Page 6 of Plaything

I knew Dominic was annoyed. As we were leaving the kitchen, he pulled me aside and expressed his feelings of skepticism. We all liked our privacy, and she could very well tell the students where we lived. Not to mention, our conversations will have to be heavily filtered. I didn’t want her to hear something she shouldn’t.

What if we found our submissive while Odette was staying with us? That was the only scenario where we would have to find somewhere else for her to stay. Odette was a beautiful girl, and I wouldn’t want our submissive to get jealous or worry about another woman living with us. That was a big if.

Aiden decided to start dating a few months ago, burnt out from our never-ending search for our girl. He wasn’t serious about it like he claimed to be. He usually goes out for dinner, brings them back, sleeps with them, and never speaks to them again. He called it dating, but he was just hooking up with them, which we all occasionally did. I’d personally tried celibacy between trying to find a submissive, but I get short-tempered if I go two or three months without sex.

Niko walked ahead, leaving Odette between the two of us. I smirked at the size difference between her and the massive box she carried. She was a tiny little thing, slender and tall. Her hair was raven black, cascading down her back in tangles and waves. It ended at her waist, just above her ass, where my gaze fell.

Typically, I preferred a woman with curves and a belly, but I wasn’t picky. I cared more about a person’s values, goals, and kindness than their looks. Her legs were long, and her ass looked really good in those leggings.

No. Absolutely not.

I quickly averted my eyes, angry at myself. I knew better; my mind just slipped away from me. I’d never thought of a student in a sexual way before, and I didn’t plan to start now. There had always been a prominent moral and ethical boundary in my mind when it came to students.

My friends and I dealt with the burden of our female students throwing themselves at us. We usually ignored them or, in Dominic’s case, gave them more challenging assignments.

“This is your room,” Niko opened the door to a vacant bedroom. The three of us stepped into the room, placing the boxes down. He gestured to the bed, nightstands, and wardrobe that were nearly as old as the manor. “It has all the furnishings you’ll need; you might want to dust them off, though; they haven’t been used,” he gave her a small smile.

Odette looked around the Victorian room before turning to us. “Is it just the four of you in this massive house?” She asked, her voice small and quiet like she was weary of saying anything at all.

“The manor is owned by the university. They needed to do something with it, so we volunteered to live here,” I explained with a smile.

She raised her eyebrows. “We passed by like ten other bedrooms. Why wouldn’t they use it for housing?” She questioned.

I thought the same thing before we moved in.

Niko chuckled. “It’s big and has a lot of historical value. But, trust me, this place has a lot of flaws,” he started. “We have about three minutes of hot water before it gets cold as ice. The heating barely works, so it’s always cold. The walls are as thin as paper, so we can hear someone’s footsteps from across the house. None of the doors, including bathrooms and the front door, have locks,” he explained.

I nodded next to him. “The university refuses to put any money into fixing anything. We’re under a contract where we’re not authorized to do anything to fix it,” I added. We would’ve made the corrections years ago if we were authorized to do so.

She wrapped her arm around her torso, nervously looking between us. “The front door doesn’t have a lock?” She repeated. I almost wanted to chuckle at the worry in her tone. What? Did she really think anyone would get past the four of us? My friends and I were all well-equipped to handle any kind of intruder. Anyone who thought of breaking in had a death wish.

Niko nodded. “We’ve only had three break-ins, but the rats or ghosts scared them off.”

I fought back a grin as her round blue eyes widened in terror, Niko’s’ joke going over her head. She looked absolutely mortified, reaching for a box, ready to retreat back to her car.

I chuckled, watching Niko step forward and grab her arm, stopping her from lifting the box again. “I’m kidding, Odette. There are no rats or ghosts. And no one knows this place exists,” he comforted.

Her gaze fell on his hand for a second, an emotion I was desperate to understand in her eyes. Niko let go, noticing her... discomfort? She took a breath. “Oh,” she smiled at him. “You almost gave me a heart attack at twenty years old, you know,” she joked, relaxing for the first time since she arrived.

No, it wasn’t discomfort. So what was that look?

Fuck, she was only twenty? She wasn’t even old enough to drink. What the hell was the board thinking, sending her to live with four men she didn’t know. I was just glad it was us instead of some creeps. I didn’t care how much money her father had—the board put her in an extremely uncomfortable situation.

Niko was the youngest at 27, and Dominic was the oldest at 33.

Niko paused for a split second, the same thoughts probably running through his own mind. He shrugged it off. “I got you to smile, though,” he tilted his head with a charming smirk.

I softly narrowed my eyes on him. What was that look? I doubt she noticed it, but I did. Niko had been my best friend since I was fifteen; I knew his antics better than he did.

With an innocent touch and a smirk on his lips, Niko accidentally created a thick tension between the two of them. What was he thinking? Niko had always been a flirt, charming and seducing any woman he wanted. He would never try anything with a student... so my question still stood. What was he doing?

She was oblivious to his attempts to charm her, thank God. My only working theory was that he was trying to make her more comfortable.

Yes, that was what he was doing. He smiled at her and initiated physical contact so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

She was in desperate need of a smile in his defense. The poor girl had been pushed around all day long, having no say in any decisions that were made for her.

I gestured to the boxes on the bed. “Why don’t you start unpacking while we bring the boxes up,” I decided, beginning to get hungry.

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