Haru’s Love (A Stepbrothers BL Harem) - Chapter 73

Twenty minutes later, we arrived back at the apartment, and the moment Aiden and I stepped through the front door, Noah asked, “What took you so long? I was worried sick.” He was talking to me, of course.

“Something happened,” I said. “Didn’t Aiden tell you?”

Noah said, “He did, but I’m still worried.”

Aki rushed off into the living room, and we followed him in. Aiden said, “Your boss and his family are coming to our housewarming party.”

“What? How? When?” Noah asked, looking flabbergasted.

Aiden chuckled. “Haru found their dog Toby along the street, injured.”

“I returned Toby to them, and then Aiden came to pick me up,” I said.

Noah raked his fingers through his hair. “Really? They’re coming? Fuck!”

“Yeah,” Aiden said. Then he frowned. “You don’t look happy about that.”

“No, it’s not that… Is it just Nicolas or…?”

Aiden said, “Everyone in the family I’m guessing.”

“Everyone? As in the other brothers as well?” Noah asked. “Seriously, I’m cool if it’s just Nicolas, Sebastian, and Darcy, since they’re awesome but…”

Aiden asked, “You’ve met the others before?”

Noah flicked his gaze to me. Why was he looking at me like that? He grabbed Aiden by the arm and took him to one side. Then he started talking quietly to Aiden, which annoyed me. I bet he was telling Aiden something about me; I just knew it.

“Hey, Noah, what the heck are you telling Aiden?”

Aiden turned to look at me then and said, “Don’t worry. I’ve already branded what belongs to me in front of them. There will be no problem.”

Noah still looked unsatisfied. “Yeah, well, I know we’ll still have a problem. Those two are a pair of persistent lions.” To me, he said, “You just have to go out and bring trouble home, don’t you?” He came to stand right in front of me and had a firm hand on my chin as he leaned in close. His breath warm on my face, he continued, “The next time you take Aki out for a walk, I’ll be coming along.”

Was he pissed that I had encountered the Princetons and they were now coming to our party?

Reo said, “So we’re having more guests? Cool. We have enough food and booze to feed a village anyway, so that’s no problem.”

Noah took a good sniff at me and then said, “You stink. Go and shower before other people arrive.”

Why was he acting all demanding? But I guess he was right. I had sweated quite a bit when I had been walking and then carrying Toby to the vet.

“You don’t need to tell me,” I said.

“Noah, it doesn’t look like you’re doing a good job at what we’ve discussed,” Aiden said from behind.

Noah said, “I’ll start again tomorrow. Today doesn’t count. Besides, it’s partly your fault.” He turned to accuse Aiden. “You inviting the Princetons over.”

Aiden chuckled. “So it’s my fault, eh?” To me, he said, “Why don’t you head upstairs and shower, Haru?”

I nodded, and then I rushed up the stairs. When I returned about twenty minutes later, feeling clean, smelling fresh, and wearing a new pair of jeans and a sweater, I realized the noises coming from the living room were louder than before. I suspected the Princeton brothers were here.

I was right, and they were already helping themselves to the food and drinks. Not only were the Princeton brothers and Sakura here, along with Toby, but there was another beautiful woman, too, and she was speaking Japanese with Reo while Reo’s friends Evan and David were busy chatting with Sebastian.

On the other side where the sofa was located were Isaac, Matt, Jason, Ryan, and Jess. They were playing a video game with Hayden and Conrad. Mason and his friends, Lucas and Carter, were chatting with Tristan and Logan, and Noah and Connor were busy with Darcy while Aiden was with Nicolas. It looked like everyone was getting along, and so quickly, too.

The doorbell rang, and I knew it must be Peter and Tina. I turned on my heel and went to open the door.

“Haru.” Tina had her arms wide open the instant she saw me. Then she grabbed me into her arms. “I’ve missed you. How are you doing, kiddo?”

I chuckled. “I’m good.” Managing to somehow move out of her arms, I said, “Come in. Everyone is already here.”

Peter said, “Sounds like more than the usual.”

“Yeah, we happened to invite Noah’s boss and his family, too.”

Tina and Peter looked at each other as if in shock, and Tina said, “You don’t mean?”

“That the Princetons are here?” Peter finished off.

