Once they arrived at the barbeque house, Sakura did not miss the fact that it was indeed a state-of-the-art design. The equipment was top notch—gas barbeque, stove, oven, and marble benchtop. There was even a large sink for washing as well. Talk about convenient. Indeed, this was a man’s territory. Daddy James’s territory.
Sakura and Akira were placing the platters of seafood onto the benchtop when Michael rushed up to them.
“Whoa! Looks awesome,” he said, grinning from ear to ear, eyeing the platters. Turning to Akira, he told her, “I love barbeque because there’s lots of meat.”
Akira chuckled. “I love barbeque, too, Michael.”
Meanwhile, Sakura said to Daddy James, “We’ll go and get some more food.”
Daddy James eyed the platters and said, “Thanks, girls. Now we can start cooking. I’m sure everyone is starving. Right, Michael?” He chuckled.
Michael agreed by nodding.
“You want to be my kitchen hand?” Daddy James asked the boy. Again, Michael nodded, this time enthusiastically.
“How about I bring you an apron, Michael?” Akira asked teasingly, her eyes twinkling.
“Thanks,” Michael said. “That’d be awesome.”
Akira nodded, and she and Sakura headed back into the house. They were just stepping into the kitchen when Sakura saw Hayden and Darcy grabbing platters of food to take outside as well. As they passed her, she didn’t miss the fact that Darcy was eyeing her. She gave him a smile before he glanced away. She also noted his hair, as well as Hayden’s, was still wet, so she assumed they must have just finished with their showers. They smelled nice, too, of course.
A moment later, she was just taking another platter out, which contained an assortment of vegetables, when Sebastian appeared.
“Need some help?” he asked.
Sakura noted that his blond hair, too, was wet and that he smelled wonderful. She moved closer to him so she could inhale more of his scent.
She raised her eyes to look up at him and said, “You can help bring those out.” She nodded toward the array of platters on the benchtop.
“Sure,” he said, heading toward them.
Sakura waited while Sebastian retrieved two platters, one in each hand. Then side by side, they headed out.
Beth, who had been watching them while busy with prepping more seafood, said, “Sebastian seems to be getting ahead of his brothers.”
Jane curiously asked Beth, “Why would you say that? It’s not like they’re competing for her or anything, right?”
On the other side of the kitchen, her head poking inside a cabinet, searching for a small apron, Akira said, “It’s a real-life reverse harem romance, Jane. It’s happening.” Then she shrieked with delight. “Found it! I can’t believe there’s actually one. A kid’s apron.” She laughed heartily.
Jane asked, “A real-life reverse harem? Between Sakura and the Princeton brothers? I had no idea.”
Akira chuckled as she descended from the chair she had used to stand on in order to raid the higher cabinets. Once she planted her feet on the floor again, she said, “At least you know what a reverse harem is. And no, not just the Princeton brothers. My brother, Sosuke, as well. He’s smitten with Sakura, to say the least.”
Jane went more than a little pale at Akira’s comment. “Sos…Sosuke? As well?” She sounded as if she couldn’t believe what she had heard and was rather upset about it.
Akira noted Jane’s ashen expression and couldn’t help but want to laugh with amusement.
She said, “Don’t worry. That lousy brother of mine has the lowest probability of getting Sakura’s attention. In my opinion, Sakura only regards him as just another wonderful relative, a big brother, which he kind of is. So, Jane, don’t worry.” She leaned closer and continued lowly so only Jane could hear. “Just try harder to catch his attention.” She even winked. “He can be quite dense sometimes.”
Jane became flustered by Akira’s suggestion and said, “Akira, it’s nothing like that. Sosuke… He’s…”
“Do your best, Jane,” Akira said. With that, she turned to take another tray of food and then headed out the door, while Jane, who watched her go, blushed severely.
