Page 14 of Clean Finish (Goliaths of Wrestling #2)

Lesson 3

Larkin

When it got dark, I took off my baseball cap. My scalp prickled as the sweat started to dry in the cooler night air, but the ends of my hair had already dried off. I’d eventually relented and briefly gotten in the pool, after Heidi and a few of the others kept encouraging me to join them. Mainly because I’d been so fucking bored just sitting here that I’d grown desperate to do anything that would make the day a bit more interesting.

I’d clutched the back of my trunks while awkwardly tugging off my sweats onehanded, and I’d spent the entire time in the water constantly hitching them up self-consciously and shooting glances at the hot tub.

Seb had gotten out briefly when the food was ready, and he’d come and joined me again on the loungers, passing me a paper plate with a burger on it and a fresh can of soda. I’d perked up again, chatting with him and sneaking Cora tiny bits of my burger when Corey wasn’t looking, but then Ludo and Kenneth had come to join us, perching on the edge of the lounger Mads had vacated a while ago.

I’d managed to laugh and joke along with them, but I just wasn’t feeling it today. I wasn’t feeling all that sociable, which was pretty rare for me.

Once they’d finished eating, they’d all got back in the hot tub, with Seb once again asking me if I wanted to join them. That was before I’d given in and gotten in the pool, so I’d shaken my head and acted like I was having a great time just sitting here.

Now, I was wrapped up in my towel, because I was getting cold but didn’t want to put my sweats back on while my trunks were still a little damp.

I could’ve been having a fuckletics session right now.

I wondered what Seb had planned for tomorrow. Hopefully it wouldn’t end up being more talking, although that had turned out surprisingly hot and had ended with an impromptu frotting sesh, which I’d enjoyed immensely.

But actually, I liked talking to Seb anyway. Even when it wasn’t about sex stuff. I glanced at the time on my phone and saw that it was just after nine, then found myself wondering again what we’d have been doing right now if our lesson hadn’t gotten delayed.

I risked a peek back at the hot tub, hoping he wouldn’t see me looking now that it was dark out here. He’d been in there literally all day . Maybe he didn’t like talking to me as much as I liked talking to him.

I sighed and turned back, then made sure to give Taylor a big grin as he passed. I didn’t want them to think I wasn’t enjoying myself. It hadn’t been terrible . I’d gotten to see Seb in a pair of swimming trunks and nothing else—that was something. And it’d been nice chatting with the wrestlers in the end. I’d eventually gotten less nervous when none of them had flirted with me too overtly. Probably partly because they were drinking and I wasn’t, which I appreciated, but also because I wasn’t flirting with any of them .

It had kind of become like a reflex at work. I wasn’t sure why. But here, away from the club and in a setting where everyone was relaxed and having fun, it’d been nice to just hang out with them without any of the heavy, flirtatious undercurrent.

I’d chatted with Vince for a while when he’d come and sunbathed beside me, and he’d seemed to quickly realise that I wasn’t in the mood to flirt or anything, because he’d just joked around and succeeded in perking me up a bit. Susan had come over at one point to introduce me to Asmo, so I’d stuttered through that conversation like a total dork, even though he’d been super friendly and cool.

Some of the wrestlers were on their way to being pretty wasted by now, especially after Carl—the vampire Blood Suckapunch—had arrived once it was dark with a bottle of tequila. Kit had spent the majority of the afternoon drinking beer on the roof of the porch, and at some point they’d managed to procure a big bowl of olives, which they began launching at Dan, who tried to catch them in his mouth by throwing his head into the air.

I was aimlessly texting Hans when I felt something bounce off the top of my head. Looking up, I saw the outline of Kit’s big moth wings as they waved down at me.

“Come up and join me, bro,” they called jovially.

I went hot with embarrassment. “Oh. Um…”

Okay, the thing was, I was kind of a late bloomer with my wings. They were still growing, and I wasn’t all that great at flying yet. Nolan’s wings had developed way quicker than mine, which pissed me off, and it was a bit of a sore spot for me despite how fervently my parents told me that it was completely natural and fine. But I’d seen Crossbody eyeing my piddly wings before, his brow quirking in a snooty expression.

Yeah, well, we can’t all be fae royalty with giant, awe-inspiring wings, your big stupid highness.

“Um, nah,” I called back up to Kit, then held up my phone. “Uh… gonna play some Moth Sim.”

“You unlock the giant moth yet?” they asked smugly, which meant they already had.

I chuckled. “You’re obsessed, dude.”

They shrugged, wings moving languidly as they leaned back on their hands, tarsal claws kicking through the air. “They’re my peeps.”

Snickering, I looked back down at my phone to reply to Hans, then reached for my soda. As I sipped it, I glanced around the yard and felt a little jittery when I noticed something.

