Page 22 of Under the Lights (The Big Boys of BRU #2)

Eighteen

Dom

The weights clanked around me, accompanied by deep grunts and blaring music in the background. Technically, I wasn’t supposed to be here, but I’d learned that since it was summer break, no one really cared.

Did the football program have its very own state-of-the-art weight room and training facility? It absolutely did.

Did I squeeze in as many workouts as possible in the shared weight room, rubbing elbows with other teams, including the women’s volleyball squad? Hell yes.

Did my teammates think I was a few fries short of a Happy Meal? Abso-fucking-lutely.

But that was okay. They had no idea what kind of prize I was after or what treasure I had found, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell them. Jax, a senior I’d hit it off with on my recruiting trip because of our shared sense of humor, tagged along today.

“Anyone ever tell you you don’t know when to quit, kid?”

Even though I outweighed him by at least 50 pounds, he just loved reminding me he was older.

It usually wouldn’t have bothered me, but I was pretty sure that my age was one of Sierra’s biggest hang-ups about me, so I’d been a little touchy about it lately.

“Not a kid,” I ground out as I positioned myself under the squat rack, the iron bar digging into my traps and shoulders.

“Sorry, sorry, you’re right,” he held up his hands apologetically. “Anyone brave enough to tangle with that ice princess over there has a serious set of balls.”

I shot him a glare, but he just smirked at me.

“Don’t shoot the messenger, dude. Anyone but you is pretty much terrified of that girl. She’s got the ‘cut off your balls and carry them around in her purse’ kind of vibes.” He paused, peering at me with mischief in his eyes. “You still got yours, right? Just checkin’.”

“Yeah, you wanna see ’em?” I grunted as I straightened up, my hammies burning, as he barked out a laugh.

“I dunno.” He glanced over to where Sierra was standing, working out with some other girls from her team — either pointedly ignoring me or oblivious to my presence. Probably the former. “Will she be mad if I have a peek?”

Wheezing out a chuckle, I forced the words out with the breath I was releasing as I straightened up once more. “I wish.”

“Fuck, dude, she really got you by the balls, huh?”

I set the bar down on the rack and ducked out from underneath it, making room for Jax.

“I’d let that girl do whatever the fuck she wanted to my balls if it meant she was touching them.”

“Remind me again, what did she tell you when she found out you weren’t even going to school here back when y’all first hooked up?” He asked, his eyebrows raised.

“I ain’t worried about what she told me. She’ll come around.”

“You’re crazy, man, you know that, right?” He shook his head in amusement.

“Yup, ain’t the first time I’m hearing that.” I gulped down some water, my eyes firmly fixed on the blonde goddess across the weight room.

We moved to the pull-up bars, sweat running down my back, my athletic shirt starting to stick to my skin. I was pushing myself hard, but I had to.

First, I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity I’d been given to play as a starter right away. Second, I didn’t want to miss the chance to show off in front of Sierra.

I wasn’t being cocky — well, no more than usual — I just played to my advantages as much as possible. Sierra might say she didn’t want me, but her body screamed a different truth. As I pulled myself up onto the bar, I kept my eyes firmly fixed on her.

I didn’t care if anyone saw me staring at her. On the contrary, I wanted them to see it, wanted them to know who I had set my sights on. The way her plump ass looked in those little workout shorts was downright criminal.

It was like a fire burning beneath my skin, thickening my blood and tightening my muscles with need. I wanted to reach out, grab her, drag her close so hard it would knock the breath out of her lungs.

But no. Not yet. Not here.

The muscles in my back burned as I dropped to the floor again, lifting the hem of my shirt to wipe the sweat from my forehead.

Looking up, I caught Sierra’s gaze on my exposed stomach and shot her a grin as her eyes flickered up, then widened in horror at being caught red-handed.

Jax snickered next to me. “I have a feeling this is gonna be entertaining as hell. Don’t you think you’re biting off more than you can chew?”

“Nah. I got sharp teeth.” I grinned, biting the air with a wide grin.

