24. Archer
Chapter 24
Archer
I t's been a week since London and I hooked up at the restaurant and things are back to being awkward and tense. She's quiet, reserved, and if I'm not mistaken, she's hiding something but I'm just not sure what.
I thought things went great. I thought we connected again. I thought we might be able to see our way through this and here she is, icing me out again.
I guess it isn't entirely bad. It just isn't what I wanted from this. I want her to want me the way I want her. If life has taught me anything, it's that we don't always get what we want, and right now, I'm going to have to settle for what I can get because the thought of anything less makes my chest ache.
If simply existing in the same space as London is what I get, I'll accept that, even if it hurts a little bit, too.
"Hey," she calls from the kitchen. "Do you want to split this bagel?"
I shrug and keep my eyes glued to the screen in front of me, typing away at some code to strengthen the security at August's headquarters. It's been a while since I've reinforced things, and if he found out how much I've dropped the ball recently, he'd have my head. "You can have it," I tell her.
London doesn't respond, and I don't expect her to.
Except, once a few minutes pass, she comes over and places a plate next to me, half of a bagel with cream cheese on it. "Here."
"Thanks." I look up at her, her glowing green gaze locking onto mine and reminding me of her watery eyes as she was swallowing me down. I reach for her when she walks away, catching her hand gently. "Hey."
She stops, her back still to me. "What's up?"
"Are we good?" I ask her, but the second it's out of my mouth I realize how stupid and insecure it sounds.
What's wrong with me?
London clears her throat. "Yeah. Why wouldn't we be?"
"For starters, you'll barely look at me."
Slowly, she turns around. "I'm looking at you right now."
"Because I said something about it."
"Say what you want to say, Archer." She chews at her lip and crosses her arms, a dead giveaway that she's trying to put a barrier between us.
I stand from my computer chair and step toward her, her neck tilting up to keep her eyes on me. My hand grazes her cheek and tucks her red hair behind her ear. "Why do you keep pretending like there isn't something between us?" I whisper, still caressing her face.
She swallows harshly.
"You drive me fucking insane, London. But I don't want it any other way. The thought of you with another man…" My jaw tenses and my heart pounds harder at the image of anyone else touching her. I wanted to keep things platonic with us, but how can I do that when I want to kill anyone who breathes the same air as her? "I can't deny this anymore. Tell me you don't feel the same and I'll let it go, but until then, I'm not going to stop pursuing you, pursuing us."
"Archer…it's not that simple."
"It doesn't have to be simple." I skim my thumb over her soft skin and linger my sights on her lips. "Nothing worthwhile ever is."
"It's too complicated. You don't even know me, not the real me."
"You're right," I tell her. "But we've lived together for five weeks. Spent every single day together. We've had meals and fights and intimate moments. That must count for something. I know how you like your coffee and I've picked up your little quirks, like how you don't wait for your food to cool down before you eat it, how you can read a book in record speed, how you insist on doing things yourself, how you pretend everything is fine when there's a tornado brewing inside here." I place a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I've seen you battered and bruised, and polished and put together. I adore both versions of you, all versions of you." I take a breath and continue. "It doesn't have to be forever, I'm just asking that you give me a chance. A date, a real one. Let me take you out. Just the two of us. Let's forget about everything else and just focus on us. If you hate it, if you don't feel anything, we can go back to the way things were before, no harm no foul. One chance, what do you say?"
London takes a long breath in, her bottom lip trembling ever so slightly. "What if we can't go back to the way things were before?"
"Would that be such a bad thing?" I ask her and withstand the urge to quiet her mind with my mouth on hers.
"One date," she says and pokes my chest. "But nothing fancy. I'm serious. I want something simple, like pizza on the roof.”
“Do you want me to stand outside your window with a boombox, too?
“I'm not impressed by money, no matter how materialistic you think I am."
"I don't think you're…"
But she cuts me off. "I'm going to stop you there, big boy. One thing I don't tolerate is lying. Don't lie to me. Ever. I don't care how bad you think it will hurt my feelings. Tell me the truth."
I shake my head. "No lying."
"Now eat your bagel," she instructs me, that adorable playfulness I've been missing returning in full force.
I glance at my watch. "Family will be here around noon for lunch. What do you say I pick you up at your place around seven?"
"Tonight?"
I nod a bit too enthusiastically. "Too soon?"
London rolls her eyes and walks away, her jeans hugging her ass in all the right ways.
When I open the door to let my siblings in, Ivy homes in on me immediately. "Why are you smiling?"
"I'm not smiling." I step out of the way to let them enter.
