Haru’s Love (A Stepbrothers BL Harem) - Chapter 103

The enthusiasm and excitement were very apparent when the ferry docked and the brothers and their friends landed on St. Joseph Island.

“Finally, we’re here! This vacation is going to be so awesome!” Isaac said, spreading his arms out in the air, a big smile on his face.

Connor wrapped his arm around the boy’s shoulders and said, “Aren’t you eager.”

Isaac turned to stare at Connor and said, “Hands off, Connor. You’re ruining my style.”

The man chuckled in amusement, his eyes twinkling. “What? You care about how you look? You here to hook up with girls or something?”

Isaac moved out of Connor’s arm as he said, “That’s none of your business.”

Meanwhile, Mason—with Aki in his arms—was searching the place for signs of Aiden, Noah, and Haru. He found them in an instant, with Haru waving as he called out from the distant, “Hey, over here.”

Jess was the first to get to the boy, and the moment she did, she started bombarding him with questions about what had happened between him and Noah, which made Haru’s face turned red from embarrassment.

“Later,” he said. “I’ll tell you later. Now is a bit…” He eyed the crowd, noting one more than the usual people. He nudged at her and whispered, “Who’s that?”

Jess noted who Haru was asking about and said, “Elizabeth. She’s Mason’s friend.” She turned to look at him. “You’ve never met her before?” At Haru shaking his head, she commented, “Strange.”

Then Mason came up to Haru and said, “He misses you.” He was nodding at Aki in his arms. But of course, the way the man looked at the boy implied it wasn’t just Aki who missed him.

The moment Haru saw Aki, the boy broke into a bright smile. “Hey.” He chuckled, stroking the pup’s head.

Aki barked excitedly at seeing his master and then stuck his tongue out, his tail wagging vigorously.

“Come here,” Haru said, taking Aki from Mason.

Behind them, Reo said, “Right, let’s get to that cottage. I’m eager to drop off our luggage and go wandering around the island.”

Lucas nodded. “Yep, me, too.”

“Me, three,” Carter said.

They divided themselves into groups and got into Aiden’s, Noah’s, Connor’s, and Lucas’ cars and arrived at the cottage not long after.

“Whoa!” Isaac burst out chuckling as he eyed the two-story building. The cottage was set against a backdrop of a mature garden and native bushes. “This place is awesome.”

Sakura, who came to give them the key and show them around the place, said, “Hi.”

There was a chorus of response in greeting, and Elizabeth asked Mason, “Who’s she?”

Mason said, “Sakura, Sebastian and Darcy’s girlfriend.”

Elizabeth widened her eyes. “Wow! She’s gorgeous.”

Jess rushed over to Sakura and the two girls hugged. “Sakura!” Jess said. “Thank you so much for letting us stay here.” Then she whispered, “And I can’t wait until Monday.” She giggled.

Eyes twinkling, Sakura put her finger to her lips to tell Jess to keep their plan a secret. Jess nodded.

Mason saw the two girls acting suspicious and knew something was up, and he had an inkling it had something to do with Haru. He flicked his gaze to the boy and noted that Haru looked tired.

Lack of sleep? He had no doubt it was because of Aiden and Noah who had kept the boy up all night.

“Come on in. I’ll show everyone around,” Sakura said, and the troop followed her into the house.

Inside, the cottage was immaculate with the interior oozing character and charm. It contained five bedrooms, two on the first floor and three on the second. Two of the three on the second floor had en suites. There was a formal lounge and an open-plan living area at the back of the house which had a sliding door that led to the deck outside, and that then led to the mature garden full of roses, cherry blossom and magnolia trees, and other assortment of bushes and flowers. Not to mention vegetable patches that Sakura told them they could make use of during their stay.

Once Sakura had left, the younger ones excitedly did another inspection of all the bedrooms before deciding amongst themselves which one they should pick. In the end, Isaac and his friends choose the master bedroom, since it was the biggest and had an en suite. The second bigger ones went to the girls, Elizabeth and Jess, since that one had an en suite, too, so they didn’t have to share bathrooms with the boys. Mason and his friends choose the room on the first floor, and so did Reo, Noah, and Connor. The last bedroom on the second floor went to Aiden and Haru.

As Mason walked into his shared room with Carter and Lucas, Carter said, “Right, who’s taking the bed and who’s sleeping on the floor?”

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Mason said. “Besides, we’ve brought the Japanese futons, so it shouldn’t matter.”

“Then I’ll take the bed,” Carter said.

Mason left his backpack on the floor, leaning it against the wall, and then said, “I’m going to get the futons and sleeping bags from the car.”

