Page 35 of Cosplay & Consequences

“It’s adorable for you. I’ve had to live with it all my life,” Paige said with an eyeroll and shoved me towards my room. “Doesn’t he have books to read?”

“Yes, he does,” Faye said with a smirk. “Come on, Uncle Danny.”

She led me into my room on the opposite side of the suite. Faye had set up a cozy corner for me to read with all the Tyrant books, stacked nice and neat. Her phone was set up on a stand, pointing at my reading corner.

“Why is your phone there?” I asked, frowning.

Faye crossed her arms and glared at me over her glasses. “I’m going to bed, so I’m setting up a time lapse recording. That way I’ll know if you skip out on your responsibilities.”

I laughed and put my hand on my chest. “What? Don’t you trust me? Uncle Danny? Who brings you books and soup dumplings?” I asked.

She pointed at the chair and furrowed her brow at me. “You told me you would read the books before. This is your punishment. Sit.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Whatever you say, Boss.”

Faye scowled and pointed again at the chair.

I sighed and picked up a book as she turned on her camera. I got comfortable in my chair, opening the book where I had left off. When Faye was done fussing with her phone, she crept up to the side of the chair and then gave me a small kiss on the cheek. As nice as it was, I couldn’t contain my surprise. She hadn’t done that in years.

“What’s that for?” I asked, smiling.

She shrugged and shifted her stance, restless. “I know the last couple of days have sucked for you. I figured you could use it.”

“I could also use a hug,” I pointed out. I knew I was pushing my luck.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “No. Don’t be weird,” she grunted and headed for her room.

“How long am I supposed to read?” I asked.

That made her turn around. She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Until you’re done. Obviously.”

I scoffed. “Faye, I can’t read all the books in one night. Be reasonable.”

“Then read until you pass out,” she said with a shrug. “I do it all the time.”

I opened my mouth to protest but stopped when Faye fixed her death glare on me. “Read!” She growled and didn’t move until I had my eyes down on the pages.

It wasn’t hard for me to find my place. JKC Richards was a master of words, and it took only a few moments to be immersed in the story. When I read the scene at the crossroads with Fiona and Roderick, I imagined Sebastian in the role. I could see him with his doublet askew, offering ridiculous ideas before giving Fiona a pearl of wisdom that would doubtless be important later in the story.

We have one life, Fiona. Do you want to waste it on meaningless tasks and empty people?

As I read, I realized that after a very long time, I might have gotten my soul back. Not that I had lost it. I only needed a girl with a crooked smile to show me where it was.

It was fifteen minutes before we were supposed to meet him, and Sebastian had texted me to let me know he got a table for us. I met Jessica in the lobby of the hotel where she was almost vibrating in excitement, a smile plastered across her face.

I couldn’t help but smile back at her. “Excited?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” she gushed.

“You are going to make Sebastian’s week,” I informed her. The cafe was a couple blocks away, but I had no problem taking a slow pace to eke out a few more minutes and have Jessica all to myself. She practically skipped as we walked.

She nudged me with her shoulder, and I had to resist reaching for her hand. “Did you have your training session today?” she asked, “Did you admit your culinary sins from last night?”

She laughed as I groaned. “Yes. Jorge was generous. He made me do an extra ten minutes of cardio to work off the dumplings.”

“You could have gotten away without telling him, you know,” she reminded me, nudging me again. “If he somehow magically found my number, I would have never given you up.”

Every time she brushed up against me, I had to remind myself this was all about meeting Sebastian. That’s all. But it was becoming increasingly difficult to remember that. “Paige ratted me out and told him that I went out to Kao’s yesterday. His first question when I walked into the gym was what I had for dinner last night. It’s like he could smell the dumplings I ate.”