me off and sent me a warning look. “Cut that shit right the fuck out. I’m about to have a little girl. Those condescending types of comments about what they do aren’t going to fly with me anymore.”
“You really think it’s condescending?” I scratched my chin, thinking about his statement as a distraction from my own bullshit.
“Of course, it’s fucking condescending,” he growled and slammed the empty pot into the coffeemaker. “Now pull your head out of your ass and start talking.”
“I think I’d rather have you braiding my hair.” I got out our mugs, as was the routine, but walked back and dropped into one of the threadbare couches. “This might come as a surprise to you, but that tone doesn’t exactly invite candor.”
“Quit stalling.” He turned with his back toward the counter housing the coffeemaker and gripped the edge of it as he stared me down. “You’re not getting out of this, so you might as well get it over with.”
“Such an asshole,” I muttered under my breath.
“Takes one to know one.” He pretended to blow me a kiss, but his eyes were firm and impatient on mine. “Can you please quit stalling now? I have work to do and I’d really like to get back to my wife at some point this week.”
“I don’t even know where to start,” I admitted. “My sides just feel so empty.”
“Your sides?” He looked thoroughly confused. “Pro tip, don’t start there. That makes no fucking sense.”
“It makes sense to me.” Starting from the beginning, even if I knew he’d already heard some parts of it, I told him everything that had happened between Lindsay and me, ending with how I’d gotten so used to having her curled up into one of my sides that it now felt weird having only my arms next to my body.
Understanding washed over his features when I explained that part. “Okay, I get it now. You said earlier that you wished it had ended differently, so why didn’t it? You’ve never been one to just let the chips fall where they may.”
“Honestly? It would’ve killed me to know she was in the same city but that she wasn’t mine anymore. Even if she never really was.”
“What would you have done if she could’ve been yours? If she is in Houston, why not go after her?”
“She’s not the kind of girl who’s going to jump into the next relationship when she’s still reeling from the last. She deserves time and space to work through it.”
“No offense man, but that’s not your call to make.”
“Isn’t it?” I tipped my head to the side. “I promised her I’d protect her. Her relationship and her wedding fell apart a little over a week ago. Jumping into something with her that she isn’t ready for, or forcing her to make a decision about it right now, isn’t fair.”
“Making the decision for her isn’t fair either,” he countered. “Yet you had no problem doing that.”
“I didn’t make the decision for her. She didn’t want to say goodbye, so I fixed things so she wouldn’t have to. Done. End of our story. Now she can move on with her life without any complications while she figures out how to do that.”
His reply was interrupted by my phone ringing. The name on my screen when I fished it out of my pocket belonged to my supervisor at the airline. “Shitty fucking timing, but I have to take this.”
The timing could’ve been way shittier, to be fair, but that didn’t mean I wanted to speak to him right now. I answered anyway. It was my job, after all.
“Where have you been?” he asked after exchanging terse pleasantries. “I checked with the HR department, but there was no vacation time authorized for you this week.”
“Funny. I did put in for it.” I’d sent an email to the general account for the department while waiting for my flight. “I had a ton of time off saved up. I’m sure they’ll just take it off.”
“I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that.” His tone was filled with regret, and my gut clenched. “I have to send your file up for termination, Jaxon. You can’t just take off without any notice. It’s against our policies and procedures.”
“But—”
My protest fell on deaf ears. “It’s out of my hands. There are disciplinary procedures that must decide your fate now.”
He ended our call abruptly shortly after, not budging an inch despite anything I said. Kavan had a worried crease between his brows and