by Addison Cole
SAWYER PARKED IN front of Undercover, a bar overlooking the beach in Truro. Sky had never been there before. Sawyer helped her from the truck and said, “Okay, sweet summer Sky, it’s time for you to get to know another side of Sawyer Bass.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Maybe so,” he teased as he held the door open for her. They stepped inside the dimly lit bar. “You don’t mind meeting a few of my friends, do you?”
“I would love to, as long as I don’t have to watch them fight.”
With a hand on her lower back, he led her past booths and tables that were filled to the brim with happy customers. They crossed the crowded dance floor to a booth by the bar.
“Songbird!” a guy with white-blond hair yelled from behind the bar.
“Hey, Colton.” Sawyer waved and slid into the booth beside Sky.
“I guess you come here often?” she asked, glancing at the guy behind the bar, who ran a hand through his hair, flashing a number of tattoos on his left arm.
“That’s Brock’s younger brother,” Sawyer said. “He owns the place.”
She studied Colton’s face a little more closely. His cheeks were chiseled and much narrower than Brock’s, and while Brock’s eyes had been intense, Colton’s were a soft blue, with a gentler look to them.
Sawyer draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her in closer. “I know I should probably wine and dine you to make up for my lack of a more acceptable career, but—”
“Hey.” She could tell by the lightness of his tone that he was kidding, but she still felt compelled to clarify. “I didn’t mean that your career wasn’t acceptable to anyone.”
He pressed his lips to hers. “I know. I just want you to get to know all of me, including the people I hang out with.”
“All of you?”
“When you think of me, you see a guy who fights in the ring, and there’s a lot more to me than that, Sky. There’s more to my friends than that, too, and that is what tonight is about.”
Colton came around the bar to their table. “Hey, Songbird.” He lifted his baby blues to Sky. “Hi. I’m Colton.” The year 2012 was inked on the inside of his left forearm, and the sleeve of his T-shirt revealed sharp lines of another tattoo.
“Hi, I’m Sky. I like your ink.”
“Thanks, Sky.” He looked down at his tattoos. “Everyone’s got a story, I guess. It’s nice to meet you, too. What can I get y’all?” he asked.
“Sky?” Sawyer asked.
“A sea breeze, please. Thanks.”
Sky followed Sawyer’s gaze toward the front door as he asked for a beer and was surprised to see his trainer and Brock heading toward them, with two tall blond women in tow.
“Cool. Sibs are here.” Colton waved at Brock and the others. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
“You brought your coach? Am I in for a lecture?” She fidgeted with her necklaces nervously. The taller of the two girls wore a white crinkled cotton skirt and a black and green tie-dyed tank top with lace circling the bottom. The other girl had on a pair of cutoffs and a flowing pink and blue blouse that hung off of one tanned shoulder. Her long blond hair hung halfway down her back, and she wore a cute leather headband across her forehead. Like Sky, both women wore a number of bracelets.
“No lectures. I promise. Tonight I brought my friend Roach. He left the coach side of himself at home. And those are Brock’s sisters, Harper and Jana.” He rose and shook Roach’s hand, embraced Brock with a brotherly slap on the back, and then hugged each of the girls before sitting back down beside Sky.
Brock leaned down and hugged Sky. “Nice to see you again, Sky. These are my sisters, Harper and Jana.”
Roach moved in for a hug next, barely giving Sky time to catch her breath. “Glad you’re here.”
“Hi,” she said as Roach sat down beside Sawyer.
Harper and Jana sat down across from Sky, and Brock slid into the booth beside them.
“How’s our other brother?” Jana asked.
“Doing great.” Sawyer leaned closer to Sky and said, “Harper’s a screenplay writer, and—”
“And television writer now, too,” Harper interrupted, smiling at Sky. “I just got hired to work on a sitcom.”
Jana bumped Harper with her shoulder. “Show-off. Hi, Sky. I’m Jana, not a screenplay writer.”
“Hi,” Sky said, immediately liking the girls’ energy. Sawyer reached for her hand.
“Jana’s a dancer,” Brock said, then added with a proud smile, “and a fighter. The girl packs a mean right hook.”