There were couples, like, everywhere, and they were all kissing and getting a little amorous. Well, Biff and Gabe were getting more than a little amorous—they were furiously making out by the grill, not even trying to rein it in despite all the people who could see them.

I mean, that seemed a little inappropriate to me, but whatever. I looked away and caught sight of Susan and Asmo. They were lying on a lounger together, the banshee nestled between the incubus’s thighs and leaning back against his chest. Asmo was pressing kisses along her shoulder, his fingers tracing patterns on her bare stomach.

A tiny flare of arousal tightened my gut. Not from watching them like a perv, but because that looked like it felt… nice.

Holt and Taylor were sitting side by side, close together. Taylor was sober, like me, but Holt was definitely at least tipsy. He was saying something to Taylor, cupping his cheeks and periodically leaning in to kiss his mouth, chin and jaw, smiling like a big dope who was madly in love or something.

I huffed, looking back down at my phone. Why was everyone kissing? And being all romantic and shit? It was weird. Hesitantly, I peered back at the hot tub.

Seb was talking to Ludo and sipping a beer. He’d been nursing them, so I was pretty sure he’d only had a couple, and he was so big that there was no way he was drunk. The fairy lights strung along the porch were reflecting in his eyes, and I could just about see his little brown nipples as the water lapped around his chest, matting the hair there.

His biceps looked massive with his arms stretched along the back of the tub. I found my gaze locking onto the dark hair I could see in the hollow of his armpit. And then I found myself picturing him with his arms cocked behind his head, maybe on a bed or something, while I rubbed my nose against his chest hair then buried my face in his armpit to give it a good sniff.

I flushed, wondering if that was a weird thing to think about, but still couldn’t look away. He chuckled at something Ludo said, lips curving up. It wasn’t the big grin I’d only seen him give me.

I stared at his lips as he said something to Ludo that made the rest of them laugh. They looked… nice. Like they’d be soft but firm. Then he took another sip of beer and licked a droplet off his lip, and my gut plummeted with something sharp and hot.

I was breathing a little faster when I turned back to stare blankly down at my phone. My heart was pounding. Without letting myself think about it too hard, I opened up my messages and sent him a text.

Can I talk to you about something?

Nerves flooded my entire body, but I forced myself to text him again.

If you’re free, I’ll go wait in that bedroom with the green wardrobe thing.

I’d been to Holt’s place several times before and had obviously insisted on a full tour. He had three bedrooms, and the two spares were decorated a little weirdly, in my opinion. One looked like it was straight out of the sixties, with gross orange- and-brown carpeting, while the other was what he’d called “maximalist” with this ugly lime-green wardrobe that he’d said was a “refurbished armoire.”

Clutching my towel tightly around me, I stood and said, “Just need to take a piss,” in case anyone was looking. Powerwalking toward the house, I kept my head bent and my gaze firmly away from the hot tub as I passed it on the deck.

The house was quiet and empty. As I made my way to the stairs, the sounds of everyone talking and laughing got fainter, as well as the music Asmo had put on through the speakers. The carpet on the stairs felt warm and a little itchy under my cold, bare feet. Inching the door to the spare bedroom open, I poked my head in and turned on the light. I was greeted by the sight of loudly patterned tropical wallpaper, a leopard print bedspread, a hideous crystal chandelier and an oversized pink lawn flamingo tucked in the corner. But it was at least empty of people, so I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.

What if Seb didn’t check his phone? I’d feel like such a dweeb if I had to slink back out there if he didn’t show, and then he saw the text and realised I’d been up here waiting for him. Fuck. I shouldn’t have texted him in the first place. He was clearly having fun with his buddies.

I wrapped my towel around my waist and tucked the end in to keep it secure, then ducked down and crept over to the window so I could peer outside. I frowned when I realised I couldn’t see the hot tub from here.

Stretching an arm up, I closed the curtains. Just… in case.

Then I sat on the end of the bed, my knee bouncing frantically as I stared down at my phone. I could see that the messages had been delivered. They were there, waiting on his phone, but I had no idea if he’d even read them.

Or worse, if he’d read them and decided to ignore them.

I tried to keep my leg still, worried that someone might come inside and hear my heel thudding manically against the floor through the ceiling. But every time I looked up at the closed door, it began bouncing again. As the minutes ticked by, I started wondering if I should send another text to make it seem like I hadn’t wanted to talk to him about anything important. But I couldn’t think of anything. What unimportant thing could I possibly want to tell him in private in the middle of a pool party?

When I eventually heard the stairs creak, I went completely still and held my breath, ears straining. Oh shit, what if it was Taylor and Holt sneaking upstairs for a mid-party quickie? I did not want to hear that. I’d have to try and sneak out, praying they hadn’t left their bedroom door open.

