Page 2 of Under the Lights (The Big Boys of BRU #2)

Two

Dom

Anger still buzzed subliminally deep in the pit of my stomach over Craig stomping on my act. Not that anyone but me would notice, I was extremely good at hiding almost all of my emotions behind my easy-going demeanor.

Years of practice, perfected smirks, and tone-shifting charm had made sure of that. This wasn’t my turf — yet — so it’d been wiser to back off.

The room was dim except for flickering colored lights from the DJ booth, bouncing off chrome barstools and glass beer pitchers.

Somewhere across the way, a girl screeched when a drink got dumped down her shirt, and the crowd roared like it was halftime at a game. The air smelled like cheap tequila, fried onion rings, and too many bodies packed too tightly together.

And it looked like we were back on track because the blonde I’d been watching since we’d arrived was following behind him.

Her legs were even longer than I’d thought. Fuck yeah.

Every guy in her vicinity turned to look at her, and I couldn’t blame them. The skin-tight dress she was wearing left little to the imagination.

I tore my eyes away from her for a split second to zero in on Jax right next to me. “Make sure she doesn’t find out who I am or why I’m here tonight from either of you, and I’ll sign.”

His auburn eyebrows disappeared beneath the brim of his baseball cap as he leaned against the barstool, nearly knocking over someone’s abandoned beer with his elbow.

“Are you serious, kid? You’re really going to let this ride on that ? That’s what fucking seals the deal?”

Behind him, someone yelled “ CHUG !” and slammed a pitcher onto the sticky table. The beat of the music dropped so heavy it vibrated the soles of my sneakers.

Yeah, I was serious.

My gaze had already snapped back to her approaching form, as if magnetically drawn to her. I shrugged. “I thought that was what this was about? Getting me to sign? There you go — take it or leave it.”

“Holy fucking shit. You’re batshit crazy.” He drained his beer, saluted me, and got to work.

Not a second too soon because Craig and Blondie were already standing in front of me. Fuck me, she was even more perfect up close. Her sharp eyes pierced me appraisingly, and an involuntary grin spread across my face.

Blondie raised a shapely eyebrow as she looked up at me. She was tall, but not quite tall enough to avoid having to look up, heels or no heels. I just knew this irritated her.

Without taking my eyes off her, I turned to Craig. “I take it you’ve sorted out whatever it is you wanted to sort out?”

“Yup,” he pursed his lips and shrugged. “Anyway, this is—”

“I’m Dom.” I held out my hand to her.

As if on cue, Jax appeared next to Craig and pulled him aside. “There you are, man. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

After a thorough examination of my hand, which briefly had me thinking she might leave me hanging, she finally grabbed it and squeezed. Hard .

Was she trying to intimidate me?

My cock’s already half-hard because of you, Darlin’. No need to try any harder.

“Sierra,” she said, her voice distant, before dropping my hand. “Didn’t your mama teach you it’s rude to stare?”

“My mama’s a Southern lady. Of course, she did, Darlin’. But in this particular case, I couldn’t help myself.”

“Oh?” She tilted her head.

“Aside from the obvious fact that you’re drop-dead gorgeous, you kind of seem like you’re on a mission. Sue me, I’m a curious person. Care to share?”

Sierra’s eyes narrowed briefly.

I continued to smile at her, unperturbed by the fact that the corners of her mouth hadn’t even twitched. I would get her there.

There was something between us, some kind of pull, and I had felt it the moment she stepped through the door.

“Possibly.”

I leaned forward slightly, my smile even wider. “Color me intrigued.”

Sierra gave me a slow once-over, then tossed her golden-blonde hair with practiced ease. For the first time, a small smile teased her lips, the upper one just a touch fuller than the lower one.

As I set my empty glass on a table behind her, I caught a hint of her fresh, floral scent — along with the unmistakable sweep of her gaze down my arm.

She was fucking hard to read, but I was pretty sure I had just witnessed a tiny moment when her walls had come down.

Her every move was calculated and confident. This was a woman who knew what she wanted, and I was salivating for her.

She took a step closer, and her fingers moved to the silver chain around my neck. Granted, it was a little flashy, but I liked to stand out.

Not that my height and tattoos weren’t enough.

“I like your necklace.” Sierra studied it carefully before looking up at me again.

Something inside me snapped, and I did the arguably most unhinged thing of all the unhinged things I’ve ever done — including this whole charade here.

“You can take a closer look when it’s dangling over your face.”

Sierra gave a slow blink. Then, she burst into genuine laughter.

“Of all the things you could have said, I didn’t expect that .

” She gave my chain a gentle tug, pulling my head down until we were nearly nose to nose.

“Lucky for you, I’m into the whole Big Dick Energy, and your suggestion is exactly what my mission entails.

How about it? Can you put your money where your mouth is? ”

Chuckling, I quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed her against me, putting my mouth right next to her ear. “I’m going to make you scream my name, Darlin’.”

A short, sharp intake of breath was the only response I got from her before she placed a hand on my chest and gently pushed me back.

“Chemistry test first. Kiss me,” she demanded, those blue eyes boring into mine again.

I scoffed. “We have chemistry, Darlin’. I don’t need a test for that, but if it makes you feel better.”

I certainly wouldn’t miss the chance to kiss her. Not even once .

Cupping her face with both hands, I lowered my lips to hers. Even though I didn’t exactly have the fullest lips, I knew how to fucking kiss, and I made damn sure she would be aware of that after this little taste.

Suddenly, it was just the two of us. Just her body pressed against mine, her lips on mine, her fingers digging into my shirt.

Sierra’s previously rigid body literally melted under my hands.

When she let out a small moan, I seized the opportunity and plunged my tongue into her mouth, challenging her to a dance.

It was only when catcalls rang out around us that we emerged from our little bubble. I tucked my tongue into my cheek to hide my shit-eating grin.

Sierra kept her composure, tossed her hair over her shoulder again, and then regarded our surroundings with a cool look.

“And that’s precisely why he’s getting laid, and you’re not.”

Crickets. Goddamn, she was amazing.

I twirled her — holy shit, her ass was even better than I’d imagined — put an arm around her shoulders, and looked down at her. “Ready to go, or do you want to stick around?”

Sierra shrugged her shoulders. “Ready when you are. I just need to let my sisters know, but I can do that on the way out.”

Of fucking course, she was a sorority girl.

She just seemed to want to check all the boxes for stereotypes of hot college girls.

“One sec.” With my free hand, I fished my wallet out of my back pocket, pulled out a few bills, and placed them on one of the tables.

It’d be shitty of me to leave the others with my bill. With a two-fingered salute, I bid farewell to the guys I’d arrived with, their faces a mixture of disbelief and astonishment.

This whole situation was like killing two birds with one stone. If I wasn’t mistaken, I’d just cemented my reputation with my future team, especially after all the hoops they’d jumped through to get me to sign.

And more importantly — I was going home with this fucking goddess on my first unofficial night at college.

This recruiting trip couldn’t have gone any better. I couldn’t wait to start my college career here in the fall.