Page 21 of Just Try, Again and Again

“I’ll keep an eye out for places you might like in Osaka.”

A genuine happy smile finally appears on his face. “And I’ll start looking for tickets. Let’s focus on the positive, okay?”

And a few hours after that, my homebound flight left the airstrip at LAX, and I left half of my heart with Bryce Randall Simmons. Did I make the right decision by letting our relationship be in limbo and going back to Japan with my father, in the hope that we can repair our relationship? Or should I have stayed in America longer and spent more time with the only boy I have ever loved instead?

18

Bryce - 19 years old

Christmas Day, Freshman Year for Bryce and Gap Year for Haruki

Do you want anything else from here except for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups?

Haruki

No, but bring loooots of them please

Under one condition :)

Haruki

Oh boy…

Send me nudes :)

I feel my dick tenting inside my jeans at the sight of Haruki’s naked body on my screen. She sent me a selfie taken from the top. Her hardened nipples are the main attraction of the whole shot, but her smoldering eyes looking directly at the camera are the things that are pumping my blood right now.Not that long now, Bryce. Tomorrow morning, you’ll be on the first flight out of here.

“Bryce, are you decent?” Lily’s voice is loud and clear from the other side of the door.

I laugh, knowing that she can hear my chuckles and is probably rolling her eyes. The last time I went home, Cameron brought a one-night stand and started going at it in my room while I was video chatting with Haruki in the pool house. The poor girl is traumatized. I guess even he needs to get used to the house not being as empty as it used to be.

“I wouldn’t call it decent. I’m wearing this hideous thing you gave me,” I tell her as I open the door. My finger points to the red sweater with the slogan “World’s Most Mediocre Stepbrother” written on it.

“I gave you that as a gag gift. Why are you even wearing it?” Lily can’t hold in her laugh as she takes out her phone and takes a picture of me.

“Haruki wanted to see it.” I shrug. “She thinks you’re really funny for giving me this. Anyway, what do you need? I still have to finish packing.”

Surprising even myself, I’ve been going home to Elsham Cove every other week ever since I started going to RadTech. Seeing Haruki with her dad made me want to improve my relationship with mine. Since Astrid has him wrapped around her little finger, he’s home a lot now. Plus, it’s been nice to get to know Lily better. When she’s not sulking, she’s actually a pretty cool kid.

“Mom wants us to take a picture in front of the Christmas tree again. She said you blinked in the one from this morning.”

“Tell her I’ll be right down.” I give Lily a small smile, trying to hold my tongue from saying something awful. Astrid has toned down her bitchiness ever since her wedding, and what she pulled actually did some good, so I’m letting her be for the time being.

The house looks so much different than when it was just Dad and me. I have to give it to her—she really does know how to make the place feel festive, even if it’s just for show. I basically had to slap myself when I walked into the house yesterday on Christmas Eve and saw all the different decorations.

Astrid is bossing Lily and my dad around, organizing them in front of the tree like they are Christmas ornaments. She spots me when she turns her head, and a smile breaks out on her face. “Bryce, my dear. Come here, stand next to Lily, would you? And please put on the cashmere sweater that I got you instead of this one.”

I want to tell her to shut it and get off my fucking back, but Lily’s eyes are pleading with me not to make a scene. So again, I bite my tongue and take the navy blue sweater out of the gift box and put it on.Pretentious ass bitch.

When our housekeeper snaps a picture of our blended family, the flash from the camera reminds me of Haruki. The flutter in my stomach gets stronger the more my mind replays the second half of this year in my head.I have a wife.We were reckless, but it was the right decision, and the easiness of our long-distance relationship is proof of that. I don’t see him that often around campus, but I owe Logan the fucking world for hooking us up with that clerk in Hawaii.

“So, son,” my dad says as he taps my shoulder, “when are you leaving?”

“My flight leaves at three in the morning.”

“Is it serious between the two of you?”If you only fucking knew.

As much as I’m trying to play it cool, my mouth forms into a grin. “Yeah, I love her.”

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