Haru’s Love (A Stepbrothers BL Harem) - Chapter 79

I didn’t leave Aiden’s room that Sunday, and I didn’t join the others for breakfast, lunch, or dinner either. Aiden brought the meals for me to have in his bedroom, which was nice. I didn’t want the others to see how horrible I looked, although Jess did pop in to see how I was getting on before she left. Apparently, Aiden told everyone I had gotten myself quite sick. But I guessed Jess suspected something was up when she saw my red and swollen eyes. Since it was just the two of us in Aiden’s room, she said, “You want to tell me what’s going on?”

I shook my head.

She was quiet for a moment. “Okay, but I’m all ears when you’re ready.” She sighed. “Noah left, by the way. He took his luggage with him, and Aiden told the others he’ll be staying at Connor’s.”

That got my interest, and I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. Did Noah leave because of what had happened? I wondered if he voluntarily left or if Aiden had kicked him out. Either way, I didn’t care. Served him right for being mean and going overboard. He could rot on the street for all I care.

“Anyway,” Jess said. “I better get going. I have some stuff to do.”

“Okay,” I said. “See you later then.”

She chuckled. “Yeah.” And then she was gone.

For the next two weeks, I refused to think about bastard Noah and concentrated instead on my studies. At night, I’d join Aiden in his bed and felt warm and safe in his arms when he cuddled me. But I guessed everyone wasn’t used to not having Noah around and the subject of him would come up eventually, which it did that Saturday morning during lunch.

“When’s Noah coming back?” Isaac asked. “It’s been like two weeks. Or is he planning to stay with Connor forever?”

Aiden said, “I don’t know. If you’re so curious, why don’t you phone and ask him yourself?”

Isaac said, “I did, but he wouldn’t pick up.”

Mason said, “I did, too. He didn’t pick up my calls either.”

Reo suggested, “Then why don’t you just turn at Connor’s place and surprise him?”

Isaac nodded his head furiously. “Sounds like a great idea.” He turned to me. “Want to come along, Haru? It’ll be fun. I bet he misses you. Oh, and we can bring Aki, too.”

I felt my stomach knotting sickly, especially at the mere fact that Isaac was inviting me to go see Noah. No way I’d want to see that bastard.

Aiden said, “Go by yourself if you’re so eager, Isaac.”

Isaac made a face. “Fine. I’ll go by myself.”

“Just wondering,” Mason said, looking at Aiden. “Did something happen? It’s been bugging me for a while now, the reason why Noah left so suddenly without even telling any of us. It’s weird.”

Isaac nodded. “Yeah, did something happen?”

Aiden shifted his gaze to me. Everyone must have understood because I felt their attention on me.

Reo asked, “Haru?”

My heart was racing, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay calm if they started interrogating me. I hastily got out of my chair and said, “I’m going to take Aki out for a walk.”

Luckily, they didn’t stop me, and I sighed in relief. To be fair, the only person in the family who’d stop and go all out interrogating me if anything like this were to happen was Noah. But Noah was the culprit behind this incident, so screw him.

I called Aki to me, and it took me less than a minute to get the pup ready and out the door. My heart was still racing slightly—due to me rushing out—as we strolled down the street of our neighborhood. Then I heard a ding, and I knew I’d received a message. It was probably from Aiden.

I took my smartphone out from my back jeans pocket and saw that it wasn’t Aiden. It was from Sean, the vet guy who took care of Toby a few weeks back. Damn, I had forgotten all about him.

The text read: Hey, Haru. I’m free this afternoon after clinic. Want to check out my puppies and kittens?

I grinned and immediately replied with a yes. I was about to slot the phone back into my pocket when it rang. It was from Sean. He was quick.

I accepted the call and said, “Hi.”

I heard a chuckle, followed by, “Hey, Haru. I’m just about done. Where do you want to meet up?”

I looked around and said, “Actually, I’m pretty close to your vet place. I can meet you there.”

“Sounds great,” he said. “See you soon then.”

I smiled. “Okay, see you soon.” After terminating the call, I got down to one knee and petted Aki. “You’re about to make some new friends, how about that?”

Aki barked and then stuck his tongue out, his tail wagging. He looked excited. Damn right, I thought.

We arrived at Sean’s vet clinic ten minutes later, and I opened the door, with Aki rushing in. He pulled me straight to the play area, which made me laugh. He must love playing with that ball.

