Noah followed him into the kitchen. At the sink, Aiden gulped down two glasses of cold water and then wiped his mouth, his mind still on Haru.
Noah said as he brewed some coffee, "He shut the door in your face, that's not nothing."
Aiden didn't miss the amused tone he heard in his brother's voice. It was true that if Haru acted like that then it meant something, and most likely, it was because the boy was pissed with him. After all, Haru was rarely, if ever, pissed with Aiden.
"It was probably something stupid I did last night," Aiden admitted, a dark frown crossing over his face.
Noah chuckled. "A responsible adult like you did something stupid? I find that hard to believe. But anyway, you two better make up otherwise today is going to be hell for all of us. Remember we have a dinner party, and none of us wants a sour gathering. You tend to act like the world has ended when you can't get along with Haru."
Aiden widened his eyes in surprise as if he had just remembered about the party. He had promised his brothers a few weeks ago they could bring their friends around for a light dinner celebration. Noah had graduated university last year and was about to start his first professional job in a week's time.
Noah raised a brow. "You forgot about that, eh?"
Aiden chuckled. "Yeah, well, I have a lot on my mind."
"And most of what's on your mind is about Haru, no doubt," Noah said.
Aiden turned his gaze to his brother. Though he didn't deny it, he said, "Work."
Noah smiled. "Yeah, right. Work."
"Morning," Reo's voice came from the door.
Both brothers turned and greeted in unison, "Morning."
Noah said, "Right, I'm off for my morning run."
Aiden and Reo nodded. Once Noah was gone, Reo said, "By the way, you want me to come help shop for the dinner party?"
Aiden said, "That would be a great help, Reo."
"Okay, tell me when you're ready to go," Reo said.
"We're probably going to buy a lot of stuff since there'll be quite a lot of mouths to feed," Aiden said.
"No doubt about that," Reo said. "There will be, like, fourteen of us, plus Jessy, the only girl." He chuckled. "I hope she doesn't feel uncomfortable being the only girl in the clan."
Aiden said, "I doubt she minds. Anyway, Tina is coming as well, so she won't be the only girl."
Reo raised his brows in surprise. "I thought Tina and Peter were busy."
Aiden sighed. "Tina changed her mind." In fact, the woman had texted him during his run to tell him she and her husband would be coming. He had no doubt her intention was to check up on Haru.
"Anyway, I'm taking a shower."
Reo nodded and Aiden disappeared from the kitchen doorway.
In the bathroom, Aiden took his time showering, and once he was done, he felt refreshed and ready for the day, despite that he hadn't had a wink of sleep last night and the thought of Haru and what he had done to the boy still hung heavily over his head.
Dressed in a pair of dark jeans that fitted his muscular long legs perfectly and a casual gray T-shirt, he headed out the door. After he'd finished putting his dirty clothes in the laundry, he thought about talking to Haru but changed his mind. He'd get things sorted out for the day first and then he'd talk to the boy about last night.
Nodding at that sound plan, he headed back into the kitchen to see Reo busying himself cooking the family a hearty morning meal of scrambled eggs and toast.
Aiden poured himself a cup of the black coffee Noah had brewed and then sat down as Reo put the plates of cooked food on the table in front of him. "Smells good."
"Help yourself," Reo said.
The delicious aroma of Reo's food must have woken up the other brothers, because as Aiden was just putting a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth, Mason appeared at the door, along with Isaac. Both were sporting bed-style hair and disheveled pajamas.
"Morning," Mason said as he came to sit down opposite Aiden.
"Morning," Isaac said, along with a yawn. He, too, sat down and helped himself to the food.
Aiden flicked his gaze to the door, hoping to see Haru turning up along with his stepbrothers. But of course, the open door remained sternly empty, and Aiden returned his attention to his meal.
Reo said, "So, any one of you two offering to come along and help with the shopping for our party tonight?"
Mason shook his head gently. "Sorry, I'm meeting up with Lucas and Connor after breakfast. We're going to do some studying."
"Okay," Reo said, and then turned to Isaac.
The youngest Davis brother shook his head as he said, "No can do, Reo. I'm meeting up with my friends this morning as well."
Reo sighed as he looked at Aiden.
Aiden chuckled. He said, "Looks like it's just you and me then."
Reo nodded.