"I'll call Lady Haruka and tell her Sakura is staying the night," he said and headed into the house first.
Darcy looked at Sebastian pointedly. "I want to carry her."
Sebastian chuckled. "Sure," he said with a nod.
Conrad picked up the sleeping Toby first, and then Darcy moved and gathered the smallness of Sakura's body into his arms. He gently lifted her so as not to wake her, and he and his brothers headed into the house.
"All sorted," Nicolas said.
"Where is she going to sleep?" Tristan posed the question at large.
"There's no bed in the spare room," Hayden said.
Sebastian offered. "She can stay in my room. It's the biggest."
Darcy nodded and started heading that way, allowing the brothers to follow him.
Logan said, "And where the hell are you going to sleep?"
"My room," Sebastian replied, opening the door for Darcy to enter.
Darcy headed straight to the large bed in the center of the room and laid Sakura down. Sebastian came around and arranged the duvet on top of her. Both men made sure she was comfortable before turning their attention to their other brothers.
"Bedtime," Sebastian said, shooing everyone out.
"Oh no!" Tristan said. "If you're sleeping here, so am I."
Sebastian folded his arms across his chest and demanded, "What the hell is this?"
Logan said, "Can't trust you, Seb, even though you're our brother."
At Hayden's nod, Nicolas looked heavenward. "You guys are acting like children. I'm going to get my pillow and sleeping bag."
He was out the door before Sebastian could protest. Darcy followed him, trailed by Hayden. Conrad, after giving Toby a fond stroke, placed the dog beside Sakura and headed out the door as well.
"I'm taking the sofa," he said to Sebastian across the corridor.
Shortly thereafter, Sebastian wanted to laugh at the whole situation. The brothers were in his bedroom, in their sleeping bags, positioned haphazardly this way and that on the floor. Except for Conrad, of course, who had already claimed the throne of the comfortable sofa for himself. The greedy bastard!
"Reminds me of camp back on St. Joseph Island when we were young," Hayden said softly into the dimly lit room.
The moon was bright outside, and the pale grayness cast an enchanting light across the brothers' features as they conversed in low, soft voices.
Tristan chuckled. "Yeah. I miss those times. Us doing all sorts of stupid things."
"Remember that summer when you dared us to climb that cliff by St. Helena Beach?" Hayden asked.
Their minds flashed back to all those years ago when they'd been on St. Joseph Island, daring one another to do all sorts of dangerous and stupid things, enjoying the fishing and hiking and rock climbing and especially surfing.
"Yeah!" Tristan said. "It nearly killed Conrad."
"Hey!" Conrad voiced from his very comfortable bed. "That's right. I was in the hospital and a cast for three weeks. It wasn't fair!"
"And you missed the first week of school," Logan said, chuckling.
Conrad laughed. "Yeah. That was the best part."
"Except," Darcy said softly, "we forgot all about Sakura."
Dead, morbid silence descended upon the room at Darcy's words, for it struck deep within their hearts.
"We're working on making up for it," Nicolas said, nodding.
"Yeah," Conrad said cheerfully. "We'll make sure she has fun in Hawaii."
The brothers agreed with that sound idea and then uttered good nights to one another. Then quietness descended as one by one the brothers fell asleep.
*
CHAPTER 25
A Familiar Face
The sensation of a warm, wet tongue and soft fur on her fingertips woke Sakura. She fluttered her eyes open and stared up at the ceiling that seemed rather strange to her. Where am I? was the first question that popped up in her mind. She blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out if this was her bedroom. Surely, she would remember what her own bedroom looked like. But why couldn't she remember how she got back to the apartment. More importantly, why did her bedroom look so different?
The licking became more insistent, drawing Sakura's attention to the culprit. The moment she saw Toby, she smiled.
"Hello," she greeted softly.
Toby snuggled his head under her palm, begging her to pet him. She laughed and obliged to please the little beast.
"I think I'm going mad, Toby," she said. "I can't seem to remember where I am."
It was then she sat up and realized she was in an enormous king-size bed that didn't belong to her. When she drifted her gaze across the entire length of the large room, she sucked in her breath.
Oh Mother of God! She realized she was actually sleeping in one of the brothers' rooms and bed, and there on the floor were the Princeton brothers, all seven of them. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, to confirm she wasn't hallucinating.
Toby snuggled himself against her chest and groaned softly as she mindlessly stroked him.
Oh God! How did I get here?
Last night. It must have been last night. She remembered Sosuke's birthday party, the fun and the laughter, and then her finding Darcy and Toby under the cherry blossom tree. The kisses. There were those kisses she'd received from Darcy. Then Sebastian arrived, and he, Darcy, and herself were lying on the grass, staring up at the stars. And then nothing.
She gasped. One of them must have carried her into the penthouse. She bit her lip. One of them should have at least woken her up. Gosh! These men.
"Come on, Toby. We better get out of here," she said. After all, it w
as a Monday and she had work to do. Not to mention, she had that appointment with the doctor. She needed to check out her health.
With Toby tight against her chest, she climbed out of the bed, minding the yukata, which she still wore. Stepping softly onto the thick carpet, she glanced from one handsome, manly body to another, trying to find the best course to reach the door--the exit. Tristan was just by her feet, closest to the bed. He slept there like a bodyguard, protecting her and preventing anyone from passing him. Hayden was next to him, head resting on Tristan's stomach of course. Logan was to Hayden's left, his body positioned diagonally to the brother. Nicolas was to the far side of the room near the desk. Darcy lay near the sofa, and next to him was Sebastian, near the door. So far, Sakura surmised Conrad was the only brother who had the most comfortable bed, being on that large, cozy sofa.
Why didn't they go to sleep in their own rooms, for God's sake? And why didn't they wake her up so she could return to the apartment?
She tightened her arms around Toby and tentatively stepped over Tristan and, at the same time, avoided landing her feet on Hayden's face. The yukata didn't help much either, as it was quite tight about the legs and taking long steps was just impossible. And that next haul required long steps indeed. Thus, she clutched the material of the yukata with one hand as she pulled the hem up her legs. Toby licked her chin, encouraging her. She smiled and nodded.
"Here we go," she whispered as she pulled the hem of the yukata higher to the side and then stretched her leg out, overstepping Hayden's body.
Someone grumbled in his sleep. It was Tristan behind her. When he quieted down, she moved over to the side, crossing over Logan. Suddenly, the stupid man stirred, turning his body just so. Sakura knew she was going to fall as his action caught the hem of her yukata. She found herself falling forward and shrieked out in dismay.
Sebastian woke up at the sound of the female voice squeaking and found himself greeted by Sakura landing on top of him. He was bloody surprised and mighty pleased to be accosted at such an early hour with such a beautiful and soft body. Because she was so small, her weight was nothing to him, so he didn't feel anything when she smashed onto him. Though he couldn't say the same for her. She looked like she was hurt rather badly, what with the painful face she was pulling.