Harem House - Selene Pt. 12

"You're acting like a child in front of your friends." Debrah said sharply.

"Give her the in-law suite downstairs." His dad piped up, causing them both to look at him. "Then you'll never even have to see the poor girl."

"I know you know what no means. As I recall, you used the word a lot when I was growing up." Arthur mused.

"We never said no to you." Arthur's mom countered.

Arthur scoffed and looked at his dad, who had to admit he'd said no to most things Arthur requested growing up since he believed firm limits could produce a better, hard-working young man. The last thing he wanted was for Arthur to turn out like a spoiled child or a man who acted like everything came to him without working.

"Well, if Lynn can't live here, then maybe it shouldn't be a coed house." His father tried to strike where it might hurt, but Arthur was unphased.

"I was hoping to convince Arthur to make it an all-girls house." Selene piped up, and everyone looked at her in surprise to see her face was one of surprise. "It would be safer." She said. "Arthur's safe, and it'd be good to have one guy here for... safeness. And fixing things." She finished a little awkwardly. "But otherwise, it should probably be all girls."

Arthur turned the attention away from Selene by addressing his father. "If you don't want the house to be coed, that's fine, but that's another reason for me not to take the job. I thought you said you wanted me to live here with my friends? Well, most of my friends are girls." College had just worked out that way. First because he was taken with Lori, and therefore the "safe" guy friend. And second because he was still the "safe" guy friend even after Lori left.

"Well, who knows what a coed house might try to get up to!" His father retorted, seeming to get worked up until Arthur's mother put her hand on his chest and stood next to him.

"You're all adults. We trust you." His mom assured them. "And if Arthur's the only guy, maybe he should take the in-law suite and leave the girls in the house?" She suggested.

Arthur looked doubtful. Selene put her hand on his arm subconsciously to reassure him, seeing how upset he looked at the prospect of Lynn living here. Of having to see her. Kat hesitated but eventually did the same.

"Why don't you meet with Lynn beforehand. Talk to her. She wants to apologize." Arthur's mom suggested.

"No." Arthur shook his head. "Look. I appreciate the offer, and living rent-free would be great, but I would pay double my current rent if it meant I never had to see Lynn again."

"Don't forget you'd be getting paid. You'd be getting a cut of the rents and not have to pay the rent yourself in exchange for your work around the property." His dad reminded him. "That's a hell of a deal."

"Does that deal let me pick the tenants like you said? Or does that deal come with Lynn attached?" Arthur asked.

"You can help pick the other tenants." His mom assured him.

"So it comes with Lynn attached?" Arthur asked.

"We promised her parents." His dad said resignedly. "We work with them. We can't go back on it now. She's transferring to that school of yours next semester, and her parents want her out of the house. She needs to gain some independence."

Arthur scoffed, but his lips grew into a thin hard line when he thought about Lynn on his campus after the holidays. It meant that no matter what he chose, he would eventually cross paths with Lynn again. He'd thought he was free of her. Yet, here she was, darkening his mood again. He shouldn't have been able to care about anything after all the sex he'd been having.

"Please?" His mom asked. "For me?"

Arthur looked at her. Then sighed and looked at the contract. On the one hand, he hated Lynn and did not want to have to see her ever again. On the other hand, the basement had its own entrance on the side of the house. If she lived in the in-law suite, there really was a good chance he'd never have to see her. He'd never have to see her if he lived in the in-law suite. Until he saw her on campus anyway.

Could he transfer schools? Could he make her transfer schools? Hell, if she lived in his parent's house, he could even give her some grief. Maybe he'd take up tap dancing and practice whenever she was trying to sleep. Keeping Selene from killing her in her sleep might be a genuine concern, though.

Arthur looked at Selene, who looked back at him and didn't know what to say or do. She wanted to tell him it would be okay. She and Kat would fix that bitch and make her move out pronto. She wanted to tell him she supported him no matter his choice, even if she'd fallen in love with the house after a tour.

