“What do you want?”
“I’m Jessica, one of the personal trainers here.”
He gave her outfit a skeptical look. He thought all the trainers at this gym had to wear uniforms, and she was wearing a sports bra and leggings that weren’t from Big Results.
As if reading his mind, Jessica responded. “It’s my day off. I’m here running through a potential program I’m putting together and looking for a guinea pig.”
Silas lowered his brows. “You’re not hitting on me.”
Jessica barked out a laugh. “Aren’t you the arrogant one? No, I’m not hitting on you. I’m happily married.” She lifted her left hand and wiggled her fingers.
Silas felt his cheeks warm and hoped that he could pass it off as part of working out hard. It was pretty conceited to think every girl was hoping to hook up, but after McKensie in the parking lot earlier this afternoon, Silas was on high alert. “Ok. So, what’s the catch?”
Jessica lifted a shoulder. “There isn’t one. I’m just a little sadistic and like watching people suffer.”
Silas liked this woman. And he could use a friend right now. Even if she was a sadistic trainer. “How can I say no to hard sell like that?”
Jessica laughed again, and they spent a few minutes finding a time that worked for both of them. When they were done exchanging information, Jessica reached out and slapped his shoulder. “See you tomorrow, pretty boy.”
Silas groaned at the nickname she gave him, but he knew it could be worse.
“And, Silas?”
“Yeah?”
“I hope you’re prepared to bring it, because I plan to push you to your limits.”
Miriam
Thankfully, Miriam hadn’t seen Silas since the disastrous meet and greet at The Sports Emporium. That didn’t mean that the past week had been easy though. She was busy trying to schedule more community outreach events but was coming up dry every single time.
Greg was putting pressure on Miriam to come up with something soon, but it felt like an impossible task. Though she wasn’t sure if there was an actual issue of getting different sponsors to agree to the same dates, or if she was subconsciously sabotaging herself to avoid the possibility of seeing Silas again.
Not that there’d be any avoiding him tonight. It was the home opener, and it was all hands on deck.
“You okay?” Harris asked Miriam as they traveled the perimeter of the arena. It was an area that all the team sponsors had an opportunity to set up tables with more information about their companies. Everyone who came in would see them as they walked to their seats. It was a small perk for supporting the Storm. Miriam and Harris’ responsibility was to make sure everyone was ready to go and then get back to their own table before the arena doors opened.
Miriam shrugged and picked up a flyer from one of the tables they passed. “Yeah, why?”
“Well, you’ve asked the people at Sunshine Bank three times if they need anything.”
Miriam grimaced. “I have?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so distracted.” He paused. “Ever since Silas signed, you’ve been in another world.”
Miriam’s feet stopped, and she turned to face Harris. “Wait. What have you heard?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. And that’s the problem. You’ve been acting super weird the past two weeks. You haven’t responded to any of my texts. What’s going on?”
She bit her bottom lip. “I’ve just been super busy.”
Harris crossed his arms across his chest.
“Fine. I have a history with Silas that I don’t really want to go into. And him being here is really messing with my head.”
“Wait.” His eyes went wide. “You used to date Silas Jenkins.”
Miriam couldn’t believe Harris still hadn’t heard about it, especially now that Silas was back. Apparently ‘her’ boys weren’t as gossipy as they used to be. She felt a blush creep up her neck and fought the urge to cover her face in her hands. “He was just Silas to me. And yeah, I used to date him. That is, until he broke up with me and left for Wisconsin.”
Harris took a step forward. “I wish I would have known.”
“Why?”
A corner of his mouth lifted. “Well, for one, I might have stopped fanboying over your ex-boyfriend every opportunity I got.”
A giggle bubbled up in Miriam’s throat.
Harris’ smile grew. “See? This would have been helpful information to have.”
Miriam started walking again. “Yeah. I guess it was nice having one person not know about the drama. It’s so embarrassing.”
“You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Silas Jenkins is an amazing soccer player.”
Miriam gave him some major side eye.
“But he was an idiot to break up with you. He’s the one who should be embarrassed.”
The blush from her neck moved up to her cheeks. “Thanks.”
“And if you need me to do anything to make things easier, let me know.”
She was tempted to ask Harris to cover all her duties for the rest of the evening, so she could dip out and avoid Silas completely. But that was childish, and Allie was supposed to meet her at the game tonight. She shook her head and told him that she would be fine.
They made their way back to their table and the next hour went quickly as they passed out more swag for the Storm fans entering the arena. It was mostly kids who grabbed handfuls of plastic bracelets—most of which would end up in the trash, she was sure—but it was great to see their little faces light up when they realized that everything they had on their table was free.
When the crowds started dying down, she and Harris packed up their things. They would go watch the game with the rest of the office staff in the floor seats, until halftime when they would go back out and fill more little hands with plastic trinkets.
The Storm were playing the Vermont Vipers that night, and Miriam could hear the announcer’s voice blaring over the loudspeakers as he announced their players. She hurried to put away the last
