Page 98 of Grumpy Billionaire Bad Boy

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,sheaskedmeout. 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'strying to get on Ivy's good side and show her that we aren't as close as she thinks we are.

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