AIDEN

Aiden felt guilt rising in the pit of his stomach the more he thought about Isaac's words. To be frank, he hadn't been neglecting Haru. It was more like he didn't have the chance to be with the boy today simply because Patricia seemed to know when to intercept his approach. She appeared desperate in wanting to talk to him, which had been why he had allowed her to be with him because he knew he would have all the time in the world with Haru. As for Patricia, she could say whatever she wanted to say and be done with it. Except she hadn't said anything of substance yet. She had just been talking about old times, reminding him of their past relationship.

Noah's voice came his way, drawing Aiden's attention away from his thoughts of Haru and Patricia. "What?"

"I said can we talk?" The brother nodded toward the sliding door. "Outside."

Aiden didn't know what Noah wanted to talk about that they needed to do it outside, away from the others. He nodded nonetheless and the two left.

Mason noticed them leaving and a dark frown appeared across his usually calm face.

"What's the matter?" Reo asked.

Mason shook his head. "Nothing."

Connor said, "How about another card game?"

Reo nodded. "You're on."

Outside in the dark and the cold, Aiden asked, "What's up?"

Noah said, "So Haru is still upset with you, which explains why you got kicked out, am I correct?"

Aiden nodded. "That boy, he can be very stubborn at times."

"We all know that," Noah said. "Especially when it comes to you. Otherwise he wouldn't have been in love with you for so long knowing his chances were so slim."

Aiden chuckled. "Yeah."

"So? What are you going to do with Patricia? She's obviously doing her best to get you back. Have you told her you're already in a relationship?"

"How do you know she wants me back?" Aiden asked.

"Oh come on, it's so obvious with the way she flirts with you," Noah said.

Aiden shrugged his shoulders. "Hypothetically speaking, even if I were to take her back—which I won't, because the only one for me is Haru—nothing is going to work out. She's here and I'm over there in New York."

Noah laughed. He sounded both pissed and amused. "Hypothetically speaking? Come on, Aiden, are you serious? She can just quit her job anytime and follow you like a pup back to New York. Don't you get it? You're a catch now, what with your job and high income as a real estate agent. And our youngest, Haru and Isaac, are all grown up. There's no holding you back anymore."

It was then that Aiden widened his eyes in understanding. Holy fuck! Why had he been so blind? Patricia was serious about getting him back the moment she had met him again, and all this time, he had thought she was just being friendly because they had had a past together and she wanted a fresh start.

He raked his fingers through his hair. "I see."

"Now you see?" Noah asked sarcastically. "You know, Haru has that thing? I don't know what you call it…" He thought for a moment and then said, "Intuition? That warning sign? Like he has that when those types of women are close to us, he'll get like a panic attack."

Now that Noah mentioned it, hadn't that sort of reaction happened before, numerous times? When a female came close to any of the brothers, the ones who were intent on stealing them away, Haru would react and started getting sick in a panic attack sort of way.

Shit! Was this part of the Shrine Maiden gene or thing? Or was this just the condition resulting from the loss of their parents? Because the ordeal had affected Haru that badly.

Fuck, he didn't know, but he did know that he loved Haru and he wasn't about to lose the boy.

"Yeah, he does, doesn't he?" he said. Feeling much calmer now, he turned to Noah. "Thanks."

Noah brushed his word of appreciation aside with a wave of his hand. "Don't thank me, Aiden. I'm just putting it out there for you to see clearly. When it comes to women, you tend to be a bit blind. You think they're sweet and innocent because that's how they usually act in front of you. You tend to attract that type, which is a mystery in itself. And besides, I'm doing this for Haru. It's shit seeing him getting hurt and upset."

Aiden cocked his head to one side. "You get that pissed off when you see Haru upset?"

"Why wouldn't I when I'm in love with him?" Noah said bluntly.

Aiden's face suddenly turned dark and hard. "Come again?"

Noah folded his arms across his chest and said firmly, "I'm in love with Haru, Aiden, since I don't fucking know when." He shrugged. "Maybe back when I saw him wearing those cute dresses Mom Sana put on him to pair him up with Isaac. I don't know, I just thought he was so fucking cute and adorable, and then when he hit puberty, there's something about him, his smells, the sight of him, it makes my heart race and my fucking dick respond."