Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
“We’re not going to fire you, Brittany.”
“It’s my fault,” I say. “You have to understand that. I deserve to be fired.” Here’s a situation I never imagined myself in: Instead of fighting to save my job, I’m begging to be fired. If it’s either the four men or me, it has to be me. I’m going to make sure of that.
Chase sighs again, bigger and deeper than all the rest. His hair is disheveled from running his hand through it so many times. “You’re not being let go, Brittany. You’re an asset to our business. Whatever happened, I trust that it won’t happen again, not on tour time, anyway. Why don’t you go home and get more rest? Tomorrow, we’ll talk about plans for the next tour.”
“You have to give the men their jobs back,” I tell Chase before looking to Maddox, hoping he’ll be on my side. I refused to beg the four dancers for sex, but I will beg my bosses for the men’s jobs, if that’s what it takes.
There’s a knock at the office door, and then the other two Stantons appear. Dodge sticks his head in. “Chase, it’s time to go.”
“I’m sorry to cut this short, Brittany. We will talk more tomorrow and get everything taken care of.” He walks to the door, clearing a space for me to leave.
I’m frustrated, but out of options at the moment. I should be glad that Chase is being as gracious as he is, and I am glad, but I don’t know if he believes me, or if he still believes the men. What a completely messed-up situation.
When I get to my car, I’m suddenly overcome. I’ve been holding myself together, but it’s all coming apart at the seams. I hardly ever cry, but the tears start coming, and they quickly escalate to big, ugly sobs.
If Chase doesn’t plan to fire me, I have to assume he’s not giving the men their jobs back. I can’t imagine a situation where he’s sending us all out on tour together again. Maybe he’ll allow them to return to dancing here on stage, rather than traveling. That would be the best case scenario. Owen will be able to keep taking care of his grandmother; Zane will be able to keep saving for his gym.
Even though I’m upset about their jobs, the tears are flowing because I’m so touched by the sacrifice they tried to make for me. They were all willing to lose their jobs so that I could keep mine.
Their selflessness is incredible.
These men, who I treated harshly and argued with at every opportunity — not to say they didn’t deserve a lot of it, but still — these men sacrificed their jobs for me. All four of them, even when most of them need their jobs as much as I do.
No one’s ever done anything like that for me.
But they shouldn’t have done that. They shouldn’t. My tears subside as my anger flares.
They lied about what really happened. Owen has his family to consider, and Zane has his business plans. All four of them have reputations to protect. Where are they going to get jobs after confessing to sexual harassment? No other club will hire them; no place will. Not with that on their records.
They had no right to do what they did, and I’m going to give them a piece of my mind.
36
BRITTANY
I bring them all up on a group video call, because I need to see their faces when I yell at them. And when I thank them — but first, I need to yell at them.
I should have prepared myself for seeing their faces, though, because even with each of them in a small square on my phone’s screen, the sight of them makes me feel like crying again.
“Why did you do that?” I demand before I say anything else.
“Do what?” Jordan asks. “Answer your call?” His smirk comes across clearly, and somehow, it doesn’t annoy me like it should.
“You know what I’m talking about. Why did you take the blame for what happened on the tour?”
“Hi Brittany,” Colin says, waving, bringing attention to the fact that I didn’t even say hello to them. “We took the blame, because it was our fault for being so irresistibly sexy. There’s no way you could have kept from throwing yourself at us.”
“I didn’t — argh, c’mon, be serious. I’m really pissed off.”
“We can see that,” Zane says.
“Owen, you need to take care of your sister and your grandma. You had no business putting your job at risk. Zane, you need money for your gym.”
Zane and Jordan both start to interrupt, but I keep going. “I appreciate what you tried to do, but it wasn’t right for any of you to take the fall. What happened was my responsibility.”
“You can’t lose your job, Britt,” Jordan says.