Evolved(31)

He smiled, almost. “It will be fine.”

“Let’s get you set up to do this first,” I said, thinking the distraction was needed for both of us. I went into the settings on the home hub and selected Add User. I entered his first name and only when it was left blank did I realise the user settings required a full name, first and last.

“Oh,” I said. “It requires a surname.”

Shaun looked from the hologram to me. “I could have your surname.”

My gaze shot to his. “Um…”

“I would be Shaun Salter.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t think you realise what that implies.”

“Taking a surname implies family. Does it not?”

I guess in the literal world, it did. “Possibly.”

“Or does it imply husbands?”

I barked out a laugh, feeling my cheeks heat. “Uh, possibly.”

“Why do you react in such a way?” he asked, his head tilted.

“We’re not married,” I said gently.

“I rather like the sound of Shaun Salter,” he said. “And if I get to choose a surname, then I would choose yours.”

I stared at his blue, blue eyes. “You would?”

“I belong only to you,” he whispered. “If sharing the same distinctive surname as you indicates that I identify with you, then there is no other name I’d rather take.”

Oh boy.

His words took my breath away. “Oh, Shaun.”

“Did I say something wrong?”

I shook my head, and leaning in, I kissed him softly. “You said something very right.” Going back to the hologram, I added my surname to his. “Shaun Salter,” I murmured, my heart beating fast.

“You like how that sounds?” he asked.

I nodded. “I do.”

He smiled proudly. “My synthetic dopamine levels are elevated.”

I chuckled at that. “Okay, let’s get this finished,” I said, completing the set-up sequence. He repeated the sentence for voice activation, and the only thing left to do was test it.

I turned the hub off manually. “Your turn to activate it.”

“Home hub On,” he said.

The hologram appeared, and Shaun grinned. “Open Call Directory.” Then he said, “Call Lloyd mobile.”

My phone rang over on the counter and Shaun leaned in closer to me and whispered, “You’re supposed to answer your phone.”

I rolled my eyes but played along. I crossed the room and picked up my phone, answering the call. “Hello?”

Shaun grinned. “Hello, this is Shaun Salter speaking.”

I burst out laughing and ended the call, sliding my phone into my pocket. I walked back to him and kissed him, both of us smiling. I took his hand and led him to the sofa. “Come on. I’ll show you the TV.”

I hadn’t even turned it on since Shaun arrived. He really had taken up 100% of my attention, and I had to wonder how that would affect him when I went back to work. If my world for the last four days had revolved around him, then so had his around me, and I could only assume he would be at a loss for what to do when I was gone for hours at a time.

The TV seemed like a good place to start. We faced the sleek cabinet against the far wall. I leaned in close to him and whispered, “Say TV On.”

Shaun looked at me. “TV On.” The holographic rectangle appeared before the wall and Shaun spun his head to look at it. “Oh.”

I chuckled. “That’s the television.”

“Volume Up,” I said out loud and the TV volume raised slightly.

Still smiling, Shaun looked at me then back to the screen. “What is that?”

“That’s a movie,” I said. “It’s on the channel I watched last.”

“Movie. A cinematic film for entertainment or educational purposes.”

“Yes. Though I mostly watch for entertainment.” I looked at the screen. “Channel Up. Up. Up. Up.” I said, scrolling through channels, leaving it on some nonsense ad. “There are nine hundred channels.”

Shaun turned to me, his eyes wide. “Nine hundred? Is that not excessive?”

“Yes, it’s ridiculous, to be honest. Channels are categorised though. Movies are the four hundreds, news and current affairs is zero to one hundred, all the one hundreds are documentaries, which you might find very interesting. Things like history, engineering, and travel. Two hundreds are all infomercials and sales channels; I don’t watch them. I have no need. Three hundreds are all programs made for TV, like sitcoms and weekly serials. I watch those sometimes. Four hundreds are movies, as I said, and the five hundreds are music. Six hundreds are all sport channels, seven hundreds are the reality shows, which I don’t watch. I don’t care for them at all. Eight hundreds are… well, the eight hundreds are adult-only pornography. I don’t think we need to watch those.”

“Pornography. Printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate sexual excitement.”

“Uh, yes.”

He looked right at me. “I have the complete sexual position and activity information downloaded already.”

I snorted and could feel my cheeks heat. “Ah, yes. So you’ve said.”