Aiden

Peter gave her a kiss on the cheek before heading out. Once the door was closed, Tina took the seat Peter had just vacated.

Aiden knew what was coming and loudly groaned in despair, to tell her nonverbally that he wasn't looking forward to whatever chitchat she was about to bombard him with.

Tina chuckled knowingly, her eyes twinkling. "Don't you give me that, Aiden." She giggled in delight. "I'm sure it's not that bad. Am I such a bother to you?"

Aiden folded his arms across his chest. "Not where work is concern. Not where friendship is concerned. But then it's just annoying when you have that cheeky smile on your face, because I know what's going to come out of your mouth."

"Annoying? Oi! What are you trying to tell me? I'm only watching out for you, aren't I?" She chuckled. "So, anyway, how's your brother doing?"

Keeping his face expressionless, Aiden said, "Brother? I see you're only concerned about one? That's favoritism, Tina."

Tina snorted. "Favoritism? Speak for yourself. I do care about all your brothers. Fine then." She harrumphed. "So, how are your brothers doing?"

Aiden chuckled. "They're all good, thanks, Tina."

"And what about that one?"

Aiden raised a brow. "Which one?"

Tina leaned forward as she rested her elbows on the work desk, her demeanor too enthusiastic for Aiden's liking.

"Haru, the youngest one," she said.

Aiden stiffened the moment Haru's name was mentioned. He knew she'd ask him about the boy. In fact, he had expected it the moment Peter had mentioned her arriving. Of course, like always, his heart would skip a beat or two every time someone brought up Haru's name.

He asked, pretending not to be affected and keeping a poker face. "What about him?"

Tina said, smiling, "He's eighteen now, isn't he? So? Are you going to confess to him?"

Aiden raised his gaze to his friend sharply. In a dark tone, he said, "I'm not."

Tina seemed disappointed for a moment. She moved and relaxed back against the chair. She said, a sour expression on her face, "And here I thought you'd jump at the chance the moment he turned eighteen." She cocked her head to one side as she continued. "It'll be hard for you, you know, if you don't take action. You never know, soon he might get himself a girlfriend. He might love her so much that he'll want to marry her and settle down with kids."

She waited impatiently for him to react to her taunting. When Aiden didn't respond, she continued, "Aiden, are you seriously going to tell me you'll keep your feelings to yourself while watching him, you know, living a happy, lovey-dovey life with a girl? While you suffer? That just sucks. As your good friend, I feel for you. As your good friend, I tell you, just confess to him already. Get it over and done with. At least it'll be out of your system and you'll know for sure and, you know, then you can move on with life."

Aiden chuckled. He couldn't help himself. Tina had always been like that, urging him to do what she thought was best for him, particularly where his love life was concerned.

Both Tina and Peter had met his brothers—all of them—and it hadn't been long before Tina had taken him to one side and asked him the question that had turned his world upside down.

"Are you, by any chance, in love with Haru?" she had asked him one day two years ago.

Of course, Aiden himself had never thought that such a thing was possible. Him? In love with Haru? No way! He wasn't gay, for God's sake. He had always dated women. He liked women. He liked having sex with them. He found them hot, sexy, and utterly enticing. But then there had always been signs, hadn't there? The fact that the thought of losing Haru had nearly driven him insane was evidence enough that the boy was special to him.

He remembered that since the day Tina had asked him the question, he had started looking at Haru differently and had become hyperaware of the boy. Since Haru had turned eighteen, he wanted to do ungodly, sexy things to the boy—a realization that scared him shitless. The only way he knew how to battle this surprise, unwelcome discovery of his desire for Haru was to start dating again. He needed to find someone to love and satisfy his sexual desire because he had been single for far too long. At least that was what he had thought, and of course, that didn't last because... Well, simply put, the thought of having a permanent girlfriend just made him feel a little sick in the stomach. Why was that? After all, having a girlfriend had been fine with him before. But now...

Now was different. Now he wanted Haru. Yes, it had come as a total shock to him that he wanted to kiss Haru—passionately and wildly—and more than anything, he wanted to make love to Haru, which wasn't something that he should desire, because it was wrong.

The thought of his forbidden feelings for Haru only made him feel ashamed of himself. Haru respected and trusted him as an older brother, someone the boy could depend on and look up to, and for Aiden to have those erotic feelings toward Haru was a betrayal of the worst kind.

He eyed Tina, a sour expression on his face. He said, "Yeah that sounds marvelous, Tina. You want me to confess my feelings to Haru? Like hell I'm going to do that. I'm sure the moment he finds out, he'd flip. Even worse, the moment I confess how much I love him, he'd be so freaked out that..." He sighed. "I don't know. And why are we talking about this again? I need to finish work before my client arrives, which—" he glanced at his watch and then continued "—is in fifteen minutes."

He waved for Tina to leave. "Now go and have a nice lunch with your husband. I need to finish my work."

Tina chuckled merrily. "All right, all right, hotshot, as you please. I'll leave you alone to your work." She grinned widely. "Just remember that I'm all ears whenever you need to talk."

Aiden chuckled. "All right."

Once Tina shut the door behind her, Aiden relaxed back against the seat and sighed. "Haru." He said the name softly under his breath. "Why do you want to move out?"