The Love Con

By Sheri L. Williams

Niki had only hoped to see her celebrity crush in passing at Boston’s Comic Con. She only wants to sell a few pieces of fan art to Barron Cross is a big deal — well, Clay Magnus, the heartthrob actor who plays that character, and he’s kind of — very — tired of it all. His last PR junket at Boston’s Comic Con is the only thing standing in his way of a much-needed vacation. After that, no more trips, no more fans, just him and his sister reconnecting. Until he meets the ultimate fangirl.

Niki Dubois only hoped to see her celebrity crush in passing, but a chance meeting at a fan convention turns into drinks at a nearby pub and then… flirting? What even is life? Just because he plays her favorite character and she’s spent way too many man hours drawing him for her fanart doesn’t mean they are destined to be together. Yet, there is something so comfortable and easy between them.

It’s probably just con fever… or maybe he’s her hero on and off the screen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Shorts
• Release date: Dec 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094431437

Sheri L. Williams

N/A

Book preview

Chapter One

Niki

Boston’s First Comic Convention

2021

You are invited!

She held the invitation in her hand, printed from her office printer, because she needed tangible proof that it had happened. Finally, she was going to a con as an invited artist, not just a pleb like in the past. She jumped up and down and held back her scream, before calming down enough to facetime her parents.

Nico love, what’s up? Her mom was the only person on this earth that could get away with calling her Nico rather than her preferred Niki, but she didn’t have time to have that argument again. Not when she had such good news.

Mom, look! She shoved the paper in front of her face so her mom could see it through the screen.

Oh my darling! That is fantastic! You’ll have to bring your father back a new hat. His has shit the bed unfortunately. They both made identical grimaces at the thought of that hat. Her dad had gotten it at a baseball game nearly ten years prior, and it was rank as hell. She, and probably her mom, were glad as hell that it had died.

Yeah, I’ll do that. I’m so stoked. And feeling validated as hell. She had to get that part out, her art had been a source of frustration nearly as often as it was her main source of happiness.

I am so proud of you baby. I want you to come up for dinner. We’ll celebrate.

Which is of course code for ‘get drunk.’

And…

And for me to make the cake.

Yes. You do dessert, I’ll handle dinner. We do play to our strengths after all. Over the video her mom smirked, and Niki just shook her head.

Yes mom, I need to learn to cook, but since you weren’t able to teach me, no one will. I know, you’ve said. Probably a million times now.

Well, I am your mother, dearheart. I am allowed to harp on you about things like this.

Yeah, yeah. So, what type of cake am I baking? She started to go through her cupboards, taking her mom on a journey through her small kitchen.

Ooh, I see you’ve been to the famer’s market, that honey looks good. Honeycomb cake? With that plum jam?

Oh, yeah. I can do that. I’ll be over right after work. They stayed on facetime for a few more minutes before ending the call, and then touching the papers one more time on her counter, she got ready for her day job.

She walked into the coffee shop and nodded at a few of the regulars she knew by sight and name before slipping under the counter to pull on her apron. She clocked in and went right to the counter to help Vanna who was struggling to keep up with the orders. When they got the counter clear, she found her manager in the back.

Jax was grumbling like he always did, so she didn’t pay that any mind.

Hey what’s on the docket today? She shared baking duties with Matts, the morning baker. Technically she was only a barista, but Jax knew how well she baked and when Matts had been sick, she’d jumped in to help and now she had baking duties as well as coffee duties. She didn’t mind, not really. She did love to bake, she just didn’t want it to be her whole job.

She wanted to do art full time, but that was still just a pipe dream. None of the artists she knew, online or in real life, made enough on their art to only do that. It was the dream for all of them. So instead she slung lattes and baked an astonishing number of snickerdoodles and brownies; the coffee shop’s specialties.

Uh, Matts left us pretty stocked on the usual. So if you wanna play around, you got about two hours before our next rush. Like she didn’t know that. She nodded and started to mentally flip through recipes in her head.

Cool, thanks boss. She put her phone on the high shelf and started her favorite playlist. Jonathan Roy started singing and she got into the baking headspace she loved so much.

She churned out two batches of lemon and lavender donuts and a tray of chocolate and blackberry tarts. When Jax knocked on the doorframe Sigala was pumping out of her phone and she had chocolate cream on her cheek. She was happy with what she’d gotten done and was ready to hold down the counter again.

