Page 105 of Seeds of Malice

Dax's gaze burns with hot fire. He snarls, "I am not embarrassed by Ivy. I'm embarrassed byyou."

She ignores his last comment and declares, "You are totally ashamed of her. You're hiding her from everybody else becauseyou don't want anyone to know that you're dating Little Miss Hillbilly." She turns her smirk on me, continuing, "Don't worry, Ivy. School starts in a week. You'll be off Dax's radar then."

My heart sinks, and my insides quiver. My mouth turns dry. I stare at the table, blinking hard.

Dax pulls my chin up so I can't avoid him. "Don't listen to her. It's not true."

"Prove it. Take her to the party," Avery demands.

Dax clenches his jaw for a few moments.

I say nothing, too afraid I'll cry and give Avery another win.

"You want to go to the party?" Dax quietly asks me.

I shrug. "If you want to."

"See? She doesn't even want to go. She's embarrassed to show up, as well," Avery claims.

Matt scolds, "Avery, please."

"You sure you want to go, baby girl?" Dax asks.

I take a deep breath and nod. Then, I look at Avery, lifting my chin in confidence. There's no way I'm letting her win and not showing up on Dax's arm. "Yeah, we'll see you there."

17

Dax

Something feels off. My original intention to take Ivy to the Alpha Omega Tau party no longer feels right.

Avery arrived at just the right moment. I should be elated by manipulating Ivy into going.

I'm not.

My sister played her part perfectly, but it feels like Avery has something up her sleeve...something I'm not going to like.

I shouldn't be surprised. She always does. So I should have played this differently than normal. I shouldn't have told her about my dinner at the chophouse.

That dweeb, Matt, better keep his paws off Ivy.

It's a mystery what Avery is doing with him. She has yet to lay her cards down, but she's using him for some reason. She would never be into him, and he's too stupid to realize it.

I'll have to be patient to find out whatever game Avery is playing. That's the thing about her. She's a master at keeping things hidden, divulging tiny details only as needed. So only time will tell me her end game.

Knowing Avery, she'll reveal it when it's least expected and takes everyone by surprise. And I have to give her credit for her skills. As annoying as she is, she plays the game even better than I do at times.

Then again, I taught her everything she knows. It was my mistake to not realize she'd be even better at it than I am at times. When it works in my favor, I love it. When she outplays me, I detest myself for mentoring her.

We leave dinner and I head toward the party. My gut continues to sink when I pull up to the frat house.

This isn't the right move.

It is. Stick with the plan.

It's clear Avery and I tapped into Ivy's insecurities about fitting in. We've done it a hundred times with different girls and guys. So I don't know why I'm feeling so off about this, but I am.

I'm going soft.

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