Ivy's heels clatter on the hardwood floor, Leo pushes past her to get in, walking right by and plopping down on the couch, his phone glued to his hand. August finishes up a call, his face pinched like he's annoyed by something, and Seven drags his feet, quite literally, his entire body sluggish as if he doesn't want to be here at all.
"Brother," I say to Seven and wonder if I'm going to have to swing on him again today.
He slaps me on the shoulder, his glassy eyes meeting mine. Seven is already drunk and it's barely noon. Part of me worries for him but the other half, the more rational side, recognizes that he's a grown-ass adult who can make decisions, and mistakes, on his own. My only hope is that they don't impact our family and everything we've built. One bad move and Seven could crumble our entire empire. Perhaps I could care more after all.
Ivy scans the apartment and I follow her over to the table where she drops a bag of food and takes the other one from under August's arm. "Where's the princess?"
"Excuse me?"
"London. Where is she?" Ivy drags out box followed by box of Chinese food, the one meal we can all agree on.
"She's in the bathroom, is that okay with you, sister?"
Ivy continues getting the food out of the paper bag. "Something's off about her, Arch. I just know it."
"Something's off about all of us, doesn't mean it's a bad thing."
She stops and looks directly at me, her gaze daring me to understand. "I'm not wrong about this."
"Maybe you are, have you considered that?" I walk away, go into the kitchen, pull out plates, forks, and napkins, and bring them back to the table.
"What are you two going on about?" Leo says, his attention split between his phone and us.
"Get over here and help us, you lazy shit," Ivy teases him and glances over at Seven who's wandering toward where I keep my liquor. "God damn it." She breaks away to go over and redirect him. "You're already piss-drunk, Sev. Can't you go one meal without getting hammered?"
Seven pouts but otherwise complies, letting Ivy push him into the dining room and onto a chair. He slumps there, his mood more subdued than usual.
"What's he on?" I ask Ivy quietly.
"Beats me." She shrugs and plops a container of food in front of him. "Eat this. Sober up."
Seven shoves it, pouting like a child and folding his arms over his chest. "I'm not hungry."
The door to the bathroom opens, London darting out a second later and going into my bedroom. I close the distance between us in a few long strides and lightly tap on the door, my other arm pressed against the frame, waiting for her.
London peeks her head through the doorway "Yeah?"
"Come on. Eat with us."
"Enjoy your time with your family. I don't want to intrude." London averts her gaze like she's looking past me but at nothing in particular.
"You're not intruding." I pause then add, "And besides, when has that ever stopped you?"
London doesn't laugh at my joke and I worry I may have ruined things before they even started. I just got her back; I can't lose her already. "I don't know," she says.
"Don't know what? I want you to eat with us. Please?"
London sighs, tugging her bottom lip into her mouth. I want to reach out and make her stop, but we aren't there yet. Not when things are too up in the air between us.
"Fine," she says finally. "I'll be out in a minute."
"You promise?" I ask, that desperation in my tone I wish I could get rid of.
I'm a fucking simp and I can barely hide it.
"Yes, Archer, I promise." London closes the door and I return to my siblings, all four of them now at the table.
"Nice of you to join us," Leo mouths off. "Where's Little Miss?"
"She's coming, don't worry."
"I'm sure that's not the first time she's come for you," he replies.
I stare directly at him, my cheeks no doubt turning red from his out-of-place remark.
He throws up his hands. "I'm just saying, you two came back to dinner pretty flushed the other night."
Ivy stops scooping noodles onto her plate. "You went to dinner? Without me?"
"It wasn't that kind of dinner, sis. More like a double date." Leo grabs an egg roll out of the sack and holds it in front of himself.
"And who was your date?" she asks him without realizing the weight of the answer that's to follow.
"Grace," he says without skipping a beat.
I narrow my eyes, preparing for the outburst from Seven, only when I settle my sights on him, he's doing nothing but staring directly at Leo. Typically, he'd have reacted by now and I don't know if that should concern us more or not.
"You and Grace went out on a double date with Archer and London?" Ivy points between us like she's trying to make sense of it all.
"Well, originally, London was on a date with Austin, but Archer stormed in and threatened him. Naturally, of course. And then he demanded everyone in the restaurant leave and took Austin's place. Even made the waitstaff clear the table and wouldn't let them bring out any meat." Leo takes a bite of his egg roll, his expression smug.
"Austin was being an asshole," I add. "Leo failed to mention that part."
Ivy pinches the bridge of her nose. "This just keeps getting more complicated." She turns toward me. "Are you two a thing or not? You said you weren't. You said she was a means to an end. You said you couldn't stand her and wanted her out. What is it, brother?"
If London hadn't already heard all this, I'd be more pissed at Ivy for speaking so loudly, but I know damn well she's doing it on purpose to stir shit.
