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Vivienne agreed, and they walked past the foyer, only to see Delilah now sitting on the living room couch while Ivory sat on her lap.
“Why, hello, Kitten,” Calvin greeted, and Archer immediately looked up and locked eyes on Delilah. Avoiding eye contact with Archer, she looked over to Calvin.
“Hi, Calvin.”
“Happy birthday. I have a few presents for Alfred here to bring inside for you. It’s only right that I spoil my goddaughter.”
Vivienne rolled her eyes and pushed Calvin away from them as she smiled.
“Happy birthday, sweetie,” she said to Delilah, and Brielle walked over to the little girl as she picked up Ivory.
“Kimi should be back from violin practice in a little; you can say hi to the boys if you want to,” she said, leaving room for her to decline.
But wanting to get over the awkwardness, Delilah sighed. “I’ll say hi,” she replied, and Brielle kissed her forehead.
“All right, sweetie. I’ll see you in a little.”
She walked out of the room, and Delilah stood up as she looked to the ground.
Stephan rolled his eyes. “Hello. Happy birthday I guess… bye,” he finished and walked away to where the party was being held.
Archer stood still as he watched Delilah practically tremble. He approached her slowly, and she stepped back out of instinct.
He chuckled. “Where’s my hi,Princess?” he asked her, but she knew better than his sweet tone. She bit her lip and played with her fingers as she immediately regretted her decision to stay and say hello.
“Hi, Archer.” She spoke softly, and he took another step closer to her, and instead of moving, she stood still. They stood in silence for a bit before she decided she’d had enough of the feeling of his stares.
She walked forward and moved to walk around him only to find her hand being caught in his. She stopped for a moment, and her breath hitched as he slowly pulled her beside him.
“Archer,” she said, and he hummed in response as his hand held hers in a grip that wouldn’t allow her to leave.
“You need to find a new partner for our upcoming project,” he said, and she looked over to him, finally making eye contact with him since he’d been there.
“What?”
“Colton; I don’t want him to be your partner,” he responded, and she rolled her eyes.
“He’s new and didn’t have anyone to be his partner.”
“I must’ve missed when I said that I cared about any of that. You said you didn’t want to be my partner, and I respect that…But I don’t like sharing.Work with someone else or work alone.”
Delilah went to speak but then heard a throat being cleared. They both looked over to see Reginald, who was looking clearly unimpressed.
“Kimiko has arrived from violin practice. Come along, Delilah.”
She pulled herself from Archer’s grip, which had now loosened, and walked over to Reginald. They made their way to the front door, and Delilah said nothing as all she could sense was the embarrassment that Archer had made her feel.
Kimiko stood at the door, waiting expectantly, and Reginald left the two of them as he went to tend to other matters concerning the party.
Kimiko spoke as Delilah hugged her. “Happy birthday—”
Delilah sighed as she cut her off. “Please don’t be mad,” she whispered, and her friend pulled away.
“Why would I be mad—” Kimiko stopped mid-sentence as she watched Archer saunter into the room, an expression of boredom written on his face. She pulled away from Delilah entirely and glared at Archer.
“What are you doing here? You weren’t even invited.”
He simply shrugged. “I beg to differ as my father was through the roof to see an invitation from Mrs. Russel herself.”
