ADifferentKindOfCosplay (3 page)

Zach’s stomach rumbled.

Reese giggled. “Is that your way of saying it’s time for
breakfast?”

Glancing at the clock on his bedside table, Zach said, “More
like lunch. It’s ten past eleven!”

“Shit, really?”

“Yep.” He pressed a kiss to her tousled head. “Why, you got
somewhere to be?”

“You know I haven’t. I’m just not used to lounging around in
bed all morning. Well, when I’m not sleeping, anyway.”

“Nor am I. It’s not the end of the world, babe. Everyone’s
entitled to time out every now and again, aren’t they?”

Tilting her head back from its position on his chest, she
looked up at him and smiled. “Yes, you’re right. They are. So how do you fancy
brunch, then? A fry-up, maybe in front of the TV?”

“Sounds perfect.” He kissed her again, on the lips this
time, but didn’t linger. They’d made love more than once since waking up, and
as much as he loved being naked and horizontal with his girl, he wasn’t sure
his cock was up to it again—not without a considerable rest, anyway. And
getting some food in his belly would pep him up too.

Rolling out of bed, Zach pulled on some tracksuit bottoms
and a scruffy T-shirt. If the frying pan decided to spit at him, he didn’t want
to wreck his best clothes. “See you in a minute, baby,” he said, looking over
at Reese, still snuggled beneath the duvet. “Don’t be too long—otherwise I
might not leave any bacon for you.”

“You better had! I won’t be long. I’m just going to pull on
some scruffs.”

True to her word, Reese joined him in the kitchen within
five minutes, also wearing tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt. She’d pulled her
hair up into a high ponytail. It looked as though she hadn’t bothered to brush
it first. In Zach’s opinion, she’d never looked more beautiful. Fresh-faced and
still a little sleepy, she was utterly unaware of how cute and sexy she was.

“How can I help?” she said.

“Um.” He was busily breaking eggs into a jug, ready to add
milk, cheese, salt and pepper to make scrambled eggs. “If you could grab trays,
plates, cutlery and sauces, that would be great. Then maybe you could take care
of the scrambled eggs while I get the bacon and sausages cooked.”

“No problem.” She tipped him a wink and got on with her
tasks.

A little while later they were settling onto the sofa with
their plates on trays, ready to eat their incredibly unhealthy but no doubt
very delicious breakfast.

“So,” Reese said, grabbing the remote controls, “what are we
watching?”

Zach shrugged. “Dunno. Let’s just have a look what’s on.”

“Okay.” Pressing the buttons to switch on the TV and the Sky
box, Reese began eating as the gadgets fired up. Once they were ready, she
grabbed the Sky remote and pulled up the planner. She immediately flicked past
all the channels that were showing crap daytime television and reality shows,
which was yet another thing Zach adored about her—no mind-numbingly dull TV
programs for her. “Shout up if you see anything,” she said.

“Will do.” He paid a little attention to the titles of films
and shows that were whizzing past, but was more interested in his breakfast.
What they watched was much less important than the fact they were spending time
together. Soon Reese was onto the listings for the movie channels.

With a gasp, she said, “Ooh,
Avengers Assemble
is
on.”

Zach stifled a smirk. He wanted to say he’d only watched it
the previous week, but didn’t want to raise her suspicions. And he suspected
she’d probably watched it recently too. But he kept quiet, concentrating on his
breakfast, which was indeed delicious.

“Put it on if you want, babe. I don’t mind.”

She looked at him, wide-eyed. “Seriously? You know it’s a
Marvel film, don’t you? Superheroes? Geeky?”

“Yeah, I know what it is. I’ve seen bits of it before when
you’ve been watching it, remember? Has it only just started? It might be nice
for me to actually see it from the beginning.”

Reese narrowed her eyes. “If we hadn’t just had sex umpteen
times, I’d think you were trying to butter me up for a shag.”

He adopted a shocked expression. “What? Why is it so
incredible that I want to watch the film? I’d rather watch this than some
chick-flick.”

“Hmm. Okay, fair enough.
Avengers Assemble
it is. And
yeah, as luck would have it, it’s just started. Not that it would matter if
we’d missed the beginning. I’ve got the Blu-ray.”

“Go for it.”

She shot him another look, then turned back and punched the
relevant button on the remote control. The picture on the screen changed, the
now-familiar narrative just beginning.

