Penalty Box: A Second Chance Sports Romance (Love in the Arena Book 1)

by Kayla Tirrell

  Allie: Oooooh. Cryptic.

  Miriam sent an eye-rolling emoji as Harris reappeared.

  He smiled at her. “I’m ready when you are.”

  She shoved her phone back in her purse. “Sounds great.”

  Except nothing was great at all.

  Silas

  Silas loved being back in the ‘office.’

  Looking out onto the field in Florida filled him with more emotions than he was prepared for. It was so overpowering that he hadn’t been able to step foot on the turf right away. He lingered at the entrance for a moment, in awe of the fact that he was actually back where he belonged.

  He was home.

  Now he just needed to show everyone that he was here to stay.

  So many of the players were the same guys he played with years ago—no small feat in a league that had players bouncing around from team to team like ping-pong balls. Plus, there was still a level of distrust simmering in the air every time they were together—which, admittedly, hadn’t been that often.

  Silas was determined to show them that he planned to play for the Storm as long as Greg would keep offering him contracts. He also knew that he could tell everyone that until he was blue in the face, but those words meant nothing if he didn’t have the actions to back them up.

  He needed to give every workout, every practice, his all.

  And that’s what he was doing now. Even though they were in an air-conditioned arena, his forehead dripped with sweat from the intensity of that day’s practice. The team was currently running shooting drills, and Silas had yet to get one past Finn O’Brien. No big surprise there. Finn was one of the best keepers in the league, a fact that Silas had noted every time he played against the Storm the past two years. Even now, when Silas wasn’t taking shots, he watched how Finn ran back and forth inside the box, oftentimes diving to make the save by the very tips of his gloves. The man was a machine.

  “Let’s take five,” Coach called after Bastian kicked one last ball at Finn. “Get some water, but don’t let those muscles cool down too much.”

  All the guys jogged over to the benches to grab their bottles. Some players pulled out their phones to check their social media. The Brazilian guys started chatting with one another—their cautious English replaced with exuberant Portuguese.

  Regardless of what they were doing, there was an underlying feeling of camaraderie between everyone—a camaraderie that wasn’t extended to Silas. He watched his fellow teammates from a safe distance while he drank deeply from his water bottle. A few of the guys continued to pass a ball back and forth, while another practiced his footwork.

  Silas observed with interest as Grant Vaughn, one of the new guys, dribbled the ball up behind Bastian, who was on his phone. Silas knew what was going to happen before Grant kicked the ball between Bastian’s open legs.

  “Nutmeg.”

  Bastian’s head fell back. “Come on, man. I was texting my mom.”

  Grant shook his head. “Count it.”

  “Seriously?”

  “You know it.”

  Finn ripped off his gloves—just now joining everyone off to the edge of the field—and ran his hands through his auburn hair. “As captain, I’m going to allow it.”

  Bastian shook his head. “That’s a bunch of crap.”

  Finn kept his face serious and shrugged. “I call them as I see them.”

  Grant gave an arrogant smile and started pointing his finger at everyone. “And I’m gonna get every single one of you this year. So watch your backs.”

  But Grant should have been the one watching his back, because while he was enjoying his victory, another player snuck up behind him and kicked the soccer ball between his legs.

  “Nutmeg.”

  Grant’s head fell to where the ball was still rolling between his legs. He groaned loudly, and everyone started laughing at the rookie.

  Even Silas cracked a smile at Grant getting his comeuppance, but he stayed in his spot and focused on his footwork as Coach set up cones for their next drill.

  Silas pushed himself hard and quickly lifted his feet in an intricate pattern. Eventually, he’d be part of the team again, but he knew it would take time. Friendships that had once existed between him and his teammates had faded in the two years he spent in Wisconsin. Distance had a way of doing that.