Ivy aggressively points at Leo. "And you. You know Seven has a crush on her, why would you take Grace on a date? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Seven has a crush on everyone," Leo blurts out. "He can't call dibs on everyone. Plus, she asked me out. What was I supposed to do, say no? That's not very gentlemanly of me."
"Since when are you a gentleman?" August chimes in and sets his phone on the table. "What did I miss?" He stands, removing his suit jacket and hanging it over the back of his chair, then rolls his sleeves up.
Seven wipes at his nose. "Grace and Leo are fucking, and London and Archer are fucking. Ivy is losing her mind about it because no one told her, and I'm the embarrassment of the family."
The door to the bedroom latches shut and London walks over, stopping a few feet from the table. "Archer and I aren't fucking, for the record."
Not yet , I think. The way our bodies gravitate toward each other, I'm not certain how much longer we can withstand the tug-of-war.
"And Grace and I haven't hooked up either," Leo adds and eats more of his egg roll.
"And I'm not losing my mind." Ivy sighs heavily and sits in her chair. "I just wish you guys would talk to me instead of shutting me out. I feel like I'm the last to know everything."
August reaches out and pats Ivy's shoulder, her body seeming to relax at his touch.
London takes the open seat next to Ivy, which happens to be the one next to Seven, too. I clench my teeth at him being that close to her. Why wouldn't she have sat next to me? Maybe she's trying to get on Ivy's good side and show her that we aren't as close as she thinks we are.
Ivy sits up, reaches for a box of food, and puts it in front of London, almost like a peace offering. "This is vegetarian."
"Thanks," London says, opening it up.
The room goes quiet aside from everyone's chewing. It's awkward, although I'm not sure any of our family dinners aren't weird in some capacity. I don't enjoy them, but it makes Ivy happy, and despite her making me mad from time to time, I do love her and want the best for her. We all do, that's why we have these silly family meals.
"So tell me about your parents," Ivy starts, looking directly at London.
"They're dead. What about yours?" London knows damn well that we're orphans who banded together and vowed to be stronger than blood and yet she asks anyway, no doubt to get under Ivy's skin.
"Probably dead, too."
London chuckles. "Hey, at least we have that in common."
"Yeah. I guess so."
"What happened to them?" Ivy persists. "If you don't mind me asking."
London swallows the bite of food in her mouth and pats her lips with her napkin. "Well, my dad killed my mom when I was three. And he died not that long ago."
"Damnnn," Seven draws out. "That's brutal." He leans forward, placing his tattooed arms on the table and resting his head in his hands. "How did he do it?"
"Seven," I command. "Knock it off."
"Yeah," Ivy agrees. "You don't have to tell us the details." She glares at Seven. "You know better than that."
Seven slams his fist on the table. "You get to pry, but I can't? How is that fair?"
"Because I can know where the line is, Seven," Ivy tells him. "You have no filter."
"Whatever," he scoffs, leaning back in his chair. "Can we leave yet?"
"What's your hurry?" August asks him. "Do you have work that needs to be done?"
"No, I'm just fucking bored." Seven motions toward Ivy, his hand going dangerously close to London. "Sis won't let me drink, what else am I supposed to do?"
"Not everything is about you," Leo says. "You can suffer through a meal like the rest of us."
"Excuse me? Suffer?" Ivy sucks in a deep breath and I wonder if she's going to implode. "Torture? Is that what this is? Spending time with your family? How fucking self-centered and selfish of you." She turns to August. "Do you feel this way, too?"
"I didn't say anything." August flinches like she's about to hit him and he's bracing for it. For such a large, brutal man, he sure is afraid of such a tiny person. Ivy has always been a spitfire, though, especially since she has to put up with us. We've trained her well over the years, teaching her how to fight, defend herself, and shoot guns—giving her all the tools she requires to keep herself safe when we aren't around. She's deadly despite the small package she comes in and the sweet exterior.
"Why don't you leave then, huh?" she huffs at Seven and turns to Leo. "Fucking leave if you don't want to be here."
"I don't have to take this shit," Seven says. "I didn't want to come in the first place." He stands from the table so quickly his chair goes shooting out from behind him.
I react without thought, rising to my feet and readying myself to tackle him if he takes one step toward London.
"The fuck do you think you're going to do about it, tough guy?" Seven shoves my shoulder.
"Don't start with me," I say through gritted teeth.
"Why can't we make it through one fucking meal without one of you fighting the other?" Ivy shakes her head. "This is disgraceful."
Leo snatches a box of food off the table. "I'm out, you coming, Sev?"
