Chapter 58 #2
“This can’t be… this isn’t possible… Okay, maybe it’s possible, but it isn’t ethical! He can’t just implant stuff into people that physically punishes them for not following the rules! We’re human beings, not… not cattle!” Milo was nearly shouting now, his voice squeaking with anxiety.
“Yeah, well… Tell Luke that.”
“How come it doesn’t hurt you when you touch me? You have one too!”
I shrugged. “New tech, I guess. Mine is old, but it punishes me when I try to leave campus. Seb and I learned that a year or so ago. He just told me earlier that he had a new model injected a few weeks back, and his is more… restrictive than mine. He thinks yours is even more advanced.”
Milo looked fucking horrified, and I didn’t blame him.
“I’m sorry, Milo. I… I didn’t know this would happen. If I’d known he had plans to implant you, I would have told you to quit a long time ago… I feel so fucking guilty.”
‘Liar,’ a voice whispered in the back of my mind.
I’d known there was a risk in keeping Milo here.
Seb had warned me. He had warned me, and I hadn’t listened because I’d been so fucking selfish and lonely.
The thought of losing Milo had been too much for me to bear.
And now, because of my pathetic need to keep him here with me, he was a fucking prisoner.
“Okay,” Milo breathed, frowning down at his arm and rubbing a thumb over the cotton pad Luke had tapped there. “Okay… this is… this was unexpected, but we can figure this out… I just need to think.”
He began pacing, looking adorable in his short-sleeved button-up that had the little dopamine chemical symbol stitched in above the front pocket. His brow furrowed behind his big, frameless glasses, and a tiny piece of soft caramel hair fell into his eyes.
On reflex, I almost reached out to pull him into me so I could brush it away, but my stomach sank when I remembered I couldn’t.
My throat closed up, and my gut felt like it was full of acid at the thought of never being able to touch Milo again.
Never tracing my lips down the gentle slope of his jaw.
Never sinking my teeth into the soft flesh of his shoulder.
Never driving my cock into his tight, perfect—
“NOVA,” Milo chirped, and my AI chimed in response, her voice bright and chipper as always.
“Yes, Milo?”
I smirked. She always called him by his first name, which was a customized ask on his part. It was so fucking cute.
“I need to get back into The Cave, and I’ll be there past curfew. Can you cover for me? Make it seem like I’m in my cube or something?”
“Pshht. Of course I can,” NOVA boasted, sounding almost offended that he was even asking. “I run this place.”
Milo nodded, his eyes still unfocused like he was still lost in thought.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought… That’s why he’s resorted to body modification… He can’t use any tech connected to NOVA’s main network without her overriding it…” he muttered, and I wished I hadn’t gotten so drunk.
I loved it when he was like this. I wanted to help him plan and brainstorm and do whatever it was he was thinking, but even on a normal day, I wasn’t nearly as smart as Milo. I needed a Neurolyte so I could sober up and help him.
“Okay… I’m going to need a change of clothes, so it looks like I wasn’t there all night when everyone shows up for work in the morning…
” He was fully talking to himself now, rushing in the direction of my room, where he now had a space in my closet for some of his things.
While he was busy grabbing his stuff, I got up from the couch and made my way over to the fridge, digging around to find a Neurolyte to sober myself up.
I cracked the top and chugged the fizzy cherry-flavored drink in a few gulps, sighing in relief as my addled mind quickly began to clear.
“I’ll be back!” Milo called, and I turned to find him sliding into his Vans with a small backpack on. The laces on his left shoe were undone and trailing behind him, but he didn’t seem to notice
“Hey, wait, I want to come too,” I said roughly, tossing the empty can in the garbage and making my way over to him.
I dropped to my knees at his feet and quickly tied his laces for him, making sure to double-knot the bow so there was no risk of it coming undone and tripping him.
He glanced down at me, his brandy eyes bright with what looked like surprise and…determination?
“Yeah?”
“Of course. I can’t let you take this on by yourself. This is my mess. You’re my responsibility. If you’re planning something I’m in, no question,” I assured him, getting to my feet. Again, the urge to touch him was so strong, I needed to cram my fists in my pockets to keep myself from fucking up.
Milo softened, his entire face lighting up. He reached for me like he wanted to pull me in for a kiss, then froze, dropping his hand.
My heart squeezed as I realized that he was struggling with this just as much as I was.
He wanted to touch me, too.
He… wanted me.
Not because he knew I could give him a promotion, or a raise, or a reference of some kind. He just wanted… me.
Oblivious to the way my insides were twisting with so many complicated and intense feelings that I didn’t have names for, Milo gave me a confident grin and a bouncy little nod that made me feel like anything was possible, as long as we were together.
“Okay, great. I could use your help. If I’m going to figure out a way to disrupt the signal in the chips and get the NeuroManipulator working by Friday, I’m going to need all the help I can get!”
“I’ll always help you, Milo. I already told you. I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered, holding his gaze and showing him with just my eyes how much he meant to me.
I wanted to cradle his face in my hands and kiss his lips and tell him how fucking brave I thought he was.
When I’d realized what Luke had done, I’d immediately fallen apart… I’d reverted to the young, scared kid who’d just lost his dad and didn’t have a soul in the world to lean on… but Milo hadn’t. He’d sprung into action and immediately gone into problem-solving mode.
He was so fucking smart and sexy.
I was obsessed with everything about him.
My heart skipped a beat as we stood there, staring at each other, and I realized that I might actually be falling in love with this clumsy boy and his massive brain.
“I’m not going anywhere either, Jay,” he whispered, and my throat rolled as I swallowed back the rising swell of emotion that flooded through me as I realized he meant it.
He wasn’t going to leave me. He wouldn’t leave me here all alone.
Giving him a sharp nod, I gestured to the door.
“Lead the way, then. I’m right behind you.”
Milo grinned at me and nodded before sweeping out of the cube into the night, like some sort of superhero hell bent on saving my pathetic ass from a life filled with nothing but empty days and lonely nights.