"Well?" His dad asked.

"I'll need more money than that." Arthur said after a moment. "Twenty percent more."

"Ten." His dad countered.

"Twenty." Arthur held firm and looked up at his parents. "Otherwise, I'm losing money, and I'll have to dip into my savings to live. I still have to buy groceries and pay my cut of utilities, and this cuts down my monthly budget, not including rent. And it doesn't come with health insurance or PTO, etcetera. I can show you the numbers if you want."

"Let's see them." His dad crossed his arms as if calling a bluff.

It wasn't a bluff or a business tactic to Arthur's credit. He pulled out his phone, opened his google drive, and pulled up the spreadsheet that was his monthly budget. All the numbers were there and subtotaled at the bottom. He was absolutely right. Between streaming services, utilities, groceries, other labeled expenditures, school fees, gasoline, and upkeep on his car, the money wasn't there in what they were proposing.

"Hm." Arthur's dad grunted. "Fifteen percent more would make it even."

"Let's call the other five percent a Lynn tax." Arthur scoffed. "Even then." He clenched his fist unconsciously, which flexed the muscles in his arm. "I'm not sure I'll be able to put up with her."

His mom sighed. "Will you at least let the girl apologize? Meet with her?"

Arthur sighed and glanced at Selene, who squeezed his arm, which she was still holding. When he passed his dad his phone, Kat had let go of his other arm.

"Twenty percent more then." His dad finally gave in. "We're agreed?"

"I want it in Lynn's lease that she has access to the in-law suite downstairs, not the rest of the house." Arthur added grimly.

"I thought-" His mother started.

"Done." His father said quickly, cutting his mother off in her appeal before she started.

Arthur hesitated as if trying to think of another reason to say no, or another stipulation to lay on Lynn. His mom coughed quietly.

"Then we're agreed." Arthur nodded and offered his dad his hand for a shake. His father shook it and nodded.

"Good man." His dad said with a nod as he clapped Arthur on the free arm.

"Thank you." His mom said with a sigh of relief. "I'll let Lynn's parents know."

"She probably won't want to be up here much anyway. Especially if they're all your friends." Arthur's dad laughed, imagining Lynn probably wouldn't be comfortable sharing the common areas of a rented house with people she didn't know. "You gonna get your theater friends to rent the rest of the rooms?"

Arthur seemed to think about it for a moment. "Maybe." He smiled slightly. "I can think of a few people who'd want to share a house with me. I don't know if it's enough to fill the three remaining bedrooms, though."

"Three?" His father asked.

Arthur gestured to Selene and Kat. "Do you two want one of the rooms?" He asked, looking at Kat and Selene in turn.

"Does it come furnished?" Kat asked.

"Of course!" Arthur's father bellowed. "I'm not moving all this shit."

Selene laughed.

"So you want the room?" His father asked.

"Yes, Sir." Kat said with a surprisingly straight face and tone.

"Can't wait." Selene chimed in.

"Well, they're big enough for two each, but they don't need to run at capacity. However, the more people, the more the utilities get split, and the bigger your payday since you get a percentage of the rent. So, you should get at least five people besides yourself. If you want the numbers to match your budget. More if you want more money." His dad instructed.

"I'll ask around." Arthur said with a smile.

"Good." Arthur's father passed him a pen. "Now sign it, and let's be done."

Arthur sighed and shook his head. "I'm going to read over this in detail first. I'll email it back to you when I'm done."

His father sighed but agreed. "Fine." He shook his head. "Come on, Debrah, or we're gonna be late to the club."

Debrah smiled. "Lock up on your way out?" She asked Arthur.

"We were on our way out ourselves, actually. I have to get back, and these two have a study session to get to." Arthur said with a smile.

"Ooo, a study session." His mom teased. "Have fun, you crazy kids."

"There's actual studying." Selene assured her. "It's not like we're inviting Arthur over to study or anything." She said so quickly she barely understood herself.

