Page 145 of Plaything

“It won’t be the first time,” I flirted.

She sat up, knocking Cat onto the couch as she straddled me and rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?” She asked.

Suddenly all my focus went into keeping my dick at bay. Don’t get hard. Don’t get hard.

“Almost six,” Aiden took the liberty of bringing her attention to the rest of the room.

Her eyes snapped to the three of them, their features dimly lit by the fireplace. “Did you just get home?” She asked, clearly having their schedules memorized. She shifted off of me, sitting on the cushion behind my legs. Cat was quick to jump in her lap.

Aiden nodded. “With Chinese food,” he gestured to the takeout bags beside him. “How about we eat dinner and discuss what happened last night?” He prompted.

Damn, no beating around the bush tonight, I guess. I would have been a bit more gentle but to each their own.

Odette tensed before averting eye contact, busying herself with petting Cat as if his orange fur had become the most interesting thing in the room. “Reesia told you,” she deadpanned.

“No,” Dominic lied. “Collin did.” It was a white lie, one that hurt no one. Reesia did the right thing by telling us, but Odette might not see it that way for a while.

Odette seemed surprised and relieved at the same time. They’d become friends, and I was glad Dom was a quick enough thinker to lie. Her eyes widened as she peered up at us. “I really don’t wanna talk about it,” she admitted.

“Baby, why didn’t you wake us?” Wyatt began, ignoring her request. “We want to be there for you if and when you have sub drop. There’s absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Although his tone was soft, you’d think he was scolding her from the way she avoided looking at us. “That’s not what it was. It doesn’t matter because I’m fine—”

“It does matter, Odette. Maybe not to you, if that’s the lie you want to tell yourself. But it matters a lot to us,” Aiden chimed in. I sat up and wrapped my arm around her so she wouldn’t feel like she was being talked at. She was uncomfortable, and this would be an uncomfortable but necessary conversation.

“Sub drop is chemical. It’s as simple as being on a dopamine high for hours, then kicked off of it. It’s a very real thing that happens all the time in our community and when people have the kind of sex that we do. You think what happened last night was something as simple as crying. You think it was something you needed to be embarrassed about.”

“It is so much more complicated than that. It’s a chemical reaction that can be triggered by nothing except those hormones.” Aiden was leaning forward as he explained. “Doll, it’s our job to care for you, fuck, it’s something we love doing, something we want to do. What happened last night was entirely our fault because we didn’t see the signs. I could go on and on about my regrets and what we should have done, but I won’t. We failed because you should have never had to go through that alone. We won’t fail you again, I promise you that.”

She finally looked up from Cat’s fur when he confessed it was our fault. She looked guilty, which wasn’t his intention, and showed how selfless she was. “Cariño,” I grabbed her chin and made her look at me. “Do you understand?” I asked.

She nodded. “I’m sorry—”

“No... we’re not mad at you, Baby. You have nothing to be sorry for.” I tilted my head at her. “There won’t be a next time, but if this happens again or you don’t feel okay after anything, or even if you have a bad day... come to us. Let us help you. You’re done dealing with shit alone,” I promised.

“Okay,” she croaked before blinking away a tear that threatened to fall.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Dom prompted, showing his curiosity.

She shrugged. “I don’t know what happened.” Her stomach growled, and I couldn’t help but smile at her. Such a big sound from such a small woman... She pointed to the bags of Chinese food. “I hear fried rice is good for memory. Maybe if I eat some of that, it’ll jog a reason,” she tempted cutely.

When was the last time she ate? She didn’t have breakfast, and I knew she didn’t typically eat during school. I jumped up and beelined for the bag, realizing she hadn’t eaten in a day.

Say what you will about intermediate fasting, but in this house, we eat—especially her. I swear to God, the woman never feeds herself. I don’t know how she survived all those years before she met me. If feeding her was my love language, so be it. I loved feeding her because it drove me nuts that she counted iced coffee as a meal—her and Dom both.

“Alright, kitchen, everybody,” I announced as I carried the bags to the counter. “Before Odette’s stomach tries to kill me again,” I smirked over my shoulder at her.

“You know... your friends really can’t keep anything to themselves,” Odette said as the corner of her mouth lifted in a smirk. “Who gave my number to Jamie anyway?” She asked, looking around at the four of us as we piled food onto plates.

I waited for one of them to answer, but they gave me the same apprehensive look in return. None of us gave Jamie her number... why would we?

“What the hell did Jamie do?” Aiden demanded.

Odette pulled out her phone, where she had what seemed like a million unread messages and missed calls. She turned her phone around and showed us a text from Jamie.

Jamie: If you need tips on how to make hickeys go away, I can help.

She was no better than a man. I crossed my arms and looked at my friends who had similar stances.

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