“She didn’t show up for the game today.”
Silas dropped his arms to his sides. “What do you mean she didn’t show up? She loves home games.”
“Exactly. And I know for a fact that she isn’t sick. I saw her at work this morning, and she seemed fine.”
The words felt like a punch to the gut. Silas wasn’t sure if the ticket manager knew the full extent of how badly that hurt him. It killed Silas to know that Harris could pop into her office anytime or suggest going to the hip new restaurant for lunch. Both were things that Miriam wouldn’t even consider with Silas.
He kept his face blank. “Did she say why she wasn’t coming?”
Harris shook his head. “Only that I’d be manning the Storm table by myself because she was staying home.” He paused and gave Silas a tight smile. “Though I suspect it has something to do with you. Ever since you guys went to that school visit together, she’s been acting weird.”
How much did Harris know? He wondered if Miriam had confided in her coworker about what happened. His breath caught as he remembered the ground rules that Greg had laid out years ago when he’d first found out that Silas and Miriam were a couple. If Harris blabbed and Greg somehow found out, Miriam would be in trouble. Silas didn’t want that.
He also wasn’t sure that Harris actually knew anything. He shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe she ate some bad Chinese.” He mentally cringed once the words left his mouth, hating himself for creating that mental picture of Miriam sick with food poisoning.
“It wasn’t food poisoning.” Harris narrowed his eyes. “And don’t think that I don’t have my eyes on you.”
It took everything in Silas not to laugh at the childish threat. What was Harris going to do? Poke him in the chest until he got a bruise? The dude was soft from a cushy office job whereas Silas was lean muscle from daily workouts.
“Noted.” He hitched a thumb toward the locker room. “Mind if I get back to the locker room in time to hear Coach go over the plan for tonight’s game?”
Harris looked like he had more to say, but he shook his head and walked off in the opposite direction.
Silas snuck inside and grabbed a spot on the bench without making a big commotion. He listened as Coach went over the plays for that night’s game and told them who the starting lineup would be. Silas tried to focus on what was being said, but all he could think about was what Harris had said—and what that meant for Silas and Miriam’s future.
Miriam
Watching the game on TV wasn’t nearly as exciting as sitting so close to the field you reach out and touch the players—but it was much safer.
Miriam still wasn’t sure what to do about Silas, and she worried that she might be tempted to reach out and tap his shoulder if she were sitting next to the home bench. Maybe finish what they’d started. Sitting on her couch at home, her hands could only stuff cookies in her mouth, or pet Hobbes who was curled up in her lap, purring.
She absent-mindedly rubbed behind her cat’s ears as she listened to the announcers give a breakdown of the game between the Storm and the Asteroids. They were nearing the end of the fourth quarter, and the visiting team was still up by one goal. She knew that everyone was going crazy as they waited for the Storm to tie it up. Nobody liked to be the trailing team, especially not in their home arena. At least if the Storm scored another goal, they could have a chance of winning in overtime.
Not that the Asteroids were going to hand over a goal that easily. Both teams seemed to move with a renewed fervor as the game was in its final minutes.
Miriam moved to the edge of her seat as the Asteroids brought the ball upfield to the Storm’s goal. Hobbes, realizing that he was playing second fiddle for her affections, stepped off her leg and lay down on the other side of the couch.
That meant Miriam could now rest her elbows on her knees as she watched one of the Asteroid forwards take a shot on goal. Finn blocked it, and passed to Bastian, who cleared it out. It went right to Silas...who wasn’t paying attention.
Really? With so much on the line? Miriam groaned. Silas had been playing sloppily the entire game—to the point where Miriam wondered why the coach kept putting him in.
Another player for the Asteroid players took possession and drove the ball back toward Finn. The Storm’s defense cleared it out, and Grant made one more valiant effort to take a shot against the other team’s keeper just before the buzzer went off.
It hit the post.
The Asteroids won.
All their players ran out onto the field to celebrate. Miriam flopped back in her seat and turned the TV off. She hated seeing losses for the Storm but knew it would be so much harder for the players.
They wanted to make a big comeback, The Comeback, and earn a spot in the playoffs. One loss wouldn’t mean that dream was out of reach, but it was sure to be a blow to everyone. She bit her lip as she thought about Silas. He was going to get a lot of grief in the locker room from the coach and players alike.
She looked at her phone, which was resting on the coffee table in front of her. Her fingers longed to reach out and grab it. Just a quick text. It wouldn’t mean that she’d forgiven him, only that she was a decent human being who hated seeing people down on their luck.
Then why aren’t you sending a text to everyone
