Page 23 of Cosplay & Consequences

I hated that smile. I wanted to punch those teeth in.

“One question for you, Reuben, old buddy,” I said, keeping my frozen grin in place.

“Ask away, Danny-Boy!”

“Have you read any of the books?” I said with all the innocence I could muster.

It wasn’t a punch to the teeth, but it might as well have been. Stella covered her mouth to stop from snickering. Britta and Reuben scowled at me. I heard a bark of laughter from across the room and looked up to see Faye laughing. I counted it as a personal victory.

“Good luck, Danny,” Reuben grunted at me and logged off.

“Go fuck yourself, Reuben.” I said once I was sure he was offline.

“That was awesome,” Faye called out, still laughing.

“You shouldn’t be pissing off the studio, Danny,” Britta scolded me. “And I can tell you right now that Richards woman won’t be taking any of my calls.”

“She’s still here at the convention. I’ll track her down,” I replied, while at the same time wondering if I would survive the experience.

“Already working on it!” Paige called out from the couch.

“Be ready to pour on the charm, Danny. I’ll see what I can do to sway any of the press,” Britta grumbled as she signed off.

“It’ll be fine, Woobie,” Stella reassured me. “Just be you, and everything will fall into place.”

I watched her get up and walk away from the computer, forgetting to log off. “That boy is so screwed,” I heard her mutter.

I closed the call and turned to Paige. “Any thoughts?”

Paige dropped her phone on the side table and heaved a sigh. “She has a panel she’s participating in at six tonight. Other than that, pretty sure she’s getting a turkey leg.”

“I need ideas, Paige.”

She pulled herself off the couch. “We’re lined up for the trailer filming the day after tomorrow. Find her and get her to watch. Maybe get that Brayonna and Bennet couple to come along, so she’s not alone when she hangs out with us.”

I frowned, shaking my head. “I don’t think she’s going to listen to me.”

“She will,” Paige said, going back to her phone. “Trust me. She still has a thing for you.”

Faye appeared and slammed a stack of eight books down in front of me. “If you want to impress Jess Richards, this is what you should be doing in your free time.”

I glanced at the books in astonishment. “You brought all eight books with you?”

“No, I bought them downstairs at the con. This is the special edition with the sprayed edges,” she explained and pulled off the top book, shoving it in front of me.

I took the book and sighed. Right now, I had three women mad at me. Two, I knew, would eventually forgive me when I made up for it.

I had no idea how to appease the third.

Jess

Ilooked down at the remnants of the three turkey legs I'd eaten and still felt empty. My right shoulder still itched despite the fact I had scratched it raw. This was not how I thought this con was going to go.

“Feel better, sweetie?” Bray asked, cautiously.

“No,” I admitted. “Everything still sucks. God. Why did he have to be an actor?”

Bray raised an eyebrow and leaned on the table. “I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to be honest with me. Are you pissed at Daniel Finnegan because he’s an actor or because you had a fling with one?”