Zach allowed himself a smile now as Reese quickly became
absorbed in her geeky world. This was the perfect opportunity, he decided,
spearing pieces of sausage and bacon onto his fork and putting them in his
mouth, to find out some more specific information about his girlfriend and her
superhero crushes. He figured she’d seen the film enough times to let him
speak, ask questions, without wanting to throttle him or tell him to shut up.
All he had to do was figure out the
right
questions, and keep them to a
minimum. Too many and she’d wonder what his sudden interest was. He had to keep
it casual.

They ate in silence for a little while, watching the movie
as the villain, Loki, burst onto the screen and immediately started causing
havoc. Zach found himself being pulled in all over again, despite having only
watched the film a few days previously. Perhaps once Reese’s birthday surprise
was out in the open, he’d have to declare himself a Marvel fan and raid the
rest of her DVD and Blu-ray collection.

For now, though, he’d wait with bated breath for the divine
Scarlett Johansson to appear in her little black dress, which showed off her
impressive rack to perfection…

Ah-ha! Zach was pretty sure a lightbulb had just appeared
above his head.

“Reese?”

“Mmm-hmm?”

“Am I allowed to ask questions during this film, honey?”

Tearing her gaze away from the screen and turning it on him,
she smiled. “Yes, of course. I’ve seen it dozens of times, and it’s not like
we’re at the cinema. Why, what did you want to ask?”

“I’m just wondering something. Even as a straight guy, I can
see that there are an awful lot of good-looking guys in this film. So my
question is, what order would you do the Avengers in?”

Unfortunately for her, she’d just taken a mouthful of food.
Snorting, she clapped her hand over her lips. Chewing and swallowing quickly,
she turned to him, grinning. “I wasn’t expecting that, I must admit.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you choke. So, what’s your
answer? Go from the one you want to sleep with the least, to the one you want
to sleep with the most.” He engaged his brain, hoping like hell his memory was
up to the task of remembering five names in the correct order.

Having recovered her composure, Reese didn’t hesitate to
answer. “Bruce Banner, because in Hulk form it’d be impossible. Then Iron Man,
Captain America, Thor and Hawkeye.”

“Oh,” he said, taken aback by her rapid response. “You
didn’t even have to think about that, did you?”

Giggling, she replied, “No, because I’ve thought about it
many times in the past. What can I say? They picked a very attractive cast.”

“That they did. So Hawkeye’s the hottest, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” she said, nodding enthusiastically. “He may not
be the biggest, most muscular Avenger, and technically he’s not a superhero.
But he’s definitely the sexiest. You know, when he’s not under Loki’s spell.
Mmm, those arms…”

Zach realized she’d drifted off into fantasy-land, but it
didn’t matter, not one bit. He had his answer, and therefore his plan of
action. Casually, he picked up his phone, trying not to draw Reese’s attention,
tapped in the list she’d just reeled off and saved it for his own reference.

Excellent. Not only would he give his girlfriend the
birthday surprise of her life, he’d do it in her preferred order too.

“These are fantastic,” Zach said, looking through the boxes
that had been delivered to the shop for him. “Absolutely fantastic, thank you.”

“No problem,” said the store manager, who’d bent over
backward to help out.

Zach had no illusions—he was spending a small fortune on his
crazy plan, and the shop had to be making a tidy profit out of it, so no wonder
the manager was being so nice. But, he realized as he looked at his new
collection, he was going to have to take advantage of that kindness just a
little more.

“Uh, I never actually thought there would be so much stuff,
or that it would be so heavy. I don’t suppose you could call me a taxi? There’s
no way I can carry all this—much less on the Tube.”

“Absolutely. Bear with me—I’ll go and get the number of a
local firm and get that sorted for you. We could have had it delivered to your
home, you know.”

“I know.” Zach nodded. “But that’s problematic. My
girlfriend and I both work full-time. She works odd shifts, and I work mostly
days, but not the same ones each week, so it would have been nigh-on impossible
to specify when I’d be around to take delivery. And there was no way I wanted
to risk Reese receiving it—this is all a surprise for her. I want to get this
home and hidden away before she gets home from work.”

“Ah, I see.” The man smiled. “That makes sense. Well, let me
go call a taxi and then I can help you put the boxes in the car when it
arrives.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it.”

“All part of the service.” He headed into the back of the
shop and was gone for a few minutes, then reappeared. “Okay, all sorted.
Someone will be out the front in ten.”

“Great, thanks. Well then, I’ll get settled up and be out of
your way.” Pulling out his wallet, he waited for the man to input the details
into the till and hand over the card machine, then slotted his credit card into
it—he’d worry about the amount in a few weeks. By then he’d have been paid
again, and he was due a fair whack of commission, so he should be able to cover
it easily enough.