I shot up from the bed when the door opened, trying to think of a reason I’d been waiting in here if it was anyone but Seb.

But it was him. My body sagged in relief, and my face automatically broke into a grin as he slipped inside and closed the door softly behind him.

“H-hey.”

“Hi.” He gave me a tiny smile back, gaze roaming from my face down to my bare chest. My dick twitched, so I clutched at my towel. Eyes returning to mine, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Uh-huh. Yep. I’m great.” Shifting from foot to foot, I asked, “Um, have you… had fun?”

One big shoulder rose in a shrug as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the door. “Sure. Have you? ” he asked, sounding a little concerned.

“Oh, yeah, tonnes.” I waved a hand, then squirmed and admitted, “I mean, I think I’m just not… in the right mood today, I guess? I dunno. Maybe I’m tired.”

“Did you sleep okay?” he asked immediately, brows furrowing a touch more.

A small smile tilted my mouth. “I think so.”

We lapsed into silence. He was watching me intently, and after a few moments, sounding a little apprehensive, he asked, “What did you want to talk to me about, Lark?”

Shit. Maybe this had been a bad idea. He didn’t really seem like he wanted to be here. I’d dragged him away from the party for something I could’ve just asked him tomorrow, and probably shouldn’t ask him at all.

“Um, well, I was thinking…” Heat crept up my neck. “I’ve been thinking that maybe… um… I was thinking that… practising… um, kissing… might be a good idea after all.”

He’d gone completely still, his face frozen into that emotionless mask. As my pulse throbbed in my ears, face on fire and wings twitching manically, he finally moved, his shoulders drooping as he raised a hand to scrub his face.

He let out a tiny chuckle. “That is not what I thought you were gonna say.”

I managed a wobbly smile and curiously asked, “What did you think I was going to say?”

“I thought—never mind.” He straightened and moved closer, flashing me that big grin. “So… you want to practise kissing. With me.”

“Uh, yeah,” I said shakily, locking my knees as they started to tremble when he got closer. “It… it just makes sense. To… cover all bases. R-right?”

He nodded, coming to a stop right in front of me. His throat bobbed as his eyes darted down to my mouth, their colour growing darker.

“And you want to practise right now?” His voice was lower and had grown a little gravelly. The sound of it sent a shiver of excitement up my spine.

I nodded, already breathless. “I just—I thought—We had to push back our lesson, so maybe we could… s-squeeze another in now. If you want to.”

His mouth hooked up into a crooked smile that made the pit of my stomach throb. “Good idea.”

I managed a tiny smile. “I’m full of ’em.”

He chuckled, still smiling down at me. “Yeah, you really are.”

“So, um…” I glanced at his mouth, my belly swooping again. “H-how—What do you…”

“I have an idea,” he rasped, fingers twitching by his sides. “Why don’t you make the first move and kiss me, to build your confidence about doing it a bit?”

I didn’t want to remind him that I had, in fact, already done that. Although that make-out sesh with Hans to impress those girls was a bit of a drunken blur. And I was actually pretty sure that he’d been the one to kiss me—just grabbed my head, smashed his mouth to mine and gone to town.

Thinking about it, this would probably be pretty useful practice. Making the first move was nerve-wracking as shit. Being able to spot the signs that someone actually wanted you to kiss them was kind of nerve-wracking too.

“Okay,” I breathed. “Um, h-how… how do I tell if someone wants me to kiss them?”

“There are signs,” Seb murmured. “Like dilated pupils.”

My wide-eyed gaze locked with his. His pupils were huge.

“If they’re breathing a little faster.”

His chest was rising quicker than normal.

“And they’re angling their body toward you, keep themselves open. Sometimes mirroring your gestures.”

Well, Seb was standing right in front of me, and he knew I was about to kiss him, so that one didn’t really help right now. But I nodded, trying to take it all on board, even as my gaze dropped back to his mouth and refused to budge.

“So whenever you’re ready…” His tongue darted out to swipe at his lower lip, making my breath catch. “Just do what you’d do to… make the first move and kiss someone. Knowing they want you to. They’re waiting for you to do it. They’ve been waiting for a long time.”

That actually helped a lot. Imagining that Seb really, really wanted to kiss me, that he wasn’t just doing this as a friend to help me out, made it easier for me to move closer until my chest brushed his. I felt a little self-conscious and kind of silly, but I knew Seb would never laugh at me if I acted like a total dweeb. He wasn’t like that.

My hand was trembling as I lifted it to lightly rest it on his chest, my fingers twitching to feel the slide of his short chest hair against them. Seb’s heart was pounding surprisingly hard and fast under my palm. Oh god, maybe he was already worried about telling me how crap I was going to be at kissing. I mean, I knew he’d say it in a nice way, but I really hoped I didn’t need too many notes.

