Cosplayed: A Sweet Lesbian Romance Read online

  That was the smile she used when she was up to something. When she thought she was going to pull a fast one. It took every bit of self-control I had not to laugh in her face. I could tell what she was going to say before she said it.

  “I have an appointment up in my room here in a few minutes,” she said.

  “Oh yeah? You didn’t mention that before,” I said.

  I had to play this cool. I tried to sound like I was curious. Nothing more. I didn’t want her to think I suspected anything. If she thought I suspected something then she might start trying to cover her tracks.

  I wanted her to think she was getting away with something right up to the moment that the trap sprang around her and she realized she’d gotten away with nothing.

  “You know how it is,” she said. “People are asking for pictures all the time at these things. They want everyone to see professional photos of them at their best.”

  I’d seen some of the pictures Natalie took. Truth be told they didn’t look all that professional. Which was probably part of the reason why she was still picking up odd jobs at conventions rather than working on her own, but I wasn’t going to say that now. I was Zoey. I was sunshine and rainbows. I avoided conflict, and wading into conflict might tip her off.

  “Well you have fun up there,” I said. “I assume you’re going to use the room they comped to the organization?”

  “Sure am,” Natalie said. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. She was so preoccupied with getting the hell away from the booth that she didn’t even seem to notice that I didn’t react to the kiss. I stood there and let her brush her lips against my cheek, but that was the extent of my participation.

  Not that it surprised me that she was oblivious to my feelings. It wouldn’t be the first time. With a little bit of luck this might be the last, though. A plan had been forming in the back of my mind ever since I saw her texting and I was almost ready to pull it off.

  “I’ll see you later,” Natalie said.

  “Sure thing,” I replied, perhaps with a little more conviction than usual. Not that Natalie noticed that either. She was off in her happy little bubble where she was off to have a “photo shoot” or something and she thought she was getting away with it.

  We’d see about that.

  “Are you really going to let her get away with that?” Lisa asked.

  I turned to her and grinned. “Get away with what, Lisa?”

  “Stop playing like you don’t know exactly what’s going on,” Cassie said, coming up on the other side. “She’s been hiding in her phone all afternoon. It would take an idiot to not see what’s going on.”

  “Well the way she’s ignored what Natalie is doing all this time…”

  “Shut up Lisa,” Cassie snapped.

  Lisa turned to me and arched an eyebrow. “Seriously though. We’re sick of this shit. She’s never at the booth and the money is always off when we’re done with these charity shindigs and she makes us pay out of pocket for the booth space.”

  I blinked. “She what?”

  “You didn’t know? She always says we came up short and we need to help her pay. Something about not being able to pay for the booth out of direct charity earnings for tax reasons or something.”

  This was news to me. Judging by the even more annoyed looks that passed between Lisa and Cassie it seemed like they were realizing just how much they’d been had as well.

  “There’s no rule like that,” I said. “And I’ve noticed the money is coming up weird too. I always have to give it to Natalie to fix it.”

  “So the books are always weird and then they always get magically fixed when Natalie touches them?” Cassie asked.

  My shoulders slumped. I was starting to realize just how ridiculous this all was. Just how much Natalie had apparently been cheating all of us all along. I didn’t want to believe she would steal from our charity, but I had a feeling if I went back and looked at the backups of all the spreadsheets I kept at conventions and compared them to the “updated” spreadsheets she gave me I’d find just that.

  I was mad before, but now I was good and pissed off. I could believe she would do something like that, but easily beliving it didn’t make me any less angry about it.

  “That’s it,” I said. “This is over. Now.”

  “Attagirl!” Cassie said, smacking me on the back.

  “We’ll be waiting here for you when you get back,” Lisa said. “We’ve talked with all the girls, and as far as we’re concerned Natalie is through.”

  “Yup. We’re all rooting for you,” Cassie said. “Even the girls who couldn’t make it today.”

  I took some solace in that. There was a part of me that had worried breaking up with Natalie would also mean breaking up with Cosplay Angels. It was nice to know I’d get to keep them in the breakup.

  I stormed through the convention center and back to the hotel. For a wonder I didn’t get a single person stopping me and asking to have their picture taken. Maybe there was something about the look on my face that told them they needed to steer clear. Whatever it was, I had the quickest trip ever from the convention floor to the hotel lobby.

  The guy working the counter didn’t try to hide that he was checking me out. I ignored it in turn. I was so used to people checking me out when I was in this thing that it had become second nature to screen it out. Like a bad smell that you got used to.

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  I got an idea and leaned forward on the counter. That had the effect of doing exactly what happened with Hailey earlier and I could feel my breasts pressing together. I could also feel plastic from the costume pressing in and pinching me in a couple of unwelcome places, but the pain was temporary and I’d use any weapon I could get.

  I wasn’t sure if this plan would work, and it would help if this guy was good and distracted while I tried to con him.

  “I’m a representative from the Cosplay Angels charity. We have a room comped with you guys as part of the convention,” I said.

