Page 53 of Delilah In Discretion

I groaned, thinking about his rather questionable advice. If I kept pursuing Delilah, being overly possessive as I usually was, that would get me nowhere. If I left her alone, I would respect her wishes, but I would absolutely be crushing my own.

With how stubborn my princess was, a simple apology wouldn’t be enough. Maybe I did need to take a step back. It would, unfortunately, give Luca room to swoop in, but I already told him she was off-limits. And if he’d forgotten,I would just have to remind him again.

Walking out of my room as I continued thinking, Sterling followed, and we continued down the stairs silently. I stopped in my tracks as I watched Vivienne hug Stephan as he stood by the door with his bags. She pulled away with a sad smile, which grew a little more when she saw me.

“Oh, Archer, were you coming to bid Stephan goodbye?”

I shook my head. “No, I was on my way to kick Sterling out.”

Sterling scoffed. “I thought you were taking me to the kitchen.”

“What indication could I have possibly given you that would let you know I was taking you to the kitchen? My second sentence said to you today was ‘get out’—” I started, but Vivienne cleared her throat.

“Boys! Please. It’s simply coincidental that you came just in time, Archer, to see Stephan off,” she said with a smile, and I saw through it. The look in her eyes was basically begging me to say something, but the look on Stephan’s face purely told me he was only here still because of her.

“I’ll let you get to it then...” she said again, giving Stephan one last hug before heading somewhere else.

We sat in silence for a while, until Sterling whispered, “God, I feel so uncomfortable right now.”

Feeling that way myself, I couldn’t even blame him.

Stephan stood by the door, emotionless as he looked at me directly, waiting for me to speak.

“I wasn’t aware that you were leaving today,” I muttered, and he sighed.

“You seem to be unaware of many things, Archer. If you didn’t know, I’m doing your job too. If this is supposed to be about us working together as a family, I seem to be the only one making any sacrifices while you get to enjoy what is to come without a care in the world.”

“Our father asked both of us who would much rather go overseas to handle business, and your hand went up as quick as the shit you just spoke came out,” I said.

Sterling coughed as I knew he was doing his best not to laugh.

Stephan chuckled sarcastically. “Whatever happened to us getting our brotherly love back on track?”

“It left the moment you decided to push me away.”

He nodded. “Keep building that anger towards me, and our feelings toward one another will be so mutual that we’ll be as close as two peas in a pod.” He grabbed his bags, and I looked away as he placed his hand on the doorknob.

He paused before turning his head.

“Archer—” he started, but I shook my head.

“Just leave,” I muttered, and there was another slight pause before the front door opened and closed.

Walking into the locker rooms, I dressed in my fencing gear and sighed, holding my helmet in my hand. Yet another one of these absurd extracurricular courses the school wants us to take fordiversity. I internally scoffed. Diversity, my ass. I grabbed my saber as Sterling approached me with his helmet in his hand and a fearful expression on his face.

“Can I be your partner, please?” he asked quickly, and I shook my head.

“I don’t think that’s a smart idea.”

He whined childishly in response. “Why not!!”

I shrugged, fixing up the rest of my gear. “I may accidentally kill you.”

He eyed me carefully. “The goal is to score while touching your opponent with the tip of your sword only.”

“Exactly. That means what I have in mind that I want to do to you is meant for another game.”

He looked up to the ceiling and sighed. “Why do you have to be so brutally honest? Do you maybe think that has to do with why a certainsomeonemay not want you to be near them?”

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