Sky thought they were kidding. Jana was graceful and lithe, not muscled or harsh-looking like Sky pictured female fighters. “Really?”
Harper patted her sister on the back. “She really is. Strange, I know. But when you grow up with brothers like Brock and Colton…” She shrugged.
“Do you fight, too?” Sky asked Harper.
Jana laughed. “Her? No way. She wouldn’t hurt a bee if it stung her.”
That made Sky a little more comfortable. At least she wasn’t the only girl who didn’t like fighting. “What kind of fighting do you do, Jana?”
Jana gathered her hair over one shoulder and twirled a lock around her finger. “Brock’s been training me to box for the last two years. I haven’t won anything big yet, but I will.” Determination filled her eyes. “You should come by and watch sometime. Brock could show you a thing or two if Sawyer hasn’t already.”
“Sky isn’t really into fighting.” Sawyer squeezed her hand.
“Then she can watch,” Jana suggested. “It’s fun to watch, too.”
“Thanks. I’ll think about it.” She still couldn’t imagine the pretty blonde fighting. “What about dance? What type do you do?”
“Everything from ballet to tap and hip-hop. I perform with all the local theaters.”
“I did a ton of theater with local groups in New York when I was in college.” Sky smiled at Sawyer. “We should go watch her dance sometime.”
“I’ve been watching Jana dance since she was a kid. Sounds good to me.”
They talked a little about Jana’s dancing and Harper’s script writing, which Brock teased her about, saying she was writing porn, because the sitcom she was writing was for cable and apparently very racy.
“I don’t even want to hear Harper and porn in the same sentence, please,” Sawyer said with a grimace.
Harper rolled her eyes.
“Did you put our name up?” Brock asked Sawyer.
“No. We just got here,” Sawyer answered.
“Name up?” Sky asked as Brock headed up to the stage.
“You’ll see,” Sawyer said.
“Ooooh! We’re being secretive tonight. I like that,” Jana said. “How long have you two been dating?”
“Just a few days,” Sky answered, feeling like it had been much longer. “I heard him play the guitar, and the next day he came in for a tattoo.”
Harper, who had been busy eyeing a guy across the dance floor, turned serious eyes to Sawyer. “Another tattoo, Sawyer? Is your father doing okay?”
“Yeah, he’s doing pretty well.”
Worry filled Harper’s gaze, and Sky noticed Sawyer shifting his eyes away.
Colton brought their drinks and set a pitcher of beer down on the table.
Roach filled the glasses and pushed one to Harper and another to Jana and Brock. His dark eyes weren’t filled with fire the way they had been in the gym, and his shoulders weren’t riding just beneath his ears, as if he held all the world’s tension in them. He could have just as easily been a bouncer or a weight lifter as a boxer.
“Surprised to see us tonight?” Roach asked.
“Sort of,” Sky admitted. “But it’s nice to see you again. And to meet Harper and Jana.”
“A toast.” Sawyer held up his glass, his eyes trained on Sky. “To the mystery of the moment.”
“Come on, Songbird.” Roach shook his head. “Don’t you ever say anything normal?”
/> “You’re just jealous because everything he says sounds like it’s spun from gold.” Jana tapped the table in front of Sky. “You’re a lucky woman, Sky.”
“Yeah,” she said in a breathy voice that took her by surprise. “I am.”
Sawyer slid his hand to the nape of her neck and pressed his lips to hers.
“Get a room,” Roach teased.
“Jealous?” Sawyer growled as he pressed his lips to Sky’s again.
Sky loved the way the guys teased each other. It reminded her of the guys at Seaside and made her feel even more comfortable.
Colton walked by the table again on his way to the dance floor, grabbed a microphone from the stage and tapped it, gaining the attention of the customers.
“Welcome to Undercover. We’ve got a fun evening planned for y’all tonight.”
“You bet you do,” Brock hollered.
Jana laughed. “My brother, the shy one.”
“For those of you who are new here, welcome to a cappella night. Let’s welcome the A Cappella Boys to the stage.” Colton fanned a hand across the stage toward the table where Sky was sitting.