I slid my hand up to rest it on the side of his neck, his pulse rabbiting against my palm. Then I raised my other hand to cup his nape, because I’d need to tug him down slightly to reach his mouth.

My breaths were already fast and shallow as I darted a nervous look at him. He was watching me, his eyes a little heavy-lidded and dark around his enormous pupils. But he didn’t move an inch, patiently waiting for me to get on with our impromptu kissing lesson in Holt’s spare bedroom, in the middle of a pool party, with all our co-workers just outside.

I wanted to do well at this. I wanted to do well at all of it, but kissing was kind of the absolute basic when it came to sex, wasn’t it? If I wasn’t good at this, people might reconsider doing anything more with me. I wanted to nail it.

Be seductive or whatever!

I didn’t really know how to be seductive. I was too jumpy and easily excitable to be all suave and sultry. I was already shaking with nervous excitement. I couldn’t fake being all calm and confident and like I did this all the time. But that was okay. Seb knew I didn’t. He already knew.

Remembering that relaxed me a little. Swallowing, I stretched out my thumb to smooth it along his jawline, my belly dipping at the rasp of stubble. Fae were pretty hairless, so I probably wouldn’t ever be able to grow facial hair or anything, and the sensation of it was… nice. Different.

The feel of the hair on his chest and stomach was nice too. Really nice. It was warm, and the line bisecting his abs was surprisingly soft against my skin.

I tilted my chin up and applied slight pressure to his nape so he would dip his head. He was breathing fast too, but he still stayed mostly unmoving, waiting placidly and reminding me that I was the one who actually had to do it.

Tilting my head, I rose on my toes and slowly pressed my lips to his. He immediately kissed me back, just as softly, and my heart stuttered as something thudded hard into the pit of my stomach. I kissed him again, a bit firmer this time, and heard Seb’s breath catch in his throat. I had to be doing something right, then.

The next kiss was a little deeper, our lips parting slightly and moulding together. I knew I should be concentrating, taking in his reactions and gauging what to do next based on them, but my mind was starting to go blank. My heart was pounding hard against his, our chests pressed together.

Warm hands crept onto my sides, and I shivered as his thumbs smoothed over my bare skin. When I brushed my tongue against his upper lip, his grip tightened. Then the tip of his tongue feathered over mine, and tingles raced over my scalp as I parted my lips wider.

A tiny sound left me when our tongues met and glided slowly together. I could feel a tremor running through Seb’s body, so I was definitely getting this right, but I wasn’t really thinking about the fact that this was a lesson anymore.

Admittedly, I hadn’t done this all that much, but I was pretty sure it’d never felt like this before. I’d never been so hyper aware of all the sensations. How hot Seb’s tongue was, how smooth it felt gliding against mine, how he was slowly taking control of the kiss, sinking his tongue into my mouth and tilting his head to get deeper.

His hands left my sides and rose to cup my face, thumbs trailing over my jaw and making me shiver. The kiss grew even deeper and hotter and wetter, and I found myself straining to get closer, pressing my whole body against his as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

A hoarse groan vibrated into my mouth as Seb’s strong arms circled my waist and tugged me even more tightly against him. And suddenly, the slow pace evaporated completely. We were kissing feverishly now, our tongues thrusting together desperately. I was panting against his lips, my heart racing. I couldn’t stop. I buried one of my hands in Seb’s short hair, like I didn’t want to risk him ending the kiss and moving away, and he groaned into my mouth again, his hands trailing down my hips.

My breath caught when he tugged on my towel until it fell to the floor, then gripped the backs of my thighs and hoisted me up in a rush. My legs automatically snapped around his waist, clinging on, and a desperate moan left me when my straining cock rubbed against his stomach through my trunks.

He was suddenly striding across the room without breaking the kiss, carrying me somewhere until my back hit a wall. His hands were clutching my ass as he groaned and thrust his tongue into my mouth, the force of it keeping my head pinned to the wall. I gasped when I felt something hot and hard grinding against my balls through my trunks, breathlessly close to my asshole.

Oh my god, oh my god. He could hold me up like this and fuck me against the wall.

I couldn’t stop panting out little moans as we kissed frantically, and my belly swooped when I felt Seb’s fingers curl into the slippery fabric of my trunks, gripping two fistfuls tight and dragging them down over my ass with intent.

Oh my god, oh my god.

A sudden, panic-inducing realisation jarred me out of the moment as I felt cool air hit my ass and taint, then my cock as it popped free. Shit. Shit shit shit, he was going to feel—

“Wait.” I broke the kiss, my breaths trembling out of me. “Wait.”