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

by Kayla Tirrell

She loved trying to figure out which sponsors would pair together well, and how to get the most out of every event for all the parties involved. But she needed a location before she could plan out the rest of it.

  Miriam looked up the store manager for the sporting goods store—already programmed in her phone—and called him to see if they could schedule an event before the season officially started in just a few short weeks. Miriam leaned back in her chair and tapped a pen against her thigh as the phone rang.

  “Thanks for calling The Sports Emporium. This is Joe.”

  Miriam’s shoulders relaxed when she heard the manager’s voice. “Hey, Joe. It’s Miriam from the Storm office.”

  “How are you?” His voice was cheery. “Getting ready for the season?”

  Miriam’s frantic pen tapping stilled, and she sat up in her chair. “That’s actually why I called. Have a few minutes?”

  “What’s up?”

  Miriam launched right into the upcoming season and asked whether or not she could count on him to host a player meet and greet sometime soon. She held her breath as she waited for his reply. She knew it wasn’t personal if someone said no—people were busy, businesses had their own priorities—but each time it felt like a personal rejection.

  Silas had really done a number on her, and it had taken her too long to trust her own abilities. Her best friend Allie’s voice was on repeat inside her head, reminding Miriam that she was a capable woman.

  “Miriam. We’ve been doing these events for three years now, and every time you folks are here, we see a boost in sales. You know you’re welcome to bring your boys anytime.”

  Your boys.

  It was funny how those two little words could unnerve her as much as they did, especially since there was a time that Miriam had considered the players to be her boys. Back when she’d been spending every free moment with Silas, she was usually spending time with the other players as well.

  They’d all become fast friends. That was, until he left. Then Miriam stopped showing up to movies or lunch. And eventually, dates with her boys were replaced by girl time with Allie. They still cared about her—they’d shown her that at the arena—but it wasn’t the same. Nothing was the same without Silas.

  Now he was back, and Miriam wondered what things would look like.

  “Miriam?” The voice on the other line shook her back to the present.

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “I was just asking when you’d like to come in.”

  Her face burned at her lapse in professionalism. “Right. I’ve got my calendar right here in front of me.” She leaned forward in her seat and looked at the large desk calendar that had blue and black ink scribbles filling many of the dates. “It’s late notice, but can you do this Saturday? We’ve just signed some new players, and I know Greg will be anxious to get them out there for the fans to meet.”

  “Let me see.” He made a clicking noise as he presumably looked at his own calendar.

  As Miriam waited, she noticed Harris walking in her direction with a coffee cup and a small Styrofoam container. He lifted them both as he got closer, a hesitant smile on his face.

  Miriam held up a finger and mouthed, “Just a sec.”

  Harris nodded and sat down in a chair next to her.

  The clicking through the speaker of the phone stopped. “You know what, it looks like we can do Saturday afternoon. Eleven to three sound good?”

  “Yep.” Miriam wrote the time down on her calendar. “That sounds great. We’ll see you then.”

  “Awesome. And Miriam?”

  She set her pen down. “Yeah?”

  “I hate to ask because maybe it’s privileged information, but is it true that Silas Jenkins is coming back?”

  Miriam stifled a groan and reminded herself she couldn’t let her personal feelings dampen the fans’ excitement. “Where’d you hear that?”

  There was a small chuckle. “My wife swore she saw him at the gas station last night. You know she was a big fan before he left for the Wolves.” The last word came out as a curse.

  Miriam fought to keep her voice even, playful even, as to not give anything away about Silas or how she felt about his return. She knew better than to break the GM’s news before he was ready. “Well, like you said, it’s privileged information. But either way, you’ll know soon enough.”

  Joe let out a sound of frustration. “I guess we’ll have to wait, but I know my wife would be really happy to see him back. As long as it’s for good this time.”

  Miriam’s mouth was dry, but she managed to get out an, “uh-huh.”

  “I’ll see you guys on Saturday.”

  “See you then.”

  Miriam hung up the phone and looked over to Harris who had been waiting patiently for her to finish her call. She jerked her chin at the cup and box. “What’s that?”

  Harris’ cheeks darkened. “I just, ah...I’m not really sure what happened at the arena today, but I know you’re upset.”

  She leveled him with a stare. “I told you I’m fine.”

  “You’re also a terrible liar.” He set the drink on her desk and handed the container to Miriam. “Look, I’m not going to make you tell me what’s going on. But that doesn’t mean I have to sit here and let you be miserable either. So I got your favorite.”

  Miriam opened the small box. Inside was an oversized piece of chocolate ganache cake from the bakery down the street. The tears she’d held at bay all afternoon returned—only this time they fell.

  “Oh, crap.” Harris reached out and grabbed the box. He set it on the desk next to her drink before he reached out and took Miriam’s hands in his. “I’m sorry. I was trying to make you feel better, not worse.”

  Miriam sniffed and shook her head. “No, this is very sweet. It’s just been…” She took a deep breath, still not wanting to go into her past with Silas. Harris would find out eventually, maybe he already pieced it together, but for now Miriam still wanted to pretend like this was just a nightmare that she’d wake up from any moment. She cleared her throat. “It’s been a long day.”

