The mere thought made his joints lock up. He did not like this feeling.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to act normal, scraping off the uneaten eggs into the trash can before he began to rinse the plate.
“Is he cleaning?” Logan asked.
“Oh, yeah, he’s been quite helpful. You guys really made him well-rounded. I didn’t expect that from a… a…”
“Sex bot?” Logan teased.
She cleared her throat in embarrassment. “Yes, that.”
Thirty-One slipped the plate into the metal dish rack by the sink, then cleaned the cup and fork in the same efficient manner. He lingered, reluctant to turn back to them, his hands braced against the edge of the metal basin.
“You know, your mom called me.”
Ophelia groaned. “God, tell me you didn’t pick up.”
“Only like the tenth time,” he deadpanned. “She said she was worried about you. I let her know we had a little… disagreement but everything would be fine. And I promised you’d come see her when you got a minute—sorry for that.”
She sighed. “It’s fine. I can’t put it off forever.”
“Mmm, not forever, but maybe a few more hours? Long enough for me to apologize to you… properly?”
Her arousal bloomed in the air; he was fine-tuned to that scent, could pick it out even under the heavy blanket of green apple dish detergent that surrounded him.
“Okay.” The words were shy but full of longing.
The soft, wet sounds behind him were unmistakably from kissing.
Driven by an impulse he didn’t understand, Thirty-One grabbed the dense ceramic plate he’d just cleaned. He brought it up high over his head and dashed it against the concrete floor with his full inhuman strength. The resulting sound was like a thunderclap, echoing off the walls of the apartment.
Ophelia shrieked in surprise as Logan cursed.
Thirty-One turned back to them with a placid look. “I apologize. It was slippery.”
He did not enjoy jealousy, but he found he rather liked lying.
“I’ll get it,” Ophelia murmured, pulling away from Logan. “You go take a shower and put on something more comfortable.”
Logan lingered, eyes locked on Thirty-One in a suspicious manner, but at length he capitulated to Ophelia’s suggestion.
She stood at the edge of the galley kitchen, gaping at the mess he’d created. “Gosh. How hard did you drop it?”
He shrugged, lowering himself to his knees as he slowly picked up slivers of the shattered ceramic. She knelt on the other side of the room to do the same. He studied her from beneath his lashes as she worked, not the least bit suspicious of his intentions, unlike Logan. Did she trust him implicitly after only one day together? Was she so naïve?
He liked that she was trusting. He hated it, too. His eyes flicked toward the open bedroom door, where the distant splatter of water from the shower filtered out.
She trusted Logan too easily.
He’d been working on Thirty-One’s code for two years, taking over for another employee whose family had decided the chaos of the city had grown too great as DC had become a hub of industry in the technical field.
They talked in the lab. Unfiltered, because there was no one to hear them but their colleagues and the androids they were working on. Logan complained often and about everything. How unfair it was to be stuck in the basement of the building. How hard he’d worked to get paid so little. How much he deserved a seat at the table with the engineers, the designers, not the lowly little coding ants who spot-checked and perfected their designs.
He complained about Ophelia when he was alone with his male colleagues. She was too pliable, too dull, too introverted. Too accepting of anything he wanted from her. Too anxious and needy and in love with him.
Thirty-One wanted to tell her. He wanted her to know the selfish, grating things her perfect fiancé said behind her back.She should know the way he laughed when the others joined in, piling on her despite having met her at gatherings outside the facility.
Something stayed him. He watched as her silken hair spilled over her shoulder, dragging through the mess, causing little shards of plate to clink together. She mumbled a curse, awkwardly trying to toss it back behind herself.
