Page 194 of Seeds of Malice

I stroke my thumb over her hip, and kiss her forehead.

She stirs.

"Shh," I tell her, not sure why she's so exhausted but wanting her to get rest.

Her eyes flutter. She barely gets out, "Dax."

"Yeah, gorgeous. Everything's fine," I assure her, even though everything inside me says it's not.

She blinks harder as if she's trying to wake up.

I shouldn't let her drink so much.

She slowly focuses on me. "What did we do last night?"

My heart races in panic. "You don't remember anything?"

She swallows hard and then nods, squeezing her eyes shut. Her voice shakes. "I did things..."

I pull her closer to me, kissing her forehead again. "Everything's fine, baby girl."

"Are you mad at me?" she frets.

"Shh. No. Why would I be mad at you?"

Her eyes widen. "Because I did things with other people. Lilly... Bobby..." A tear rolls out of her eye and down her cheek.

I swipe at the wetness, insisting, "It's fine. Everything's fine."

"But you made us leave. I didn't get into Gamma Sigma Phi." More tears fall.

I don't give a shit about that sorority. I'm glad she didn't get in. As much as I pressured her to do it, it was only to continue the game. Now, I'm stopping this sordid situation. I repeat, "It's okay, baby girl."

"But our future..."

I put my finger over her lips. "Our future is fine. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Are you sure?" she questions, sniffling.

I kiss her on the lips. "Yeah. Go back to sleep."

She hesitates.

"Everything's fine," I reassure again.

She swallows hard. "Are you sure? The things I did. I..." She scrunches her face and looks away.

"You didn't do anything wrong," I tell her again in my firmest voice.

She releases an anxious breath.

I order, "Now go to sleep. You need rest."

She closes her eyes and snuggles back into me, and my anger and hatred grow.

I hate that I let Bobby convince me to go forward with the game. I detest that I put Ivy in a situation I know she would never have been in without me pressuring her. And I loathe myself on a deeper level than ever before.

Ivy falls back asleep.

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