Page 36 of Battery Operated

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“Huh,” Cole said. “Guess she doesn’t hate us as much as she thinks.”

“Either that, or she just doesn’t hate cats,” I said. Still, Lila’s kindness gave me hope. Overall, she didn’t seem like a vindictive person. Neither were we, but somehow, we’d all gotten off on the wrong foot.

An extremely wrong foot.

But maybe there was a possibility that could change.

15

LILA

By the middle of the night, I was pretty sure I’d consumed all of the content on Reddit and was starting in on YouTube. I kept the sound down while I watched a video about a woman who discovered her coworker was her long-lost sister.

My eyelids started to droop, but I fought to keep them open. Fortunately, the bed was helping with that. I was perched on my side, but when my muscles relaxed, I’d start to roll into the valley in the middle of the mattress. Righting myself would snap me back into alertness.

There was a soft knock at the door. Maybe Penny had wandered out for a glass of water and had seen the light under the door?

“Come in.”

Except it wasn’t Penny.

“Can’t sleep?” A tall figure filled the doorframe, though I could only see his silhouette.

Clutching the covers tightly, I sat up, resting my back against the sturdy headboard. “No.”

Brady walked into the room, fully dressed even though it was after midnight. “It’s hard sleeping in a strange place sometimes.”

“It’s not that.” The lamp on the nightstand only illuminated a small circle around the bed, so I could barely see the expression on his face. I drew my legs to the side, making room, and he sat on the edge of the bed. “I have a kind of routine I do before bed. It helps me sleep.”

He nodded. “And you can’t do that routine here?”

“No.” My voice was bitter. He and his buddies were the reason I couldn’t.

“Is it possible to improvise a little? If you tell me what your ritual is, maybe I can help.”

“I doubt that,” I said, but his earnest expression made it hard to stay upset with him. “But thanks.”

“Come on, try me. I’m an inventive guy. What’s the routine? Tea? A warm bubble bath? A chapter out of a good book? A mind-blowing orgasm? A—”

Involuntarily, I swallowed hard, pulling away from him and hugging my knees to my chest. It was more than obvious he noticed my very physical response. Crap.

“No shit? Really?” He stared at me for a moment, but I didn’t say anything. “Well, feel free. This is your room for the week, and you can do whatever you want in it.” He grinned. “The dirtier, the better.”

That pissed me off. “I’m not some kind of sex fiend,” I growled. “I just sleep better if I do that before bed, okay? I’m an adult, I should be able to do what I’d like.”

“I agree on every point,” he said. His voice sounded neutral again, but I couldn’t quite meet his eye. “So what’s stopping you?”

“You and your friends confiscated my toys.”

He chuckled, and I wanted to smack him. “Maybe this is one of those times when you should try things the old-fashioned way.”

If that had worked, I wouldn’t be having this very uncomfortable conversation with him now. “It’s not the same. For women, anyway. That’s yet another area where you men have it easier.” Why did it feel like the universe was set up in men’s favor?

I took a quick peek and caught his nod. “Probably true. But still, what if battery-operated devices had never been invented? Would you really never be able to get to sleep?” He looked two-thirds curious and only one-third turned on, which was probably a better ratio than I’d get from most men.

“I’d sleep. Just not… well.” God, this was the last thing I wanted to admit to him. “I get nightmares sometimes.” My voice wasn’t much more than a whisper, but I knew he heard me. “If I don’t sleep deeply, I have nightmares.” Nights when that happened were the worst, which was the only reason I was telling him this.

Brady’s eyes were troubled. “If I knew where Cole stashed your stuff, I’d get it for you, but I don’t, I swear.”


Tags: Stephanie Brother Erotic