  Who was he kidding? It wasn’t really the distance. Guys stayed friends as they signed to new teams all the time. The wedge had developed because Silas had been an idiot. He’d broken off all his relationships when he made the decision to move up north year-round. And the one that mattered most wouldn’t be as easy to repair as the ones with his teammates.

  If only busting his butt on the field could get him what he wanted off the field as well.

  He felt a strong hand on his shoulder and stopped his footwork.

  Coach was looking at him with concern. “I said keep your muscles warmed up, not to keep pushing yourself into an injury. Take a slow lap around the field if you don’t want to join the others, but I don’t need you getting hurt before the season starts because you were unwilling to just chill for a minute.”

  Silas didn’t want to ‘just chill,’ but he wasn’t about to argue with Coach either. He picked up his water bottle and started walking the field when he saw a guy and a girl coming from the other side. He stopped and craned his neck to see them better. His breath caught in his chest when he realized who the woman was.

  Miriam Taylor.

  As she got closer, he could see her hair had grown out quite a bit since the last time he’d seen her, and it fell in blond waves over her shoulders. It was a great look on her, and she looked better than he’d ever seen her. Even in a bright green t-shirt with the Storm logo, she was breathtaking. The ache that always simmered beneath the surface threatened to burst out of him. He turned his gaze away, needing a second to catch his breath, and pulled up short when it landed on the guy walking beside her.

  Silas instantly hated him.

  He couldn’t put his finger on the exact reason why. It could have been because he was young and relatively attractive—if you liked scrawny dudes with spiky hair that looked like it belonged to a member of a ’90s boy band. Or maybe it was the fact that he was standing a little too close to Miriam considering there was more than ample space on the field to have several feet between them.

  It was possible it was plain and simple jealousy. Not that Silas had a right to be jealous—not anymore.

  Whatever the reason, every thought about training and soccer left Silas’ head. He was one hundred percent focused on Miriam and the guy walking beside her.

  “Miriam,” Finn called out, and Silas could have sworn that her shoulders relaxed as the captain walked over to her. He pulled Miriam in for a hug. A hug? Silas’ fists clenched at his sides.

  Finn released her but kept his hands on her shoulders. “How are you doing?”

  She smiled and mumbled a response that Silas couldn’t quite make out. He took a couple steps closer to where they stood.

  “That’s good,” Finn said. “I was just telling some of the new guys a little about what you do for the team.” He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. “Grant, Vinny. Why don’t you come over and meet Miriam Taylor, our community outreach manager?”

  The new guys jogged over to her. Silas couldn’t help but notice that he was not called over, despite being a new player as well. He watched as they exchanged pleasantries.

  Miriam’s face lit up, and she smiled at Vinny and Grant. “Nice to meet you.”

  They both shook her hand and responded with equally bright smiles.

  Meanwhile, Silas tried to chill.

  Finn put his hand on Miriam’s back. “This girl right here is a huge Storm fan and amazing at what she does.”

  In response to the compliment, a slight blush hit her cheeks. Jealousy flooded Silas’ veins. He used to be the one to bring out that blush with his compliments.

  Finn pointed at the two newbies. “If sh
e asks you to show up at some event, you do it unless your mama is in the hospital, do you understand?”

  “What if it’s your girlfriend?” Vinny asked.

  Barros had meandered over at some point and shoved Vinny’s shoulder. “Like any girl wants to go out with your sorry—”

  “Hey!” Finn held up a finger, stopping the words that were on the player’s lips. He crossed his arms over his chest and jerked his chin at Vinny. “Now look, we all know that Vinny couldn’t find a date if he was the best player in the league.” The guys laughed and Miriam covered her smiling mouth with a hand. “But if we could be serious for a sec. Miriam is one of the good ones, and I expect you to treat her right.”

  With these words, Finn shot Silas a death stare. The message he sent was loud and clear: don’t you even think about upsetting Miriam again. Like Silas would ever dream of that. He knew he’d made some serious mistakes two years ago. And now that he was back, he had no intentions of making them again.

