Haru’s Love (A Stepbrothers BL Harem) - Chapter 107

I knew I was being a jerk, ignoring Mason and jilting him even though I had promised him I’d spare him some of my time. I had wanted to message him to apologize, maybe tell him I couldn’t find any suitable time to spend with him, which was a lie, of course. But the idea that I had to resort to that was just nonsensical. After all, we saw each other every day. In the end, I neither messaged nor talked to him, and if I did converse with him, it was the bare minimum and always with others around.

I continued to keep my distance and worked hard on pretending like he wasn’t there, especially when Elizabeth was around, which was ninety percent of the time during the day. It was like she was glued to him or something.

That achy, irritated feeling of jealousy never went away, to my disbelief, and I came to realize that I was deeply, stupidly in love with Mason, just as I was with Aiden and Noah.

It sickened me, this feeling of mine. I mean I already had Aiden and Noah. I loved them and they loved me, no questions asked. So why the heck was I aching for Mason, too. Wasn’t having Aiden and Noah enough for me already?

I admit I didn’t like the me right now, wanting another man when I was already in a relationship, and I hoped it was just a phase. Maybe it would pass soon.

Maybe.

I shifted my thoughts away from Mason and turned to look up at the sky. It was a beautiful spring morning, the sun warm and the sky clear, perfect for spending time at the beach and in the water.

And here we were, day four of our vacation, trying out surfing with the Princeton brothers on their private beach. Everyone, except for Jess who was spending time with Sakura, had on a wet suit and was currently in the water.

I was not ashamed to admit that I sucked at surfing, though it was fun, just laying or sitting on the surfboard. Most of the time, I’d watch Aiden and Noah going all out, riding on their surfboards and going under the waves. Damn, but they were good at it even though this was their first time. Mason, too.

I swore under my breath. I was watching him again, wasn’t I?

I hastily shifted my gaze away, to see Isaac paddling on his surfboard toward me. “You having fun?” he asked the moment he was beside me.

“Yeah,” I said. “It’s pretty cool, doing this.”

He nodded. “Right? This vacation is super awesome. But awesome things never last. It’s back home we go tomorrow, back to our normal routine.”

I nodded. Strangely enough though, I looked forward to that. My days would once again be busy with studying at the university, which meant I wouldn’t have to spend too much time seeing Mason, or thinking about him for that matter.

Isaac said, “Don’t forget, we have to model for Sakura this afternoon.”

Model for Sakura, eh? How could I forget? When it had only been this morning when he had shocked me by telling me it was going to happen this afternoon. I knew it was going to be boring as hell, standing there while Sakura sketched us.

Then again, shouldn’t painting take at least a few sessions? Did that mean we’d have to come back for Sakura to finish her work? I didn’t bother to ask for the specifics.

“Isaac?”

“Hmm?”

“Just wondering, this modeling thing for Sakura, you know how long it’s going to be and how many sessions it’s going to take?”

Isaac said, “Just this one time and I think it’ll only be around two to three hours max.”

I raised my brows. “That’s all?”

He nodded. “Sakura is only taking photos. She’ll use those as reference to paint. Otherwise, it’ll take too much of our time, right?”

I sighed. “Yeah.”

That made sense.

The surfing session ended a while later, and after having lunch with the Princeton brothers at one of the restaurants in town, Aiden drove me and Isaac up to Princeton Mansion.

Isaac and I were getting out of the car when Aiden asked, “You sure you don’t want me to stay around?”

I shook my head and said firmly, “No. Please don’t stay.”

The man chuckled. “All right.”

“See you this evening,” I said.

He nodded, and a moment later, drove out again.

Honestly, I was glad the others were going snorkeling with the Princeton brothers and not hanging around here, witnessing me and Isaac modeling for Sakura. It’d be so embarrassing, that was for sure.

The moment Beth greeted us at the door and ushered us into the house, Jess came rushing down the stairs, and in a whirlwind, took my and Isaac’s wrists and literally dragged us up. She was so fast that I almost couldn’t keep up, my legs tripping a couple of time.

