Page 7 of Plaything

She raised her eyebrows. “I can bring the rest of them—”

Niko turned around, walking out the door. “It wasn’t a question,” he called.

She looked conflicted, but ultimately, she listened to me, staying in her room as Niko and I walked out to her car.

“It’s sick, the things people will do for money,” Niko scowled once we were outside.

“Think of this from her perspective. She’s being forced to live with four men three times her size that she doesn’t know,” I stressed. “She’s probably terrified.”

Dominic stepped out of the house and walked up to us. “This is a horrible idea. I won’t tolerate some college student throwing parties and bringing frat boys into my house,” he deadpanned.

Niko smirked. “Come on, Dominic...” he rolled his eyes. “Does that girl look like a crazy frat party student?” He gave him a pointed look.

I went to grab another box but raised my eyebrows when I saw the three worn teddy bears. She still had her childhood toys? They looked old and used like she’d cuddled them her whole life. I was willing to bet she still slept with them. She’s adorable.

Niko pulled out his phone. “She’s been in my class for two years, so I pulled her file,” he explained with a mischievous grin. That caught my attention, and I stood next to him. “She has nothing but straight A’s and a perfect track record,” he pointed. “I don’t think she does any partying,” he concluded.

I narrowed my eyes at her transcripts, seeing my class as one of her credits. “How did I not notice her?” I asked. She was eye-catching, to say the least. Her eyes were gorgeous, her lips full and round, taller than most people, and her hair would be impossible to miss. She probably had filthy college boys falling at her feet.

Niko grabbed a box. “She’s never asked me a single question or sent an email. Her head is always down, taking notes. If she was anything like that in your class, that’s why.”

Dominic and I also grabbed a box. “I still don’t like it,” he rasped.

We all walked up to Odette’s room with boxes in our hands. I heard her gasp when we were a few feet from her door. “It’s a rat, it’s a rat!” She whispered quietly to herself, obviously trying not to draw attention to herself. A faint fumbling sound was heard, like she tripped.

I shared a confused look with my friends before we stopped outside the door, seeing Aiden’s pet cat rubbing itself against her leg. That explained it. Niko must have her paranoid about rats now.

She was turned away from us, looking down at Cat. For some reason, none of us made ourselves known as we watched her. Selfishly, I wanted to see how she acted when she thought she was alone.

She crouched down. “Hello,” she cooed at him, gently petting his ears. “Sorry I kicked you...” she apologized.

Stepping into the room with a grin, I made sure to make a noise to get her attention. “I see you’ve met Cat.”

She quickly snapped back up, folding her hands behind her back like she was caught petting him. Jesus, she was so cute. “He snuck up on me,” she nodded, her eyes flickering to Dominic every few seconds before looking away from him again.

Dominic was a big guy with a permanent scowl. Those who didn’t know him—which was most people—thought he was scary. He had thick walls around him and wasn’t kind unless he genuinely cared about someone. I couldn’t blame her for being nervous.

Aiden wasn’t much different. He wasn’t brooding or intense in the way that Dominic could be. Instead, he didn’t have a filter whatsoever. If he thinks it, he usually says it. His thoughts weren’t always pleasant. I’d never met another person who could read another quite like Aiden. If you let him look into your eyes, he can see every thought you’ve ever had. Or, so the students like to rumor. He was just incredibly good at his job. Two master’s degrees in psychology help, too.

Niko set the box down and walked over to pick Cat up. “He does that,” he agreed. “Cat loves people and attention, so you’ll probably be his new best friend for the next couple of weeks,” he informed her.

She raised her eyebrows. “You named your cat Cat?”

Dominic was walking around the large room, looking at everything. I didn’t recall him ever being in this room before. He gently shook the bed frame and checked the window, the bathroom, and the door. Please tell me he wasn’t checking the structural integrity of the room. I could see it on his face; he didn’t like how dated everything was in here.

He claims he didn’t like her, yet he was making sure the bed frame wouldn’t crush her in her sleep. I tried not to smirk as I watched him stick his head out the window like she would somehow fall out of it. Caught, I thought. He didn’t dislike her as much as he wanted everyone to believe.

Niko shrugged, holding Cat in his arms. “Aiden did. He was a stray, so we always called him ‘the cat’ when he came around. One day, Aiden brought him inside, and that was that,” he explained. Niko watched her with calculating eyes. “Did you have pets growing up?” He asked, obviously wanting to pry. We knew nothing about her or her life; I think we were all curious about her.

She pressed her lips together. “Yeah.” It was quiet for a second as she reached out and gently petted Cat, still in Niko’s arms. She looked beside herself like she didn’t want to finish her sentence. She glanced at the three of us, seeing us patiently waiting for her to continue. “When I was eight, I got a puppy. He was only a few months old, so he liked to play a lot,” she added. “One day, when I had him all riled up, Charles came in and tried to pet him,” she shrugged. Did she call her dad by his first name? She took a breath, rolling her eyes. “He got a tiny scrape on his hand,” she looked at the three of us, not wanting to finish her story.

My heart sank, knowing where this was going. “You were eight?” I asked.

She nodded, pulling her hand away from Cat. “He said because it was my puppy, I was the one who had to do it,” she whispered.

I pushed my eyebrows together, feeling upset to my stomach. What kind of man or father would make a child do such a horrible thing? “That’s cruel.”

“Charles sounds like an asshole,” Dominic deadpanned.

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