my supposed best friend and business partner had not only slept together, they’d pushed me out of the independent gaming company Stephen and I had started that was now making big waves in the gaming industry.

“Ouch. So she’s a hot babe.”

That was one way to describe Lanie. I was doing my best not to picture her long golden hair, shapely, toned legs and body, or her gorgeous face. The last thing I needed in my life was to be entangled with another southern belle, romantically or platonically. I rued the day I decided to attend college in Georgia instead of staying home and going to Ohio State. It was there I’d met Maren and let her rule my world. Never again would I let another woman have such a hold on me. My plan was to keep to myself this summer and bide my time until I could collect the fifteen grand. And with any luck, get my new gaming company, Ruptured Worlds, to take off in the process. The latest multiplayer RPG, also named Ruptured Worlds, I’d developed was slowly starting to sell online. Player feedback had been promising thus far.

“It doesn’t matter how she looks,” I responded.

“I hope you’re not being grumpy with her. It’s not her fault she’s beautiful.”

“I’m being aloof.”

“Uh-huh.” She giggled. “You know you don’t always have to be so serious. It’s okay to have some fun once in a while.”

I stretched my neck from side to side. Maren used to say the same thing to me. But she didn’t know what it was like to grow up in a single-parent household where it was your responsibility to help make ends meet. She also didn’t comprehend the pressure I constantly faced to support my mom and sister, striving to give them a better life while simultaneously navigating school and pursuing a career. Just when I thought I’d made it and could relax a little, Maren and Stephen had pulled the rug out from under me.

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