Lucky Strike (Super Harem #1) - Catherine Banks Page 0,62

each of us, bowed, and then left.

“The anticipation is killing me,” Crystal whispered.

I laughed and hovered my hand over the handle of the cover. “On three?”

Alura and Crystal gripped the knob on top of the cover and nodded their agreement. The guys followed our lead.

Tyson smiled at me and did the same.

“One,” I said.

“Two,” Alura said.

“Three!” Crystal shouted.

We all pulled the covers off and the scent of grilled meat hit my face and made me instantly drool. “Oh, wow.”

Everyone had something different on their plate, which had me looking at Tyson. “You did research?”

He paused in his attempt to put his napkin on his lap. “No. Marvin did. He wanted to make sure that he didn’t kill anyone with an allergy or feed a vegetarian meat on accident.”

I could kiss him!

“How much does a butler like that cost?” Crystal asked around a bite of her pecan and cranberry salad.

“Your soul,” Tyson said dramatically.

I laughed and shook my head. “Don’t let him fool you. They’re family.”

“Basically,” Tyson agreed with a shrug. “He’s been with me since I was a child.”

“Who moved this large table out here?” I asked after taking a bite of my blue cheese salad.

“Robots,” Tyson answered.

Oh, right. Duh.

“I have to say I’m really impressed with how much advancement you’ve made in the field of artificial intelligence,” Tremor said.

“Thank you,” Tyson said.

“Aren’t you afraid of making them too intelligent?” Black Hole asked.

Tyson shrugged. “I figure there are sentient alien races that are basically robots, so if the ones here decided they didn’t want to do our bidding anymore, they would just go seek them out.”

“I’d rather not,” Alfred said behind me.

Black Hole looked behind me. “Who said that?”

“Uncloak,” I ordered Alfred.

Alfred let himself become visible and everyone except my boyfriends stared in disbelief.

“How long has he been there?” Tremor asked.

“Alfred is with me all of the time,” I said. “He’s always cloaked, though.”

“You mean, even last night while we were drinking?” Black Hole asked.

I nodded. “Yep. Always.”

“Does he have protection protocols?” Tremor asked.

I rolled my eyes. “More than he should.”

Tyson smiled. “I irritated my lovely girlfriend because I have Alfred send me her vitals and contact me anytime her health starts to decline.”

“It was fine when someone was trying to poison me, but getting text messages about needing to drink water was not what I was expecting when I agreed to get an advanced droid from you,” I muttered and took a big bite of pasta. It was buttery with parmesan and drizzled with something that made it perfection. Was it a mushroom sauce?

“That would be annoying,” Crystal said.

“She forgets to drink water really often,” Alura said with a shrug. “I’m not surprised he had to go to those lengths. She’d probably be permanently dehydrated if he didn’t.”

I glared at her. “I thought we were friends.”

She smiled. “We are. And I think he needs to know how terrible you are about drinking water.”

“I’m going to be in so much trouble now,” I whispered.

Alura laughed.

“Have you been holding out on me, Alfred?” Tyson asked.

Alfred cloaked again and didn’t answer.

I knew he was an advanced AI, but for him to not provide information as requested by Tyson was shocking. Especially since part of Tyson’s power was controlling electronics.

Tyson narrowed his eyes. “I think your droid and I need to have a chat.”

I narrowed my eyes back at him and pointed my fork across the table at his face. “You will leave my droid alone. He has been doing well. Don’t worry, Alfred, I won’t let him try to reprogram you.”

“Thank you, Lucky,” Alfred whispered.

“So, did you hear about the new cafe going in just down the street from the Association?” Vortex asked.

“A deli?” Alura asked, her eyes wide. “Will they have fresh baked bread?”

She was a sucker for freshly baked bread.

Vortex nodded. “I talked to the owner and he said they’ll also sell croissants and donuts in the mornings, too.”

Alura made a sound that was almost like purring.

“What’s your favorite morning treat?” Crystal asked me.

“Chocolate croissants,” I answered immediately. “You?”

“Blueberry bagels,” Crystal said.

“With cream cheese?” Tremor asked.

Crystal shook her head. “Just with butter.”

“Why are we talking about breakfast foods while eating lunch?” I asked. “I’d rather ask the important question. What is your favorite dessert?”

“Chocolate milkshake,” Alura said.

“Cheesecake, any flavor,” Crystal said.

“Cherry pie,” Tremor answered.

“Apple pie with ice cream,” Black Hole said.

“Whiskey on the rocks,” Tyson answered.

I chuckled and shook my head at him.

“Chocolate chip cookies with walnuts,” Hurricane answered.

“Anything sweet,” Vortex said and shrugged. “I like everything.”

“I’m not a huge