Page 118 of Clean Finish

Despite my nerves, I couldn’t stop grinning as I stepped into the backstage area. Vince immediately launched himself off the couch, his hair already blown out and teased back into The Rolling Rimmer’s seventies style.

“Sooo,” he drawled with a sly smile as he made his way closer. “This explains why you haven’t been around much lately, huh? Been a little too busy with your new werewolf beau.”

I flushed, my wings fluttering with embarrassment, but grinned back at him. “Um, yeah. Guess so.”

“Congrats, bro.” He gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Nice to see you finally settled down.”

I exhaled a silent breath of relief. Honestly, I’d had no idea what to expect from the wrestlers I’d flirted with particularly heavily. But they were all awesome, decent people, and I kept remembering what Holt had said—even if I’d alluded to wanting to have sex with them in the past, that didn’t mean I was obligated to do it. The wrestlers clearly felt the same. No one acted weird or off as several of them came over to congratulate me, which was kind of embarrassing, but also really nice.

“So how did you end up getting together?” Susan asked breathlessly after giving me a huge hug. “Was it really romantic? You two looked so sweet earlier.”

“Um, it…” I fidgeted a little. “It just kind of happened. I mean, look at him,” I added with a chuckle, feeling my expression go all dreamy. “He’s, like, perfect.”

“I’d just like to point out that I knew before everyone else,” a familiar voice came from above our heads. I looked up to see Kit’s red eyes glowing from between the pipes in the high ceiling. “I knew ages ago. But Lark and I are buds so I kept their secret.”

“It’s not a competition, Kit.” Biff rolled his eyes as he and Gabe made their way over. He added to me, “Congrats, Lark.”

“Yeah, we’re happy for you, pretty boy.” Gabe smiled at me warmly. “You already seem more… settled. Being in a relationship suits you.”

I grinned, rocking back on my heels. “It’s just Seb. He’s just… the best.”

“Oh my gosh, you are so cute.” Susan shook her head. “I need to tell Asmo.”

As she hurried off to grab her phone, I took the opportunity to look around and ask, “Um, where’s Corey? I just need to collect Cora.”

Dan’s severed head winced as he wandered over with a protein shake. “He’s sulking in his dressing room.”

“Why’s he sulking?”

“Because you didn’t tell him about you and Seb,” Vince said, rolling his eyes. “He’s offended.”

“Oh. Shit.” I gnawed nervously on my lower lip as I glanced back at the door.

Vince snorted, patting me on the arm before walking off. “Good luck, bro.”

Fiddling anxiously with my tie, I pushed back through the door and made my way toward Corey’s dressing room. Clearing my throat, I knocked twice. “Corey? It’s Larkin. Just here to get Cora.”

There were a few long moments of silence, before I heard him curtly say, “Come in.”

He was sitting at his vanity when I opened the door, elegantly posed with one leg crossed over the other and the mirror lights making the body glitter on his skin sparkle with every tiny movement.

He paused in the middle of applying eyeshadow to flick me a haughty glance in the mirror. “Larkin.”

I sighed, crossing over to the little pink loveseat and picking up Cora to put her on my lap as I sat down. “Corey, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about me and Seb.”

His gigantic shoulders rose in a miniscule shrug. “Fine.”

“We just hadn’t told anyone yet because it wasn’t… like, super official at first. But it is now.” A huge smile spread over my face as I looked down at Cora, scritching behind her ears.

After a moment, I heard Corey huff. He set down his brush and spun in his chair to look at me. “Well, I suppose that makes sense. You just didn’t want to betray his trust.”

I nodded quickly. “Yeah. That. Exactly.”

“I was hurt when I found out that the others had seen you in the arena.” He sighed, turning back to the mirror. “And yet I knew nothing.”

“I’m sorry!” I repeated. “I didn’t know they’d be freaking watching us.”

He immediately spun back around, eyes gleaming with his insatiable need for gossip. “Were you getting amorous in there?”