Right Man, Right Time

Ollie: Hey, is everything okay?

Ollie: Silas, I haven’t heard from you. Just checking in.

Ollie: When you get this, just text or call, or anything. I want to make sure you’re okay.

I stare down at my phone as I sit in class, waiting for it to start, my stomach churning. Something happened. The boys charged into his room, told him something, and now he’s not responding. I don’t know if it has to do with us, something with the team, or maybe with Hornsby.

I sent a text to Winnie as well, asking her if she’s heard anything, but she hasn’t responded either.

And now that it’s a few hours later with no answer to my phone calls or texts, I’m starting to freak out.

The door to the classroom opens, and I glance up just in time to catch Ross walking in, a look of almost disgust on his face.

“Surprised to see you here,” he says as he takes a seat.

Uh, what’s with the attitude?

“Why?” I ask. And then I realize maybe Ian told him something. “Wait, do you know something about the team? I was in the middle of . . . things with Silas when the boys busted into his room, and I haven’t heard from him since. He won’t answer my calls or my texts.”

“I’m not surprised,” Ross says with pursed lips.

What the actual hell.

He digs through his backpack, and I stop him and turn him to look at me. “What’s going on?”

“Ollie, you know I love you, and I’d do anything for you, but that article. Girl, are you really that desperate to impress Roberts?”

“What are you talking about?” I ask. “Was it released?”

“Yeah, and it’s already trending.” He shakes his head. “I can’t believe you wrote that about Silas after you promised him.”

“Wrote what?” I ask as I grab my phone and search for the article. When it comes up and I read the headline, I already know something is off. That’s not the headline I chose. My eyes scan over the text, rapidly floating through the text until it gets to one part.

One single paragraph that causes all the blood to drain from my face.

“Oh my God,” I whisper. “I . . . I didn’t write that.” My eyes scan through the paragraph over and over. “Ross, I didn’t. I would never do that.”

“It has your name on the article,” Ross says.

Tears fill my eyes as I look up at him, panic causing my throat to grow tight. “But I didn’t put that in there. I would never do that to Silas. I . . . I don’t understand.” My breath escapes me, and I panic for air, my breathing becoming labored.

“Shit,” Ross says as he scoops up our things and then takes me by the hand, right out of the classroom and into the hallway. “Deep breaths, Ollie.” He guides me to a corner and then sits us both down.

“I didn’t do it. I w-would n-never.” My teeth start to chatter, my body spasming with every second that goes by where this article is published.

“If you didn’t do it, then who did?” Ross asks.

I glance at him and say, “You’re . . . you’re the only one I accidentally told.”

His brow creases. “If you’re implying—”

“No, I’m not.” I shake my head. “I know you wouldn’t do that to me.” I press my hand to my forehead and try to think. “I just don’t get it. That’s not how I turned in the article. Who changed it? Can someone change it? That’s not allowed, is it?”

“I have no idea,” Ross says. “Obviously, someone did change it. Who did you turn the article in to?”

“Roberts,” I say. I sent it directly to him. “I don’t get how he would know about the cheating. Silas hasn’t told anyone. And I don’t know who else would know about the article.”

“The only correlation is . . . you,” Ross says, stating the obvious.

“Fuck,” I say as I pull out my phone and dial Silas’s number. I bring it up to my ear, and it rings three times before going to voicemail. When the phone beeps, I say, “Silas, it’s me. I really need to talk to you. Please call me.”

I hang up and then lean my head against the wall.

“Why didn’t you tell him that you didn’t write that part in the article?”

“Because he’s not going to listen to the voicemail,” I answer, knowing Silas too well. “There’s no point.” I draw my legs up to my chest and grip them tightly. “I think I’m fucked.”

**SILAS**

“MAN, YOU HAVE TO EAT SOMETHING,” Posey says as he takes a seat next to me at a table in the arena while my phone buzzes on the table. Another phone call from Ollie, but I let it go to voicemail.

“I did. I had a protein bar,” I say.

“That’s not enough, and you know it.” Posey passes a plate of pasta salad toward me. “Come on, man. Eat something.”

“I don’t want to fucking eat something,” I say as I lean back in my chair. “Fuck, Levi, does it look like I want to eat something?”

He pauses, studying me. “It looks like you want to punch your fist through a wall.”

“Accurate,” I say as my leg bounces up and down at a rapid pace.

“Have you spoken to her?”

“What the hell would I say? Thanks for throwing me under the bus for your own career gain? Thanks for spreading my dirty laundry for the fucking world to see?” I shake my head. “No. Fuck her.”