  He had a lot of wrongs to make right now that he was back in Waterfront. But Miriam was the most important one.

  “And this guy is Harris,” Finn continued. “He works closely with Miriam in ticket sales. They’re the ones pushing hard for us behind the scenes to get the fans riled up for games. We couldn’t do it without them.”

  Grant and Vinny both reached out their hands to Harris.

  “It’s nice to meet you guys,” he said. “It’s been great working for the Storm this past year, and I’m looking forward to the best season yet.”

  Silas rolled his eyes. I bet he thought it was real nice working for the Storm, especially since he got to work “closely” with Miriam.

  “Silas.”

  His head snapped up at Finn’s voice.

  “Why don’t you come over and also introduce yourself to Harris.”

  I’ll introduce my fist to his face. He plastered on a tight smile and walked over to Harris. Silas puffed up his chest and stuck out his hand. “I’m Silas.”

  “I know.” Harris smiled and eagerly shook his hand. “It’s really great to meet you. I was just telling Miriam on the ride over that I’m a huge fan. I’ve been watching your career this past year. You’re amazing.”

  Silas raised an eyebrow. Harris was a fan? Oh, that was an interesting surprise. Along with the fact that he’d ridden over here with Miriam. He gave a stronger than necessary squeeze before releasing Harris’ hand. “Thanks.”

  Silas’ eyes went to Miriam. Now that he was standing closer, he could see that she really did look exactly the same as before. Her hair was literally the only thing that had changed about her. The pale blue of her eyes was just as stunning as the last time he’d looked into them. There was still the same small smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her full lips—even turned down in a frown—were just as kissable as he remembered.

  And she still smelled of jasmine.

  The scent that held so many memories, and it was the only explanation for what he did next.

  Silas stretched out his arms and pulled Miriam in for a hug.

  She let out a small gasp, and Finn inhaled sharply next to them. Miriam didn’t pull away immediately. But when she finally took a couple of steps backward, out of reach of Silas’ arms, her eyes were wide. In a whisper, she asked, “W-what are you doing?”

  Silas shook his head, clearing the weird spell he’d been under. “I don’t know.”

  Finn shot him another look—one that promised that they would be talking about this. It was a look that said there would be consequences. As if Silas didn’t realize he’d just made a huge mistake that he couldn’t take back.

  He hadn’t meant to wrap his arms around Miriam, but he didn’t regret it completely either. He’d been devoted to the game for two years. He hadn’t dated anyone in that time. And holding Miriam—as awkward as it had been—wasn’t an entirely unpleasant feeling.

  He only wished it hadn’t been so clearly unpleasant for her.

  “Well, I’ve got a lot of work to do.” Miriam lifted a shaky hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Greg wanted to make sure I came by and introduced myself to the new players, and now I have. I think that it’s time for me—” She glanced at the fanboy to her right and cleared her throat. “For us to get back to the office.”

  Harris peered down at Miriam with concern. “Are you—”

  She pursed her lips and avoided his gaze. “Can we please just go?”

  Harris nodded. “Of course.”

  Silas narrowed his eyes at the eagerness in the younger man’s voice. Fan or not, he wasn’t what Miriam needed.

  She released a loud sigh. “Thank you.”

  Miriam didn’t give Harris, Silas, or any of the other players another glance before she turned toward the exit and high-tailed it off the field.

  “It was really nice to meet you,” Harris said to the new players, though his brows lowered slightly when he looked at Silas. “Looking forward to the upcoming season.”

  With that, he turned and jogged to catch up with Miriam who was already halfway across the field. Everyone was quiet until the pair was out of sight.

  Once they were gone, Finn was up in Silas’ face. “Are you blind or just stupid?”

  Silas wasn’t blind. He’d seen the looks Finn had given him. He’d also seen Miriam looking just as beautiful as he’d remembered—maybe more so. No, Silas was just plain stupid.

