Page 41 of Deking
“What do you mean you aren’t coming? You’re supposed to be there to recruit me. The plan is you are going to watch me own the field. Then you’ll be so impressed you’ll immediately offer me a position on the team,” Kyle says.
Reagan looks over at me and raises a brow. She silently asks me,is this guy for real?
I nod my head, silently telling her thatyeah, he is this delusional.
Lyla buries her head into my chest and groans.
I knew this was going to be a shitshow. I mean, I planned for this all to go down after the game. I was even going to go so that I could see it go down. I didn’t anticipate him showing up here.Shit, it’s like a train wreck. You know you should look away, but you just can’t.
Reagan offers him a sympathetic smile. “First, that’s not how things work. At all. Second, that’s not going to happen.”
“Why?” Kyle yells, making patrons look our way.
“Because honestly, just by watching how you treat your ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, I can already tell you wouldn’t be a good fit for our team. I won’t waste either of our time when I know it’s not going to work out.” Reagan shrugs.
“What do you mean I wouldn’t be a good fit? I’m a quarterback, and you need one. I’m the best in the league,” Kyle spews.
Reagan laughs darkly. “Honey, if you think you are the best in the league, you need some serious mental health help. You will not be coming to Seattle, sorry. Honestly, after today’s display and your overall cockiness, I’m not sure you will be playing in our league at all.”
His jaw clenches. “I’m going to call the front office and tell them that you’re purposely sabotaging me.”
Lyla makes a noise of disbelief as Reagan nods, smiling.
“Go right ahead. Tell them that the head of recruitment refuses to watch you because of your behavior. In fact, why don’t you do it now? I’d love to hear what they say,” she says, calling his bluff.
Instead of reaching for his phone, Kyle turns toward me. He steps forward and digs his finger into my shoulder.
“This is all your fault. You planned for this, didn’t you? You somehow convinced her to join you for lunch and pretend to be related to you just to sabotage me,” he spews.
Gently, I push Lyla away behind me. Not because I want to but because I want to keep her safe. Kyle is a loose cannon, and there’s no telling what he might do.
“I hate to break it to you, Kyle, but the world doesn’t revolve around you. The only time you cross my mind is when you pull shit like this and when you bother Lyla. That’s it. This entire situation only happened because you couldn’t mind your own business.” It’s only partially a lie.
“This isn’t over, Scott.”
“It is, and the sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be,” I tell him calmly.
Kyle turns to walk away but stops when he sees all eyes are on him. Hell, some people have even pulled out phones to record him.
“What the hell are you looking at?” he snaps.
We watch as he stomps away, slamming the door behind him, making the glass rattle.
“I-I am so, so sorry,” Lyla says softly.
I wrap my arm around her and begin to rub her arm again. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” I tell her.
“But…” Lyla trails off.
Reagan shakes her head. “Wyatt’s right. You did nothing wrong. What just happened is all on him. Not you, okay?”
Lyla nods.
“Good, now where were we?” Reagan asks, like nothing just happened.
As the girls get to know each other, I sit back and relax. That went far better than I could have imagined. Now hopefully he realizes that he doesn’t stand a chance. Not with Lyla and not against me.
eleven
