Chapter Thirty-Three

Placating Goliaths' Diva Orc

Larkin

I was nervous as shit as I made my way to the backstage area later that evening to collect Cora.

Not because they all knew that Seb and I were together now—seriously, I was still practically floating even though it'd been hours since he found his special crossword—but because they'd probably all ask questions about how and when it had started. And the truth would just make things extremely weird.

I'd talked to Seb about it, and he'd just calmly said that I should tell them whatever I wanted. Which didn't exactly help—I'd rather he just tell me what to do, in this situation at least, but Seb wasn't like that. Because he was amazing. Freaking perfect. And now he was, like, officially mine.

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?"

I flushed. "Um, no, not… not, like, amorous amorous. Just… talking."

"Talking about what?" he asked straight away.

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Corey, come on."

With a sniff, he eyed himself in the mirror again and draped his long braid over his shoulder to zhuzh it. "Alright, fine. But I want to be the first to know about any other romantic milestones."

I snuffled a laugh, lifting Cora to kiss the top of her head. "Sure, okay."

"Anyway, I suppose you already know the other interesting piece of news around here," he said demurely, eyeing me with a sly glint in the mirror.

I looked up quickly. I'd been pretty distracted the last few days, and I wasn't the best at listening to Holt when he talked anyway—sometimes he just talked so freaking much —so I hadn't heard anything. "No. What?"

Corey smirked and swept more eyeshadow over his lid, then leaned closer to the mirror to inspect his work. "New performers."

I blinked in surprise. "Seriously?"

He nodded, sitting back and reaching for his lip gloss. "I heard Holt and Taylor talking about it. Just the glimmer of an idea at the moment, but Holt seemed serious about expanding the roster. Bringing in a couple of new wrestlers."

"Oooh." That sounded kind of exciting, honestly. "Does he have any in mind?"

I knew I could've just asked Holt this directly, but it seemed to be perking Corey up to tell me himself.

"A couple." Corey shrugged. He wasn't at all threatened by the thought of new wrestlers coming in and taking a share of the spotlight. He knew he was the ultimate crowd favourite here, plus he and Holt were super loyal to each other.

"Well, that'll be cool." I held Cora up to my face. She frantically tried to lick my nose. "You'll have even more people fussing over you, babycakes. Bet you'll like that."

Corey huffed and picked up his perfume—it was actually in one of those old-fashioned glass bottles with a tasselled pink puffer thing—to spritz his neck. "I'm not letting my girl go anywhere near new meat until I've assessed their personalities. What if one of them snubs her?"

"I'm sure no one would do that." I kissed the top of her head and let her lick my chin a few times. "Anyways, you ready for me to take her?"

"Yes. Thanks, Lark." He turned and held out his hands for me to pass her over so he could say goodbye. "She's had her dinner, so she'll need a quick walk in about forty minutes."

"No prob."

"I love you," Corey was saying, staring intently into Cora's beady little eyes. "You're my precious baby. Be good for Larkin."

She yipped, curly tail wagging jerkily, and tried to lick his face.

"No, darling, daddy's got his make-up on now." He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head and passed her back to me.

I tucked her under my arm and stood up from the couch. "Who're you fighting tonight?"

"Dan," he said airily. "But Chris will be getting in the ring with him for a surprise tag team."

I snorted. Dullahan Dan's entrance was always made on the back of a unicorn, who was actually his shifter buddy Chris. Dan was known for his illegal moves during his matches, and Chris would often scramble under the ropes to join him in the ring.

"Noice. Well, break a leg." I knew Corey held strong beliefs in all those old theatre superstitions.

"Thanks, sweetie." He waved a hand absently as I opened the door and left.

I didn't return to the backstage area, instead heading straight for the office, where Seb was waiting. When I got there, he looked up from the couch and grinned at me.

"I'm back," I needlessly announced, dropping down beside him and holding up Cora so she could lick his face. He chuckled, smoothing his big fingers down her back.

I glanced at Holt's office door. "Where's boss man?"

"In Taylor's office."

Nodding, I quickly stood back up. "Let me just put Cora in her bed. She's just had dinner, so she'll probably want to nap before her walk."

After depositing her in her little bed beside my desk, I hurried back over to the couch, grinning at Seb as I clambered onto his lap. Clasping his face between my hands, I crushed my mouth to his.

He chuckled, dropping his crossword book on the couch cushion so he could wrap his arms around my waist and tug me closer. But after just a few seconds, he pulled back and gave me a stern look that made my balls tingle.

"We probably shouldn't get into the habit of doing this all the time at work."

"Holt can't say anything. I literally caught him getting a blowie from Taylor in his office yesterday."

Seb laughed, giving me another quick kiss before patting my ass as he smirked. "Later."

I perked up. "You're gonna give me a blowie later?"

"Maybe." Leaning back into the cushions, he tightened his grip on my ass and slid me forward until I was sitting directly over his groin. I could feel his big cock stiffening beneath me.

Biting my lip, I ground down a little until a growl rumbled up his throat. Breathlessly, I said, "Or m-maybe… maybe I could ride your dick."

"Maybe," he uttered again, his voice all deep and throaty and so unbelievably hot.

I didn't have a chance to answer, because just then I heard the sound of voices in the hallway. Seb tensed a little, so I quickly scrambled off his lap a second before the door opened and Holt and Taylor walked in.

Taylor was already grinning, still looking a little smug about having figured stuff out before anyone else. Holt eyed us suspiciously, but his mouth curved into a tiny smile.

"We're going to the box now," he said. "Larkin, you really have to get better at shielding your emotions if you're going to be horny at work all the time now."

Heat flooded my cheeks as I glared at him. "Um, that's rich, bro."

Holt scoffed, darting a nervous glance at Seb. "Hardly."

"I already told Seb that Taylor was giving you a—"

"I was going to say that you could both go home early," Holt interrupted loudly, crossing his arms and tossing back his hair. "Seeing as today has been an emotional whirlwind. But maybe I've changed my mind."

"Holt," Taylor chastised, looking a little flustered as he slipped an arm around his waist.

Holt huffed. "Fine. Go home, you two. We'll look after Cora tonight."

Seb was already standing up and shoving his crossword book into his back pocket, then grabbing my hand to heave me off the couch. "You sure, boss?"

Holt chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure. If I get smacked in the face with any more of the super sunshine happiness emanating from Larkin today, I'm going to need to take a sleeping pill just to dull my senses."

"It's so cute." Taylor smiled dopily, then cast us a suspicious look. "I'm getting a lock installed on my office door, by the way. Just as an unrelated note."

I coughed awkwardly and hurried over to my desk to grab my jacket and keys. "What? Okay, well, whatever. That… uh, why would we care? Do what you want, broseph. You ready?" I added brightly to Seb, who gave me a tiny secret smile as he nodded.

"See you two tomorrow," Holt said dryly, he and Taylor stepping out of the way as I grabbed Seb's hand and dragged him through the doorway.

"I'll get coffee in the morning!" I called to appease him, then grinned up at Seb as we walked hand in hand down the corridor. "Shweet. Night off."

He huffed in amusement, side-eyeing me. "Yep."

"I could, um, stay over again, maybe?" I asked hopefully. "I could quickly head home first to get my PJs and stuff."

"You're definitely staying over tonight, Larkin," Seb replied flatly. "And you definitely won't need your PJs."

I bit my lip around a grin.

Noice.