Page 96 of Unbossly Manners

“Hey guys,” I said, after bringing in a fresh pitcher of water. “People are murmuring around the office about why the bosses are all holed up in here. And Brody looks spooked.”

The team glanced at each other, but before they could respond, I continued, “We could tell people there’s a controversy on social media—racist trolls ended up on one of our accounts and the media picked up on it and we’re working on damage control.”

Brody eyed the Thinktank nervously through the windows.

“Good idea,” Isaac said.

“I’ll mention it to Karen,” I said. “She loves a bit of office gossip. It’ll spread around in no time.”

* * *

It was nine, and I was lying on the sofa in the break lounge, exhausted. I’d meant to close my eyes for a moment, but the next thing I knew someone was shaking my shoulder.

I peeled one eye open.

“Hey, sleepyhead.” Jackson sat on the sofa next to me and moved my feet onto his lap.

I sat up, moving my feet to the floor, the gesture too intimate. I’d created a boundary and I was keeping it. Up close, Jackson’s eye looked worse, the skin above it purple and yellowing at the edges.

“Does it hurt?”

“Not too bad.” He clasped his hands in his lap, his foot tapping nervously.

The air between us crackled with the tension of things unspoken. He’d been in a horrible accident and I hadn’t spoken a word to him since it happened. That wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. But how could I tell him that for those minutes when I thought he was gone, I died a little too? I had no recollection of traveling from the medical tent to the hospital, my mind unable to comprehend a world he wasn’t in.

“You left.” His voice was soft, with a note of bewilderment.

I turned away, my heart jamming in my throat.

“I’m staying with Selena. Her place finally freed up.”

My hand rested between us on the cushion and he moved his right hand on top of mine. In a gentle motion, his thumb rubbed my finger. My belly did a funny flip thing.

“Stop it, Jackson.” I walked to the wet bar, placing several feet of distance between us.

“Are you with Derrick?” He stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I saw you together earlier.”

“Does it matter?” I glared, my guard shooting up like a steel fence.

“Yes,” he said simply. “I don’t like it.”

The air was sucked from my lungs and it took me a moment to recover.

“I don’t care,” I said, indignant. “What’s happening between Derrick and me is none of your business. I’m sorry if your ego is bruised, but you have no right to any part of my life.”

Jackson flinched as if my words had physically hit him.

“I know I don’t but I hoped that as your friend, you’d want me to be privy to some parts of your life. We’ve been through a lot, haven’t we?” He exhaled, his hands fisting. “It hurt that you didn’t visit me in the hospital. I know you were there.”

I met his eyes. “You had Kat.”

His shoulders slumped. “I wanted you there.”

I turned, my fingers gripping the cool marble of the bar. “I’m not doing this, Jackson.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Peyton.”

I ground my jaw, and blocked the sorrow from moving past my throat, the effort causing physical pain in my neck. My back was to him and I was glad he couldn’t see the mess of emotions spinning my insides like a pottery wheel out of control.

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