Chuckling, he shook his head before jumping up onto the bar and starting his set of pull-ups.

A quick glance in Sierra’s direction confirmed that she was now pointedly facing away from me, which wasn’t really that much of a punishment when she started bending over to stretch her legs.

The way her shorts rode up had my gut twisting, and I swallowed a low groan, biting my knuckles to keep from losing it right then and there.

Jax fell to his feet with a heavy thud. “You’re so fucked, dude.”

“We’ll see.”

***

As it turned out, a couple of days without seeing my goddess was way too long. I was growing restless, my fingers drumming an incessant rhythm against my thigh.

I hadn’t been able to make it to the shared weight room again because team sessions had been scheduled all fucking week, and for some reason Ella was never home when I needed her to be.

Sure, I had the spare key, but I didn’t want to use this ace up my sleeve too soon. The timing had to be right. When I finally used it, it would have to be well thought out.

Frustrated, I pulled out my phone for the millionth time. I still didn’t have her number, another thing I needed to fix soon. My thumb hovered over the screen.

Sierra never responded to my message from the other night, but that was okay. She still had some hang-ups about us. She’d let them go eventually once I’d reminded her of how good we were together.

We were so happening.

DOMinationstation66: Did you know that Aphrodite was born from a severed dick?

Sierra_jo97: What?!

I grinned from ear to ear and did a little happy dance when I finally got an answer from her.

DOMinationstation66: Aphrodite was born from sea foam and a severed dick

DOMinationstation66: Uranus’s dick, to be precise

DOMinationstation66: Poor fucker

Sierra_jo97: Are you fucking drunk?!

DOMinationstation66: No, silly. Just interested in Greek mythology.

Sierra_jo97: Do you always go around telling people about severed dicks?

DOMinationstation66: Nah, you’re special. I usually start with something way more boring

Sierra_jo97: While this has been very enlightening, I’m going to bed. Goodbye.

DOMinationstation66: I know you’ll be dreaming about me, so sweet dreams.

I wasn’t expecting a reply, but my phone buzzed again. Surprised but pleased, I tapped on the link she’d sent me, then laughed out loud. It was a link to Mariah Carey’s song Obsessed .

Shaking my head as I chuckled to myself, I turned up the volume of the song. Sierra might have sent me this because of the ’delusional’ part, but she had no idea how right she was with her song choice.

I was fucking obsessed with her.

***

“Dom! You’re coming out with us tonight — no arguments. It’s long overdue.” Knox hollered in my direction from across the strip of indoor turf.

“Yeah, good luck with that. He’s only going if his girl is going, or else he’ll be sitting at home obsessing over his phone, waiting for her texts.” Jax snickered.

I wish .

She had resorted to not answering again after our nice little chat the other day.

The fluorescent lights overhead hummed softly, casting a sterile glow over the expansive space. The turf strip stretched out in front of us, marked with scuffs and patches from countless drills.

Weights clanked nearby, mingling with grunts and the occasional shout. The air was thick with sweat and determination.

Knox’s breath came out in quick, shallow gasps as he pushed the weight sled, breathing heavily. Jax wiped his forehead.

The hum of teammates talking and joking mingled with the low rumble of the overhead HVAC system, making the whole place feel alive like a buzzing hive.

“Didn’t know you had a girl.” Knox said, still catching his breath.

“Neither does she,” murmured Jax amusedly, but Knox caught it.

“Uhm … what?” His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as his gaze flickered back and forth between us.

Jax shot me a quick glance, and I shrugged. I didn’t give a fuck who knew. As far as I was concerned, the more people knew, the better. Sierra was going to be mine, my girl. It was inevitable.

We had connected that night — we had chemistry. Every detail I learned about her only sharpened the hunger inside me.

Age? Distance? Nothing mattered. She was the prize, and I was coming for her, no matter what.

“Let’s say Dom’s working on … convincing her.”

“Ah, she giving you a hard time?” He peered up at me. “What gives? You’re not that bad looking. I’m sure the chicks dig the ink.”