I chuckled, scratching my head, wondering why they looked so stunned. “Yeah.”

“Holy shit,” Tina said, hastily making her entry. “The Princetons are here, in this very apartment. Holy shit!” Then she was gone, into the living room. Peter wasn’t far behind her.

I shut the door and then followed them. In the open-plan living area, both Tina and Peter were already joining Aiden, and he was currently introducing them to Nicolas.

Since everyone looked like they were having fun and chatting while they ate and drank, I got myself a plate and then began gathering the various assortment of food that was sitting on the dining table. Tristan must have spotted me because he got up from his seat and came over to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

I was popping a chicken nugget into my mouth when he moved in close and sniffed at my head. “You smell nice. Did you just shower? What brand of shampoo did you use?”

I didn’t think he was even speaking that loud. In fact, his voice was drowned out by the humming noise of chatter in the room, but his words still drew Aiden’s attention to us. Actually, not just Aiden, but Noah and Mason, too. They were looking at me, and Noah said, “Haru, come here.”

Tristan chuckled. “Sorry, but no can do, Noah. I got Haru first.” He tightened his arm around me. “You guys live together so you have a shitload of time to spend with each other.” He made me sit next to him. “Right now, Haru’s with me.”

I said, “No funny business, Tristan.”

He laughed. “Nope, no funny business. Aiden will kill me if I do anything suspicious anyway.”

Logan joined us and took a seat on the other side of me. Then the two began asking me every question under the sun. It was only when Reo came to retrieve me that I managed to escape the two brothers. They were a handful, I must admit.

“Akira,” Reo said. “My brother Haru.” He ruffled my hair.

“Hello there,” the woman said. “Nice to meet you. Wow! You’re a beautiful thing, aren’t you?”

Sakura said, “He is, isn’t he? I would love to paint him.”

“You paint?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

Close by, Conrad said, “All the paintings and photographs at the penthouse are hers.” He gave a thumbs-up. “She’s great, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Isaac said, “I paint too. Digitally, that is. My hobby is designing characters.”

“Really?” Hayden asked.

“Yep,” Isaac said. “Hey, you wanna see my stuff?”

Hayden chuckled. “Yeah, sure.”

Isaac got up and raced out the door.

Chuckling, Connor asked, “Where is that rascal going?”

“To get his artwork,” I said.

To me, Sakura said, “Would you like to be my model, Haru?”

I pointed to myself. “Me?”

She nodded. “I’d really like to paint you.” When I hesitated, she said, “I’ll pay you. I won’t be wasting your time.”

Connor laughed. “Sounds great, Haru. You can get yourself a side income, not that you need any now.” Turning to Sakura, he said, “Haru is the cutest when he wears a kimono.”

Reo laughed. “And the red lipstick.”

I said, “Oy! When did I ever wear anything like that?”

Isaac had already returned, a tablet in his hand. He was fast. I bet he sprinted up the stairs, eager to be back. He plopped himself on the sofa again and then said, “When we were in Japan three months ago. You forgot already?”

I didn’t forget. I didn’t want to remember it. Big difference.

“I still have photos of you wearing that kimono in my phone,” he said.

Both Sakura and Akira looked excited while Jess nodded her head. She said, “Isaac showed them to me. Believe me, this uke is the real deal.”

Uke? Did Jess just say uke to Akira and Sakura? Suddenly I realized why they got along so well. Jess had found herself more BL fans.

Akira said, “Show us the photos, Isaac.”

Hayden said, “He’s showing us his artwork first, Akira. Don’t cut in the line.”

Isaac passed his tablet to Hayden. “My art.” Then he took out his smartphone and did some clicking.

I just knew this was about to get out of hand and said, “You don’t have to show people those photos of me, idiot.”

Isaac ignored me and then passed the phone to Akira who widened her eyes. “Oh! Wow!”

Sakura chuckled. “Now I want to paint you even more.”

“This is really good work, Isaac,” Hayden said. “They look like game characters.”

Isaac nodded. “Yep. My dream job is to create and design characters for a gaming company.”

Hayden chuckled. “Is it, now?”

“What is all the fuss around here?” Logan asked, joining our group.

Akira showed him the screen on the phone. “Holy shit! Who the heck is that beautiful girl?”