Page 23 of Under the Lights (The Big Boys of BRU #2)

Nineteen

Sierra

The door to my room flew open with a bang, causing me to let out a loud shriek and jump up from my bed, my hand over my heart. Ella stood in the doorway, her eyes wide with shock.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry! I was a little too enthusiastic there. It slipped out of my hand.”

“You scared the shit out of me.”

“You obviously don’t have any siblings — or maybe it’s just little brothers who are that annoying. Dom used to try to scare me every chance he got. I’m basically immune to this shit now.”

“Well, good for you. I’m not. I sleep like the dead, but when I’m awake, I’m very easily startled — as you can see.” I glared at her, which in no way correlated with the mention of her brother and me picturing his brilliant smile now.

Not at all. Goddamn it.

Ella flashed me a grin, unconcerned. How did I not see the resemblance even in their behavior before? Between the two of them, I wondered if I’d ever be taken seriously again.

“Yeah, I saw that. Anywaaay,” she pointed at me, her eyes widening slightly, and her smile getting even wider, “You. Me. Tonight. No arguments.”

“Didn’t know you felt that way about me,” I deadpanned.

She stopped short, her brows popping up for a second, then giggled. “You do have a sense of humor, good to know. I mean, you’re coming out with me tonight. There’s a party, and you’ve been holed up in this place all summer.”

“I’ve been going out,” I said defensively.

“Yeah, to the weight room and to practice. Not what I’m talking about, babe. You need human interaction. You need to have some fun.” Leaning her shoulder against the doorframe, she shot me a pointed look.

“I have plenty of fun. And I don’t need human interaction. Humans suck.”

“Like what?”

“What do you mean?” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“Like, tell me about those things you allegedly ,” she made air quotes with her fingers, “do for fun.”

Now I pointed at her. “I’ll have you know, I’m…well, I… I mean, I see the girls from my team a lot. And I coach! That’s fun!”

Fuck, why couldn’t I think of a single fun thing I’ve done in the last few weeks?

Ella raised her brows, her lips pursed.

“That’s what I thought. All you’ve done is work out, go to practice, or hang out here. You need to get out. With people your own age . End of story.” She gestured at me, motioning up and down my body. “Get ready. You’re coming with me tonight.”

“Where the hell are we even going?” I sighed, shaking my head in resignation. Then I held up a finger. “I’m telling you right now, if it’s got anything to do with frats or my old sorority, I’m out. I’m not setting foot in that pit of vipers again.”

She recoiled slightly. “Tell me how you really feel. Seems like there might be something to unpack?”

“Nope. Nothing to unpack. I’m fine. Everything is fine.” My voice sounded hollow even to my own ears as I shook my head vehemently. Yeah, really convincing, Sierra .

“Riiight. Uhm, okay, some other time then. But, no, it’s got nothing to do with either of those. Think casual house party. Nothing too flashy, but wear something cute.” She turned on the spot and marched off with a finger wave over her shoulder. “Move your booty, you got an hour!”

With a groan, I fell back onto my bed and just stared at the ceiling. I really, really didn’t feel like going, but unfortunately Ella was right.

God, it was hard just to think those words. I hated being wrong.

The last time I could remember truly having fun was the night I met Dom. He made me forget everything, even myself. And there he was again, making himself at home in my mind.

I also hated that I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

Yeah, that was definitely hatred, scorching my insides.

Nothing else .

A few minutes later, Ella poked her head back in. “Hey, um, do you think my eyeliner looks weird? Like, does it make my eyes look small?”

I propped myself up on my elbows. “Come here.”

She hesitated for a second, then walked over. I reached for my makeup bag while already scanning her face.

“Close your eyes. You’ve got good bone structure, so don’t fight it with overdrawn liner. Tilt up here, soften the edge. There. Now it looks like you actually meant to do it that way.”

Ella blinked at her reflection and visibly relaxed. “You’re kind of amazing.”

“I know,” I said easily. “Now scoot. I need mirror time.”

She grinned. “I’m letting you pick my outfit next.”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t argue. As I brushed out my hair with practiced ease, I realized how nice it felt to care about someone else’s eyeliner crisis. To help. To show up.

It was something I used to do all the time in the sorority — lining lips, adjusting straps, talking girls off the ledge over bad brows or worse boys. I hadn’t realized how much I missed it.

Not the noise or the drama, but the ritual of it. The comfort. The connection.

Even though I still hated parties. And definitely people.

But maybe not all of them.

***

“Why are we running?”

