Page 13 of Fembot
Winston paused at the second instance of the endearment. “You keep calling me Sunshine.”
“Do you not like it?”
“I don’t dislike it,” Winston confessed. He took a bite of his toast and chewed it slowly while he thought about it. “I’m just curious about why you’re calling me Sunshine. That’s all.”
“I’ve been studying human behaviors. The better I fit in, the more at ease you and your companions—your friends—will be around me. I don’t want to cause disruption.”
“You’re trying to blend in.”
“Yes. I believe it will be beneficial to you if I do.”
Winston couldn’t stop the stupid smile that appeared on his face. “You’re calling me Sunshine because you want to help me. And you think fitting in will help me.”
“Yes.”
Lacking a response, Winston took a bite of his toast. “It’s good toast. Thank you, Calvin.”
Cal smiled, seemingly pleased by the praise.
CHAPTER EIGHT_
NOT SO LUCKY CHARMED
God,Winston was one lucky son-of-a-bitch. The house and the car was whatever. But Winston’s piece-of-shit dad had outdone himself with his latest guilt purchase. Calvin was a state-of-the-art technological hottie. Seriously, it was like he was built just to make men horny. And because Winston hadn’t fooled around with him in forever—it had only been a couple weeks—Lucky was feeling particularly horny.
Calvin had a well-built ass. Everything about him was like that, in fact. Leave it to Winston to have access to a robot that could do anything, and he had it puttering around his off-campus house, cooking and cleaning. Sure, Lucky had to admit that a permanent chef slash housekeeper meant their house had never looked or smelled better. With three guys living in one space and a variety of friends who dropped by, all who practiced varying levels of cleanliness, things could get a little ripe now and again.
Not since Calvin arrived a couple weeks ago.
“What are you doing?” Novak passed Lucky, who had been perched on a stool at the counter for the past fifteen minutes as he watched Calvin clean.
“Nothing.”
Novak poured himself a glass of orange juice. “You’re planning something stupid.”
“How can you tell? I mean… am not.”
Novak drank his juice while maintaining eye contact with Lucky. When Calvin arrived, Lucky had weaseled his way into things by having Winston say that he could give Calvin commands. So far, Lucky hadn’t put it to the test. But Lucky had planned it that way.
“Whatever you’re scheming, it’s a stupid idea.” Novak liked to think that he knew everything. Sure, he was in the same program as Lucky, and had better grades, and was going to graduate into an amazing job while Lucky was still looking for post-grad placement, but that didn’t mean he knew everything.
“I’m not doing anything.”
Novak remained unconvinced. He pinned Lucky with a stare that saiddon’t bullshit meuntil Lucky cracked under the pressure.
“Fine. Fine. You win. I just… Winston is so uptight about this robot of his, and I want him to loosen up a little.”
Novak narrowed his already narrow gaze until his eyes were two very skeptical slits. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s a stupid idea.”
Lucky rolled his eyes. Of course it was a stupid idea. It came from him. Lucky knew what everyone thought of him. Living down to their expectations was easy. He’d learned that a long time ago. People didn’t expect much of him, so that’s what he made sure they got. Whenever he tried to do better, people laughed at his efforts or shunned him for trying at all.
“If I were planning something, yes, it would be a stupid idea. We all know this.” He pushed away from the counter and headed for the living room. “But I’m not planning anything.”
“Lucky, wait.” Novak chased him and sat down on the sectional next to him. He slung an arm over Lucky’s shoulder and pulled him close. “I didn’t mean it.”
Novak’s approval meant a lot to Lucky, but more than his approval, he wanted Novak’s respect. He’d never have either if he went through with his plan. Still, Lucky didn’t think it was a stupid idea at all. Winston had an amazing resource sitting at his feet, and he used it as a fucking butler. Calvin was capable of so much more than that and sure, Lucky was horny and lonely and wanted to screw around with the robot, but he also wanted to find a way to show Winston that he was pissing away a lot of potential.
“What’s going on?” Novak used his annoying, soft, understanding voice on Lucky, who had yet to develop any sort of defense against it. Novak should have been a therapist. Or maybe a hostage negotiator.