The two friends nodded.

He was just walking through the hallway when his cell phone rang. Wondering who it was, he retrieved it from his back jeans pocket and checked the name on the display screen. But of course, it was an anonymous call though he had an inkling who it was.

He headed out of the cottage and paced toward a secluded area at the back of the garden. Then and only then did he answer the call. “Hello, this is Mason speaking,” he said.

“Mason, it’s Christine Green,” a female voice came through from the other side of the line. “Is this a good time to talk?”

Mason nodded. “Yes.”

Christine said, “I’m sorry our meeting yesterday was so short.”

Mason chuckled. “That can’t be helped. I just kind of walked in. Luckily, you had a few minutes to spare.”

“No worries,” the woman said. “Look, the documents you’re requesting, it’s all done. Do you want to come in and pick them up or do you want them sent somewhere?”

That was fast, Mason thought.

“Then can you send them to the apartment? I’ll message you the address.”

“Sounds good. We’ll do that.”

“Thanks,” Mason said, and a moment later, he ended the call. After sending the woman their apartment address, he headed over to the car parked at the front of the cottage. He was just approaching the vehicle when he saw Reo taking out the futons they had packed.

“I’ll help,” he said.

“Thanks,” Reo replied.

Each with their arms wrapped around futons and sleeping bags, they made their way back into the house. Reo asked, “Who were you talking to before?”

Mason raised his brow in surprise. He didn’t know Reo had seen him on his cell. He said, “Christine Green.”

Reo looked thoughtful for a moment. “Christine Green? Christine Green… Why do I have the feeling I’ve heard of that name before?”

Mason said, “She was the lawyer who took care of our parents’ wills.”

Reo widened his eyes. “Oh. Yeah, right.” He turned his eyes to the brother. “Why are you contacting her?”

Mason said, “I’m just doing some research, that’s all.”

“I see,” Reo said.

Mason didn’t miss the troubled expression on Reo’s face, and he was a bit worried. Was he doing the right thing? he wondered.

They were just entering the house when Isaac came rushing over. “Is the futon and sleeping bag for me?”

Reo shook his head as he chuckled. Typical of Isaac, eh? He dumped the thing against Isaac’s chest as he said, “They’re yours then. I’ll get another set.” He turned on his heel and headed out the door again.

With the load in his arms, Isaac grinned brightly. “It’s going to be so much fun,” he said. “Hurry, Mason, we’re going to have a meeting and discuss what we’re going to do in a few minutes.” Then he rushed off along the hallway and up the stairs.

Mason went into his shared room, noting both Carter and Lucas had disappeared. They were probably exploring the house or something. He left the sleeping set near his backpack and then headed out the door again, intending to find Haru and see what the boy was up to. He was at the base of the stairs when he saw the boy coming down, Aiden beside him. Naturally, the two were holding hands, their fingers interlaced. The sight, not surprisingly, caused Mason to feel more than a little jealous. He’d be holding Haru’s hand that way, too, when they were finally in a relationship.

“Mason,” Aiden said. “Done with putting your stuff away?”

Mason nodded. “Mm-hmm. Isaac said we’re having a discussion or something? I thought we’d just do whatever we want.”

Aiden chuckled. “Yeah, he went around telling everyone that.”

Haru smiled, then said, “He obviously wants to be the organizer but doesn’t have the guts to step up.”

In the living room, Haru and Aiden went to sit on the sofa while Mason chose the armchair to the left. Soon, everybody turned up, and Noah took a spot on the other side of Haru. Once everyone was settled, Isaac put up his hand and said, “Let us discuss what we want to do for this vacation. There’re heaps of choices so we’ll do a vote by the majority.” He didn’t wait for anyone to agree or disagree with him and continued. “We have a list.” He took a piece of paper out from his back jeans pocket, cleared his throat, and then proceeded to read it. “Here are the list of things we’d like to do. Explore the town. Walk the St. Joseph Island Devil Track. Chill at the beach. Surf and snorkel since I want to give those two a try. I read online that surfing and snorkeling are big here, and they have a shop where you can rent wet suits and surfboards and stuff.”

Haru said, “I saw Darcy surfing the other day. He’s a pro for sure. The Princetons have their private beach, apparently.”

That information made Isaac’s eyes widen in pleasant surprise, followed by a mischievous grin on his face. “Really?”

Noah burst out laughing. “You’re thinking of asking them to use their beach, aren’t you?”

Isaac turned to Noah and grinned. “Why not? I’ll ask them tomorrow. I’m sure they won’t say no. I mean they’re really nice people, after all.” He chuckled.

