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“Not yet. You forgot to tell me about your idea,” I reminded him about our conversation at the furniture store.
“I was thinking we could attend the convention in cosplay,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to try it and I think it would be fun to go as our favorite NLA characters. What do you think?”
I smiled, nodding. “That actually sounds kind of fun. And not many people will recognize us. My mind has changed, I’ll come with you.”
We ordered the costumes the following night, because he didn’t know how to sew clothes and neither did I. It cost us a small fortune to get them custom made but these things were a work of art, after all. Then we bought all the materials for the props we would need and spent the evenings after our streams working on them.
One evening, as we were working on my prop gun, I accidentally burned my finger on the glue coming out of the hot glue gun. I yelped and Alex immediately jumped up and rushed over to me.
“Are you okay?” he asked, grabbing my hand and examining the burn.
“Yeah, it’s just a small burn, I’m fine. I’ll just run it under the water,” I said, wincing and walking over to the sink in the kitchen.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, rushing out the front door without a second thought.
He returned a little while later carrying a bag from the pharmacy. “I got everything we need,” he said, a bit sheepishly. “I know I went overboard, but let me take care of this.”
I rolled my eyes but relented and showed him the burn again. He took out some kind of ointment and spread it on the burned skin then carefully wrapped it up ever so gently. “There, all better.”
“Thanks, Alex. Really,” I said, in a small voice.
He leaned in and kissed my temple softly. “You make me do and think crazy things, you know? I care about you a lot and I know this was overboard but I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t?—”
I kissed him to shut him up, then pressed my forehead to his. “I care a lot about you too, babe.”
The nickname felt weird on my lips as I said it, but the grin that grew on Alex’s face was more than worth it, and the following kiss was more than worth it as well.
Chapter 18
Emma
Casey arrivedin San Francisco a week later.
The day after she arrived I stood outside her apartment waiting for her. It had been months since we last saw each other in person and I couldn’t wait to squeeze the life out of her.
Finally the door to her building swung open and there she was, a grin lighting up her face. “Emma!” Casey exclaimed, pulling me into a tight hug.
“I’ve missed you so much, Cas,” I replied, squeezing her back.
We broke apart and she studied me with a curious expression. “You look different—happier. It suits you!”
I forced myself to keep my smile conservative. “Let’s get out of here and catch up. The guys are waiting for us at the bar.”
On our way to the bar, I noted all the changes since I last saw her. Her hair was longer but still straight as always and her skin was a deeper olive shade than usual—she must’ve enjoyed the sun. She had lost a little weight, judging by our hug, but other than that she looked gorgeous like she always did.
Casey, on the other hand, bombarded me with questions about everything that had happened while she was away—she alreadyknew everything, we literally texted every other day. I had to be careful with my answers, though, skirting around anything involving Alex.
“How’s that apartment hunting going?” Casey asked.
“Well. I moved into a new place,” I said, keeping my tone light.
Casey raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you moved? Where to?”
“Just a place closer to Alex’s,” I lied, feeling a pang of guilt. “It's nice, a big change from the old apartment. Only one other roommate.”
She nodded, accepting my half-truth. “That sounds awesome. And who is Alex bringing to the bar?”
“Ryan! He is Alex’s best friend and?—”
