Page 26 of Cosplay & Consequences

“Is that code for sneaking back to your hotel room later?” Bray joked.

“I don’t think there’s any sneaking going on, if you know what I mean,” Bennet said, jumping on the bandwagon.

“Stop. Let’s not make this anything more than it was– A fling that ended in disaster,” I said, my smile evaporating. “I took a chance, and the universe decided to crap all over it.”

Bray and Bennet’s expressions softened in sympathy. Bray reached out to rub my shoulder. “It’ll be fine. Not everyone you meet is going to be an actor or an a-hole.”

Bennet frowned and pondered for a second before bridging the topic. “Okay. I still feel like I’m a bad friend, because I don’t know where the actor thing is coming from.”

I let out a huge sigh. I could clearly remember the last time it happened. The laughter in the middle of spring cleaning when I found a bra stuck in the couch cushions. The coldness in my chest when I realized it wasn’t mine. The smile on Seth’s face transforming into a sneer when I confronted him.

I scratched my shoulder. “It’s fine. I won’t give you the gory details. The last two guys I dated were actors. Apparently while dating them and falling madly in love, they were acting the entire time. I was cheated on, I was lied to, and dumped as soon as something slightly better came along.”

Bray knew the story and nodded as she bit into her turkey leg, but Bennet frowned, pushing his plate away from him.

“Okay, well as a member of the male population I will say this: Men suck. All men suck. We just have a scale from less suck to major suck,” Bennet said, leaning in on the table.

I scoffed. “But not you, right?”

Bennet shook his head. “Oh, no. I suck too. Right babe?”

Brayonna smirked and took his hand. “Yes. And I love you despite your suckage. Which is minimal.”

“She’s being generous,” Bennet said, shaking his head. “But I will say that my suckwad radar is pretty good. All I’m going to say is, I’m picking up minimal suckage from Daniel.”

I swallowed my bite of turkey and shook my head. “Our first encounter started with me throwing myself at him while he was in character. An act he was putting on for his own career. He was a fake. It was a one-night stand. Nothing more. It’s not going to happen.”

“And yet, you’re having dinner with him,” Bray said thoughtfully. Then, in perfect sync, both Bray and Bennet pressed their index fingers to their temples, striking poses of deep thought as they let out a prolonged, “Hmmmm.”

I snorted half a laugh. “I’m picking up some major suckage from the both of you. Don’t you two have panels to prep for?”

“Yes,” Bray said, getting up and giving me a kiss on the cheek. “Call me after you see him.”

“Only if you promise not to give me crap about it.”

“Oh, I’m giving you crap, and you will call me anyway.”

After they left, I walked the convention floor until my panel on women authors in fantasy started. It was at the end of the day, so I didn’t have the standing-room crowd from the day before, but I also didn’t have anyone showing up who I had inadvertently slept with or caused any viral controversies.

The panel ended a bit early, so I headed directly to Kao’s. The restaurant was busy, but apparently Daniel had made reservations. They brought me to the table, and I ordered a French 75. Probably not the cocktail you should get at a Chinese restaurant, but the waiter didn’t seem to mind. I pulled out an anthology of my grandmother’s writings I always kept with me to read whenever I felt off balance or in need of comfort. However, when I read one of my favorites, A Circle of Crows, all I could picture was Daniel as Tyrst’an. All his dialogue had Daniel’s tone and pitch. After reading a couple of paragraphs, I had to stop, frustrated that I couldn’t even find solace in my usual routine.

Daniel entered the restaurant as soon as I tucked the book away. He was dressed casually. Jeans and a collared shirt untucked, sleeves rolled up to his forearms. His hair wasn’t as highly styled as it was before. It was as if he showered and used his fingers to make it look decent. I didn’t see Tyrst’an this time or have a flashback to the night before. I only saw him, and I had to admit he was extremely handsome.

This made it very difficult to be irritated with him.

I took a sip of my drink as I watched him. He embraced and chatted with what appeared to be the owner of the restaurant before he headed to our table. As he stepped through the restaurant, a brief image flashed in my mind of him wearing his leather pants. The thought of it alone made me choke on my cocktail. Luckily, I recovered gracefully enough before he arrived at the table.

“Do you make friends everywhere you go, or do you just know everyone?” I asked as he approached.

He blinked at me in confusion and turned back to see what I was referring to. He chuckled. “A little bit of both, I suppose. Mission Verde used to be my old stomping ground when I was a kid. The studio where we tape isn’t far from here. The owner of Kao’s and I go way back.”

The waiter approached us, but the owner swooped in and shooed him away. He smiled and bowed his head toward us both. “Please, allow me to fix something special for the two of you.”

I blinked, and I froze in place. Something special?

“Don’t go out of your way for me,” Daniel said, shaking his head politely. “Besides, I’m on a strict diet. If I eat anything off the list, I will get punished by my trainer.”

“It will be our secret,” the owner whispered, as if there were spies all around us.