  The guy licked his lips and stared at my chest for another beat before he realized I was done talking. He shook his head and tapped at his computer. Looked back at me and smiled.

  “We do have you in the system. How can I help you?”

  “Well I lost my room key over at the convention center and I was hoping you could provide me with another one?” I asked.

  He paused. The hint of a frown played across his features. Only a hint, though.

  “Usually we require some ID or something…”

  I decided to go for broke. I leaned down even more and squeezed my shoulders together which had the added benefit of squeezing my tits together. His mouth fell open and he stared openly. No subtlety there at all.

  “Come on,” I said. “Would anyone be walking around in a ridiculous costume like that who wasn’t part of that group? You can look me up on our website if you want. You’ll see me right there. I have lots of pictures. Lots.”

  I didn’t have to tell the guy that he didn’t have a chance. All I had to hope for was that he’d be distracted by the sexy long enough to give me what I wanted. I figured it was about time I got something out of people checking me out in this getup.

  “I suppose you’re right,” he said with a grin. He tapped some more and pulled out a hotel keycard. Handed it over. “And y’know if you’re not busy later maybe…”

  “Thanks! You’ve been great!” I said as I pulled away from the desk and headed for the elevators.

  When I stepped on he was still staring after me. Still had that goofy grin on his face too. Even if he didn’t get the date he was hoping for something told me he’d be checking out our website and getting what he needed from the pictures we had posted on there. Whatever. I had what I wanted.

  I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous as the elevator doors closed and blocked out the lobby. I was finally going to catch Natalie in the act, and while I was giddy and excited at the idea there was also a part of me that was upset at what
I was about to find.

  The elevator dinged as it carried me higher and higher into the hotel and closer to destiny.

  7: Rendezvous

  Hailey:

  I stepped off of the elevator and wondered if I was even in the right place. I’d been to a few convention parties before and they were almost always the same. A bunch of people moving back and forth between a bunch of open doors with music and laughter filling the hall.

  Not the kind of place you went for a little peace, rest, and relaxation. I always felt sorry for the poor bastards staying at the hotel who weren’t part of the convention.

  My costume rattled and shook back and forth as I made my way down the empty hall. Not at all like the party halls I’d been to. There wasn’t a single door open and it was ghostly quiet. Though come to think of it it was a little early for a party. Usually they didn’t start until after ten, and the really good ones didn’t get going until after midnight.

  Again, it probably played hell with the sleep schedules of anyone who was here for business or a family vacation or something.

  I stopped in front of the room and looked down at the card Natalie gave me earlier. I wanted to make sure I was even in the right place. The door was closed and I didn’t hear music on the other side. I didn’t hear a bunch of people on the other side. Everything was eerie and quiet.

  I almost thought that if I turned and looked back down the hall I’d see two creepy twins staring at me or something. That was ridiculous though. I knocked on the door and waited.

  Finally there was the some sound from the other side. As though someone was scrambling around in there. Only one person, though. I frowned again. If this was a party then there should’ve been a lot of people in there. Why was I only hearing one person?

  The door flew open. The only person standing there was Natalie. My frown deepened. Why was I only seeing Natalie? She was breathing hard and she’d changed out of her costume. She was in a tank top that didn’t cover her stomach and plunged down to reveal a lot of her cleavage. Something that might’ve distracted me if this was any other person. She also had on shorts that were so short they left nothing to the imagination. Again something that might’ve been distracting on anyone else.

  She looked me up and down and I shivered, but not in a good way.

  “Hailey! So glad you could make it!” she said. “Come on in.”

  She motioned for me to step in but I stayed rooted to the spot. Something was telling me that going in there would be a bad idea.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked. “I thought you said there was going to be a party or something?”

  “Oh yeah,” Natalie said. “There’s going to be a party. You’re just the first to get here is all.”

  That voice in the back of my head was still telling me this was a bad idea, but I ignored it as I stepped inside. After all, this girl was the head of a costuming group. It’s not like she would do anything stupid. At least that’s what I told myself. We could talk about their charity work or something while we were waiting for everyone else to arrive.

  Everyone else including Zoey. I hadn’t been able to get her out of my head all day long. What I really needed was to talk to her again, and if I had to put up with this Natalie girl for a little while so I could talk to Zoey then that was a price that was worth paying.

  Maybe.

  Natalie popped down on a bed. It was the only bed in the room. Okay then. Maybe she had the place to herself. The windows looked down on the city. Natalie patted the spot next to her on the bed, but instead I went over to the window and looked down at the convention center. I could see people in costume walking past and smiled thinking of all the good memories that were being made here this weekend.

  “That costume really is amazing,” Natalie said. “I’ve never seen someone do a steampunk Battle Angel getup on their own that looks that good. How did you put together those moving gears in the chestpiece?”

  I jumped. That came from right behind me. I wheeled around, careful not to move too fast and catch my wings on the window, and stared. She was right there. I shivered again. Again, not in a good way.

