Cosplayed: A Sweet Lesbian Romance Page 4

“Um, uh…”

  I was stammering. I wasn’t stringing sentences together to make pretty words. I needed to bring this under control. I needed to say something.

  “I’m Zoey?” I asked.

  Damn it. Why did I ask her if I’m Zoey? She smiled again and then she did something that made my heart stop. Her eyes ran up and down my body. With interest. That wasn’t the look of someone who was checking out my costume. That was the look of someone who was checking me out. Someone who liked what she saw.

  I felt my skin tingling. Could this girl be into girls? Could she be into me?

  Of course there was one problem with that even if all of the above was true. I had a girlfriend. A girlfriend who I was pretty sure was cheating on me every opportunity she could get, but I was still in a relationship. Flirting with this girl would mean I was doing exactly what Natalie had accused me of in our last big argument.

  Professional. I needed to be cool and professional.

  “Are you okay?” the girl asked.

  “Sorry. I was just so impressed by you…. Your costume. Yeah, that is pretty good work. Did you make that yourself?”

  The girl positively beamed at the compliment. “Yup! I spent way too much time putting it together, and thanks! It means so much hearing something like that from someone in an outfit like yours. Did you vacuum form those?”

  “Sure did,” I said with a grin. I was also relieved. Talking ship meant I could escape from the awkward moment where I’d been caught checking her out. I could always lose myself in a conversation about building costumes, and it was a welcome diversion right now let me tell you. “We have our own vacuum forming machine and we use it to do costume runs whenever someone joins the group.”

  “That’s so awesome,” the girl said. She leaned forward and rested her arms on the table. That had the double effect of giving me a very nice view of her cleavage while also giving a nice view of her ass to anyone who happened to be walking by. I noticed a couple of guys noticing the view, including her friend who was really noticing it if you catch my drift, and I felt a stab of jealousy that they got that view and I didn’t.

  Damn it. I was really losing it here. I shouldn’t be drooling over some girl who wasn’t my girlfriend.

  “Those wings are also pretty nice,” she said. “How did you do them? Do they move?”

  I shook my head. “No. We just glued feathers from the craft store to a metal frame that we keep close in. Looks like you did the same thing?”

  The girl smiled and stood up. I pouted just a little. I didn’t want to lose that lovely view she’d just given me. And had there been a twinkle in her eye when she did that? Almost as though she knew exactly what she was doing. I suppressed a shiver.

  “Something like that,” she said. Then she did something that astounded me almost as much as the sight of her figure and her costume. She reached behind her and pulled on something and right before my eyes I saw her wings expand out as though she was in flight.

  “Damn,” I breathed, and this time it was for the costuming accomplishment and not for how she looked, though that was still nice too.

  “I’d be happy to show you how to do it,” she said. “The mechanism is actually pretty easy to put together now that I figured it out the first time.”

  “I might take you up on that,” I replied. “That’s so incredible that you were able to pull something like that off!”

  “Took a lot of time, but it was worth it,” she said. “Even if I can’t really use it in the convention center without worrying about someone ripping my wings off.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I know that feeling. But I didn’t quite catch your name?”

  The girl jumped and shook her head. “I’m so sorry! I’m Hailey. Nice to meet you Zoey.”

  She held her hand out. I regarded it for a moment like it was a live wire. I felt like touching her might be dangerous, but it would also be rude to not shake her hand. So I reached out and made a connection. I tried to ignore the way a shiver ran all the way up my arm and into the core of my being at the touch. I barely managed to suppress it.

  That would look odd. I didn’t want to look odd in front of her.

  “And who is your… boyfriend?” I asked. I didn’t want to sound too much like I was fishing for their relationship status even though that’s exactly what I was doing.

  Hailey giggled. “This is Jake. Not my boyfriend. Just a very good friend.”

  I giggled and grinned right back at her. Though I also couldn’t miss how Jake seemed less than happy to be referred to as just a friend. It was pretty fucking obvious that he wanted to be more than that with this girl.

  Not that I could blame him. It was a feeling I could identify with.

  It really was a shame. If I wasn’t taken then I’d certainly consider being interested in this girl. I was taken, though. I was in a relationship even if it wasn’t exactly a happy relationship. It was a relationship, though, and I wasn’t going to violate that. I wasn’t going to do what I worried Natalie was already doing to me, even if there was a small voice in the back of my head whispering and telling me that I was totally justified.

  I stomped on that little voice. That wasn’t who I was. Plus it would lead to another huge blowup argument and that wasn’t what I needed right now. I looked Hailey up and down again and shook my head.

  I needed to focus. She asked what Cosplay Angels was. That was something I could focus on.

  “Right, so you wanted to know about Cosplay Angels,” I said. “That’s pretty easy. We’re a group of girls who love Battle Gear Angel Squad, because who doesn’t love Battle Gear Angel Squad?”

  “Totally,” Hailey said.

  I noticed that her gentlemen friend, Jake, raised his hand behind her. Apparently he didn’t like Battle Gear Angel Squad but he was more than happy to hang out with his bestie when she was in a Battle Gear Angel Squad costume. Again, not that I could blame him. The way she looked I’d want to spend as much time around her as I could too.