He punched in his PIN, removed the card when he was told and
put it away. Taking his receipt, he thanked the man again. “You’ve been so
helpful. I really do appreciate it.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” Turning and popping his head
through the doorway into the back of the shop, he yelled, “I’m just going to
help my customer put his purchases into a taxi, okay? I won’t be long!”

Zach didn’t hear the response, but it had clearly been in
the affirmative, as the manager stepped from behind the till and grabbed one of
the boxes, while Zach picked up the other. Together they headed for the door,
where the man propped the box against the frame while he pulled the handle,
letting them out.

Once outside, they put the purchases on the pavement as they
waited—mercifully the weather was dry.

After a couple of minutes of idle chatter—during which Zach
was supremely grateful that the man didn’t actually ask what the outfits were
for
—a
taxi rounded the corner, indicated and pulled over in front of the shop. The
driver, spotting the load, hopped out and opened the boot so the boxes could be
put in.

Before climbing into the back of the car, Zach turned to the
store manager and held out his hand. “Thanks again, mate. When I’m next
shopping for this sort of stuff, you’ll be my first choice.”

They shook hands, and the man smiled then headed back into
the shop.

Zach got into the taxi and shut the door, then gave the
driver his address. Settling back into the seat, he felt a weight lift off his
shoulders. The most complex bit of Reese’s birthday surprise was sorted. He
grinned. It was just the fun bit to take care of now.

When the car drew up outside his house, Zach kept his
fingers crossed that no freak occurrence had brought Reese home early. He
doubted it but hoped his luck would hold out.

Grabbing some money from his wallet, he paid the fare,
thanking the driver, who offered to help him with the second box. Gratefully,
Zach accepted the offer and had both boxes in his hallway within a couple of
minutes.

“Okay, Zachary,” he said to himself, closing the front door,
“now you have to find somewhere for these to live for the next week. Somewhere
Reese won’t find them.”

The answer came to him quickly—the cupboard in the utility
room. Reese never went in there, complaining it was too full of crap and she
was scared something would fall on her head and knock her out. Both of them had
often mentioned clearing it out, but they’d never gotten around to it. Now Zach
was supremely glad of that fact—he could shift some stuff out of the way, stash
the boxes at the back, then cover them up again, so if Reese happened to look
in there, which was highly unlikely, she wouldn’t see them anyway.

For now, though, he wanted to have a good look at exactly
what he’d bought. He hadn’t wanted to examine his purchases too closely in the
shop in case the manager thought he was looking for faults, or worse, started
asking questions. The last thing he wanted was to have to confess to someone
that he’d spent rather a lot of money on a bunch of outfits in order to
repeatedly seduce his girlfriend for her birthday because he couldn’t think of
anything else to get her.

To an outsider—even a geeky outsider, as the shop manager
had clearly been—it would sound odd, and kind of selfish, given he’d be getting
sex out of it. But he knew Reese better than anyone, and he was confident she
would like his quirky surprise present and would be impressed that he’d thought
of it.

Christ, he really hoped his confidence would pay off.

One by one, he lugged the boxes into the kitchen. He opened
the first box, carefully unpacked all the items and placed them on the table.
Quickly, he surmised he’d found the clothing and accessories for Captain
America and Iron Man—though thankfully the latter were not actually made of
iron.

Impressed with the quality, he replaced the items then
repeated his actions with the contents of the second box. Outfits for Thor and
Hawkeye lay on the table, equally good quality, and fortunately he could, in
fact, lift Thor’s hammer. Nodding in satisfaction, Zach suddenly wished he
didn’t have to wait a whole week for Reese’s birthday. Now he had everything
under control, he wanted to execute his plan, not stew in anticipation and
worry for seven days.

Well, tough, he’d have to. And besides, he wasn’t entirely
finished, anyway. He hadn’t gotten her a card yet. Plus the practical side of
him dictated that he needed to find another gift for her, something more
family-friendly. If anyone asked what he’d bought her, she couldn’t exactly
tell the truth, now could she?

Safely closing up the boxes and stashing them back in the
cupboard, he resolved to try each of the outfits on when he got chance, just to
make sure they fit. Not that he had enough time to do anything about it if they
didn’t, but if there was a problem, he’d rather find out in advance rather than
trying to pounce on Reese as spandex stopped the circulation of his blood or
something. He was pretty sure he’d fail to be a sexy Captain America lookalike
if his face was purple or his dick fell off.

Then he turned to the internet once more. In this scenario,
he figured he’d definitely get away with an Amazon gift card. At least that
could be reasonably explained to friends and family when they asked what Zach
had bought Reese for her birthday.