by Staci Hart
I noticed he had a friend in tow, Martin, I suspected. It took me a minute to figure out his costume — royal blue slacks, a deep red cardigan, a blue button-down shirt and red bow tie. The 35mm camera hanging from his neck gave it away … I figured he was either Peter Parker or Jimmy Olsen, but Jimmy wouldn’t wear those colors. Really, no one should wear those colors, but he was adorable in his own right, with kind eyes and a friendly smile that I found myself mirroring.
“Hey, Cam,” Tyler said when he’d approached. “This is my friend Martin.”
He stuck out a hand, using the other to push his black-framed glasses up his nose. “Nice to meet you.”
I grasped and shook it. “Same here. Peter Parker, right?”
His cheeks flushed a little. “Yeah. Glad you guessed it. I was worried I wasn’t creative enough, but I put it together last-minute.”
“Nah, you did great.” I smiled at him. He really was cute for a ninety-pound accountant, plus, I was a sucker for nerdy underdogs. My next thought was that I’d work on making a match for him tonight. My smile widened, taking stock of the girls I’d seen, sorting through them for a girl who would complement his charm. I was almost positive I’d seen an adorable girl earlier dressed up as Snow White from Fable who could be perfect for him.
“Come on, let’s get you fellas a drink.” I swung my arm in invitation and headed to the bar.
There were some open seats near the back of the bar, since almost everyone had spread out among the cocktail tables on the floor, and some people had moved further into the store, sitting on the clusters of leather couches.
We took our seats as Bayleigh made her way over with a smile. “Hey, Tyler, good to see you. Whatcha drinking?”
“Yuengling for me. Bayleigh, this is my buddy Martin.”
Bayleigh smiled sweetly. “I’m Bay, nice to meet you, Martin.”
“Bay?” I asked with a brow raised.
“What? I’m trying it on,” she answered.
Tyler quirked his brow. “Bae? Like the slang for baby?”
Bayleigh groaned and rolled her eyes. “Seriously, nothing works. I have no options. How about just calling me B?”
Tyler’s eyes squinted. “Like a bumblebee?”
She groaned again, and I laughed. “What’s your middle name?”
But she shook her head. “I’m not telling.”
My brow climbed. “That bad?”
“Worse,” she said, lips flat. “Anyway, what are you drinking, Martin?”
“Make Cam guess,” Tyler said to Martin. “It’s one of her parlor tricks.”
I laughed. “Um, let me think.” I looked him over and tapped my lip. He seemed like an unfussy enough guy, but definitely not a beer drinker. Something light without being weak. “Vodka soda.”
He smirked. “Rum and Coke. I have a sweet tooth.”
Tyler nudged me. “Look at that. Cam was wrong. I should have bet on it.”
I nudged him back, irked. “Speaking of bets, you owe me twenty bucks. Check them out.” I pointed to The Reader and Batman as they stood close to each other, smiling and blushing happily.
“Dammit,” he nearly whined, but he reached into his pocket and forked out a twenty anyway.
Bayleigh smiled at Martin across the bar. “So who are you supposed to be?”
“Peter Parker. Who are you?”
Her smile stretched wider as she poured his drink. “Gwen Stacy. I saw Green Goblin over there earlier,” she said with a nod toward the romance side of the bar. “Make sure you keep an eye on him.”
Martin leaned toward her. “Wouldn’t want him to steal you away.”
She leaned in too, handing him his drink slowly. “That would be a shame, wouldn’t it?”
I blinked. Nope. Nope. Nope. Actual Spiderman was feet away from her behind the bar, with abs I could see through his spandex and an ass that looked like it was cell-shaded from a fantasy, and she was making eyes at underdog Peter Parker in a bow tie. All my plans disappeared in a poof, right before my eyes. Greg would be alone without Bayleigh — I had no other prospects for him, and he deserved someone as sweet and loving as Bayleigh. After working on the two of them, I wasn’t ready to give up on them, not yet.
Which meant I had to put a stop to Martin.
