It was possible he wasn’t aware of the drama with the winning streak the Storm was having. The Comeback was happening just like they’d hoped it would, and he was busy reaching out to various news outlets trying to get coverage of the team’s rise to the top of the Eastern Conference.
Miriam wished she could get caught up in the excitement of the team, but between HarrisandSilas, it was getting harder and harder to go in to work at all. She dreaded going in, even for the sake of the team. Her beloved Storm didn’t feel like enough anymore.
Miriam didn’t know what to do, though she knew what Allie would say: Go get another job that brings you joy. Life’s too short to be unhappy forty hours a week.
Maybe her best friend was right.
Just the thought brought a wave of guilt, but it also brought curiosity.
Miriam looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was near her office. When she made sure the coast was clear, she pulled up a job posting site. Her heart pounded as she typed ‘Waterfront, Florida’ into the search bar. Hundreds of listings popped up—medical jobs, nannying, warehouse work.
None of it sounded appealing.
She cleared the search location and typed ‘soccer jobs’ into the search bar. Miriam expected the search results to turn up empty. She shot up in her seat when an entry level marketing position with MLS appeared on the screen. It was in South Carolina—far,faraway from Silas and Harris. While the starting pay wasn’t listed, the duties were. She quickly skimmed the post. It was a lot of the same stuff she’d done for the Storm only with a different name.
Miriam leaned back in her seat as she continued to stare at the screen. She didn’t think she wanted to move to South Carolina. The winters would be much colder up there, and she wouldn’t know anyone. But she’d get to work for a new team without the added stress of stupid romantic entanglements.
The longer she looked at the listing, the more Miriam wanted to see what would happen if she applied. She haphazardly typed up a resumé and hit send before she could think twice about it. It was silly to think that anything would ever come of it. Miriam wasn’t sure she was even qualified.
But what if she was qualified?
Focusing on work was impossible after she hit send on her resumé. She looked at the time on her computer. It was almost eleven. She could take an early lunch and go exercise for a bit. She hoped that burning some calories and a change of scenery might help her to focus on her tasks for the day.
She turned the screen off, left a note on her desk, and drove to Big Results.
There wassomething cathartic about putting all your energy into a workout. Miriam was huffing and puffing as she pushed herself harder on the elliptical. She was in the zone and thinking that it was a great idea to go to the gym when two girls got on the treadmills in front of her.
They both looked immaculate with their adorable ‘messy’ buns and cute workout clothes. Miriam glanced down at her old college shirt and running shorts. Her outfit did the job, but it wasn’t doing her any favors. It screamed, “Yeah, I’m working out. But I’d rather be eating pizza and watching reality TV.” Miriam would never be one of those girls who looked cute at the gym. She sighed as she watched them set their machines to a brisk walk.
It was strange, one of the girls looked slightly familiar. Miriam couldn’t figure out why until she saw the Storm t-shirt. The girl with dark hair was wearing it, and on the back was a signature. When Miriam squinted to see it better, she saw it was written by none other than Silas Jenkins.
Miriam realized why the girl looked familiar. She was the gorgeous girl from outside The Sports Emporium at that first meet and greet. It looked like her love for Silas was still going strong.
Good for her.
Miriam tried to ignore the two girls as they talked excitedly. But when Miriam heard one of them say Silas, she gave up on that. She turned her music off, though she left the headphones in, to get a better shot at hearing what the fan club was saying about the golden boy.
“Come on, McKensie. You’re so making that up,” said the girl not wearing the Storm shirt.
“I swear.” McKensie held her hand up. “We worked out together two days ago and when we were done, he said he wanted to do it again.” She waggled her brows. “Soon.”
The other girl squealed. “What did you say?”
McKensie shrugged. “Only if he was lucky.”
“O.M.G.”
“I know. Ever since he got back from Wisconsin, we keep bumping into each other. There’s this chemistry between us. It’s like we’ve known each other forever.”
The other girl’s eyes were wide. “It’s like fate.”
“Right? I always had this feeling I was going to date a professional athlete. I thought he would be a football player, but I guess European footballis close enough.”
The two girls giggled.
Meanwhile, Miriam wasn’t sure what to think. Just because some obvious groupie-wannabesaidshe was hanging out with Silas, that didn’t mean it was true. People lied all the time to make themselves look better. They talked about their run-ins with celebrities at local coffee shops or pretened to catch oversized bass. Sometimes they told the story so many times, they started to believe it themselves.
Hearing McKensie talk about Silas was no different.
