Chapter 76 - Vol. 3: Noah To Haru - 76

Haru

“You got along well with Sakura and Akira, huh?” I said to Jess as she tucked herself comfortably in my bed.

Jess was occupying my room for tonight since she, like Isaac’s and Mason’s friends, was staying over.

“Yeah,” Jess said. “They’re great. Especially Akira. She has lots of things in common with me.”

I chuckled. “My guess is BL?”

“Yep,” she said, grinning. She spread her arms out on the bed. “This feels great.”

“Glad you like the bed,” I said. “I’m just gonna get my pajamas, and then I’ll leave you to it.”

“Okay,” she said, retrieving a yaoi manga from her bag sitting on the side of the bed.

A moment later, I left the room, shutting the door as I said, “Good night, Jess.”

“Night, Haru,” she replied.

Luckily, the bathroom was free. I got in and quickly changed into my pajamas and then brushed my teeth. Done, I left my dirty clothes in the laundry basket and then headed out the door again.

I went downstairs and was just turning the corner toward Aiden’s room when I saw Noah at his door. I didn’t even get to ask what he was doing when he marched forward, grabbed me by the arm, and pulled me to him.

“You’re sleeping with me tonight, Haru,” he said loudly. Then I found myself being dragged into his bedroom, with him shutting the door behind us with a firm click.

Damn confused as to what the heck was going on, I asked, “Wait! What?”

The door flew open then, and I heard Aiden behind me saying, “Noah, you’re going too far!” He sounded pissed as hell.

To Aiden, Noah said, “I’ve already told you, I’m having Haru tonight.” He, too, sounded pissed.

Shit, just what heck was going on?

“That’s not for you to decide,” Aiden snapped. “Ask Haru directly. Don’t go making decisions for him.”

Feeling a bit freaked out by the whole heated situation, I asked, “What’s going on? Are you two fighting? Please don’t fight.”

Noah said, “We’re not fighting, Haru, we’re just...having a discussion.”

“A discussion doesn’t involve Aiden looking like he wants to beat you up, Noah, and a discussion doesn’t involve you speaking in a heated voice either.”

Noah sighed and then took in a deep breath. He said, “All right, I’ll do this properly.” He looked at Aiden and then continued, “As you say.”

I saw Aiden nodding his head.

Noah turned his attention to me then, and he said, “I want you in my bed, sleeping with me tonight.” He moved a step closer and offered his hand to me. “Do you want to?”

Wait? What? Noah was asking me to sleep with him, in his bed? Why?

I blinked and then just kind of stared at his hand, which was beckoning me to him. “Huh?”

Noah sighed. “I want you to sleep in my bed with me tonight. I won’t do anything weird, I promise.”

I said, “But I’m sleeping with Aiden.”

Noah sighed. “I know that. But I’m asking you if you’d like to sleep with me tonight.”

Suddenly, I understood. Was the reason why Noah asking me to sleep in his bed with him because he wanted to relieve his stress from work? In that case, what should I do? I didn’t want to upset Aiden, since he had been looking forward to us sharing our nights together, but at the same time, I didn’t want to walk away from Noah when he needed me.

To ensure he did want me to sleep with him because of his stress, I asked, “Is this to help with, you know, your stress?”

“What’s this about your stress, Noah?” Aiden asked.

Ignoring Aiden, Noah answered me. “Yes and no.”

Yes and no? What the heck did he mean by that?

“What do you want to do, Haru? Stay here with Noah or come with me?” Aiden asked, drawing my attention to him.

I glanced at Noah and then shifted my gaze to Aiden again. I said, “I’ll come with you,” as I walked toward him.

He pulled me into his arms and said, “Okay. Then go to bed first. I need to have a few words with Noah.”

Suddenly, I felt guilty for choosing Aiden over Noah. Doing my best at avoiding eye contact with Noah, I headed out the door and went into Aiden’s room.

I sighed, feeling a little sick in the stomach. I climbed into bed and slipped in between the sheets, making myself comfortable. Aiden came in not long after and said, “I’ll just take a shower. You can sleep first.”

I nodded and as Aiden shut the door of the en suite, I rolled onto my side of the bed and shut my eyes. But of course, I couldn’t sleep. My mind was on Noah and me jilting him.

I was still awake when Aiden finished with his shower and came back out. When he got into bed beside me, I moved into his arms and said, “Aiden, I feel awful.”

Wrapping his arms tight around me, he asked, “About Noah?”

I nodded. “He needs me, and I jilted him.”

“Well, he did give you a vague answer,” Aiden said. “He should have just given you a blunt yes or no.”

I nodded. “Like I said, he’s been very confusing. I know work is stressing him out but...” I sighed.

I felt Aiden plant a kiss on my forehead. When he moved back, he said, “Let’s stop talking about Noah. It’s been a long day.”

I nodded. “Yeah, lots happened today.”

“Night, Haru,” Aiden said, kissing me on the lips. When he moved back, it was my turn.

“Night, Aiden,” I replied and gave him a kiss on the lips, too. Done, I snuggled against him and then shut my eyes, falling asleep soon after.

When I next woke up, Aiden was gone. I rubbed my eyes and called out softly, thinking that maybe he was in either the en suite or walk-in closet, “Aiden?”

Silence. He must be at the gym doing his morning exercise then. I rolled over and went back to sleep again. It was around nine when I woke up for the second time, and seeing that Aiden still hadn’t returned, I got out of bed and headed into the en suite. I thought about taking a morning shower in my assigned bathroom upstairs but knew it was likely being occupied by either Jess or Isaac’s friends. Jess did say she couldn’t wait to take a nice, long bath today since the tub looked inviting.

I headed into the shower cubicle and then turned on the shower. High pressure water spurted out at me, surprising me, and I gasped. Shit! I didn’t know the pressure on Aiden’s shower was that strong. The last time I had showered here, Aiden had turned it on for me.

I hastily changed the dial and the pressure lessened.

“Phew!” I chuckled, looking down at myself, noting I was already wet from head to toe. My pajamas were soaked. “Oh well,” I said. They were going into the wash today anyway.

I stripped myself naked, leaving the wet pajamas on the floor. Then I hopped into the shower cubicle, shampooing my hair and cleansing my body using Aiden’s products. When I was done ten minutes later, I wrapped a fluffy white towel around my waist and went about gathering my dirty pajamas.

I poked my head out of Aiden’s bedroom door a moment later, and after noting that Noah’s door was shut—either because he was still snoozing away or he was out at the gym—I rushed down the hallway toward the laundry room at the back.

After putting my wet pajamas into the washing machine, I dusted off my hands and then turned on my heel, heading out the door again. I was nearly at Aiden’s room when the sight of Noah appearing from the other side made me stop in my tracks.

He was wearing his gym gear, and he looked sweaty from his workout. I could see that his muscles were bulging out more than normal. He must have been working hard.

I wanted to greet him a good morning but found I couldn’t. I suddenly felt nervous, and my throat felt dry like dust. What the heck?

Noah didn’t greet me either. He simply stared at me as he walked toward me.

I was frozen in my spot as he passed, and once he was behind me, I sighed in relief since our encounter went without incident. I took a step forward, then I felt the towel around my waist being yanked away from me, followed by this blast of cold air circulating about my lower region.

I halted, frozen stiff as my mind screamed in outrage. Fuck! Noah just pulled my towel from my waist.. And I was fucking naked.