“So, Martin,” I said a little tighter than I meant, “tell us about your job.” Because if talking about accounting didn’t kill the vibe, I was in deeper trouble than I thought.
“Oh, it’s kind of boring,” he said with a shrug and a blush, pushing his glasses up his nose. “I’m a bookkeeper for Nelson and Neilson. We work mostly with people in the entertainment industry.”
Bayleigh lit up. “Like with studios and stuff?”
“No, with the entertainers themselves.”
“Anyone I would have heard of?”
He smiled. “We do Jay-Z and Martin Scorsese’s taxes.”
She gasped. “Oh, my God, have you seen them?”
Martin’s ears turned red. “I’ve met them both. Aside from being super intimidating, they’re both actually really nice guys.”
Her brown eyes were wide and full of stars and hearts. “That’s so cool.”
“Definitely a perk of the job. Lady Gaga came in last week — she’s thinking about hiring us.”
Bayleigh leaned on the bar and propped her head on her hand.
I blinked again. Of all the accountants in all of New York, Tyler had to bring in one who rubbed elbows with Jay-Z. Or at least punched numbers for him.
Tyler snickered, and I glanced over to find him smiling at me like he’d told me so. Bastard.
So I reeled it in — phase two was to take control of the situation. “Ah, hey, Bayleigh? I need to grab a couple of things from the back, could you help me out?”
She snapped out of it and smiled at me. “Yeah, of course.” She turned to Greg. “Hey, you got this for a second?”
He gave us a Spidey thumbs up with his free hand on his hip and his shoulder blades tight.
I slipped off the stool — Tyler made a face at me, and Martin watched after Bayleigh with a look I could only describe as longing. I just gave an awkward wave.
“We’ll be right back. Come on, Bayleigh.” I grabbed her by the arm and hoped I didn’t look like I was dragging her into the back of the store.
As soon as we were through the doors to the back, I let her go.
I blew out a breath. “Man, that was close. I think Martin’s into you.”
She smiled hopefully. “Really? Do you think?”
“Absolutely, poor kid. You’re way out of his league,” I said matter-of-factly as we walked up to the liquor cage and I pulled out my keys.
Bayleigh frowned. “I don’t really have a league, Cam.”
“Sure you do, and it’s not Martin the accountant. It’s Greg with the arm porn. It’s Spiderman, not Peter Parker.” I opened the door with a metallic squeak of the hinges.
Her frown deepened. “Peter Parker is the real guy though. Spiderman’s just a mask.”
“Yeah, but Peter isn’t sexy without Spiderman,” I said as I passed her liquor bottles.
“Right,” she momentarily agreed, “except Spiderman is just for show.”
I waved a hand like I was swatting away flies. “Doesn’t matter. Greg is the hot beefy good guy, and you’re an inch away from sealing the deal.” She didn’t look convinced, so I tried a new approach. “You know, he was telling me how much he loved your costume earlier. He thought it was classy, and he said Gwen was his favorite of Spiderman’s girlfriends.”
She bit her lip. “He did?”
I nodded. “Mmhmm. I’m telling you, he’s into you. Like when he caught you earlier? He stopped you from busting your shit, breaking two bottles of liquor, and kept you from having to wash those lemons again. I mean, you probably would have fallen on them and messed up your costume. He’s basically your knight in shining armor, and for a second there, when he was holding you up, I thought he might even kiss you.”
&n
bsp; Her eyes widened. “Oh, my God. I thought I imagined that.”
“Nope. It almost happened.” It could have happened. Probably. “Listen, be cool to Peter, but go for Spiderman. He’s really the one you want.”
She sighed, the flush in her cheeks pink. “He really is kind of the ultimate, isn’t he?”
I grabbed two bottles of rum and handed them over, feeling instantly better. “Sure is.”