  “Um, thanks?” I said. “It’s not nearly as good as some of yours.”

  “I don’t know,” Natalie said, reaching out to run her hand along a shoulder strap. “Something like this that you put together all on your own with no help? That’s pretty damn impressive.”

  I stepped to the side to get out of her bubble. That also pulled her hand away from my shoulder strap which was just fine with me. I moved to the other side of the bed and stared at Natalie. I had a very bad feeling about this, and that voice in the back of my head was screaming at me to get the hell out of here already.

  Normally something like this might be a little exciting. Meet a pretty girl, get invited up to her room, see where things took us. There was something about this that felt slightly off, though. That was the only way I could think to describe it.

  “Oh come on Hailey,” Natalie said, moving across the room towards me undaunted. As though she didn’t realize I was trying to get away from her. Didn’t realize or didn’t care. “I don’t bite. I promise. I’ll be a good girl, unless you want me to be bad.”

  I barked out a laugh. I couldn’t help myself. Who talked like that? Honestly?

  It didn’t seem to be what Natalie was hoping for, though. She frowned and looked angry for a moment. Only for a moment though and then she had it under control again. Barely.

  “I think you might’ve been under the wrong impression when you invited me up here,” I said.

  “I wasn’t under the wrong impression at all,” Natalie said. She was positively slinking across the room now. Her hips were moving back and forth in such an exaggerated way that I might’ve thought she needed hip replacement or something if she wasn’t so young.

  I thought about Zoey. I’d really hoped she would be up here, though it was starting to look like that wasn’t in the cards. I had a feeling no one was going to be coming up here. It was just me and Natalie, and something told me that was exactly how she wanted it.

  “There isn’t anyone else coming, is there?” I asked. “There never was a party.”

  Natalie reached me and I backed up again. Right until I hit a wall. I winced as I heard the familiar rustle of my glued-on feathers hitting that wall. That couldn’t be good for them. Then again having this Natalie chick practically dry humping me wasn’t good for me either. I really needed to get the hell out of here, and fast.

  The only problem? I didn’t want to pull away from her because I worried that would ruin the costume. Damn it. Stuck between a wall and a horny place.

  “Um, this really isn’t my thing Natalie,” I said.

  “Oh come on Hailey,” she said. “I know it might be a bit sudden, having a hot cosplayer like me hitting on you, but trust me you’re so worth it. I figured we could talk about your costume and maybe your future in the organization.”

  I laughed again. Again I couldn’t help it. That was so ridiculous. As though I should be honored that she was grinding against me instead of squicked out. This girl really had a high opinion of herself if she thought that was going to be enough to get me all hot and bothered. I reached out to push her away, but that involved touching her and she seemed to take that as encouragement. She grabbed my hands and pressed them against her stomach.

  Tried to get me to go a little north of her stomach, but I held my hands firmly in place. I was not going there, thank you very much.

  “I really need to go,” I said. “This is not what I signed up for when I came up here. I was hoping to run into Zoey…”

  “Forget about Zoey,” Natalie said. She leaned in to kiss me and I moved my head aside. I giggled again which wasn’t the best thing. She seemed to take that as meaning I was enjoying this which couldn’t be farther from the truth. It was just so ridiculous.

  It was also proof that someone’s hotness definitely didn’t have anything to do with how interested you were in them. Be
cause Natalie was smoking, but I didn’t want anything she had on offer.

  “Come on Hailey,” Natalie said, a hint of desperate pleading coming to her voice. “I know exactly why you came up here. You want to talk about your future with Cosplay Angels, and it’s going to be one hell of a future if you play your cards right!”

  I pulled away from her and for a miracle I managed to escape without ripping any of the foam from my costume off. That would’ve pissed me off both because it meant my costume was broken and because she’d probably take that as another opportunity to get a little too handsy, and she was already taking too many of those opportunities for comfort.

  I backed up but this time my legs hit something soft and I plopped down on my ass. Right on a bed. Damn. Of all the places I didn’t want to be right now. I really hoped sitting on the bed wouldn’t fold the bottom part of my wings the wrong way. Then I’d be really pissed off instead of mildly annoyed.

  Natalie’s eyes flashed when she saw me on the bed and I could tell that she was getting the complete and utter wrong idea about why I sat on the bed. In a flash she was on me again, throwing her legs around mine and lowering herself onto my lap.

  “That’s more like it,” she purred. She tried to lean in for a kiss again and I put a hand on her chest and held her in place. Barely. It was tough to keep my balance on the bed while also keeping enough leverage to keep her off of me and keeping my costume from being crushed. If she’d pushed me back on the bed on top of my wings then I really would’ve cut a bitch.

  This girl had her life hanging in the balance and she had no fucking idea.

  “Look Natalie. I think you’ve got the wrong idea about what’s going on here. I’m not interested in anything like that.”

  “Oh yeah?” Natalie said, pulling back and staring at me with sudden anger that surprised me. “You certainly seemed interested enough when you were hitting on my girlfriend!”