Evie
Nerves flutter through my stomach as I wait for our team to be called to the stage. I hate this part of competing. No matter how many times I think through the routine and the moves I need to make, I always find myself worrying about if I'm going to manage to do it right.
I take a deep breath and try to centre myself.
"You've got a visitor," Mandy says, nodding towards the door.
I look over and my heart skips a beat when Ceb waves at me.
"I'll make sure Zara doesn't notice you're missing," Mandy promises, amusement clear in her voice.
"Thanks." I ignore her smugness, pleased that Ceb is here, and that she's going to cover for me. "I'll be back soon."
She nods and waves me off, while I hurry to the door. I grab hold of Ceb's hand and pull him to the side.
"You came."
"I did. I'm looking forward to seeing you compete, I know you've been working hard for it."
"We have." Warmth spreads through me. I know we've been together for a couple of months now, but it still feels like a big deal that he's here.
He steps closer and places a hand on my waist. I lean into him, enjoying the way he smells and feels when he holds me in his arms.
"I love you," he says. "Maybe right before you perform isn't the best time to say it, but I need you to know."
My heart swells to several times its normal size. Or it certainly feels like it does. "I love you too," I respond, certain in the words. "And now is good, it distracts me from being nervous."
He raises an eyebrow. "You're nervous?"
"Wouldn't you be? We've been training for this for months. For some of the squad, it's their last chance to win the competition. It's a big deal."
"I know that, I guess you just always seem so confident."
I reach up to try and sweep some hair out of my face, only to remember that it's tied up neatly like it's supposed to be. "This is the only time I don't feel it," I admit.
He nods. "Well if it helps, I believe in you. I don't know the first thing about cheering, but I've seen you practising, and it looks good."
I let out a nervous laugh. "That's something, though I don't think it'll calm anyone down."
"Not even you?"
"Maybe."
"You did once tell me that it wasn't about the winning, it was about playing the game."
"And that was clearly a lie, I like winning as much as anyone. Remember how disappointed I was that we didn't win the Hell Scramble?"
"We were never going to win that."
"Exactly. And yet I still sulked about it."
"Adorably," he assures me.
"I'm glad you think so, because you're the one who is going to have to cheer me up later if we lose today."
"I thought you were going out with the squad?"
"If we win, sure. If we lose, I'm going to want to eat my weight in ice cream. And that's my hellhound weight, not my human weight."
He chuckles. "I'm not sure we can get hold of that much ice cream at short notice, but on the off-chance, you lose, I promise that I'll make a stop by Desserts After Dark on my way back to my flat so I have all of your favourites."
A warm fuzzy feeling comes over me and I step closer to him. "Now with that offer on the table, I might be tempted to lose on purpose."
"I've met Zara, I recommend you don't."
My lips quirk up into a smile. "Then perhaps we can have a dessert date tomorrow anyway? Win or lose?"
"That can be arranged," he promises.
The door to the dressing room opens and Mandy pops her head around it. "Zara's ready to start her briefing."
"All right, I'll come in a second."
She nods and disappears back inside.
"I have to go," I say. "But thank you for coming, it means a lot that you're here."
"I wouldn't miss it for anything," he promises.
I lean in and press my lips against his, kissing him deeply, safe in the knowledge that everything he's saying is true. I don't need him here in order to perform well, but it gives me a boost to know that he's come to support me.
And I can't ask for any more than that. It's funny how a team-building weekend for the cheer squad ended up with me creating another team too. Even if there are just the two of us in it, I'm excited about what adventures we'll discover together.
Thank you for reading Team Building For Friendly Hellhounds, I hope you enjoyed it! You can continue the series with Mandy's story in Finding Answers For Confused Succubi: http://books2read.com/findinganswersforconfusedsuccubi
You can also download a free bonus HEA scene from Ceb's point of view here: https://books.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/u9xtu2nheo