The (Virtual) Bodyguard

By Chace Verity

When librarian Tala Mendoza's best online friend quits talking to her after a disastrous mission in their favorite mafia-themed MMORPG, she's desperate to fix the rift between them. There's not much she can do when the woman she knows as DallasGlow ignores her messages. Their years-long friendship looks to be truly over until the day Tala helps a gorgeous patron at work—and recognizes the avatar in the game she's playing.

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The (Virtual) Bodyguard is a complete, standalone f/f novella that was previously published in Second Chances: A Sapphic Romance Anthology.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chace Verity
• Release date: Sep 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215446003

Book preview

The (Virtual) Bodyguard

The (Virtual) Bodyguard

Chace Verity

Copyright © 2021 by Chace Verity

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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The (Virtual) Bodyguard was previously published in Second Chances: A Sapphic Romance Anthology (2021).

Contents

Author’s Note

Content Notes

Prologue

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Epilogue

About Chace Verity

For the Rec-ing Ball

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Thank you for all of your hard work in spreading the word of diverse books and writing amazing stories yourself. Even if I never meet you, you’re one of my favorite people.

Author’s Note

Dearest readers,

Most of my friends (and even my spouse!) are people I first bonded with online—gaming, writing groups, social media, etc. In those various circles, there are some people I consider myself close with whose faces I’ve never seen, names I’ve never learned, and voices I’ve never heard. They’re folks I’ll likely never meet, and that’s fine. Our online relationship is strong enough for me.

Explaining to people who have never done it how I can consider some of these online relationships dear to me is difficult. When writing Tala and Dahlia’s backstory in The (Virtual) Bodyguard, I quickly realized even through fiction, I can’t adequately describe how much someone you’ve never met in person can mean to you. You either know, or you don’t.

While I hope those who don’t know can still appreciate Tala and Dahlia’s story, this novella will probably hit several familiar notes to those who do know. The (Virtual) Bodyguard focuses on estranged gaming friends, but I shaped their feelings with my assortment of relationships I’ve had with people online—nearly twenty-five years of experience, as of this note!

For more information about The (Virtual) Bodyguard, including content notes, please visit the book’s page at chaceverity.com.

Best,

Chace wants to say hi to MCC from the Blackberry Creek days Verity

Content Notes

The (Virtual) Bodyguard contains:

- a character facing potential homelessness

- references to a car accident, violence, guns, drugs, estranged family, transphobia, ableism, depression, anxiety, and self-harm

- explicit sexual content in chapter five

Prologue

It was Valentine’s Day, and single, horny Tala Mendoza was determined to get laid.

She gazed at her date across the cloth-covered table of the busy, casual Italian restaurant they were in. Going on a date had been a last-minute decision, so they couldn’t make a reservation at a wheelchair-accessible place with a more romantic ambience, but the fancy LED candles on the walls highlighted Justine’s striking features well enough.

And, well, it wasn’t like Tala was actually looking for a girlfriend. She just wanted fun, and her date also seemed to have a similar goal. This worked out since Tala couldn’t picture them going out again after tonight. Something about Justine was just…boring.

She had curly auburn hair that bobbed along her shoulders when she got excited. Tala enjoyed watching the rest of Justine’s full-figured body bounce in rhythm with her playful stories, but aside from the physical attraction, she didn’t have many other feelings for her date. Tala had a hard time concentrating on Justine’s tales themselves. For one, she didn’t understand the fuss over drama in online knitting groups. And two, her phone kept buzzing