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Thankfully, the event entered the winding down phase. A few clusters of people talked. I chatted with Chaz Starling, our very first client and someone who’d become a friend over the years. Thankfully, I could relax since I had a solid relationship with him and the company he worked for.

“I’m so sorry. I’ve missed the entire thing.” It took all I had to not dissolve as Kyle put his hand on my lower back. The simple touch meant everything. “Everything conspired against me. Hello, I’m Kyle Pressgrove.” Kyle extended his hand.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Chaz said as they shook. “I’d hoped I could meet the man who finally turned Austin’s head. Thank you for arranging some of the great auction items. I came away with Kennedy’s jersey. My daughter’s a fan, and she’s going to flip getting it for her birthday. She wants to be the first woman captain in the NHL. She’s gunning for Team USA in the meantime.”

“Good for her. Who does she play for now?”

“She’s leading the points this season at Northwestern.”

“Congratulations. That’s a great school and a great program.”

Chaz looked at his watch and shifted. “It’s been a great evening, Austin. You unveiled some good stuff here. I’ve got an early meeting so I should get going. I’ll see you at your office in the afternoon. You can be sure, though, that Kia is still with you.” He shook my hand and then did the same with Kyle. “Really excellent meeting you.”

“A pleasure,” Kyle said.

“Have a good evening.” I smiled and hoped it came off as genuine. Exhaustion rose up faster than I’d imagined possible. With Kyle next to me, I allowed the shields I had up all evening to fall away.

Four others remained who weren’t on staff and they talked with Tamara. Their conversation appeared to be going well as they shared a laugh.

“Austin, I’m so sorry.” He spoke softly, his earlier confidence cracked along with his voice. “It all went wrong.”

“It’s okay. I think everything turned out fine.” He flinched for some reason as I took his hand, but then he squeezed back. Why did he do that? “I should join that conversation to finish this up. You can join me if you want.”

I didn’t let his hand go, and I couldn’t miss the storm raging in his eyes. He was more upset than I’d imagined.

“Let’s do this.” Confident Kyle was back in place. He had the same ability to do that as I did, except I rarely saw his resolve slip.

As we got to the group, they’d finished saying good night to Tamara. Quick introductions and more farewells followed.

“Well, I think we’re done for the night.” Tamara sounded relieved, and I couldn’t blame her. “Kyle, you missed a good night. We raised just under ten thousand dollars for the foundation, and you helped make that happen. Thank you for helping get Terry here. The business conversations were mixed, but we’ll see how most of that sorts out in tomorrow’s individual meetings. Kyle, good to see you as always. Austin, I’ll see you in the morning for our triage on how we’ll handle the day.”

“Good night, Tamara,” we said at the same time. My heart fluttered—so much a couple thing, saying it together.

Alone with just the cleanup staff, Kyle slumped in a way I’d never seen. “I’m so sorry. This was important and I failed. I don’t—” His voice cracked and he stopped. Running his hand through his hair and over his eyes, I thought for a moment he might cry. “I promise I tried… I…”

“It’s okay. Terry did great, I promise.” What was happening? He had no reason to be this upset. “The rest of the night went as good as it could have given everything.”

“But that’s just it…” I took a half step back at his increased volume, which he immediately modulated. “I should’ve been here for you… and for the speech… but really for you.”

I was out of my depth. Kyle trembled with so many emotions. He wouldn’t let me touch him though, keeping himself just out of reach. “You did the best you could, and you got someone to fill in for you. I couldn’t have asked for more given…”

“But you shouldn’t have had to. How many more times am I going to fail you because I’m in Phoenix?”

“Let’s go talk about this. I’m sure—”

He shook his head. “I’m gonna go. I need… You need to focus on your meetings for tomorrow and making sure your company is okay, and not how I’m doing. I’ll text you tomorrow.”

His flight out was at six. No way we’d get time together. Did I push him to stay with me tonight like we were going to, or let him go?

“No.” My voice cracked now. “Stay. Let’s—”

I couldn’t let this happen. Taking two quick steps forward, I pulled Kyle into me, and his shudders rocked me to my core.

“I’m sorry.” He said it over and over, softer each time.

“Let’s go home,” I said. I already had all I needed, so I didn’t need to leave Kyle for even a second. As we talked toward the ballroom entrance, I spotted his luggage against the wall. I kept Kyle’s hand in mine as we walked, and I grabbed his bag as we left.

We didn’t talk. I wanted to. There was a lot not being said, but I didn’t want to force it either since I’d never seen Kyle like this. Where had all of this come from? From the moment he got traded, I told him he didn’t have to do tonight because there was so much going on. Even when he’d asked Terry yesterday to be ready to fill in, he hadn’t expressed this level of upset.