  Tears streamed down her cheeks, and when she went to wipe them, she realized that Harris was still holding her hands. The touch was comforting. And unexpected. Had he ever held her hand before? Miriam didn’t think so. She gave him a watery smile. “Thank you, Harris, for the cake and coffee.”

  A corner of his mouth lifted. “You’re welcome.”

  “And thank you for not pushing me to talk about it.” She looked down and played with the hem of her shirt. “It means a lot.”

  “I figure you’ll tell me when you’re ready.” He didn’t make a move to get up but stayed there in silence.

  They continued like that for a moment, and Miriam’s mind raced over the events of the day, until they landed back where they were before Harris had come in bearing gifts. She still had a lot of planning to do for Saturday’s event.

  She looked up at him. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I have a few more calls I need to make before the end of the day.”

  Harris nodded stiffly. “Yeah, me too. I’ve got a bunch of promotional stuff to put together for The Comeback.”

  #TheComeback

  It was the campaign for this season. An easy way to show fans that last year’s losing season wasn’t the end, and the Storm had a plan. With Silas back, however, their chosen word took on a whole new meaning.

  “Awesome.” Miriam pointed at her computer. “Then, I’ll just get back to this.”

  Harris nodded again before he stood up and wiped his hands over the thighs of his jeans. “Right.”

  He started walking away, and Miriam felt a wave of guilt over dismissing him when all he was trying to do was cheer her up. “Harris?”

  He stopped and turned.

  “Thanks for this. Really.” She tried a brighter, less tear-stained smile.

  He gave her another small smile before turning and returning to his own office. Once he was gone, Miriam tried to focus on her own work aga
in. But it was much harder this time. Not only because of Silas—though that was going to be hard enough on its own.

  On top of everything else, she worried that Harris might not be the only one who noticed the tension between her and Silas. How was she supposed to do her job and get people excited at meet and greets if Silas was there? She’d be counting down the minutes until he left, and that kind of energy came through no matter how hard you tried to cover it with a smile and a cheery voice.

  Miriam pulled up the roster of players on her laptop. The three new additions were yet to be added, but Miriam knew what she needed to do. She needed to make sure Silas was invited to as few events as possible, and that there was always a buffer of several players between them.

  That way there would be no more chances of surprise hugs and all the dangerous feelings that went along with them.

  Silas

  Silas needed a plan.

  It had been a couple of days since he’d seen Miriam, but now that he knew what it was like to hold her again, no matter how briefly, all he could think about was getting her back.

  At practice. At home. Every minute in between. He literally ached to see her again, but it was impossible to find an excuse to talk to her. When he wasn’t at practice, he was working out, or getting in extra training sessions. The effort was worth it to get back in the good graces of the team, but it didn’t leave much time for dropping by the Storm office during business hours.

  The only solution? He needed to sign up for each and every community outreach event that came up.

  Unfortunately, he hadn’t received any requests from Miriam and the rest of the team was still being pretty tight-lipped around him, not that Silas expected anything different. It had been less than a week since he’d signed his contract for the Storm. He’d need a little more time to earn their trust. But he needed Miriam’s trust too.

  Silas pulled on a Dri-FIT tee and a pair of soccer shorts as he got ready for his morning workout. Team workouts were mostly optional, but this way he’d stay in peak physical performance with the intensive workouts. It also gave him some much needed time with the rest of the team to show how serious he was—especially since he wasn’t getting much interaction outside of team events since he was living at home for the time being.

  He could have opted to live in one of the shared houses with some of the players who came in from different cities just for the season, but he wanted a place of his own. He hadn’t had a chance to buy one with the sudden signing to the Storm, but he would.

  He jogged down the stairs from the second story, past the kitchen, and toward the front door.

  “Silas.”

  He stopped and turned at the sound of his mom’s voice. “Good morning.”

  “And a good morning to you too.” She walked over and grabbed his face. She brought it down low enough so she could kiss his face. “I know you’re a grown man with a professional soccer career, but it’s just so nice to see you. Two years is too long to stay away from your parents.”

  Silas barely resisted the urge to wipe his cheek as he straightened back up. “You act like you haven’t seen me at all. I was here for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Plus all the away games.”

  They’re home games now.

  His mom’s lips pressed together in a tight line. “The holidays never felt long enough. And you and I both know you were too focused on the game when you were here for them.”

  He put his hands around her shoulders and squeezed. “I’m here now.”

  “I’m happy you are.”

  So was Silas.

  Everything had felt wrong in Wisconsin. It wasn’t just the weather—though his teammates on the Wolves laughed every time he pulled out a jacket for weather that was below sixty. It was the little things too. They thought his casual use of the word ‘y’all’ made him sound like a southerner, when everyone knew that Florida wasn’t technically the South. Meanwhile, they called everything by weird names and said ‘ope’ all the time.

  The move had been a huge mistake, but he’d been too embarrassed to admit it.

