“It was different, and you know it.”
“Hey, guys.” Bastian put himself between Silas and Finn. “They’re about to let fans onto the field.” He looked down at Finn and jerked his chin toward the other end of the table. “Why don’t you go down there so we keep this fun for everyone.”
Bastian and Finn stared at each other.
Finn obviously wanted to stay and give Silas more grief about his betrayal, but he conceded and stood up. He gave Silas one last hard look before he walked down to the other end of the table grumbling something not so nice under his breath.
Bastian occupied the seat Finn vacated. “Give him some time. He’ll eventually come around.”
Silas looked over at him. “Does that mean you’ve forgiven me?”
“For signing with the Wolves and leading them to the top of the division with a record-scoring season?” He shook his head. “I don’t think so.” The words themselves were harsh, but Bastian’s tone was gentle.
Silas lifted his brows hoping his teammate would elaborate. When he didn’t immediately speak, Silas turned his attention back to the marker in his hands.
Bastian grabbed it. “I know we all make mistakes, but yours was pretty bad.”
“I signed for another team. That’s not some grievous act,” he said, though he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince. Silas was fully aware of how this was completely different. He turned his head and watched as a few more office staff, including Harris, walked onto the field.
“I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just say that.”
“Whatever.” Silas snatched the marker back. He wished that he could pretend like the whole thing never happened.
The buzzer sounded through the arena, and the crowd came rushing forward. A bunch of kids stood in line in front of him hoping to get his signature. Silas smiled and chatted with each of them as they took turns turning around so that he could sign the backs of their shirts.
A few other children brought soccer balls that were covered with names by the time they worked their way down the table of players. Silas enjoyed interacting with the kids the most. They didn’t care about the drama of his past. They didn’t know the choices he’d made two years ago. Getting caught up talking with the younger fans, he almost managed to stop thinking about Miriam—or trying to catch her walking around.
“Do you play?” Silas asked the boy standing in front of him as he signed his ball. He couldn’t have been more than eight or nine.
“I’m a keeper, like Finn O’Brien.”
Silas noticed Finn’s signature already graced the ball—along with most of the other players. “I bet you’re evenbetterthan Finn.”
The boy beamed.
“And I bet if you were the keeper for the Vipers, I wouldn’t have made a single goal tonight.”
The boy’s eyes went wide. “You really think so?”
“Of course I do. I have a feeling you block shots left and right.”
The boy’s grin grew even wider. “Mom, can you get a picture of me and Silas Jenkins?”
His mom, who was standing just off to the side, obliged and soon the boy disappeared in the crowd once more carrying his soccer ball under his arm.
Silas continued to sign shirts, but as kids started kicking balls around the field, the fanbase started becoming filled with more and more adults. While Silas loved his adult fans, they weren’t able to hold his attention in the same way.
He kept comparing each female fan to Miriam. They always fell short, and then he’d find himself scanning the crowd one more time to see if she’d decided to come out. The guys were no better. A lot of them were ‘experts’ in the MASL and had all kinds of advice for Silas—or theories about why he left the Storm and came back.
As promised, McKensie was there. Silas signed the back of her shirt and stood next to her with a smile when she asked for a picture of the two of them together.
After that, the fans all became a blur. That was until two hands slapped the table in front of him. Silas looked up to see a disgruntled Allie staring down at him. The two had never gotten along, even during the best of times, and Silas had a feeling the tension between the two of them would be even worse with his return.
“Allie.”
“Don’t ‘Allie’ me.” She put her hands on her hips.
“Okay.” He drew out the word, not sure what he was supposed to be doing or saying as she continued to stare down at him.