“They do.” I said with a half-shrug.

“So, what? You playing out of your weight class or something?”

“Or something.”

“Try age group,” Jax fake coughed.

“ Ohhh , I see. Well, tough luck, man. Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of pussy to go around tonight.”

I leveled him with a stare. “I ain’t worried. Also, not interested in random pussy.”

“Dude, come on. You haven’t even started your college career, and you’re already trying to settle down?” Knox stared at me with a furrowed brow before motioning to Jax, exasperated. “Back me up here, man.”

“I know what I want. And what I want is her.” I shrugged, unconcerned.

Jax chuckled. “You’re wasting your time, man. It’s the girl he signed with brU for. He’s committed — and possibly insane, but the jury’s still out on that.”

Knox’s eyebrows shot up, his mouth dropping open slightly. “Oh, shit! I wasn’t there that night, I completely forgot about it. That was you?”

“Yup,” I popped the p.

Jax sucked his teeth before pointing at me with his thumb. “Like I said, probably insane.”

“Nah. I just know what I want, and what I want is her. Simple as that.” I tilted my head from side to side, cracking my neck.

“O-kay. Cool, cool, cool.” He nodded, smiling uncertainly at me. “Why don’t you invite her out then? Who knows, maybe she’ll come. We can just start something at—”

“My place.” An emotionless voice came from behind us.

The three of us turned around in surprise, recoiling slightly, as we caught sight of Hunter Rhodes. I’d only met the guy a couple of times, and I had no fucking idea what to make of him.

Apparently, he was Colt’s best friend, and I’d seen Hunter play with him many times over the years.

While Colt had seemed more reserved, possibly even shy, Hunter was a different breed. He was cold, detached, like he wouldn’t know what an emotion was, even if it was dressed up in a tutu and danced the Macarena in front of him.

And then there was this whole “no touching” thing he had going on, one of the first things the team had briefed me about.

All in all, he was a recluse, and the only times you saw him were either in the weight room, in class, or on the field. Or so I was told.

So why the fuck would he make that offer? Was he maybe just a little lonely now that Colt had moved away?

Knox stared at Hunter as if he had just revealed he was possessed by demons. Jax eyed him warily, head cocked to the side.

“Your place?” he repeated.

“That’s what I just said.”

“You okay, man?” Knox asked, clearly disturbed.

“Yes.”

“Then what’s going on? You’ve never even invited one of us in, let alone all of us.” Jax’s voice carried a note of wariness.

Hunter focused his cold, gray eyes on him, staring him down. “You want to use my place or not?”

“I mean … are you sure you’re comfortable with that?”

“I would hardly have offered it otherwise. Yes or no?”

“Um … sure? Probably better than any other place.” Knox sounded cautiously excited now.

Hunter blinked once, his face void of any expression, then his gaze flickered to me. “You should bring your sister.”

“What do you want with my sister?” I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

He sighed, as if I was being dense. “If your sister comes, she’ll bring Sierra. Hailey’s gone, and she won’t want to show up alone. Ergo, she’ll bring Sierra. It’s not that hard.”

“Wait, wait, wait. The girl you’re trying to get is Sierra ? That mean-girl-looking volleyball player?” Knox interjected, holding one hand up in the air.

I snorted at his description. “Correct.”

Then I turned my attention back to Hunter, even more suspicious now. “But more importantly, how do you know about Sierra and me?”

For the first time, there was some trace of emotion on Hunter’s face, as the corner of his mouth twitched up a fraction. “You’ll come to find out, I know everything .”

Well, that wasn’t ominous at all .

Hunter glanced around our little group once more, then briskly turned around and stalked off.

Knox shot us an incredulous look, then called after him. “Yo, Hunter. When—”

“Anytime after 8,” he cut him off, without turning around or breaking his stride.

I blinked a couple of times. “What the fuck?”

“Yeah, you’ll get used to that.” Knox clapped me on the back. “You better hurry and get your sister on board. I’m expecting to see you tonight.”