“Hi, Haru.” It was Tracy, the woman from two weeks ago.

“Hi,” I said. “Is Sean still in?”

“Yeah,” she said. “He’s waiting for you.” She chuckled. “Looks like Aki is eager to go into the play area.”

“Yeah,” I said. “He likes the toys.”

“Does he now?” Sean said as he came out of the room behind the reception area. Once again, he looked hot in casual jeans and a sweater. “Then he’ll like my place. I have a ton of toys for puppies.” To me, he said, “You ready to go?”

“Yeah,” I said.

A few minutes later, I was in Sean’s sports car, sitting in the front seat with Aki on my lap. He looked damned excited to be taking a ride, sticking out his tongue and puffing. It wasn’t long before I stared, wide-eyed, when Sean drove around the corner and into the underground parking lot.

“Why are we here?” I asked.

“I live here,” Sean said. “In this building.”

Holy shit! I said, “But I live here, too.”

Sean burst out laughing. “Really? What floor?”

“Thirty-fifth.”

“I’m on the forty-fifth.”

I chuckled. “Wow! We live in the same building, yet we never saw each other. That’s crazy.”

Sean said, “This place is big, after all.”

“That means I only have to get into the elevator to go home,” I said. “Easy.”

He nodded. “That also means you have no excuses not to come visit often.”

I pursed my lips. “True.”

After parking the car, we got out and headed to the elevator. When the door dinged open on the forty-fifth floor, we walked out as I said, “I never go past the thirty-fifth floor. What’s the view like up here?”

Sean shrugged. “You can take a look yourself in the apartment.”

I was quite excited when Sean unlocked and then opened the door to his place. Instantly, noise of tiny barks came our way, followed by small dogs and cats rushing toward us.

Sean chuckled as he bent down to one knee, greeting his darlings. “Hey, guys.” More barking came his way.

“Oh, wow! They’re cute,” I said.

Aki joined in the barks and rushed over to greet his new friends. The pups sniffed at each other, mostly their butts, and then more barking ensued.

I undid the leash on Aki as Sean got up and said, “I’m starving.”

Freed, Aki rushed off and began playing around with his new friends, and I picked up one of the pups. It looked like a Pomeranian, and it was so cute.

“You haven’t had lunch yet?” I asked. “It’s like two p.m.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t usually get to eat until around this time on a Saturday.”

I went to sit on the bar stool, watching him going about in the open-plan kitchen, hunting for food in the fridge. “Clinic work?”

“Yeah,” he said. “By the way, you want something to eat, too?”

“I’ve already had my lunch,” I said, suddenly remembering the sour conversation we had about Noah. I shut down the thought of him immediately and continued, “But I don’t mind joining you.”

Sean turned to look at me and then smiled, his eyes twinkling. “Great,” he said.

I played with the puppies and kittens while Sean whipped something up for the late lunch. I had the Pomeranian in my arms, staring off at the view across the city. It was great from up here.

“You like the view?”

I jumped at Sean’s voice. I turned to see him right behind me, inches from me. “Yeah,” I said. “Your place is really nice.”

Massive open-plan living area with floor-to-ceiling glass window, fancy sofas and armchairs, elegant dining tables, beautiful lighting fixtures, and master-chef style kitchen.

“How many bedrooms do you have?”

“Three,” he said. “All upstairs. I get the master. One is for them.” He nodded to the kittens and puppies. “And the other is for my work.”

I nodded. “Cool.”

“Come on,” Sean said. “Let’s eat.”

After putting the pup in my arms down onto the floor, allowing it to join in and play with the others, I moved over to the dining table and took a seat next to Sean.

“Oh, wow!” I chuckled, gazing at the pasta. “You did all that in half an hour?”

He chuckled. “I’m used to cooking for myself. What about you?”

I picked up a fork as I said, “I suck at cooking.” I scooped a forkful and then popped the food into my mouth. “Mmm…” I expressed.

Sean smiled. “Like it?”

I nodded. “This is awesome.”

We ate and chatted, mostly about pets and mostly me asking him about his puppies and kittens. When we were done, I offered to do the dishes, but Sean refused. He said I was his guest, so it’d be rude of him to let me clean up.

“Next time you can do the dishes,” he said, winking at me. Damn, but the man was cunning.