“See you in a minute, sweet girl.” Sawyer pressed a quick kiss to her lips, and before she had a chance to ask what was going on, he, Roach, and Brock were heading up to the stage.
“It’s so fun to watch them.” Jana came around to Sawyer’s seat beside Sky. “You’re gonna love this.”
Harper and Jana clapped and whistled. Sky watched with interest as Sawyer, Roach, and Brock stood shoulder to shoulder, dwarfing everything around them. Powerful arms arched out from their sides, their thick legs rooting them in place like tree trunks, and Sawyer’s warm gaze found Sky, making her stomach flutter.
“He’s looking right at you,” Jana whispered. “I’ve never seen him look at anyone like that.”
Sky could barely register anything but that look. The crowd silenced as Roach brought the microphone closer to his mouth. He closed his eyes and began singing “Love Story” by Taylor Swift. He sang about being young and seeing a lover for the first time. His voice was perfectly pitched, his face a mask of longing. His eyes flew open as he sang of begging someone not to leave and sank to one knee in front of Brock, serenading him while Sawyer swayed to the nonexistent music.
“They’re so serious,” Sky whispered to Jana.
Jana giggled. “Their group started as a joke, but they had fun with it. They try really hard to be serious and do a good job, but by the end they have a hard time holding it together.”
As Roach’s voice faded to a whisper, Brock’s rolled out, deep and melodic. He sang about wanting to be taken away and of a prince and a princess. There was so much emotion in his voice as Roach rose to his feet between Sawyer and Brock and their enormous bodies moved to the music of their voices. Everyone in the bar was mesmerized, including her.
Their voices silenced, and Sawyer stepped forward, his eyes still locked on Sky, as he sang about being tired of waiting around for a lover to appear. His eyes narrowed and his voice lowered as he sang about wanting to be saved—then dropped to his knees with a dramatic sweep of his hand and pretended to pull out a ring and hold it up to Roach. How they kept from laughing, Sky had no idea, because she, Harper, and Jana couldn’t stifle theirs. She couldn’t tear her eyes from Sawyer as he sang with the others. The passion he put into the song rivaled the passion she’d witnessed when he was training. The emotions in his voice spoke directly to her heart, and when their voices went soft again, eventually silencing altogether as the song came to an end, she finally exhaled. She hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath.
Their broad shoulders rounded forward and they took a bow.
Sky and the crowd clapped as the burly boxers swatted one another on the back and Brock and Roach headed back to the table laughing.
“That was the greatest thing I’ve ever seen,” Sky said, anxiously waiting for Sawyer, who was still up on the stage. He pointed right to her, and she pressed her hand to her chest and mouthed, Me? He nodded and motioned for her to come up to the stage.
“Go. Go.” Jana gave her a gentle nudge.
Sawyer was moving toward her, one hand outstretched. She’d been onstage many times with theater groups, but somehow this felt different. She wasn’t the one entertaining, and she had no idea what to expect as Sawyer took her hand, led her to the center of the stage, and began singing about how something had to change and how much he needed her. She felt the eyes of the crowd boring through her, but it wasn’t the weight of their stares that had her rooted to the floor. It was Sawyer’s husky voice and his penetrating gaze, as the words fell from his lips directly to her ears.
He circled her like a lion stalking its prey as he brushed his chest against her back, crooning about being unable to pinpoint exactly what he needed but knowing she was it. His voice vibrated through her until the song she recognized as One Direction’s, “One Thing,” fell away, too, and all she felt was the simmering heat of him as he moved around her to the silent beat, his breath whispering along her neck. Her pulse quickened, and she wanted to sing right back, to answer his needs, but she stood stock-still, held prisoner by the emotion in his gaze as he poured his heart into the song.
She startled and blushed a red streak when Roach and Brock ran up behind her and sang about getting out of his head. Then Sawyer reached for her hand and everything else fell away. There was only her and Sawyer and the intensely passionate look in his eyes while he unabashedly professed that she was the one thing he needed. Sawyer’s voice faded to silence and the crowd went crazy again, giving him a standing ovation.
