Robert throws his bandaged hand up in a huff. “Just shutupabout the braking! You shouldn’t have fought me—you’re a danger to the fucking team.”
“You literally fought me!” Matt points to his swollen shut eye. “You’re the dangerous one! Both on andoffthe fucking track.”
“Boys!”
Though they’re glaring at each other, Matt and Robert’s mouths shut with a snap, conditioned after years of being reprimanded together.
“I know you both have your… history. I’ll admit, I hadn’texpected it to have causedthismuch of a problem, but this fighting needs to stop immediately.”
“Yes, sir,” the two drivers answer in unison.
“Matt, you are lucky to be employed after so many instances of direct disobedience.”
What is this, the military? “But I just want to?—”
“That wasn’t a question.” Sylvain turns to Robert. “And you’re lucky that Mr. Hernandez here isn’t suing you for all you’re worth.”
A lawsuit?
Huh.
Matt hadn’t thought of that.
If he had, he wouldn’t sue Robert. Matt couldn’t afford to have some skeezy lawyer cross-examining him, arguing about whether getting hard would be equivocal to consent.
“I don’t see why that matters to the team,” Robert scoffs. “Why would a personal lawsuit affect my contract?”
“Because you’re an idiot.”
Robert slowly turns his head to face Matt. “You wanna say that again?”
“You don’t understand why it matters, because you have below-average intelligence.”
“Settle down,” Sylvain demands.
Robert cracks the knuckles on his free hand—the one without bandages. “Say that shit to my face.”
He literally just did.
See? Below-average intelligence.
Matt counts on his fingers. “First, the PR from an assault trial would destroy that stupid ‘good ole boy’ image the team has been pushing since you started.”
“Don’t talk to me about my image.”
“Secondly, I wouldn’t even sue you. I’d sue Andes, since the assault happened on company property.”
“Whoa,” Sylvain says, holding up his hands. “Let's not get carried away.”
Matt ignores him. “If you aren’t punished, then the company is complicit in the assault. You make this a hostile work environment. You’re a fuckingliabilitybecause of your neanderthal-like urges.”
“I dare you to find a courtroom with twelve people who wouldn’t want to punch your face in after hearing you talk for ten minutes.”
“Juries for civil cases don’t need twelve people.”
“How the fuck do you evenknow that?!”
“Boys!” Sylvain sighs and grips the perfectly straight bridge of his nose. Lucky. “Listen, it’s just easier to fire both of you right now.”
