He’d been the one to teach me all about video games.
It was Sebastian who showed me how to balance on a skateboard.
He’d spent countless hours listening to me ramble about my crazy ideas for new inventions when I’d started to become interested in science—even though I could tell he had no idea what I was talking about half the time.
Sebastian had been the one who’d found me when I’d fallen out of the apple tree in my father’s backyard. I’d broken my arm and had been in so much pain every time I tried to move, my vision blacked out, and I nearly threw up.
Seb had picked me up and calmly taken me back to the house. He’d made me cocoa and called my dad to tell him what happened. Then he sat with me and held my good hand while the local doctor reset my arm and put me in a cast…
He’d been the only person I’d had to turn to after my father had died.
The memory of Seb holding me while I sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder at my father’s funeral rocked through my mind, causing a hard, painful lump to form in my throat.
It killed me that he hadn’t felt like he could tell me how bad Luke’s abuse had become. The guilt I felt over the fact that he had a chip implanted that was even close to as restrictive as Milo’s was making me sick to my stomach.
No more.
This ended today.
“NOVA?” I repeated after a long, silent moment. I frowned; it wasn’t like her to have any sort of delay when asked a question.
“Hi, hi, yes, sorry, Mr. Reynolds. Not sure what happened there. Feeling a little under the weather today. I think I have a bug.”
This caused my frown to deepen.
A bug? That wasn’t possible. Her network would have needed to be exposed to outside sources for her to pick up some form of malware. She was a completely isolated AI by design. Unless someone hacked her servers, which was also unlikely, considering my father and I had built her off-grid… no. It was more likely she needed a software update. I hadn’t been able to get out to the cabin for several years now. Not with Luke’s chip in my arm. I would need to find out a way to develop an update for her remotely… or, even better. Cut this chip out of my arm after the demonstration and take Milo far away from here.
I smiled at the thought of bringing Milo to my cabin in the mountains and showing him the place where so many of my favorite childhood memories had come to be.
“Run a self-diagnosis, please, and forward the results to my personal account. But before you start that, please send that message to Sebastian,” I ordered, snapping on a fresh pair of latex gloves.
“Yes, daddy,” she chirped, and I rolled my eyes, shaking my head.
“Smart ass…” I grumbled, though I was smiling when I approached Milo’s chair again.
“Ready, baby?” I asked, and he smiled up at me, his big eyes shining with excitement.
“Yep! Stitch me up, doc, then let’s get Sebastian sorted out next.” That little evil grin curled on his perfect, plush lips again. “I can’t wait to unleash our master plan on our resident supervillain.”
I leaned forward and brushed my lips over his, revelling in the fact that I could do that now without him cringing in agony.
“My little mastermind…” I smiled against him, indulging in one last kiss before getting to work patching him back up.
NOVA play: Shameless by Camila Cabello
Seb never responded to Jay’s message to swing by The Cave before our presentation. Though hedidread them, we figured he was just busy dealing with the press.
After Jay stitched me up, we made our way back to Amygdala Ave so I could shower and get ready for my big presentation.
The second I walked in the door to Jay’s cube, he had me slammed up against the wall and his tongue in my mouth.
“I’m going to fuck you before we go,” he announced, pressing his warm lips against my ear.
I shivered and tilted my head to the side, giving him easier access to nip and bite a hot line down the side of my neck.
“I need you now. I can’t wait another second… Please, baby? Can I have you now?”
He licked a long, wet line up my neck to the corner of my mouth, nibbling and kissing me softly until I consented. Kicking my pants all the way off, I slid my hands under his shirt and shivered as his hot, tight abs contracted at the light brush of my fingers.
