Page 109 of Seeds of Malice

The sucker falls for it. "Absolutely not. You know I only have eyes for you."

My sister puts on her fake, vulnerable expression that she's mastered.

He slides his bony arm around her. He lowers his voice, and red crawls up his cheeks. "You know how I feel about you."

It disgusts me how easily he caves.

He needs to grow some balls.

I allow Avery to play her game for a moment. She softly smiles at Matt, breaks her gaze with him, then glares daggers at Ivy. She seethes, "Stop using my brother."

Ivy gapes at her, shaking her head. Then she tells me, "I'm not using you, Dax."

I tug her into me, lean into her ear, and murmur, "I know you aren't. Stop letting Avery win."

She releases an anxious breath. Then she opens her mouth, but I put my finger over her lips.

I order, "Let's drop it."

She stares at me for a second, and I realize the glassiness in her eyes is more than emotion. She's definitely a little intoxicated from the several glasses of wine I made sure she drank at dinner.

I warn Avery, "Move on."

She purses her lips, and my nerves reappear. I never know what she'll do when she tosses me that look. It's a wild card, and she takes me by surprise most of the time. And Avery's surprisesonly involve her winning. I just hope she's still on my team where Ivy is concerned.

Bobby holds out a shot. "Time to have some fun. I agree you should ignore Avery." He holds the tequila in front of Ivy.

She glances at it.

I grab it and knock it back.

"Geez, you're a little selfish tonight," Avery mutters.

I ignore her. She's getting on my nerves faster than normal tonight.

Bobby holds another shot in front of Ivy. "Here, take it."

She hesitates again.

I choose my words carefully, encouraging, "It's okay, baby girl. You can handle it."

She reaches for it, takes a sip, and scrunches her face.

Bobby instructs, "You're not supposed to sip it. Take all of it at once."

She glances at me again.

"He's right. Take the whole thing. It goes down better."

She studies her glass, works up the courage, and finally gets it down. Her face scrunches again.

"She can't even take a fucking shot," Avery snarls.

"Avery," Matt mutters.

"Ignore them," Bobby directs, puts his arm around Ivy and me, and moves us through the living room and into a bedroom. He fills our shot glasses again. "Cheers."

Ivy shifts on her feet. "No, thanks. I'm okay."

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