Page 217 of Seeds of Malice

John yanks her away from me, ordering, "Don't you ever talk to my daughter again, you disgusting piece of shit."

All my anger and jealousy come to a boiling point. It fuels me. I slowly rise, rub the blood across my forearm, and bark, "You're fired. Get off my property."

"What? Dax, no! You promised me you'd never fire him!" she cries out.

I turn toward her. "Then you should have thought about that before you fucked my sister."

"I didn't fuck Avery."

Horror fills John's face.

Avery declares in her fake good-girl voice, "She didn't. What are you talking about, Dax?"

I bellow, "Shut the fuck up, Avery. Stop lying."

"I'm not lying. Why would I do that? Ivy and I are friends," she claims.

"You did! You know you did! You even sent the video to me!" I boom.

Ivy shakes her head. "Dax, we're only friends."

"She taped you! She set you up! But you had to fuck her, didn't you?" I scream, out of control.

Confusion fills Ivy's face. She glances at Avery, then me, and pleads, "Please, Dax! You?—"

"I don't want to hear it, Ivy! Leave now or I'll have you arrested. Your shit will be mailed to you," I state.

"Dax, no!" Ivy begs through tears.

I get in my Porsche and slam the door.

She rushes over and bangs on the window, but I don't open it.

I reverse out of the driveway and take off, done with all of it.

There's no coming back from this. What's done is done. I know the game, and I got played.

Once you're in the position I'm in, there's no winning.

I've lost, only this time, I've lost it all—the game; my top position on the scoreboard with Bobby and Avery—but I don't even care.

Everything now's burning with flames.

None of it matters except one thing.

I lost Ivy.

And I know the game better than anyone. There are no do-overs.

My insides shake harder. I park my Porsche, go into my house, and grab a beer. To torture myself, I pull out my phone to look at photos of Ivy.

I don't get far. The first picture that pops up isn't of anyone.

John Ford's writing stares at me, and a crazed chuckle flows out of me.

I've been operating under a false assumption.

It's time to change the game.

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