“Don’t touch me.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he says, sounding more distressed by the second. “Please stay, and let’s talk about this some more.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’ve made up my mind.”
I limp like a wounded puppy toward the door, dragging my feet as my heart convulses against my ribs in protest. If this is the right thing to do, then why does it feel like I’m making a huge mistake?
“Jackson,” Maverick calls out behind me.
I reach the doorframe, sag against it, and sigh. If he begs me to stay, I think I just might. I want to be with him, not walk away from him. “What?”
But he doesn’t try to stop me from leaving. He utters two words I never imagined would come out of his mouth.
“You’re fired.”
32
Maverick
“You didwhat?” Wagner stares at me in disbelief.
I drop my head into my hands, pressing my palms into my eyes so hard I start seeing swirling, concentric patterns. “I fired Jackson,” I repeat meekly from the leather sofa in my brother’s home office.
“For not dating you?”
“No.”
“Well then, for what? For having a disability?”
“Of course not. I would never do that. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Hey, I’m not the one who fired an employee right after they disclosed a medical condition and indicated they weren’t interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with their boss. He’s going to sue.”
“He won’t.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I didn’t mean it.”
He throws his hands up, equal parts confused and frustrated. “You didn’t mean to fire him?”
“I didn’t.”
“So why did you?”
“He was leaving, and I didn’t want him to go. I was literally on the verge of getting down on my knees and begging him to stay. You should have seen his face. I could tell he didn’t want to end things. But he’s such a stubborn fucker he wouldn’t back down. I knew there was nothing I could say or do that would get through to him.”
“So you fired him?”
“My brain snapped. I wasn’t thinking straight. I was still reeling from what he’d told me. Firing him was the only thing I could think of to make him stay.”
“And did he?”
“No.” An unhinged grin spreads across my face, the sole bright spot in this otherwise total clusterfuck. “He flipped me off.”
He shakes his head in disbelief. “I do not understand you at all sometimes. You need to call Ollie.”
“For a supportive shoulder to cry on that my brother isn’t offering?”