"Don't pretend like you're my friend, you arrogant prick." Seven stumbles in his spot, his body swaying under him. Whatever he's on must be fucking with his balance. "You knew I fucking liked her and you took her out anyway. You're lucky I don't come over there and snap your fucking neck."
I extend my arm, preventing Seven from advancing any further. "Dude, really? He's your brother. Don't say shit like that."
Seven's mismatched eyes meet mine. "I'd kill you all and not think twice."
"Get the fuck out of my apartment," I tell him, the rage in me building.
"My fucking pleasure." He looks down at London. "Call me if things don't work out with this douchebag. I can fuck you better than he can."
"That's enough." I grab his shoulders and all but drag him from the table, not stopping until I reach the front door and shove him through.
He shakes me off him and straightens his shirt. "You're just mad I'm right."
"You're so high I doubt you could get your dick up, Seven. Go home. Sober up. You're fucking pathetic."
"You wanna fucking go?" He shoves me, his hand slipping off my shoulder, his entire body falling. He struggles to catch himself from hitting the floor, lowering himself completely and slumping against the wall.
"You're the only one calling yourself an embarrassment, Seven, and nothing you're doing is proving to us otherwise. Get your shit together."
"Must be nice to be the golden child," Seven says, his words slurring.
I stop in my tracks as I'm walking away from him, his statement digging in like a knife. I turn around slowly and attempt to carefully choose my response, a million things I want to say fighting for their path out of my mouth. "Me? The golden child? Seven, you're a fucking lunatic. Leo is an arrogant, self-centered prick, and August? He's so fucking calculated and always right, it makes me sick. There's no room to be anything other than out of the way. I can't afford to go off the rails like you. Who else would hold this family together? Huh? I ask for a little privacy while I grieve, and it's met with cleaning up mess after mess from you. I'm supposed to be taking time away from this business to figure shit out."
"You're not the only one who lost someone." Seven looks up at me, something broken in his stare. His eyes are glazed over but not from whatever he's on, but because he's near tears. I've never seen him this torn apart and despite wanting to do right by him, there's nothing I, or anyone else, can do for him. Not until he truly hits rock bottom. You can't help someone who doesn't want to help themselves, they'll only pull you down with them.
I kneel beside him. "I love you, Seven. I really do. But I don't like you very much anymore." I leave Seven behind in the hallway and return to my apartment, a heavy weight following me like a shadow, cloaking me in his sadness and despair. I hate that he's hurting and there's nothing I can do about it.
Passing Leo on the way in, I ignore him and continue toward the table, my chest not relaxing until I lay my sights on London. It's not that I don't trust my siblings, but they are a little off the hinges and I don't want them to ruin whatever slim chance I have with her before I get the opportunity to see it through myself.
"Everything okay?" Ivy says to me once I reach the table.
"Yep." I slip into the seat next to London, not realizing it wasn't the one I was sitting in before until I'm already there. I run my hands through my hair, tugging it tightly. "Everything is fine."
London gently places her hand on my shoulder, rubbing it ever so slightly. "Do you want to talk about it?" Her voice soothes me unlike anything I've ever known. I don't want her to have this effect on me, this power over me.
But I especially don't want Seven to have the ability to ruin my day—not one that I intend to take London on a date later.
August clears his throat. "He's going to be fine. Just needs some time."
"How much time?" I ask him. "He's been this way his entire life. There's something wrong with him. He needs professional help."
Ivy shrugs. "He won't do it. I've tried. And the few people that he's gone to, they've turned him away after a couple of visits. He's out of control."
"He needs to be institutionalized," I suggest. "I don't even mean that in a condescending way. I just don't know what else can be done."
"He's too dangerous," Ivy says. "He'd kill them all." She catches what she says the second it's out of her mouth, looking over to London to gauge her reaction.
I watch her carefully too, unsure how she'll respond to us speaking so candidly about our fucked-up brother.
But London remains there, no surprise hidden in her features but very cognizant of our conversation.
"I'm sorry," she announces. "Did you want me to leave the room so you guys could talk privately?" London goes to stand up but Ivy puts her hand out to stop her.
"No, it's fine. You've already seen his outbursts. There's no denying his true nature now." Ivy leans back in her chair. "I hate to say it, but he's a lost cause."
My heart aches for her—only being able to imagine what it must feel like to have a blood brother, one that I shared a womb with, who acts so incredibly opposite in all the worst ways. She does everything she can to diffuse him, and still, he's a ticking time bomb that's set on exploding. And the more she makes it her problem, the more it consumes her life. She deserves better than that, we all do.
I can't fathom this is fun for Seven either. I know he doesn't choose to be like this, but there has to be some tipping point for him to want to change, to be better, if not for himself then for his twin sister.