Page 56 of Under the Lights

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.

---