Loud cheering caught his attention, and he noticed two girls wearing what looked like authentic game day jerseys leaning over the railing behind the home bench. One had dark hair, the other blonde. “We love you!” they screamed in unison.
Some of the players chuckled and waved. Silas shook his head and went through some footwork drills.
“Jenkins!” the same two voices called again.
Silas looked up to see them waving their arms above their heads. When they realized they had his attention, they both turned around to reveal that their jerseys had Jenkins and the number thirty-two on the backs.
Fangirls were no stranger to Silas. Women liked watching the sport and sometimes developed little crushes on the players. No big deal as long as it stayed innocent. He grinned and waved at them. “Hey.”
One of the girls cupped her hands around her mouth. “Will you come sign our jerseys?”
The other girl waved a permanent marker in her hand.
Silas turned to see if anyone else was paying attention—they were.
Most of the team was watching with various degrees of smirks across their faces. Silas felt his cheeks warm under their gazes. Fangirls were one thing. A team that thought he was looking to gain groupies was another—especially when things were so rocky between him and Miriam.
He cursed under his breath as he plastered a smile on his face and jogged over to where the girls were. They started jumping up and down in excitement, and as he got closer, he realized that one of them was McKensie.
He stopped short in front of the railing. “Thanks for coming out tonight.”
“Of course we came out.” McKensie stuck her hip out. “We love watching you and the other guys play. Don’t we, Ashlee?”
The other girl smiled and nodded. “Totally.”
“Didn’t I already sign your shirt at the last game?”
Ashlee’s mouth opened in shock. “Oh, my goodness. He remembers you.”
“Two games ago.” McKensie bit her bottom lip. “And it was a Storm shirt, not the jersey.”
Close enough. “Here.” Silas put his hand out, and Ashlee handed him the marker. “Turn around.”
The girls complied. They lifted their hair off their backs and Silas was just able to reach high enough to sign both jerseys. When he was done, the two girls took turns showing each other the newly acquired signatures.
“Thank you so much.” McKensie reached out to take the marker back. When she did, she ran her fingers over Silas’ hand in a move that was obviously choreographed. She smiled sweetly. “We’ll let you get back to warming up. Good luck tonight.”
Silas jerked his chin up at them. “Thanks.”
He jogged back over to where the guys still stood. Drills forgotten, they all watched him closely.
Bastian lifted a pen that he got from who-knew-where and said in a high-pitched voice, “Will you sign my jersey?”
Silas rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”
Bastian gave him puppy-dog eyes. “Please, mister. I’m a really big fan.”
“Come on, man. You know if those two were dudes, you wouldn’t give me the same crap about them wanting to get something signed.”
“If those two were dudes,” Cardosa said, “I might have to rethink my whole policy on only dating women.”
Vinny batted his eyelashes. “You think if I had bright green eyes, the girls would be lining up for my autograph too? I’m not above getting some of those weird contacts that change your eye color.”
“You’d have to change a lot more than that.” Grant elbowed Vinny, who then playfully wrapped his arm around his neck and pulled him into loose a choke hold while the rest of the guys standing there chuckled at the wrestling.
Finn stomped over and smacked the back of Vinny’s head.
“Ow.” The defensive player let go of Grant and lifted his hands at Finn. “What was that for?”
Finn shook his head. “Am I the only one who remembers we’re playing a game in an hour? Or does everyone think this is a good time to prance around the arena like a peacock?” His eyes went to Silas.
Now it’s my fault fans are asking for autographs before the game? Silas pressed his lips together to keep the words from flying out of his mouth.
The rest of the guys apologized to Finn and fell back into their routine. They continued to run drills until the buzzer indicated it was the visiting team’s turn to use the field for their own warmup.
The Storm players jogged off the field, but Harris caught them just before they reached the locker room.
“Hey, Coach,” the ticket manager called out.
Coach stopped and turned. “Yeah?”
“Would it be okay if I borrowed Jenkins for a minute?”
Silas groaned. First the girls, now Harris? He wasn’t going to end up in anyone’s good graces if people kept pulling him away.
Coach briefly looked between Silas and Harris. “Sure. Just make sure to send him to the locker room, ASAP. Got it?”
Harris flashed a congenial smile. “Absolutely.”
Once the rest of the team was gone, Harris’ smile fell. He glared at Silas. “What did you do?”
Silas didn’t like the way Harris was talking to him. He’d dealt with enough already. He lifted a corner of his mouth into an arrogant smile. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”
Harris lifted his chin. “Miriam.”
Miriam? Silas’ smile fell. “What happened?”
“Not so cocky now, are you?”
Silas glared at him.
“Fine.” Harris ran a hand through his hair. “I know you two used to date before you left for the Wolves.”
Silas really hated that narrative. He sounded like a monster every time someone said that. That’s because you are. “That was two years ago.”
Harris snorted. “Spoken like a true jerk who thinks time makes everything better.”
Silas stood up straight and pushed his shoulders back when he took a step toward Harris.
Even though he was a couple inches shorter and several pounds lighter, to his credit, Harris only cowered slightly before he puffed out his own chest. “You broke her heart, and now you’re back acting like everything is okay.”
Everything was not okay. Nobody knew that