After that, one by one, the platters of seafood, meat, and skewered vegetables were taken out onto the deck, where Daddy James, the head chef, along with his helpers Hayden, Darcy, and of course young Michael barbequed the immense variety of food. Meanwhile, Sebastian, Jim, and Peter were having a fine time drinking and chatting at the bar area.
After everything was set, Sakura decided to join her biological mother, Haruka, her adoptive mom, Brenda, and her friends Mary and Katherine, who were sitting around a large outdoor table, nibbling on some deep-fried food as starters to appease their hunger.
Sakura came to sit beside Mary, who was chatting on nonstop about her trip around Europe during her honeymoon, and showing everyone photos of her and her husband’s wonderful journey.
Sakura was nibbling on some almonds when Michael came to squeeze in between her and Mary, which made Mary frown with disapproval.
She said, “Honestly, Michael, announce yourself before surprising people.”
Michael said, “Sorry, but I want to sit next to Sakura.”
Mary rolled her eyes, while Sakura chuckled merrily.
A moment later, Tristan appeared behind her and offered her a glass of champagne. “Here you go, darling sis,” he said.
Sakura stared at it for a moment and said, “Thanks,” as she took it.
“How have you enjoyed the evening so far?” he asked politely, which made her a little suspicious.
“Err… Good,” she said, her eyes on him.
He chuckled, his eyes twinkling with delight. “Thank goodness you listened to my suggestion. You wore something nice. It looks good on you.”
Sakura said, “I wasn’t wearing it for you, Tristan. I just thought something light would be nice and cool because it’s so hot here.”
Conrad suddenly appeared behind Tristan and said, “Stop flirting with Sakura, Tristan. Go back to your workstation and make more drinks for the adults. Can’t you see they’ve run out?” He rolled his eyes.
Tristan chuckled. “Oops! My bad.” He turned his attention to the adults and said, “I do apologize, my most important guests.”
Haruka said, “No, it’s fine.”
“Another glass, please,” Mr. Tachibana said.
“Me, too,” Mary said, handing Tristan her empty glass. “More orange juice for the pregnant woman here.”
“Of course, my lovely cousin,” Tristan said, as he took the glasses. “Anyone else want to order more drinks while I’m here?” The question was followed by the shaking of heads. “All right, then.” With that, he turned on his heel and headed back to the bar.
It wasn’t long before the smell of deliciously barbequed food reached them, and a moment later, Daddy James announced, “Come on, everyone, start serving yourselves.”
Immediately, everyone started toward the cooked food set on one side of the table. Three big platters were brought around for the adults, while the young ones served themselves.
The next hour was mostly eating and drinking, with the Princeton brothers, mainly Tristan and Logan, making a lot of chatter and jokes, entertaining everyone.
During the meal, Sakura found herself sitting at a smaller table with Akira, Jane, Conrad, and Michael.
As she was enjoying her grilled lobster with garlic butter, Sakura heard Jane say meekly to Akira, “So, can you show me some of that Yaoi stuff when we get back to our room?”
Sakura nearly choked on her piece of meat, while Akira smiled with glee.
Nodding in approval, Akira said, “Glad to have finally found another potential Yaoi fan. We’ll have heaps of fun tonight. I’ll make sure to show you lots of stuff. Who knows? You might become a fujoshi like me.” She chuckled heartily. A moment later, she turned to Sakura and offered, “You’re welcome to join, Sakura.” She even winked.
Conrad looked from one to the other and said, “That sounds fun. Can I join in?”
Akira looked at Conrad for a moment and then burst out laughing. She shook her head and said, “No, you are not allowed to join in.”
He frowned. “Why not?”
“Because it’s girl stuff,” she said.
Sakura chimed in. “I’m sure you won’t be interested in this sort of thing, Conrad.”
Michael decided to join in the conversation as well. “I might, though. So, what is it?”
Akira turned to the boy and said, “It’s for adults only, not suitable for kids.”
Michael pulled a face as he said, “I wish I was an adult.”
Conrad said, “I’m an adult, and I still can’t join them.”
Michael nodded in agreement. “True.”