  When he didn’t answer right away, Finn lifted his arms. “You deaf too?”

  “Easy, man.” Bastian walked over and put a hand on Finn’s chest. “I’m sure Silas has a good explanation for what happened.”

  Bastian turned to face Silas. His eyes practically screamed, “Please have a good reason for acting like such an idiot.”

  Silas shrugged. “I couldn’t help myself?”

  Finn shook his head. “Of course you couldn’t. Just like you couldn’t help leaving us for tons of money to play for the Wolves. I don’t know why Greg let you sign on with the Storm again.”

  Silas almost laughed. Wasn’t it obvious? It was because Greg was as competitive as he was. The general manager wanted to win. As arrogant as it sounded, Silas knew that he was the missing puzzle piece for that dream. He couldn’t single handedly win a season, but he would bring something to the Storm that was missing.

  Silas opened his mouth to respond, but Coach walked into the group. “Alright, guys, break’s over. Let’s get out there and work on agility.”

  Silas sighed. The mess with Miriam would now make it twice as hard to get the team to trust him again. Had it been worth it to have her in his arms again, even for just a second?

  The scent of jasmine lingering in the air made his heart scream a big, fat “yes.”

  He shook his head. What’s done was done. He could only choose to do better, not change the past. Time to do what he always did—put his whole self into the game and show everyone why he was here.

  Miriam

  As awkward as that surprise hug from Silas had been, it wasn’t nearly as awkward as the drive back to the office with Harris.

  He’d asked if she was okay no less than ten times, refusing to believe her reassurances that she was fine. Maybe it was the tears that lingered in her eyes without actually falling that tipped Harris off to the fact that she was lying, but she was not about to talk about her disastrous romantic past. Not when the entire team had practically growled and bared their teeth at Silas.

  While it had felt wonderful to know the guys had her back, Miriam needed at least one person who didn’t look at her with a weird mix of curiosity and pity at Silas’ return. So Harris would not be getting the full story anytime soon.

  Now, back at her desk, she rested her head in her hands and relived the brief, intimate moment between her and Silas. Harris had been gearing up for a total fanboy moment when Silas had wrapped his arms around her.

  What had that idiot man been thinking? And why had she leaned into him when she should have sprinted in the
opposite direction? She was sure it was partly because of the delicious mix of pine and sweat and man that had hit her when he pulled her close. With it, brought a rush of happy memories that made Miriam’s heart warm for the briefest of moments.

  But then came the memories of heartache, and she’d pushed him away.

  Had it been a pity hug? Something merely platonic?

  She didn’t want to know, so she’d made the split-second decision to put a wall up. Instead of opening herself up for more heartache at the hands of Silas Jenkins, she was going to pour herself into her work and be the best community outreach manager that she could be. She loved this job too much to let an unexpected ex ruin it for her.

  Ready to get to work, she scanned her well-worn list of corporate sponsors and tried to piece together events that people would want to attend. The plan was to use a three-fold attack that had worked well in previous years: a location, a caterer, and players.

  Her brain turned over ideas for an event.

  If she had it at The Sports Emporium, the local sporting goods store, she would be able to reach out to their customers, who were most likely sports fans. She could talk to them and ask if they’d ever been to a game. If not, Miriam would invite them. She’d bring along a small stack of BOGO vouchers that were good for any game in the upcoming season to sweeten the deal.

  Next, she would ask the local bakery if they would whip up some cookies or cupcakes with the Storm’s colors—green and black—on them. People who were looking for a quick snack could stop by and grab one, giving Miriam yet another opportunity to talk to future fans.

  Then the final touch would be having some of the players come out to sign autographs. This would bring out the loyal fans who wanted to rub shoulders with some of their favorite players. They would already know about the Storm, so Miriam wouldn’t have to try to sell to them. But they might linger and buy something from the store or pick up a cupcake and a business card for the bakery.

  It was win-win-win and one of Miriam’s favorite parts of the job.