AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Um.” I shot Holt a nonplussed look. “That doesn’t sound like all that much work, Larkin.”
“Thought you were cool, bro,” he mumbled, shaking his head in abject disappointment. “Whatever. I’m staying here to do work, okay? I’m, like, the best assistant you could ask for. You know you’d be miserable if you didn’t get to see my beautiful face every day.”
He shot me a wide grin, already cheerful again. Holt pinched the bridge of his nose and turned us toward the door.
“Alright. Well, have fun, I guess. Seb will probably stay in here to keep you company.”
When I glanced back at Larkin, he was frozen in place at his desk, eyes locked on the door. Then I noticed his knee was bouncing rapidly, like he was suddenly nervous.
He cleared his throat. “’Kay. Well, whatever. He—I’ll be, um, busy. Working. So… whatever.”
Once we were far enough from Holt’s office that Seb’s werewolf ears couldn’t hear us, I whispered to Holt, “Do you think something’s going on between Seb and Larkin?”
“What?” He glanced over at me with a slight frown, then shook his head. “No. No way. I’d know.”
“Not for certain.”
He chuckled, squeezing my hip. “Empyn, remember? I’d be able to feel if they were all horny for each other in the office.”
“But you said other supernaturals shield their emotions from empyns.”
Holt cocked his head. “Okay, well, Seb is old enough to do that, but Larkin’s young and probably doesn’t really care. He doesn’t shield his emotions at all. Gives me a headache half the time.”
“But didn’t you notice that he just got really nervous when you mentioned Seb staying in the office with him?”
“I mean, I guess, but…” Holt shrugged. “He seems a little off tonight anyway. Might be nervous that he admitted to leaving that work so fucking late. I swear, he’s a total trainwreck. I don’t know why I keep him around.”
“Because he’s harmless.” I bumped his shoulder with mine. “And admit it—you like him.”
Holt grunted. “I tolerate him.”
“You like him.” I chuckled. “I do too. He’s fun.”
“Well, he’s far too… boisterous for Seb, anyway. I can’t imagine Seb being interested, even if Larkin might have a crush on him.”
I wasn’t so sure, but I decided to drop it as we reached the backstage area for the wrestlers so Holt could go over tonight’s show with them. While he was speaking with Coach Boris, I perched on the edge of the couch and chatted with Susan and Mads.
Various wrestlers approached Holt with questions and demands, so I stayed put for a while, letting him get on with it. After that, we went down to the arena to check everything was ready for the show later before hanging out in Holt’s office for a while. Larkin wasn’t working, he was playing on his phone, but when we eventually headed to the private box to watch the show, he stayed behind.
The wrestling was great as always. I spotted Ethel down in the audience, and despite her threatening to “take care” of Marcus earlier, I felt a little less intimidated by her now. I wondered what it would be like to watch the show from the crowd, surrounded by all those non-humans with their wings and tails and horns as they screamed and cheered. It seemed kind of fun, but I didn’t know how they’d all react to a human in their midst.
At least the wrestlers had stopped flirting with me so much. Not that the attention wasn’t flattering as heck.
We ended up staying until the club closed, Holt reluctant to keep making Seb be responsible for locking up, so it was almost one-thirty in the morning by the time we got back to Holt’s. Both of us exhausted from the long day, we stripped off and immediately collapsed into bed. Holt curled himself around my back, spooning me from behind as he mumbled tiredly about us spending the whole day doing nothing tomorrow.
I fell asleep smiling.
—
We ended up sleeping super late Sunday morning, so by the time the club closed that night and we were driving back to Holt’s, neither of us were all that tired.
My suit for work the next morning was already ironed and hanging up on the back of Holt’s bedroom door. I’d made us a chicken pot pie for an early dinner before we’d headed to the club, so we were both still comfortably full.
I already felt so at home here as I got in the shower. There was a second towel ready for me on the heated rack, and as I passed Holt while he was heading for his own shower, he gave me a sweet kiss and brushed my wet hair back from my forehead. My chest squeezed tight, and I couldn’t stop smiling as I lounged on the bed and waited for him, scrolling through the news on my phone.
After several minutes of peaceful quiet, I realised the shower had been shut off for a while, but Holt hadn’t emerged from the bathroom yet. Just as I was about to call out and make sure he was alright—that he hadn’t thrown out his back again or something—the door opened.
Holt appeared in his silky pink robe, his wet hair braided back. He gave me a coy smile, leaning a shoulder against the door frame. That smile immediately made me perk up and take notice. I knew what that smile usually meant.