  “So you just dress up in costume and come to conventions? Why get a booth then? Isn’t that expensive?”

  I grimaced. Finances weren’t something I wanted to think about. Especially since I never got around to figuring out where that numbers discrepancy came from. I still needed Natalie to double check my math because that was going to really bug me otherwise. That wasn’t helping here with this cute girl’s question though.

  “We have a booth because we do a lot of charity work,” I said. “There are a couple of children’s charities in the city and we raise money for them at conventions. The costumes are just a way to get people’s attention.”

  “I bet you get all sorts of attention in those outfits,” she said, not being at all subtle about looking me up and down again. I thought I heard Cassie suppress a laugh behind me.

  Damn it. I didn’t need witnesses to this. It was bad enough that I felt giddy around this girl in a way I hadn’t felt with Natalie in forever. I was trying to keep this on the up and up.

  “Yeah, well, you know how it is. I’m sure you get all sorts of attention in your costume too,” I said.

  That sounded dangerously close to flirting. Dangerously close to the sort of thing Natalie had accused me of doing at the booth. I needed to stop this fast. Flirtatious was not how I should be acting with a pretty girl who was rocking the ever loving fuck out of her costume.

  “I’d hope so,” she replied, locking eyes with me. “After all, what’s the point of putting a costume like this on if you’re not getting all the right kind of attention.”

  I swallowed. I was having a hell of a time keeping it under control. There was something about this girl that drew me in. Something about that cocky confidence that reminded me of, well, me. Back before I got with Natalie, at least. I’d been less of a social butterfly since then, of course.

  “Right, well we are always looking for new people. Especially people who are able to put together a kickass costume and do new things that we haven’t been able to
figure out. I’d have to run it by a couple of people, but with something like that I’d say you’re in,” I said.

  Cassie snickered behind me. I tried to tell myself that I was letting her in so easily because of her costume. Because she seemed cool. Not because she was flirting with me and making me feel alive in a way I hadn’t felt in some time thanks to stupid Natalie and our relationship which had been circling the drain for awhile now.

  I could tell myself that all I wanted, but I knew deep down that it wasn’t true.

  “I might be interested,” Hailey said. “You could help me out with getting some genuine plastic armor and I could show all of you how to put together these wings.”

  “Yup, something like that,” I said. “We help people with the costumes anyways, but I’d be willing to throw in some free plastic armor if you show us how you did those incredible wings!”

  Hailey leaned in again. She showed me that incredible view of her cleavage which I tried very hard not to be too obvious about staring at. She was staring right at me, after all. I got the distinct feeling that she was watching me for any sign that I was watching her. Her friend was busy watching from behind. Lucky bastard. He could stare all he wanted without worrying about getting caught. Though from the way Hailey’s eyes followed mine and she smiled I figured she might be well aware of what was going on back there.

  That smile was killer. Those eyes were pools I could get swept away in.

  Dangerous games. So very dangerous. I licked my lips.

  “We’ll need some contact information from you, of course, but we’re all local so it’s not too difficult to get together for costume builds and…”

  “So does that mean you’re asking for my number Zoey?” Hailey asked.

  I’d like to say I had some smooth line after she left me with such an obvious opening, but it felt like my entire brain had been short-circuited by the sexy girl in front of me smiling up at me with that naughty stare.

  And I didn’t get a chance to think of anything to say either. No, someone appeared right next to me and practically shoved me aside.

  “Hello! And what might your name be?”

  I turned to the side and blinked in astonishment. It was none other than Natalie, back from wherever the hell she’d been for the past half hour. Of course she’d show up when there was a pretty girl at the booth for her to hit on.

  I’d like to say I stared in disbelief, but I could more than believe this coming from her.

  “Um, Hailey?” Hailey said. She seemed on edge all of a sudden. The playfulness was gone from her face and she took a step back and crossed her arms so more of her was covered.

  Yeah, she didn’t like Natalie moving in on her any more than I liked Natalie moving in on her. Which was fucked up considering Natalie was my girlfriend. I felt like I was more upset that she was getting between me and Hailey than I was upset that she was hitting on a girl right in front of me.

  Damn it. I saw her first, but I didn’t want to cause a scene. So I stared between the two of them and tried to figure out which one I was more annoyed with.

  I was pretty sure the answer was “my girlfriend.”

  5: Temptations

  Hailey:

  The girl leaned in even closer and I pulled back from her again. If she kept this up for much longer then she was going to take a spill over their table and take the tablecloth they’d draped over it right along with her.

  I looked over towards Zoey, but she was hanging back. She also had a look on her face like someone had just run over her favorite cat and then served it to her in a roadkill stew. Wow. I don’t think I’d ever seen someone going from flirty and fun to pissed off that quickly before.

  It had to have something to do with this girl. I didn’t know who she was. I didn’t like the vibe I was getting from her. I really didn’t like the way she was looking me up and down as though I was a piece of meat.

  There was something creepy about that look from her. With Zoey it seemed like she was genuinely happy to see me. With this girl it seemed like she’d be genuinely happy to bed me and that was about it.

