Page 114 of Clean Finish

That… hadn’t been in there before. Glancing at the door Larkin had just gone through, I tensed up with foreboding.

Had he left me a note? Telling me he was done with our lessons because I’d made it weird?

I didn’t move at first, staring down at the paper, trying to mentally prepare myself. I’d known this day would eventually come—at some point, he’d be done with his lessons. He’d feel ready to go and have sex with other people. I’d known this day was coming. I had. I’d been ready for it. I’d made sure to remind myself constantly that it would happen.

So why did it still feel like the end of the world?

Feeling sick, I took a deep breath and unfolded the slip of paper, then stared blankly at what was on the page.

It was a hand-drawn crossword puzzle. Messy and a little lopsided, the whole square leaning to the right. At the top of the page, Larkin had tried to recreate the doodled ‘S’ I’d shown him before, writing out Seb’s Special Crossword in the same style. There was a tiny drawing of a wolf in one corner, and one of a stick figure with fae wings in the other next to a daisy mandala.

I swallowed, not moving as I stared down at it. If this… if this was his way of ending things, it was creative as hell, but devastatingly fucked up.

That relentless fragile hope bloomed again in my chest, so delicate it felt like it would shatter if I so much as breathed wrong. Still not moving a muscle, I lowered my gaze to the clues written out in Larkin’s messy handwriting. There were only four of them, and only four sets of boxes in the actual crossword, but they all had one connecting letter each.

He’d put effort into this.

My hand was trembling slightly as I picked up my pencil.

1 Across: The best fae you’ve literally ever met (6 Letters)

A fragile smile tilted my mouth as I quickly wrote Larkin into the right space.

2 Down: Solely (4 Letters)

That one took me a few seconds, before I wrote only in the relevant space, using the N from Larkin.

3 Down: Desires (5 Letters)

Swallowing thickly, I filled in the word wants, this time using the A from Larkin. The last word was only three letters, beginning with the S from wants. That tiny bubble of hope expanded in my chest, making it hard to breathe. I wanted to fill in that last word without even looking at the clue, but I forced myself to read it.

4 Across: The best, nicest, hottest, most handsome werewolf I’ve ever met. My favourite person. (3 Letters)

I cleared my throat roughly and blinked fast to get rid of the blurriness in my eyes. After quickly scribbling in the last word, I stared down at the completed crossword.

Larkin only wants Seb

My heart was pounding, body locked in place. Did this mean…

“Lark, have you emailed back the—” Holt’s office door swung open and he stepped out, then froze when he saw that Larkin’s desk was empty. He huffed in irritation. “Do you know where Larkin is?”

I didn’t answer, still staring down at the crossword. When I saw Holt step forward from the corner of my eye, my head jerked up and I shot off the couch. “What? Sorry. Uh, what did you say, boss?”

My voice was unsteady. I couldn’t feel my face, so I didn’t know what expression was currently on it, but Holt was staring at me strangely. His hot pink eyes flickered down to the piece of paper in my hand, so I quickly folded it in half again.

“You okay?” he asked, tone concerned.

“I have to…” I rounded the coffee table and headed for the door, still clutching my pencil and the piece of paper. “I’ll be right back.”

“Uh…”

I strode out of the office without waiting for him to answer, my legs trembling wildly as I walked fast through the corridors. When I reached the arena, the lights over the bar were on, but I couldn’t see him.

“Larkin?” My voice sounded too loud and shaky as it echoed around the empty space. I strode toward the bar, breathing fast. “Lark?”

“H-hey.”

My head snapped toward the ring to see him standing from one of the seats surrounding it, hurriedly putting his phone in his pocket. He almost tripped as he edged out onto the steps between the rows, his skin looking paler than usual and his eyes big and burning with nerves.