Page 138 of Clean Finish

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“Oh my god. Seb.” I cackled with laughter after opening the final box of party supplies. Looking over my shoulder, I saw him hanging up the last of the HOLT banners between the lane screens. “Seb!”

“Mm?” He glanced back, arms still stretched up over his head. I tried not to get distracted by the sliver of tanned skin visible as his T-shirt rose up his lower back, revealing those dimples and the freckle to the right of his spine. I wanted to lick it. I mean, I already had done several times over the last week, but I wanted to do it again.

“Come look at these.” I grinned at him, then pulled out my phone as he made his way over so I could snap a pic of the box’s contents and send it to Hans.

A warm hand slid onto my lower back as Seb stopped beside me. Instinctively, I leaned into his big body as I lifted the top shirt off the stack. It was short-sleeved and bright pink, with two lime-green panels down the front.

“Taylor got bowling shirts made for everyone.” I snorted, holding it up so he could see the patch on the back.

Holt’s Ball Hurlers was proudly displayed in cursive around a graphic of two copper bowling balls and a single grey pin. Arranged in the exact way I would’ve arranged them if I’d been the one to make these.

“Looks like a dick and balls.” I snickered, then froze as my mouth twisted into a grimace. “Oh shit, you don’t think it’s meant to look like Holt’s dick, do you? His skin is grey… Does Holt have metallic balls? What?”

Seb chuckled, taking the shirt from me and turning it so we could see the front. “He certainly acts like he does. Look, this one’s yours.”

“What?” I perked up and grabbed the shirt to examine my name neatly stitched in loopy handwriting on the left breast. “Noice. I’m def wearing mine, but I doubt Holt will wear his.”

“He will to make Taylor happy,” Seb said dryly. “Even if it ruins his outfit. Which I’m very interested to see later.”

I snorted, peering back at the bar area to make sure none of the staff were around before I started unbuttoning my shirt. “Me too, but Taylor probably convinced him not to dress like Hogbody again.”

Seb held the shirt out for me, his eyes darkening and drifting down my frame when I pulled my pink one off to put it on. I grinned at him, slipping my arms into the short sleeves. It was way too big for me, but I kinda liked the look.

“Aw, Taylor even remembered to get wing slits put on the back for me. He’s the best.”

“Well, he rented out the whole place for tonight, so I assume he knows everyone will want to be comfortable.”

“Yeah.” I finished buttoning it and looked down. “Noice. Gonna put yours on?” I asked slyly.

Seb’s mouth twitched into a crooked smile. He dutifully lifted the shirts out of the box and looked through them, being way more careful than I would’ve been not to mess up any of the others.

I pouted when he started pulling it on over his T-shirt. “You’re not gonna take your shirt off first?”

“I don’t need to.” He grinned back.

“Yeah, but… you still could.”

After a pause, he huffed and took the bowling shirt back off. “Alright, fine. Only because I’ll probably get hot in both.”

“Exactly,” I said absently, already distracted as he tugged his T-shirt over his head and handed it to me. I clutched the warm fabric, staring at his flexing pecs as he slipped the bowling shirt back on and started buttoning it.

How long did we have to stay at this party until we could go home and fuck?

“How do you look so much hotter in yours?” I whined. Seb’s was nicely fitted, although the short sleeves did strain against his huge biceps without any room.

He chuckled, picking up both our discarded shirts and neatly folding them. “You look plenty hot. Trust me. I’ll go put these in the car. Is there anything else still in there that I need to bring in?”

“I don’t think so.” I looked around. “All the decorations are up. The cake and all the snacks and stuff are out. Taylor said he’s arranged for a fuckload of pizza to be delivered at around nine.”

“Taylor knows how to organise a party. Pizza and custom bowling shirts.”

I snickered, pointing at the stack of cone-shaped party hats resting beside the food. “And hats. Holt’s gonna lose his shit when he sees Taylor in a party hat again.”

Seb chuckled, kissing the top of my head as he passed me to head out to the car. While he was gone, I moved the box of shirts onto a table and took a photo of the alley to send to Taylor so he could see that everything was ready. He replied with a thumbs up and confirmed that he and Holt would be getting there at about seven-thirty. Everyone else was scheduled to be here by seven at the latest.

I sat down on one of the hard, uncomfortable plastic seats as I waited for Seb to get back. When I heard the low rumble of his voice, I peered over to see him talking to Kelly, one of the cyclops working tonight, at the counter. She passed him something before he turned and grinned at me, making his way over holding two sets of bowling shoes.