Those had once been Silas’ dreams. There was a time when he would have done anything to be signed to the English Premier League or the Men’s National Team. Not anymore. “Of course not. I bleed green and black.”
There was a small gasp from behind him—Miriam—and Silas knew he’d said the wrong thing.
“Funny you should say those exact words.” The man pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. He then slammed the phone on the table.
Silas looked down at it, though he couldn’t read the tiny words on the screen.
“Go ahead, pick it up,” the man said.
Silas reluctantly picked up the phone. Displayed was an article about the Florida Storm from a couple of years ago. Silas vaguely remembered when someone from the paper had come out and interviewed the players as they were training for the upcoming season. Silas’ eyes skimmed until he came across a quote: “I bleed green and black.”
Bile rose in his throat. He’d completely forgotten he’d spoken those words just days before the GM of the Wolves had reached out about playing for him. After that, it was a flurry of excitement and difficult choices.
This man hadn’t forgotten what Silas had said. And if the small sound that had come from Miriam was any indication, she hadn’t either. Silas had plenty of excuses on the tip of his tongue, but he knew that this man didn’t want to hear them. He put out his hands. “I hope you’ll give me a chance to show you what I’m made of.”
The man snorted. “Oh, I think I already know what you’re made of. If my kids didn’t love Bastian Ramirez so much, I’d boycott the entire team on principle.”
Wow. This was one angry fan.
Silas gave him a tight smile. “Well, we appreciate your support.”
The man rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath as he snatched his phone, and a schedule, from Silas.
Once he was gone, Silas felt his shoulders relax. “Well, that was awkward.” He spun around to face Miriam, hoping to find some common ground with that encounter. She didn’t share his frustration or anxiety. Instead, she looked at him with disappointment before she grabbed a stack of swag and walked off.
Silas was all alone. Things weren’t going right at all. Everyone hated him, and he was beginning to think it would have been better for everyone if he’d never returned.
Later that day, Silas went to Big Results for a solo workout. He needed to do something to get all the anxious energy out of his system. So he put on an upbeat playlist, put on his headphones, and started in the cardio room.
Though the field was much smaller in arena soccer, it was a much faster paced game. If Silas wanted to be the best forward on the team, he’d need to be able to run back and forth between the two opposing goals without getting winded.
He started the treadmill and increased the speed until he was jogging at a comfortable rate. Once he found his groove, his mind wandered back to Miriam.
She’d looked beautiful that afternoon, possibly even more so than when he’d first seen her on the field only a few days ago. And that was an accomplishment, considering he’d lost all rational thought when he’d seen her for the first time in two years.
If only she’d been as happy to see him.
Not that Silas blamed her for being angry. Miriam had every right after Silas’ breakup. She didn’t know it, but he’d made the decision to break things off quickly for both their sakes. It had been the hardest thing he’d ever done, to pretend like he’d stopped caring. But he knew if he’d shown even the slightest inkling that he wanted to continue dating her, they would have pushed through a long-distance thing.
Silas had seen too many relationships destroyed by distance. A lot of times it was an issue of couples growing apart when they had states between them. Others, one person ended up resenting the other for ‘tying them down.’
Silas didn’t want that for them.
He knew he’d love Miriam forever, even though they’d barely been dating eight months when he signed for the Wolves. So he broke up with her to save them both the heartache. That, of course, had been insanity. As soon as he’d spoken the words that he could never take back, he’d realized it was absolutely the wrong decision. It was too late. The contract was signed, the words could never be unheard, and in the end, Miriam hated him anyway.
Not that he should have expected anything else.
Silas turned the speed up on the treadmill until he was practically sprinting. His feet hit the rubber mat hard as his stride became punishing. Sweat seeped from every pore, and his muscles burned the longer he continued.
He didn’t stop until he literally couldn’t put one foot in front of the other anymore.
He slowed the speed on the machine until it stopped and lifted his shirt to wipe his face.
“Wow,” said a feminine voice. “That’s impressive.”
Silas pulled his clothing back down and saw a woman standing next to him. Her eyes lingered where his abs had just been on display.
“Thanks,” he mumbled. Thoughts of Miriam still swirled in his mind as he stepped off the treadmill. He walked toward the weight room in hopes of having better luck clearing his head in there.
The woman followed him. “Running from your demons?”
“Something like that.” He grabbed some barbells and started doing bicep curls in front of one of the mirrors on the wall. Silas tried to avert his eyes from where the woman stood behind him and focused on keeping his movements smooth and controlled.
“Do you work out here often?”
Silas closed his eyes and let out a long exhale as he set the weights down and turned to face the persistent woman. “Look, I’m not really in the mood to talk.”
A corner of her mouth lifted. “Really? I thought you were a