“Hurry! We have to get you two dressed before it’s too late,” she said.

“Late for what?” I asked. “And can you please slow down?”

“The sun,” she replied. “Sakura said the light is perfect for the next couple of hours.” She finally stopped and then opened a door.

As Isaac and I went into a fancy bedroom, we saw Sakura busy laying out kimonos—beautiful, female kimonos—on the bed.

I widened my eyes as realization sunk in.

“Hey, Isaac,” Sakura said. “Haru. You guys ready?”

The moment he saw the colorful kimonos, Isaac bustled over in excitement and started inspecting the garments. His eyes were large and sparkling as he asked, “We’re wearing kimonos?” At Sakura nodding her head, he said, “Yeah! Awesome.”

“And these.” Jess held out a pair of blond wigs, a big, fat grin on her face.

Having gone through an unpleasant experience with female kimonos back in Japan, I shook my head and said, “I’m not wearing those.”

Sakura’s smiling face and bright eyes waned immediately at hearing me voicing my opinion, and I knew I had upset her.

She sounded dejected when she said, “If you don’t want to, I won’t push you, Haru.” Turning to Isaac, she asked, a hopeful expression on her face, “But you’ll wear the kimono, won’t you, Isaac?”

Isaac gave her a thumbs-up, along with a grin on his face. “Definitely. I love kimonos.” To me, he said, “Come on, Haru. Sakura let us stay at her dad’s cottage for free. Not to mention the free lunch and the dinner tonight.”

Jess said, her voice firm which told me she was upset, “You’re being inconsiderate, Haru. Sakura put so much effort in getting these on short notice, you know. She had to call Akira in New York to find the perfect ones, and I had to pick them up from Akira and then bring them here. Now, either you wear the kimono or you’re going to piss me off.”

Shit, I knew I had pushed Jess’ buttons.

To Jess, Sakura said, “It’s all right, Jess.” Turning to me, she continued. “Don’t push yourself, Haru. You’re not comfortable, so that’s no problem.” She picked up the pink kimono and started folding it, presumably to put it away. “I used to model a little. It was due to a misunderstanding though.” She chuckled. “Thinking back, it was pretty fun. That was when I first met Akira, too. And then my biological mother later.”

“You used to model?” Jess asked, her eyes wide.

Sakura nodded. “Yeah, doing the catwalk, too. I wasn’t good at it though. Then there was the photo shoot after in Hawaii.”

Isaac grinned. “Hawaii sounds awesome.” He tilted his head to one side. “Hmm… Right, that’s going to be the destination for our next vacation.”

Back to me, Jess said, “Haru?”

I sighed. The guilt of disappointing Sakura was eating at me. At least, I reminded myself, the others were not here to witness me wearing a kimono.

I nodded. “Okay, I’ll wear the kimono.”

Sakura’s beautiful face broke into a bright smile then. Damn, but she looked so pleased.

“Yeah!” Isaac chuckled. “That’s my bro.”

An hour later, I stared at myself in the mirror, my eyes wide in shock.

Is this me? Looking like that?

Fuck! I looked like a girl. The real deal, and I was freaking out.

The kimono fitted me too perfectly, and the blond wig only made it worse, the long silky strands falling down my back. Not to mention the hair ornament, the clip-on earrings, and the makeup on my face—the rosy blusher on my cheeks, the thick mascara on my lashes, and my ruby-red lips.

Jess wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tight from behind. “You’re so beautiful, Haru.” She gushed. “I can’t believe my eyes. You’re a princess. I can’t take my eyes off you. I swear if I’m a guy, I’ll fall for you.”

Once again, Jess’ logic eluded me. I said, “But you’re not a guy, and I’m glad about that. Besides, I’m not a girl, nor am I a princess.”

Still grinning like she had just won the lottery, she chuckled. “Ha-ha, you’re so funny.”

Behind me, Isaac was trying on the zori shoes. He looked mighty happy wearing that purple kimono, the long blond wig, and the makeup. Well, I must admit he looked like a girl, too, a very pretty one.