A PROPER MATCH
Tyler
THE GIRLS HAD ONLY BEEN gone for a few minutes, but Martin had been looking in the direction they’d walked since they walked away, waiting for Bayleigh to appear again. The music seemed to have gotten louder as the bar filled up and people spread out through the bookstore, only coming back to the bar to order drinks. Some of the costumes had been fantastic — I’d seen Harley Quinn walking around with a giant mallet on her shoulders, a chick Joker with long, green hair, a guy dressed in a Loki costume who actually looked like Loki, and a guy in the coolest Rorschach costume I’d ever seen with an LED screen on it to make his mask look like it was a constantly moving ink blot. There were people dressed up as manga characters, the Japanese comics Cam liked, and a few characters from The Walking Dead, then of course the ones who didn’t wear costumes and were given loaner masks and capes in primary colors.
Everyone seemed to be having fun. Cam was right — what was new. People love costume parties.
The girls finally reappeared, little Cam with her Rogue wig and leather jacket — though she didn’t ditch her glasses for the cause — somehow sweet and sexy, fully clothed in a room full of spandex. Bayleigh’s smile was tighter than it had been before, and she passed by, asking if we wanted drinks before moving down the bar to help Greg. I didn’t miss the fact that she spent a long time talking to him and away from us.
I tried to tell Cam telepathically that she was being an ass, and she held out her hands in question, like it wasn’t her fault she’d meddled.
Just as she was about to take her seat so I could give her my unsolicited opinion on the matter, a girl behind us said, “Cam?”
Cam grinned. “Sarah? Are you kidding me? I can’t believe you came!” She walked past me, and I turned to see her hug a girl in a Wonder Woman costume.
The girl let Cam go and leaned back to look at her. “You busted out Rogue, huh?”
“And I see Diana Prince is alive and well.” Cam laughed. “Damn, it’s been too long.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t been by, but we’ve been super busy at Shady’s since you’ve been gone. Things just aren’t the same without you.”
Her smile faded into something that looked a little bit like guilt. “I know. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
“No, I know.” She smiled back with a sad sort of comfort, but her eyes went wide. “Oh! Cam, I’d like you to meet my friend Adrienne.”
She stepped out of the way to reveal a Catwoman the likes of which I hadn’t seen since the pinup girls from the old, campy show in the 60s. Adrienne was tall, probably five-ten before the six-inch patent leather spikes she wore to match the rest of her leather catsuit, with deep brown skin and red lips, eyes big and sparkling from behind her Catwoman mask.
Cam smiled up at her. “Hey, nice to meet you.”
Adrienne smiled back. “You too. You used to work at Shady’s with Sarah?”
“Yup — she took my old job.” Cam cocked her head. “Wait, are you the Adrienne that went to ComicCon with Sarah last year?”
Sarah lit up. “Yes! I wish we’d gone on the same day so you guys could have met then.”
“Ugh, me too, trust me.” Cam turned to me, smiling brightly. “Guys, this is my roommate, Tyler.”
I stood, smiling as I extended a hand. “Nice to meet you two.”
“You too,” they said at the same time a little dreamily, and my smile stretched up on one side.
“Need a drink?” Cam asked.
Sarah grinned. “Aww, come on Cam. Guess.”
She laughed. “Okay, last time.” Her eyes squinted in concentration. “Whiskey sours.”
Adrienne’s mouth opened in surprise, and Sarah elbowed her. “See? I told you.”
We all moved to sit, and in the shuffle, Cam ended up at the far end with Martin, a fact she didn’t look thrilled about, but she smiled and made conversation all the same.
Adrienne sat next to me and Sarah on the other side of her. Sarah leaned on the bar, her gold cuffs resting on the surface.
“So, Tyler, what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a sports agent.” I noticed Adrienne sit a little straighter next to me. “And you run Shady’s now that Cam’s gone?”
“Yeah, living the dream,” Sarah said with a dry laugh. “At least I get all the comics I can read and discounted passes to ComicCon.”
“How about you, Adrienne?”
She waved a hand. “I don’t want to talk about work. Work is stressful and wouldn’t approve of my walking around New York dressed like Catwoman.”
Sarah chuckled. “She’s kind of a big deal — she works for Nike.”
My eyes narrowed in thought. It couldn’t have been the same Adrienne. This girl was nothing like the ball crusher I’d talked to on the phone earlier that day, but I said her name anyway. “Adrienne Christie?”