Sawyer didn’t seem to notice or care. He was totally focused on Sky as he drew her into his arms and spoke in a gravelly voice that slithered inside her and warmed her from the inside out. “I want to be your one thing, sweet girl.”
She drew back to meet his gaze and said, “You’re already so much more than my one thing.”
Chapter Fifteen
IT WAS AFTER midnight when they arrived back at Seaside. The community was dark, and as they walked around to the back door of Sky’s cottage, the leaves above them swooshed in the breeze. After spending the evening sharing stories with Sky about the first time he sang and the first time he fought, the first time she was in a play and the feelings she went through when she went away to college, he felt closer to her than ever. Every time they were together he felt the earth shift beneath them, but seeing Sky laughing and joking with his friends made everything about their relationship feel bigger, more real.
They climbed the stairs to the landing and before reaching for her keys, Sky slipped her fingers into his back pockets and gazed up at him. All night he’d felt her eyes searching for answers—in his eyes, around the bar, from his friends. He wondered if she’d found the answers and if she felt as close to him as he felt to her.
He slid his hand beneath her hair, brushing over the baby-fine hairs on the back of her neck.
“You okay?” he asked.
“More than okay. I don’t want the night to end,” she said as she stepped closer.
He lowered his mouth to hers, hovering a breath away, reveling in the closeness, the electricity sizzling between them. Her breath slid over his lips, and when she pulled their bodies in tight, their lips grazed and her fingers tightened against him. Their mouths finally came together in a blistering-hot kiss that sucked him under. Sounds of pleasure slipped from her lips, driving him farther away from the edge of reason. His hands tangled in her hair, his mouth slid over her jaw and down her neck, and then he took her earlobe in his mouth. She moaned loud and lustful into the night. Her hands traveled up his back, down his sides, clawing for purchase as she arched into him.
“You taste so good,” he said against her neck before sealing his teeth over her silky skin and laving it with his tongue, earning another heady moan. “Sky…”
“Yes—” A heated whisper full of desire.
He knew he needed to respond, needed to let her kn
ow how he felt more whole than he ever had, how when he’d been singing to her, he’d meant every word he’d said, but he wasn’t able to force another word from his lungs. Their mouths crashed together in another savage kiss. He couldn’t resist pulling her roughly to him.
A groan rumbled through his chest as he lifted her to the railing, hiking her skirt up her thighs as he took her in another rough kiss. He felt himself losing control, handling her too roughly, kissing her too deeply.
“Oh…Yes.” She dug her nails into his skin, sending shocks of pain and pleasure rippling through him.
“Inside.” He reached for her purse, and she fished for her keys with one hand, holding on to his shirt with the other so she didn’t tumble off the railing. She withdrew the keys, and he lifted her down to the landing, unable to resist kissing her again, alighting more sparks between them. He forced himself to pull away long enough to unlock the door and push it open, then swept her in beside him. The sharpness of her breathing raked over him like a heady invitation. The silence of the cottage magnified the intensity of the heat pulsing between them. His hands found hers, lacing their fingers together as he lifted them beside her head, pressing his body to hers against the door. Thigh to thigh, chest to chest, he licked the shell of her ear and whispered, “I will never get enough of you.”
She touched his cheek and he knew before she said a word, that she was right there with him, wanting an even deeper connection.
“I want you, Sawyer. All of you.”
He couldn’t keep his heart from tumbling out. “Ecstasy rolls like thunder, rippling through my sweet summer Sky.” He rubbed his thumb over her jaw. “She weeps, she whimpers, she gasps, she roars.” He pressed his lips to hers. “She stills my heart and steals my breath.”
Sky sighed, her eyes full of emotions too big, too powerful for him to name.
Sawyer kissed her again. “She came in like a whisper and claimed pieces of me as if they were stars, taking them as her own like a pixie in the night.” He closed his eyes, holding Sky against him. Emotions exploded inside of him. He waited for them to ebb and flow like the tide, but the surge continued, growing bigger, stronger than anything he’d ever felt, and he knew he wasn’t far from falling over the edge.
