Page 56 of Accidental Dad's Best Friend

“Nah. It just comes up once in a while at social events. She was the one that threw a fit about not being skinny and slammed all the fit girls in Slay right?”

Blood vessels in my head are practically exploding. In short, I am pissed. I look to Liam, expecting his golf club to crashover Justin’s head. But it doesn’t. In fact, he’s smiling. Chuckling even.

“I have to say, she didn’t get her reckless ways from me,” he says. “That girl came into this world stirring things up and I’ve been trying to break her of her bad habits ever since.”

Make that seething.

“She didn’t throw a fit. She told the truth. Isn’t that what we are supposed to be doing?”

“Sometimes, sure?” Chad adds. “But entertainment is the point. We aren’t newspapers. We’re magazines. We are what people grab when they want to distract themself from real life.”

“We are also art. And beauty. And knowledge. And–”

Liam cuts me off. “Are we actually doing this right now? Jesus fucking Christ, Savage. Listen to you. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you traded your laptop in for a quill and some parchment. You sound like a goddamn poet.”

Justin and Bryce smile, tight smiles. Chad laughs. I burn holes into Liam’s face with my eyes.

“My bad,” I sniff, turning to pull my bag out of the cart. “I thought we were writers. I thought we did this because we are passionate about it, not for fame or money or stats.”

“What are you trying to say, Ethan? You don’t think I’m as good as you anymore?”

I stop. Stare at him. Everyone else is watching through their aviators. Cool and calm. Well except for Chad. He doesn’t know what the fuck is going on. He’s just smacking his gum looking between us like he’s watching an air hockey match at an arcade.

“I think you’ve lost sight of what matters. Ofwho matters.”

Liam takes his shades off, his glare icy on mine. He takes a step closer to me, chest firm, in an attempt to intimidate me. We are the same height.

“Are you talking about Isabelle?”

“Isabelle. And everyone else you knock to the ground when you don’t think there’s enough room on the mountain top for your shrine.”

“You better watch your mouth while you talk about my Izzy,” he grits out. He’s standing close enough to me that I can feel the heat of his breath on my own mouth. It smells like tobacco and whiskey.

You meanmyIzzy.

He has no right calling her that. She does not belong to him.

“Says the man who has abandoned his daughter because he is ashamed of her.”

I hear Justin clear his throat. Bryce is lucky enough to have a call to take and walks off. Chad stands there gaping.

“You need to back up.”

“And you need to stop hurting people just for the thrill. Izzy included.”

“What do you know about any of it?”

I do take a step back. But it’s not a back down. I grab my putter and position myself in front of the ball. It's a foot or so behind Liam’s. A little to the side. “Well, I know that you have gained a lot of traction in the literary world in the past decade or so. Some might even say that it’s because you’re the best. I also know that most of that success came not from working to build yourself up. But by tearing other people down. Take Chad for example.” I nod over at him and Chad just watches, almost like he’s happy to be part of the conversation. Chad is stupid.

“Chad thought he was going golfing with us today because he assumes you see him as a friend in the business. He’s a great writer, from the sound of it, even if he colors a little brightly here and there.”

“I exaggerate. But don’t we all?” Chad laughs, though it’s less cocky this time.

“The problem that Chad couldn’t have seen coming, yet you did, Liam, because you planted the trap, was that Chad’s lips got loose and he told you about what he does in the dark for Muscle. Now Chad, what do you think is the catalyst for NBT’s recent success?”

“Good…writing?”

“Aim lower.” I nod down at him. He has no idea what I am talking about. Meanwhile, Liam is seething.

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