Debrah laughed and patted Selene on the shoulder. "Oh, you're adorable. I never thought you meant anything else. Honest." She winked at Arthur, and then she and George headed out. "But the three of us should talk soon, brunch?"

"Oh, uh...." Selene looked like she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"We'd love to." Kat assured his mom. "We want to learn as much as we can about Arty here." She nodded toward Arthur, who frowned for some reason she hoped he would explain later.

Debrah nodded and followed her husband out of the kitchen and into the garage. Arthur, Kat, and a blushing Selene followed them out and headed to their car parked in the drive.

This time, Kat let Selene take the front seat, and she took the back bench for herself. The drive back was quiet until Selene started the conversation.

"I'm sorry, Master." Selene said. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at her. "You didn't embarrass me."

"I feel like I did. I was just... nervous. For some reason." Selene admitted.

"Because you were meeting your boyfriend's parents." Kat suggested. "It's normal."

"Except Arthur's not my boyfriend." Selene corrected her.

Kat sighed. "Fine. Because you were meeting your Master's parents. I'm sure it's perfectly normal to be even more nervous in that case."

Arthur chuckled softly. "They liked you." He assured her. "And I like you." He reminded Selene. "You were a very good girl."

"But-" Selene started.

"Ah-" Kat interrupted. "Say thank you, Master, and accept his praise like a good slave."

Selene was quiet for a moment. "Thank you, Master."

Arthur looked at Kat with a look of gratitude. She nodded to him silently, and silence reigned once more.

"Why did you frown at me when I accepted brunch with your mom?" Kat asked Arthur from the backseat.

"Oh-" Arthur started. "Sorry. It wasn't about the brunch thing. I just really don't like being called Arty. I let my mom get away with it because she refuses to call me anything else, but I would really appreciate it if you never called me that again."

"Oh. Okay." Kat shrugged. "I'm sorry, I mean: yes, Sir."

Arthur laughed. "You know, you don't have to call me Sir when we're not playing."

Kat laughed and shook her head. "Sorry, I'm just so used to automatically correcting myself already, and I've only worn the collar like twice."

Arthur laughed with her, and the ride went silent again for a while.

"But we're gonna fuck up that Lynn bitch, right?" Selene punctured the silence so suddenly that it nearly startled Arthur, who'd been paying attention to the road.

"What?" Arthur asked.

"Oh yeah." Kat nodded. "We're gonna fuck with her until she moves out. Easy peasy."

Arthur felt that the responsible adult thing to do was to tell them not to do that. This was, naturally, the case. Yet, he found that unilateral unwavering support was the only thought he could have toward that idea.

"And if she says one mean thing to or about you, I will slap her in fucking face." Selene huffed. "I am tiny but fierce!"

"And you can kick like a horse." Kat said with all the wisdom of experience from someone kicked more than once in childish violence.

"Yeah." Selene agreed. "And if we get Kelly to rent with us, she'd fuckin' destroy any bitch."

"Kelly?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah. She's built like an MMA fighter. Hourglass figure, sure, and great body, but she's got muscles. Like a lot of them." Selene explained.

"I know." Arthur laughed. "I'm the one who's seen her naked."

"I have too!" Selene laughed. "If you count locker room showers."

Arthur nodded his assent to the validity of her argument.

"So there's me, Kat, Kelly, Mindy, and a few other potential prospects." Selene explained.

"I don't know if we can count Kelly in or not." Arthur shrugged.

"You wouldn't want to rent one of those rooms to Kelly?" Kat asked.

"I mean, I would, but I don't know if she'd want to or if she can break her lease or any of those details." Arthur admitted. "I haven't thought about who else to suggest for housemates."

Kat laughed. "Just leave it to Selene. She's got a list. She wants to turn that house into a stable full of women for you to fuck."

Arthur looked at Kat by way of the rearview mirror, and she was smiling back at him. "Well, there's an idea."