No, I should stay here with you.
She smiled like she could hear his thoughts. “Have a good rest of the game.” Then she turned and walked to the other side of her box to stand with Harris and Allie. Allie immediately started speaking to her, and while Silas couldn’t hear the words being said, it was obvious that Allie was telling her what she thought about Miriam talking to Silas.
Meanwhile, Harris’ eyes went from Silas to Miriam and back again. His brows were furrowed, and his lips pursed. If there’d been any question before, there wasn’t anymore. Harris had a thing for Miriam, and Silas was pretty sure he’d just lost a fan with that little convo.
It was totally worth it though.
Silas returned to his spot in the front of the box and leaned against the board once more. Maryland took a shot that Finn easily blocked, and the ball moved up and down the field as both teams fought to get—and keep—possession.
The game continued with both teams scoring two more goals before the half.
When the team retreated to the locker room, Coach let them know how unhappy he was that the game was so close. He paced in front of the players, calling them each out by name.
“Bastian, your footwork was sloppy. Grant, you need to take more shots on goal. Finn, you got lucky on their shot that hit the bars.” He paused and looked at Silas. “I seriously can’t believe I’m having to say this to you, but you know better than to flirt with Miriam during the game. What if I needed you out on the field?”
Silas lifted his hands. “You’d literally just called me off. It was fine.”
Murmuring went through the locker room, and Silas realized his mistake. He hadn’t denied flirting with Miriam, he’d justified it. There was sure to be a reckoning with Finn when the game was over.
Coach shook his head and put his hands on his hips. “I don’t care if you think it’s okay or not. Don’t let it happen again.”
He answered with a “yes, sir” under his breath and listened as Coach launched into the game plan for the second half. He drew different plans on the whiteboard and reminded everyone of their marks.
“I don’t want to see Maryland get another goal. Do you understand?”
A round of yeses echoed off the walls of the locker room, and with a few more pats on backs and cheering, the team went back out to the arena.
Miriam gave Silas a small smile as he walked by her seat to the home bench. While he waited for the halftime show—some local dance company—to finish their routine, Silas couldn’t tear his eyes away from Miriam.
If he wasn’t allowed to talk to her for the next thirty minutes of gameplay, which would end up taking close to an hour to finish, he wanted to drink her in as much as possible. She wasn’t looking at him, her eyes had gone to the dancers on the field, and she and Allie were involved in a heated conversation.
Harris lingered on the other side of Miriam, clearly listening, but not contributing to said conversation.
“Silas.”
His head snapped toward the sound of his coach’s voice.
“I’m serious when I say you’d better not let Miriam become a distraction.” He had his arms crossed and was frowning. “We did this show and dance last time you played for the Storm. I’m not about to watch you get distracted again.”
“Get distracted again?” Silas took a step toward Coach. “I never let Miriam keep me from doing my best out there. I always kept it professional.”
He pressed his lips together. “Just make sure you keep it that way.”
Silas nodded, but he wasn’t sure that he could follow through.
Keeping things professional and not letting Miriam distract him had been part of the problem when they’d dated two years ago. If Silas had spent a little more time getting distracted by a future with Miriam, instead of worrying about getting the most goals of the season, he might not have made the mistakes he had.
The dancers finished up and waved at the crowd. When they did, the coaches on both teams sent their players out on the field.
Finn jogged to the goalie box as Silas and four other guys found their spots. They’d no sooner got out when the referee blew his whistle, and the ball was in play once more. Coach kept Silas in for most of the third quarter, and somehow he only allowed his eyes to stray to Miriam when he made his first goal of the night about halfway through.
Like before, she smiled back at him, and the thought of thawing the cool exterior she’d had with him for the last couple of weeks warmed him all the way down to his bones. But once the celebrations were over, his focus went back to the game.
Fixing things with Miriam and his teammates was going to force him to find a balance. One that involved showing the guys on the Storm that he was committed to the sport and the team, while simultaneously showing Miriam that he was not the same guy who’d put soccer above relationships.
It’s not going to be easy, he thought, as he drove the ball upfield. He took a shot and made another goal. But he realized, as he looked back at Miriam who was smiling in his direction, it would be worth it.
Miriam