Ella bounced down the stairs of our apartment complex while I trailed behind. I was wearing cute little platform sandals, and I wasn’t going to roll my ankle on those damn stairs.

“We’re not running, but our ride is almost here.”

“Ride? You didn’t say we’d need a ride. Aren’t we staying on campus?”

“Nope, we’re not.” She grinned mischievously at me over her shoulder , as she pushed the door open.

Suspicion began to form in my chest, a strange, anxious feeling, like a ball of pure energy with nowhere to escape. My steps slowed as I squinted at her, the orange glow of the setting sun illuminating her silhouette and casting a shadow over her face.

“Where exactly are we going?”

“Hunter’s house.” Her tone heavily implied that I should know who Hunter was.

“Who?”

“You know, Colt’s best friend.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

“Colt, Hailey’s boyfriend.” I opened my mouth, but before I could get a word out, she held up her finger.

“Don’t you dare who me again. You’re not an owl.

Hailey, my old roommate — Colt is her boyfriend, whom you’ve met, might I add.

We’re going to his best friend’s house. Hunter . I’m sure you’ve seen him around.”

“Can’t say I have.”

“Huh. Maybe it’s just me then. I feel like he’s everywhere.” She actually glanced over her shoulder, as though expecting him to materialize out of thin air.

Yeah, right. I snorted and squeezed past her outside, breathing in the thick, humid air. “It’s called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.”

“What?” Ella looked at me puzzled, her nose slightly scrunched.

“Also known as the frequency illusion. It’s a cognitive bias.

Makes you think you see something, or should I say someone , more often when it’s really just because you’re paying more attention to it …

or them .” I tilted my head to the side, my lips pursed in amusement.

“In other words, is there anything you might want to talk about?”

An obnoxiously loud truck rumbled down the street behind me, and the urge to roll my eyes was strong. I suppressed it, just, mainly because I didn’t want to let Ella off the hook too easily.

She blushed, slinking past me. “Would you look at that? Our ride is here!”

Whirling around, my mouth dropped open in disbelief as I laid eyes on the monstrous red truck, still idling at the side of the road with a low rumble.

The tinted window on the passenger side began to roll down. Even before I saw his face, the weird tingly feeling in my stomach — anxiety, or dread, or hatred, not butterflies — told me who was behind the wheel.

You have got to be shitting me.

Dom’s lips curled into a grin, a flash of brilliant white teeth set against the dark copper color of his beard.

Of fucking course .

I wanted to smack myself for not considering he’d be involved in tonight’s plans in some way, especially since the two of them seemed to get along pretty well, despite the usual sibling bickering.

I had half a mind to simply turn around, go back upstairs, and forget about this whole having fun thing. But I loathed the thought of Dom knowing he’d gotten to me, of him knowing he had an effect on me. I couldn’t allow it.

Indifference was key.

Steeling my spine, I strode towards that red monstrosity. I was about to seek refuge in the back seat, my hand already reaching for the handle when Ella’s voice rang out behind me.

“Hold up! Dom, did you take your gear out of the back?”

She slammed her hand down on the rear door, physically stopping me from climbing in.

“Umm, no,” he replied sheepishly. “Sorry, didn’t think of that.”

“Ugh, okay.” Ella turned her head to me. “There’s no way I’m going to make you sit back here with his shit taking up most of the space. You go and take the front seat.”

“No, that’s okay. I don’t mind.” I tried to open the door, but she was surprisingly strong, and unsurprisingly unimpressed by my glare. Go figure .

“Forget it. It probably reeks back there, too. I’m not doing that to you, just because my brother is an inconsiderate little shit.”

“I really don’t—”

“Passenger seat.” Dom’s voice rang out firmly from the driver’s seat, leaving no room for arguments.

I snapped my mouth shut with an audible clack, clenching my teeth.

A shower of tingles lit up my insides, an unwelcome reminder that my body was not as opposed to him , as the rest of me was. Not wanting to make a scene, I let out a disgruntled huff before shuffling to the passenger-side door.

Even though I was tall, it was still a bit of a climb up, and I pointedly ignored his gaze, which I felt burning into the side of my head. He waited until we were both safely buckled in, then pulled away from the curb and rolled the window back up on my side.

“Your hair looks too pretty to be messed up by the wind,” he said casually, as if his fucking sister wasn’t sitting in the back seat.

I glanced back at her over my shoulder, only to see that she was completely engrossed in some TikTok — judging by the viral sound I heard from behind me — not paying any attention to us in the slightest.