Sarah gaped. “How’d you know that?”
Adrienne sighed. “Tyler Knight?”
I laughed. “Well, how about that.”
“Only I would do this,” she said, shaking her head as Bayleigh dropped off the new round. Adrienne picked the glass up with long, dark fingers and took a sip.
I watched her curiously. “You’re not what I expected.”
She laughed “Yeah, well, I’m off duty.”
“Or on,” I added, motioning to her costume.
Her smiled curled up in amusement. “So, how’s it going with Pharaoh?”
“Good question. I haven’t heard from Jack in six hours, so that’s probably a bad sign,” I joked.
“I’m pretty confident he’s got it in the bag. But don’t tell Work Adrienne I said so.”
I chuckled. “Deal.”
“He’s in Atlanta?”
“He is. We’re waiting to find out more, but he’s been released.”
“Well, at least there’s that. But let’s leave work at work for tonight, all right, Steve Rogers?” She raised her glass, and I raised my bottle, touching the rim to hers.
“Whatever you say, Selena Kyle.”
Cam
I leaned on the bar, trying to listen around Martin to whatever the others were talking about, but Tyler’s back was turned, and I couldn’t hear anything. With every passing second, my curiosity — and frustration — grew.
“So,” Martin started, “how do you like working here?”
I broke my gaze — which was locked on the back of Tyler’s head — and smiled at Martin. “It’s my dream job. I get to run a bookstore, which makes my nerd heart sing Disney songs. I’m lucky Cooper chose Shady’s to visit for his comic needs.”
He nodded. “That’s right, Tyler told me Cooper Moore owned the place with a friend of his.”
“Rose,” I added. “I was actually Cooper’s comic dealer before all this. Now he helps me order for the store.”
The conversation lulled, and I trained my ears toward Tyler, catching him laughing.
“Bayleigh seems cool,” he said and took a drink.
I sighed and looked back at Martin, mustering a smile. “She is.”
“Have you known each other long?”
“Just since she started here, a few months ago,” I said shortly, not meaning to be short, but Adrienne was smiling widely at Tyler, and I wondered what they were talking about.
He smiled, a warm expression that transformed his face into something a little more handsome than it was before. “Does she, ah … have a boyfriend?”
My smiled tightened. “Sorta.”
His smile fell. “Oh. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. I would have been s
urprised if someone hadn’t snapped her up.”
“Me too,” I muttered absently as Tyler laughed. Adrienne did too, and with that, I found myself unable to keep still any longer. “I’m sorry, would you excuse me for a minute?”
“Sure,” he said amiably, if not a little crestfallen.
I smiled and touched his arm, relieved, thinking again about a proper match I could make for him. “Thanks, Martin.”
I slipped off my stool and walked around to the back of the bar to check the sales on the computer in an effort to look like I actually had something to do, then made my way to Greg and Bayleigh to check on them. Once my fake-important walkabout was complete, I headed back over to the group, though instead of taking my seat next to Martin, I stood just behind Adrienne and Tyler, who had angled in to face each other while Sarah checked her phone on the other side of her. She smiled gratefully at me for saving her from the third wheel seat and swiveled around on her stool.
Everyone else did the same except for Martin — Bayleigh had come his way again and was leaning on the bar, laughing with him about something.
My mood soured a little tiny bit, but I smiled anyway.
“You guys doing okay?”
“Great, actually,” Adrienne said, leaning toward Tyler. “Tyler and I actually figured out we know each other.
“Kind of,” he added. “She’s Pharaoh Carson’s rep.”
“Ah,” I said with an understanding nod. “Hopefully the mess has blown over sooner than later, right?”
Tyler smiled. “Jack’s the best at what he does, so I don’t doubt it will be.”
“Maybe I can smooth things over with my boss on the matter too. Team effort, right?” Adrienne took a sip of her drink. “Cam, I’m so jealous that you have such a cool job. This is way better than sitting in some office in Midtown every day in heels and a pencil skirt.”