“All right,” Sakura said. “Let’s get to the garden.”

We headed out the door and then descended the stairs, and all the while, Isaac was grinning like an idiot and I was scowling darkly. I hoped we didn’t encounter anyone on our way to the garden.

No such luck, however, as the moment we landed on the first floor, Beth appeared, along with Brenna. The maids, too, and their jaws looked like they were about to drop to the floor.

“Oh my,” Brenna said, chuckling, her eyes twinkling. “You two are beautiful in those kimonos. And the makeup.”

“Like I said, Haru reminds me of Sakura,” Beth commented, nodding her head. “If the brothers were here and seeing these two like that, there’d be chaos I tell you.”

Brenna chuckled. “You’re right. I’m glad Sakura is cunning enough to devise a plan so they wouldn’t be here.”

Brenna’s words caught my attention. So, that snorkeling session was Sakura’s devious plan? She knew the Princeton brothers would go crazy seeing me and Isaac looking like this and she made them go snorkeling with the others. She did all that for us?

Once we were at the garden by the pond, I approached Sakura and said, “Thanks.”

She raised a brow. “What for?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “For keeping everyone away and making me feel, I don’t know, comfortable, I guess?”

“No worries,” she said, then smiled. “Now, let’s take some photos.” She held up her digital camera.

I nodded.

A moment later, I found myself standing next to Isaac under the cherry blossom trees. Meanwhile, Sakura was a distance away, holding the camera and taking shot after shot. Behind Sakura was Jess, who was watching us earnestly, a big grin plastered on her face.

“Move to the left a bit, Haru,” Sakura said.

I shuffled closer to Isaac.

“Isaac, hook your arm with Haru.”

Isaac hooked his arm with mine, all the while with a bright grin on his face.

Click. Click. Click.

“Okay, let’s change places,” Sakura said.

Jess rushed over, and after a little digging into her satchel, she brought out one of those face powder pads and dabbed my face, adding more makeup on me, which didn’t please me one bit. Damn it, she was acting like this was a real photo shoot, and I was a hot model on the market. She even fixed the ornament on my wig, too. Then she proceeded to do the same with Isaac, who eagerly offered his face for her to beautify, a serene smile on his lips. He looked blessed as hell.

Done with Isaac, Jess was about to turn away again when she paused and looked at me for a moment. Then she said, “Need a bit more.” She searched in her satchel once again and then retrieved a tube of lipstick.

“More?” I asked, flabbergasted.

She nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

It felt weird wearing lipstick, this one a ruby-red in color, and I tried not to bolt when Jess applied another layer on me, probably darkening the color even more.

“This one is the best.” She giggled and then whispered, her eyes twinkling in mischief, “It doesn’t smear when you kiss. Isn’t that great, Haru?”

I felt my cheeks burning hot at her suggestive words.

At hearing that, Isaac touched his finger to his lip and patted. Then he checked to see if there was a stain on the skin. His eyes were wide in shocked surprise—as if this indeed could change the world—when he said, “You’re right. Jess; tell me what brand it is so I can get some later.”

Jess winked. “Will do.”

“Awesome, thanks.”

Sakura approached us, a parasol in her hand. After flipping it open, she offered it to Isaac and said, “Parasol.”

“Whoa!” Isaac chuckled, his eyes bright. “Awesome.” He took the prop as he said, “I get to hold a parasol.” He lifted it up and then rested it over one side of his shoulders. “Do I look cool or what?”

I burst out laughing; I couldn’t help myself. Nope, he didn’t look cool. He looked beautiful, like a seductive chick.

We were at the bridge above the pond filled with goldfish this time, and both Isaac and I stood there posing, the garden as backdrop, which was full of colorful blossoms. Eventually, I got into the modeling thing and started enjoying myself, forgetting about my surroundings. I’d break out laughing now and again when Isaac did something silly. Jess and Sakura would join in, too, and we had a grand time, unexpectedly on my part.