  I wanted nothing to do with it, so I turned to Jake.

  “Weren’t you saying you wanted to get some food?” I asked.

  “You bet your ass I was,” Jake said. “You ready to go?”

  “But you can’t leave yet! Not when the leader of Cosplay Angels is here to chat with you!” the girls said, a hint of desperation coming to her voice. “Come on. Don’t you want to hang around and chat for a minute?”

  I wanted to leave. My stomach rumbled reminding me that I was hungry too. Jake wasn’t the only one who wanted to find some grub. It was time to get the hell out of here. This little charity thing had seemed promising, but if it involved putting up with this girl then I didn’t want anything to do with it.

  “That’s okay,” I said. “I think we’re going to go get some lunch. It was nice talking with you.”

  It was a simple enough plan. Get the hell away from this booth and get some food. Never go back to this part of the convention hall again even if this booth was home to the intoxicating and mysterious Zoey.

  The only problem with that plan was this new girl was right in front of me as I turned to leave. She practically leapt over the table to get there which was impressive considering the heavy costume she was in. It was a wonder she didn’t catch something on her wings and cause the whole thing to go tumbling down around her.

  “Come on, stay and chat awhile,” she said. She held a hand out. “I’m Natalie, by the way. I also do professional cosplay pictures if you’re interested in something like that.”

  “Um, that’s nice,” I said. “But I’m not really interested in paying for something like that. I don’t have much money after putting this outfit together.”

  I glanced over to Zoey again. She’d crossed her arms under her breasts and I found it distracting the way that pushed them up. She was so pretty, and cool. Not like this Natalie girl who was pretty but giving off one heck of a creepy vibe.

  Not my thing at all.

  “That’s not a problem,” Natalie said. “Trust me, it would be on the house if I did a photo shoot with you. Totally worth it for such an awesome costume!”

  Zoey looked really angry. She was glancing between the two of us and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why she was so irritated. Was there something I’d done? Was there something going on between her and this Natalie girl?

  It couldn’t be. There was no way there was something going on between the two of them. Couples didn’t act like this. Zoey had been flirting with me hardcore even if she hadn’t come out direct, and this Natalie girl was being more than direct with me.

  No way they were together. Not a chance.

  “Look, I think it would be a good idea if I headed out. My friend and I really need to get some food,” I said.

  Natalie stuck her lip out in a pout. “Are you sure about that? I’d love to stay and chat with you about joining the group.”

  “I already talked about that with Zoey,” I said. “I’m good, trust me.”

  “Oh really? You already talked about it with Zoey? That’s interesting.”

  Natalie turned to look at Zoey an again I had the distinct feeling I’d just stepped into the middle of something. They were staring at one another like two angry cats growling from across the room. If these costumes came with tails they’d be lashing right about now on both girls.

  “Yeah, interesting,” I said. “So I’m going to be going now, but it was nice to meet you.”

  It wasn’t, but I figured it was nice to be nice. Besides, I figured if I had my way I wouldn’t see her again. She gave off a weird vibe.

  “Well fine, but before you go I absolutely have to get a picture with you in that awesome costume! I can’t believe you made it yourself!”

  Before I knew it she was right next to me wrapping her arm around me. She looked over her shoulder.

  “Zoey? Could you be a dear and get my phone?
It’s in my purse under the table. I have to have a picture!”

  There was a pause. I heard someone slamming around behind me. Whoever was doing the slamming around obviously wasn’t happy. I wondered what the heck was going on to piss her off so much.

  Natalie turned to me and grinned. “Don’t mind her. She’s been stuck at the table all day and I was a little late bringing her a snack. She’ll be fine soon enough.”

  That sort of made sense. My stomach growled again. I could certainly sympathize with someone wanting to get some food in them.

  Zoey rounded the corner and moved to hand her phone to Jake. Jake, for his part, didn’t look all that happy to once again being relegated to taking pictures for me. I wondered what his problem was all of a sudden. He didn’t have any problem taking pictures when other people came asking.

  “Oh come on Zoey,” Natalie said. “Don’t make her friend take the picture. You don’t mind, do you?”

  Zoey paused. Turned to look between the two of us with a look that screamed that she very much did mind taking a picture of the two of us. She stiffened and looked like she was about to say something, then thought better of it and held the phone up.

  “Whatever you want Natalie,” she said.

  I tried to smile, but it was difficult. This was all so awkward. This girl was coming on so strong, and Zoey seemed so angry about it. I wanted to be anywhere but here between the two of them, but no one stopped to ask me what I wanted.

  Then I got an even bigger surprise. I figured I’d be safe standing next to another girl, but obviously I was wrong. I felt Natalie’s hand moving down behind my wings and she cupped my ass!

  My eyes went wide and of course that was the look Zoey caught as she pulled Natalie’s phone up and took the picture. At least the flash didn’t go off this time. I was starting to feel like I was going to go blind from all the flashes that had been going off in my face all morning long.

  Natalie looked over at me and winked. She also ran her tongue along her top lip in a gesture that wasn’t lost on me. I shivered and felt a little dirty because she did that, but at the same time I wasn’t about to say something and let everyone know that she’d just been copping a feel.