Elizabeth suggested, “Maybe for today we should just explore the town? We have the other three days to do the rest.”

Jess put up her hand. “I concur.”

Ryan said, “Mason said tomorrow we’re having that lunch with the Princetons, right? So, that kind of takes half the day out from doing stuff.”

Isaac said, “If you don’t want to go, that’s fine, but I’m definitely going. I mean they live in a castle and it’s a free lunch. I’m not going to miss that.”

Matt said, “I agree. It’s like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have lunch with the Princetons, especially at their estate.”

Ryan said, “Just saying, but yeah, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so of course I’m going.”

Reo chuckled. “Here I thought only Isaac was pumped for that lunch.”

Isaac said, “We all agree the Princetons are like Gods.”

Matt, Ryan, and Jason nodded furiously.

About half an hour later, they were in the town of South Hampton again, exploring this time, per Elizabeth’s suggestion.

Mason worked on getting an opportunity to have Haru to himself but found it was impossible, especially with Jess sticking to the boy like glue, not to mention Isaac. He guessed they were of similar age, so they’d usually stick together during a trip like this.

“You don’t seem to be enjoying yourself,” Lucas said, which drew Mason’s attention.

Mason shrugged. “Just a little tired,” he said evasively.

“So you really did finish that last assignment that’s not supposed to be due until a few weeks after we return?”

Mason chuckled. “Yeah.”

Lucas shook his head. “Typical of you.”

Elizabeth came to hook her arm with Mason then and said, “What are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing,” Mason said.

Elizabeth said, “Men, always keeping their tete-a-tete amongst themselves.” She straightened, and with a grin on her face, changed the subject. “Come with me, Mason. I want to buy some souvenirs.” She pulled him with her toward a gift shop across the road.

Mason reluctantly allowed her to drag him along, looking around without much interest while Elizabeth went about excitedly inspecting the beautiful unique products on display. Lucas and Carter followed behind them as did Jess, who soon joined Elizabeth at ogling at the jewelry.

“These are beautiful, right?” Elizabeth said.

Jess nodded. “I think they’re made by artisans living on the island.”

Since Jess was inside the store, Mason wondered where Haru was and scanned around the place, searching for the boy. He found him outside across the road, sitting on a bench under a cherry blossom tree. Aki was on his lap.

An opportunity presented itself, and Mason grabbed it with both his hands as he quickly headed out the door. His smile was bright as he came to sit beside the boy and then spread one arm out, resting it over the back of the seat, his torso facing toward Haru. He reached his other hand out and stroked Aki’s head as he said, “It’s really beautiful here.” He looked up. “Especially the cherry blossom.”

“Yeah,” Haru said. “That drive through the Princeton estate was nice, too. All those cherry blossom trees. I wonder how long it took for the gardener to plant all of them. There was a lot, like all lined up along that road.”

Mason nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

Haru licked his lip, which drew Mason’s attention there, and the man felt a hot surge of temptation rush through him as he eyed the glistening flesh. Fuck, but the boy was both adorable and sexy at the same time when he did that, and now Mason knew why neither Aiden nor Noah could keep their hands off the boy.

“So, just wondering,” Haru said, his hands busy rubbing Aki’s belly. “Is that girl your new friend?”

Mason raised a brow. “You mean Elizabeth?”

Haru nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

“No, we’ve known each other for a while now. Since our freshman year at the university,” Mason said.

The boy looked at him with raised brows. “But you never introduced her to the family?”

Mason shrugged. “We aren’t close.”

“Really?” Haru asked. “But, like from afar, you guys seem really close. Like hooking arms and stuff.”

Mason tilted his head to one side, and suddenly, a smile broke out across his lips.

Holy fuck, is Haru jealous?

Haru saw the man smirking and blushed hot in embarrassment. He stammered, “I’m just curious, okay?”

Chuckling, Mason said, “All right, you’re just curious.”

Then Aiden, Noah, Connor, and Reo appeared, heading out from a bookstore. Aiden sat on the other side of Haru and then took Aki from the boy.

Aki excitedly licked the man’s hand, his tail wagging.

Reo said, “What should we do about dinner?”

A voice from the distance said, “Eat out!” It was Isaac, and he and his friends had just returned from exploring the main street of South Hampton.

Jason said, “Yeah, let’s eat out.”

Matt said, “Somewhere not too expensive please. I’m on a budget.”

Ryan said, “Chinese. I saw a few Chinese restaurants along the main street.”

Elizabeth and Jess finally emerged from the gift shop, and the two girls were each carrying a small shopping bag.