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She laughed.
He couldn’t bring himself to join her. “Good idea,” was all he said.
The smile slipped off her face, as her eyes narrowed. “Okay. Something is obviously wrong. You want to fill me in?”
“Me, fill you in? Maybe you should be filling me in?”
“What are you talking about?” Lines formed on her forehead.
“Never mind. I should’ve known better.”
“Derek, what on earth are you talking about?”
Her denial made his stomach clench. “You know what? It’s my own fault that I got my hopes up. I’m the stupid one.”
“You’re not stupid Derek.” Her eyes began to shine. “What’s this ab—”
“Why did you tell Charlie you wanted to stay in Camden?” His jaw clenched.
“What?”
“The other night, you told Charlie you wanted to stay in Camden.” He pointed a finger at her, and she stepped back.
“I do—”
“Do you know how much promises like that can hurt a little kid when they are broken?” He jammed his hands onto his hips, his forearms flexing.
“But I didn’t—”
“Now Charlie’s going to be heartbroken.” He was too, but he wasn’t going to tell her that.
“Derek! Stop!” Kylie’s face was red, and there were tears in her eyes. “I don’t understand why you’re so angry with me right now. Can you explain yourself?”
She really couldn’t guess why he might be upset?
“Aren’t you the one who should be explaining?” Somewhere in his gut Derek felt bad for going off on her, but still he pressed on. “You know what? You truly do belong in Toronto. Go and enjoy your fast life and partying and forget all about us. I can’t believe you would let Charlie get so attached to you knowing you’d never stay. Just don’t go getting fired again and have to come back.”
Derek understood he wasn’t really talking about Charlie anymore. He was using Charlie to hurt her.
And it worked.
Tears streamed down Kylie’s face, and her lips formed a tight line. Glaring at him, she shoved the clipboard into his chest, pushed past him then stalked off the field.
He stood there with a hollow pit in his gut. He thought letting all that out would make him feel vindicated, but mostly he was ashamed.
Adam jogged over to him. “What happened?”
“Kylie’s leaving. She got a job in Toronto.”
“Okay.” Adam nodded slowly. “But I’m guessing she didn’t need to leave right this moment?”
“Why not?” Bitterness dripped from his voice. “Better to get it over with, isn’t it?”
“I’m not going to pretend to know what’s going on with you two right now,” Adam said. “But the person in charge of this entire event just left.”
“Damn it.” Derek dropped his head and ran a hand through his hair. His fists clenched, and he longed to hit something. Spotting a recycling bin nearby, he kicked it three times before Adam caught his arm and dragged him away.
“What the hell happened, man?” He gave Derek one more shove away from the bin.