I was thoroughly enjoying my time with the kittens when my phone rang, which drew not only my attention, but Sean’s as well. He watched me as I picked up.

“Aiden?” I said.

“Where are you?” Aiden asked. “It’s been hours already.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I’m at a friend’s place.”

“Friend? Jess? That far?”

I chuckled. “No, I made a new friend. He lives in our building. He’s cool, and he has like three kittens and two puppies. Aki is having heaps of fun here.”

Aiden was silent for a moment and then said, his voice stern, “I’m coming up to get you.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. Like I said, Sean lives here in our building so—”

“What’s the apartment number?”

“What? Aiden? Are you even listening to me?”

“Haru, tell me!”

I sucked in my breath. Did Aiden just raise his voice at me? My body shaky, I said, “Forty-five-D.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he said and then ended the call.

I took in a deep breath, working on calming myself.

“Was that one of your brothers?” Sean’s voice came my way.

I raised my eyes to him and then nodded. He gave me a gentle smile. “They’re probably worried about you.”

“I’m nineteen,” I said. “I’m an adult. They don’t need to be that worried about me.”

Sean came around and took a seat next to me on the sofa. “It’s a big brother thing, right? I’d be worried sick too if I were to have such a cute little brother like you.” He stroked my hair.

“Yeah, but you’d respect him, right? His wishes to make new friends and hang out with other people and stuff like that.”

Sean nodded. “Definitely. It’s his freedom.”

His words made my heart ache. Suddenly, the loud, hard knock came at the door.

Sean chuckled. “Must be your brother. He’s fast.”

I nodded, and we got up. I went to pick up Aki as Sean headed to the door.

“Are you Sean?” I heard Aiden’s voice ask sternly from across the apartment.

“Yeah, that’s me,” Sean said.

“Where’s Haru?” This was Mason’s voice.

I raised my brows. Mason was here, too?

“You two want to come in?” Sean asked.

“Thanks,” Aiden said, and a moment later, I saw them coming into the living room.

Mason came over to me and wrapped his arm over my shoulders. “Hey, let’s go home.”

I nodded. Turning to Sean, I said, “Thanks for the meal, and I’ll come visit again.”

Sean said, “Yeah. You can call or text me anytime, Haru.”

I gave him a bright smile, pleased. “Okay. See you later then.”

Mason and I were at the door when I looked over my shoulder, wondering where Aiden was.

“Aiden?” I asked Mason.

“Don’t worry about him,” Mason said, urging me out the door.

In the elevator, I frowned, my stomach churning sickly. Was Aiden having a talking to with Sean? And by a talking to, I mean a serious interrogation. He did that often, especially with people coming into my life he thought were suspicious. He was that protective of me.

Back in the apartment, Isaac came up to me before I could even take off my sneakers. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight. “I was so worried. Are you all right? No one molested you, did they?”

I said, “No one molested me. I just had a nice time with a new friend, that’s all.”

Ten minutes later, Aiden turned up, and I asked, “Did you talk to Sean?”

He said, “Why don’t you go up and study? You have a test coming up, don’t you?”

I frowned darkly at him. “Aiden? I’m asking you if you talked to Sean?”

He folded his arms across his chest. “I did.”

“Why?”

“I don’t need to tell you the reason,” he said firmly. “Now go.”

I glared at him. “I’m not a kid, Aiden. I don’t fucking care what you told him, but I’m still going to be friends with him and visit his place.”

“Haru,” Mason said. “He’s not to be trusted.”

I turned my attention to Mason. “What? You saw him for like two seconds, and you already assume he’s not to be trusted? Are you kidding me?”

Mason said, his voice firm, “We’re protecting you, Haru.”

“From what?” I demanded. “Fuck, do I look that fragile that I needed to be protected? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Shit,” Isaac said, looking from Aiden to me and then to Mason. “What’s going on? Why are you guys fighting?”

“Haru,” Aiden said, taking a step closer to me. He reached out and was about to touch me, but I wouldn’t let him. Pissed, I slapped his hand away.

“Don’t touch me!” I glared at him. To Mason, I said, “I thought you’d be on my side. Stupid of me to think that.” I turned on my heel and then stormed out the door, sprinting up the stairs into my room and slammed the door shut.

“Screw the lot of them,” I said heatedly under my breath, tears brewing in my eyes.. “Fuck all of them.”