Page 8 of Under the Lights

I pursed my lips before shaking my head slightly. “Nope. But they offered me a full ride, so I couldn’t say no to that.”

His eyebrows shot up. “No shit? Academic or athletic scholarship?”

“Athletic. Volleyball.” I waited a moment for some stupid comment about my ass or volleyball shorts, but Dom surprised me again.

“Fucking awesome. Athletic scholarships are hard work. Respect.”

My eyebrows knitted, I gave him a sideways glance.Who the hell was this guy?

“What about you? You can’t tell me you don’t play a sport with a body like that.”

“A body like that, huh?” he smirked smugly.

“You know exactly what you look like. Don’t expect me to feed your already humongous ego any more than that.”

“Eh, can’t argue with that.” Dom shrugged.

“So? I’m guessing football, considering your company back there.”

“That’s right, Darlin’.”

Normally, I would have found this term of endearment patronizing, but coming from his lips, accompanied by that accent, it made the butterflies in my stomach flutter.

He stopped again in front of the revolving door of one of the better hotels in town. Damn, I hadn’t expected such a fancy place. This was looking more and more like a night I wouldn’t soon forget.

Dom turned, pulling me closer. His hazel eyes locked with mine. “Still sure you want to do this?”

“Do you really think I would have walked even twenty feet intheseheels if I wasn’t sure?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He rolled his lips together, tilting his head, and his eyebrows rose briefly as he tried to hide his smirk. “Good.”

We swept past the scowling receptionist without so much as a glance. My heels clicked sharply against the marble, almost as if announcing we had every right to be there.

I didn’t slow down or flinch at her glare, which felt like it was drilling into me. I pressed the call button and stepped into the elevator with my chin held high and my pulse steady.

The doors slid shut behind us with a soft hiss. Silence wrapped around us, thick and electric.

He didn’t move, but I couldfeelhim.

His hungry gaze roamed up my body like a flame — deliberate and slow — igniting every inch it touched. I shifted my weight onto one leg, held his stare without flinching, and arched a brow, pretending I wasn’t already burning from the inside out.

He let out a low, amused laugh. Then that feral, unfiltered grin lit up his face as he crossed the space between us in two steps. The mirror kissed my spine the moment he pushed me back.

His lips crashed onto mine, unapologetic and all-in, like he’d been holding on to his control by a thread. A shiver raced down my spine when I felt his calloused palm slide up my neck and grip me loosely, holding me in place.

Without hesitation, I opened for him, our tongues battling for dominance. The guttural groans that escaped him were captured by my lips, my arms wrapping around his neck, drawing him even closer.

Liquid heat rushed through my veins and gathered in my core, throbbing, and for the first time in forever, I felt truly alive.

Not just surviving, going through the motions, butalive. The world around us faded, my mind finally quiet.

The “ding” of the elevator and the unmistakable sound of the doors opening made us pull away from each other, breathless and flushed. The hallway greeted us with a blast of cool, recycled air carrying the faint scents of linen spray and industrial carpet cleaner.

We stepped through the doors, our footsteps muffled by thick, dark blue carpet. Wall sconces cast a warm, amber glow across the corridor.

Dom led me to the right purposefully, lightly brushing the small of my back with his hand. Then, he abruptly came to a halt. The hallway stretched on in both directions, lined with identical wooden doors and gold numbers that gleamed under the lights.

“What?” I asked, confused. “Forgotten where your room is?”

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