Jesus, you’re like a kitchen witch. Jax said low.

You knew this, J. We were together for two years before you decided you might rather date boys than girls. You, more than anyone else outside my family, should know how I bake.

I still think you should make this your career rather than trying to get the art thing—

And that’s when you stop. We’re not dating anymore Jax; you have no say in my life. Go on now, she shooed him out of her way. We were having such a nice talk before you decided to show your ass. Leave me alone.

She went back to the counter where Vanna had her textbook propped up while she studied the human vascular system. Go on, take your break. I got this until the lunch rush hits. Vanna gave a short bow and grabbed her book and bag and headed to the corner table in the back they all used for breaks.

Niki sat on the stool and watched the front. They had about thirty minutes before the lunch crowd showed up and she usually doodled when she had a free moment but she’d forgotten her notebook at home in her excitement about the con invite. She held back a snort at what Jax had said. Maybe she should bring the invite and show it to him.

Nah, she reminded herself, ‘cause then Jax would just make fun of her stupid crush on Barron Cross, the main character of her favorite movies. She just really loved the character. Cross was an affable, gentlemanly bandit. He was part Solo, part Captain Mal Reynolds and all awesome. Jax had never understood her obsession with the movies, and had always thought her art was pointless. Sometimes she wondered how they dated for two years.

She didn’t have time to dwell on their failed relationship. The lunch rush hit hard like it always did. They were close enough to the University of New Hampshire that they got a ton of faculty and students. She was sure that the big boss needed to hire at least one more person to handle lunch, but it hadn’t happened yet.

Section Break

At home, after a long shift, she dropped into her favorite chair and hugged the cactus pillow her mom had gotten her for her last birthday.

Self, I think we need a vacation. Speaking out loud in her small apartment always helped her when she was peopled out. And she did need a vacation. She was going to make the con a true trip to Boston like she hadn’t done in a while. Probably since before college.

But first, cake. She said into the pillow. Shower first though, as she loved coffee but hated smelling like it. It could be worse, she reminded herself. Back in high school she’d worked part time at a Subway and constantly smelled of pepperoni. It permeated everything. Just remembering that made her shudder.

After a quick shower and a misting for her windowsills full of succulents, it was cake time. She popped a frozen meal in the microwave and focused on batter. As she mixed, new ideas for her art projects rolled through her head. She also made a mental note of everything she needed to do before the con.

When the cake was in the oven and the jam was simmering on the stove, she ate frozen lasagna and wrote out a list of what she had to do.

-figure out what to make prints of

-make prints

-buy train tickets

-book hotel room

She’d also need to make sure her mom was okay taking care of the plants. They didn’t need much, but if she could swing a full week for the trip, they’d need watered at least twice. With that done, and the cakes out and cooling, she logged into her work Slack and left a message for the owner. Jax would be angry that she went over him, but the owner was an art patron among the other things he did while globetrotting and not managing his own coffee shop, and surely he would understand her need. At least she hoped.

She got the cake onto a stand to cool and the jam set aside to cool as well. She felt pretty good about her progress, so she pulled her tablet onto her lap and booted up. Her Discord notifications were insane but she ignored them to open her drawing app. She wanted to look through her gallery to start working on picking out which drawings she would get prints made of.

She didn’t have a ton of money to play with, but she knew if she picked right she could sell enough to cover what she spent and then some. It’s hard to pick, so she put the question to her discord group. It’s small but full of other folks she knew: fandom folks who wrote fanfic, her best friend and her sister. It’s a good group and she trusted their opinions. The replies started to flood in, and she saw the personal chat light up.

She grinned to herself as she told Xan about the invite to Boston. The discord wasn’t enough for her best friend because Niki’s cell phone lit up with a picture from their graduation.

Yesss, Xan?

You got a fucking invite and I wasn’t the second person you told?

I didn’t have time. I got it, called mom and then was almost late for work. I was planning to call you when I knew you were off work. She checked the time. Wait, why aren’t you at work?

Oh, that. Over the line Xan sounded unsure. She was not at all used to her best friend sounding unsure. So, uh… do you remember Topher?

Do I remember? Niki almost yelled. Hot fling. Lasted two whole weekends before he fucked off back to Australia to lead his family’s company that he had escaped here to hide from.

I see you remember him. Xan said dryly.

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