Page 6 of Clean Finish

“No. I’m not watching the show,” I answered, trying not to sound too sullen.

“Cool.” He audibly gulped, and I finally gave in and looked over at him to try and work out why he was acting so weird.

His cheeks were flushed, eyes fixed on his phone, and he was fidgeting even more restlessly now. Something was definitely up with him. He had that look he got when he was thinking hard about something—one I admittedly hadn’t seen all that often.

He glanced up, and our eyes locked. Heat flooded his face, turning it a darker blue, before he snapped his head back down. I heard him suck in a sharp breath, almost like he was about to speak, but he remained silent. For once.

Feeling uneasy, I slowly looked back down at my crossword, but once again, I couldn’t concentrate on the clues at all. The words were meaningless.

Sometimes constitutional, but more often indecent (11 Letters)

“I’ll be back in a…” Larkin shoved his chair back and stood, fiddling with his phone. “Just grabbing a drink. Um, do you… w-want one?”

“I’m fine.” I eyed him as he hurried to the door and vanished, not liking the way I felt once he was gone—both bereft and relieved. And still a little worried about him.

Exhaling, I looked back down and studied the clue again, able to focus better now that I wasn’t breathing in his scent directly and trying not to stare at him longingly.

It finally clicked, and I lowered my pencil to scribble the word in the relevant spot. Proposition.

Then I glanced up at the door, wondering when he’d be back. Wondering what was wrong with him—what had made him so edgy tonight. Whether I’d be able to secretly fix it.

Some parts of Larkin I could read effortlessly, especially given how aware of him I always was, but other parts were still a mystery.

Chapter Three

Indecent Proposal (11 Letters)

Seb

Despite still being in my human form, I could detect the very faint sounds of the crowd in the arena and David, the incubus commentator, yelling excitedly into the mic as the show began a few hours later.

Holt and Taylor had come back to the office for a while, but now they’d gone to Holt’s private box to watch the wrestling. Which meant Larkin and I were alone again. Well, aside from Cora, the little Pomeranian who belonged to Corey, one of the wrestlers here. Larkin always looked after her while the giant orc was performing.

To my surprise, he’d actually stayed at his desk all evening, and did seem to be working. At least, he was staring at his monitor, chin resting in his palm, and occasionally clicking his mouse.

Aside from that and the scratch of my pencil, it was silent. Cora was snoozing on her back in her doggy bed beside Larkin’s desk, tongue lolling out and little legs twitching. Neither of us had said a word since Holt and Taylor left, and the atmosphere felt… odd. Usually when I was around Larkin, I was tense because I had to concentrate on hiding any inkling of my feelings for him, but this tension was different. It was external.

It was coming from him.

I was convinced that he didn’t want me in here. That I was stopping him from doing whatever he’d actually planned to do once Holt was safely distracted by Taylor and the wrestling. But I still wasn’t budging. Call it petty, call it inappropriately possessive, call it pathetic—I just couldn’t bring myself to get up and leave him alone. Some shameful, ugly part of me was terrified about what he might slink off to do.

For the dozenth time, I sensed Larkin’s gaze sliding over to me. I didn’t react, acting like I couldn’t tell he was watching me again, even as my gut clenched up tight over what it might mean.

When he drew in a breath to speak—possibly to ask me to get lost so he could make out on his desk with Vince or Dan or Gabe and Biff at the same time—I stiffened with apprehension, my toes curling in my shoes.

“H-hey, Seb…” His tongue darted out to wet his lips, which made my thighs tense as I casually looked over. “Are you… um… seeing anyone right now?”

I stared at him in silence. Why the hell was he asking me that?

“No.”

He nodded quickly, throat bobbing once, twice, before he inhaled sharply again. Then exhaled. Then did it again, clearly gearing himself up to say something else.

I was on fucking tenterhooks, holding my breath as I waited.

Why had he asked me that? Not once in the last year and a half had Larkin asked me about my dating life.

“Can I tell you something?” he croaked, gazing at me with those big eyes.