  So instead of keeping a house in his hometown and only living near the team seasonally like players all over the league did, he’d stayed through the long, cold winters, and started saying ‘you betcha’ unironically.

  “Off to practice today?” his mom asked.

  He shrugged. “The gym.”

  “Don’t overdo it.”

  Silas rolled his eyes at her mothering.

  “Oh, and I’m planning on making chicken marinara for dinner if you think you’ll be around.”

  Silas’ stomach growled in response. While he only planned to stay with his parents long enough to find a place he liked enough to buy, there were definite perks to being home for the time being. “Wouldn’t dream of missing it.”

  “Good.” She beamed up at him. “Your dad will be home around five-thirty. I’ll have food on the table then.”

  “Thanks, Mom. I’ll see you later.”

  Silas gave her one last smile and headed to the gym. If he hadn’t been such an idiot two years ago, he would already have a house, and it would have been Miriam making him dinner.

  But his mom’s chicken marinara wasn’t too bad, either.

  He was only five minutes late to Big Results Gym, but apparently that was late enough that his teammates had started without him.

  They were all in the back room, the one sometimes used for line dancing and yoga, working on agility drills. There were a couple of metal benches set up around the room, and everyone had already gathered around Finn as he started demonstrating the first drill. Silas tried to come in quietly and stood next to Grant.

  “Okay, with this one, you want to make sure you have full control over your movements. Start with ten reps slow and steady, then try ten at a faster pace like this.”

  Finn jumped up putting one foot on the bench, he crossed the other foot in front of it, and then landed on the other side. Once both feet were planted on the ground, he repeated the motion in the opposite direction. He was slow at first, counting to ten, then he picked up the pace. To an observer, it might have looked easy, but Silas still remembered how sore he’d been when he started doing this kind of training.

  When Finn was done with his demonstration, the players closest to the benches started in on the new drill.

  “Wasn’t sure if you would show today,” Grant said somewhat distracted as he watched the other guys hop over the benches.

  Silas bristled. “Why wouldn’t I come?”

  Grant shrugged. “I just heard Finn and Bastian talking in the locker room the other day. They said they weren’t sure why you were here.”

  Silas took a deep, steadying breath. Grant was new to the team—and young. It wasn’t his fault that Silas had given everyone something to talk about. He could have gone into a long explanation of all the reasons there was tension between him and some of the other guys, but he decided to keep it simple. “I’m here to play. I’m here to win.”

  It must have been enough for the rookie because he answered with an equally simple, ‘cool.’

  They stood in an easy silence as they waited for a chance at the new drill.

  Eventually, Grant spoke again. “Does that mean you’re going to The Sports Emporium tomorrow?”

  The Sports Emporium?

  There was only one reason Grant would be asking that, and that meant there was a meet and greet. Silas knew that with only a couple of weeks until the home opener that the team would be out making appearances. It just turned out that the community outreach manager had conveniently forgotten to invite Silas to those events.

  He fought to keep his face neutral and his voice even as he said, “Yeah, of course.” He paused. “What time is it again?”

  “Eleven to three.”

  “That’s right.” Silas nodded. “I forgot, but when I went to text Miriam, I realized I lost her number.”

  More like deleted it when he signed for the Wolves so he wouldn’t be tempted to
call her and make things harder for the both of them. But Grant didn’t need to know any of that.

  “I’ve got it. Just a sec.” Grant pulled his phone out of the pocket of his athletic shorts and rattled off the number.

  “Thanks, man.”

  “No problem.”

  Silas opened his mouth to ask Grant if there were any other events coming up that Miriam had “forgotten” to tell him, but Vinny fell off the bench making a loud crashing noise. Everybody stopped what they were doing to see if he was okay.

  Vinny stood up and soon was in Finn’s face cussing him out. His words came in a continuous stream of creative swears guaranteed to make the seasoned sailor blush. The entire team watched in silence to see what Finn was going to do.

  The captain put his hands on Vinny’s chest and pushed him back. “I know these drills are new to you. Nobody expects you to get them right away.”

  Vinny pressed his lips together and shook his head. “The drills are stupid. Jumping on a bench isn’t gonna make me kick better.”

  Finn crossed his arms and refused to break eye contact with Vinny. “The drills are meant to help with agility, not to make you ‘kick better.’ They stay.”

  Vinny looked away. His narrowed eyes scanned the players who were watching him intently.

  “Look.” Finn took a step toward Vinny. “I’ve already got one jerk on the team that I’ve got to deal with. I need you to keep your cool. They’re just drills.”

  Vinny ran a hand over his face and nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

  “Go take a walk around the gym.” Finn’s eyes went to where Silas and Grant were still standing next to each other. “Grant, why don’t you come give this drill a shot?”

  The rookie jogged over to Finn and started jumping on the bench as Finn had demonstrated.

  Silas should have been more upset about being called out in front of the entire team, but it was difficult to keep the smile off his face. He had Miriam’s phone number in his phone again. It was such a small thing, but it felt like a step in the right direction. He walked over to the side of the room and started texting.

  Silas: Hey, just wanted you to know that I’ll be at the meet and greet tomorrow.