Chapter Sixty-Five

If a person can be exhausted and exhilarated at the same time, that was how Darcy felt. She rode the high of her first time in the broadcast booth—and telling Brent off—all the way back to the hotel, but as soon as she stepped into the elevator, her adrenaline fell away and left her completely drained.

Walking down the hall to her room, she looked at Natalie’s door before remembering that it wasn’t Natalie’s anymore. Someone else had that room now. Natalie was gone.

The weariness mixed with sadness and threatened to drag her down. Her phone rang.

“Hi, Kit.” She pushed into her room, threw her jacket on a chair, and set the phone to speaker. Not to piss off her sister this time, she needed to get out of these clothes and into some sweats.

“First of all, you fucking rocked tonight. I’ve been waiting for you to tell someone off like that for years . It was even better than I imagined.”

“You watched?”

Kit scoffed. “You think any of us were going to miss your big debut? Mom spent half the afternoon figuring out how we could stream it in Canada and the other half figuring out how to show it on the living room TV.”

Darcy slumped onto her bed, the corners of her eyes pricking with tears. “Wow, thank you. It felt really good.”

“Second, what the hell happened between you and Natalie?”

“What?” Darcy moved up the bed until she could lean against the headboard.

“Anyone with eyes, which includes half of Twitter, can tell you guys fucked everything up. Tell me what happened.”

Darcy relayed the last few days.

“You took the job, ditched the date she had planned—which sounds awesome, by the way. I want to go to a rotating restaurant on the top of a mountain! And then you didn’t say anything to her teammate when she asked you out in front of Natalie. Jesus, Darce, I thought you were smarter than that.”

Darcy’s head thudded against the headboard. “Wow, thanks for being such a supportive sister. I’m so glad you called to yell at me.”

“Stop being dramatic. I’m not saying Natalie is blameless. Her main thing seems to be bailing the second she gets even a little bit hurt. But you keep doing the same shit over and over to hurt her. After Sabrina, I thought you’d be smarter about picking work over your relationship.”

“You think I should apologize for getting the job I’ve been working three years to get?”

Kit scoffed. “Of course not. But why do you pick work every time a relationship gets real?”

“I don’t!”

Kit sighed. “Did I imagine Sabrina breaking up with you for choosing work?”

“No,” Darcy admitted.

“And Natalie? You’re telling me you really wanted to be with her so much that you had a long, adult conversation about how much you wanted to go on your date but that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you. That’s what happened?”

Darcy groaned. “God, you’re a pain in the ass when you’re right.”

“Darcy, call me a pain in the ass all you want but I want you to be happy and for some reason you keep screwing that up.” Kit’s voice was gentle and full of concern. “Do you even know why you do that?”

Darcy nodded. “Yeah,” she said, her voice scratchy with emotion. “Yeah, I think I do. I think whenever it gets too real, I freak out.” She paused, trying to collect her thoughts. “I’ve always known she could destroy me and I hated being that vulnerable.”

“And you like this better?”

“No, this is awful.” Darcy laughed.

“Then I think you know what you have to do.”

Darcy stood. “Well, this has been super fun.”

“Don’t you dare hang up. Mom and Dad want to know when you’re getting in for their party.”

Darcy groaned. “Seriously?”

“You didn’t forget, did you?”

“Of course not. But I have had a few other things going on. I’ll send you all the information as soon as I have it.”

Kit made a sound between a grunt and growl. “Fine. But don’t forget or I will tell Dad that you want him to help you with a job in Canada.”

“You wouldn’t!”

Kit cackled. “Sort your shit out. Fix everything you broke with Natalie. I don’t want you moping around the anniversary party. Got it?”

Darcy sighed. “I love you, Kit.”

“I know. I love you, too, even if you are a giant dumbass when it comes to your love life. Thank god you have me to help you fix it.”

She hung up before Darcy could yell at her. Instead, she sighed and slid under her covers. She had too many things to think about and the very last of her adrenaline was gone, leaving her wrung out and shattered.

Maybe it would seem better in the morning.