“Okay, I can see where your head is at, but maybe something to consider, what if, I don’t know . . . what if it wasn’t her who wrote it?”

“What the fuck are you talking about? That’s the article she wrote. I read it before she turned it in. She told me she made a few changes. The part of me being cheated on, those were her changes. And why the hell are you defending her?”

“I’m not defending her. I’m just trying to figure this all out, okay? It doesn’t seem like Ollie would do that to you.”

“And you think you know her better than I do?”

“From what you know of her, is this something she would do?”

I glance away, my anger overtaking my common sense. “She knew about Sarah. She was one of the first to know. How did it end up in her article?”

“I . . . I don’t know,” Posey says as he scratches the back of his neck. “All I know is that I’ve seen the way she looks at you and cares for you. It’s hard to believe she would do this.” He pauses and then says, “What if . . . what if it was Sarah?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“What if Sarah went and told someone? I mean, she did have that altercation with Ollie at the bar. Maybe Ollie pissed her off, and Sarah went in for revenge?”

I run my tongue over my teeth, giving that idea thought. “How would she even know who Ollie was, that she was writing an article to begin with?”

Just then, the person of question, Sarah herself, walks into the cafeteria. It’s rare when marketing people go on trips with the teams, but because she’s been helping fill in for Penny, some duties have been split.

Sarah glances around, and when she spots me, she heads right for my table.

But this time, instead of her trying to attack me with her sex appeal, she has a worried expression on her face.

“Silas, can I have a word with you?” she asks as she wrings her hands in front of her.

“Whatever you have to say can be said in front of Posey.”

She glances at Posey and then back at me. I wonder what’s going on in her head. Is she guilty? She has to know about the article. I swear everyone knows about it at this point. That thing spread like wildfire.

“Okay.” She clears her throat. “I wanted to talk to you about that article that was written. I’m already getting emails from other news outlets asking for an interview, for a comment. My name is being tossed around because I was your last girlfriend, and now my boss is questioning me. Why . . . why did you have her write that? I know I hurt you, but this is playing with my livelihood now.”

“So . . . you didn’t have anything to do with this article?”

“No,” she says in disgust and shock. “Why would I want to put that out in the world? I’m ashamed of what I did, Silas. I don’t want to be known as a cheater. There are comments in that article of people tearing me apart. Do you really think I would want to add that kind of disaster to my life?”

I’ve known Sarah for a very long time, and I know when she’s being manipulative, when she’s lying, when she’s sad, angry, and telling the truth. And I know, from the depths of my soul, that she had nothing to do with this.

She swipes at a tear and whispers, “I don’t want to lose this job.”

“You won’t lose your job,” I say. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“Dude . . .” Posey says. When I give him a death glare, he doesn’t back down. “She fucked you over. Made you feel like absolute shit. Made you self-doubt, and you’re just going to jump in and protect her like that? What the fuck, man?”

Sarah stiffens next to me. “Everyone makes mistakes, Levi.”

“That wasn’t a mistake,” he says, his voice harsh. “That was messing with my boy. You realize the kind of man Silas is? He would do anything for the people close to him, and you cheated on him, God knows how many times. Frankly, it’s disgusting you think you can ask for help without even apologizing or owning up to what you did. You’re a shit person, Sarah. Simple as that. If your name is being dragged around, then you fucking deserve it.”

“Levi,” I say, trying to calm him down.

“What? It’s true. You deserve better. Don’t sink to her level.”

“I’m not sinking to her level, but I’m also not going to just sit back when the girl I was with fucked us both over. Sarah shouldn’t lose her job because of what she did to me.” Even I’m not that petty.

“The whole reason you were even with Ollie is because of Sarah,” Posey practically yells. “Like where’s your fucking head at, man?”

I know he’s right.

Sarah doesn’t deserve my empathy.

She doesn’t deserve anything from me.

Yet for some reason, I feel bad for her.

“I don’t know.” I rub my hand over my forehead before I stand from the table. I look down at Sarah and say, “You had nothing to do with this article?”

“I swear, Silas. I wouldn’t do that to you, and I sure as hell wouldn’t do that to me. I know you don’t trust me, and I get that. I do owe you an apology. What I did to you, how I treated you, it was awful and I’m sorry. I saw how badly I hurt you, and I wouldn’t do that again. Maybe I was jealous of Ollie, but I’d never be vindictive, especially if it hurt me in the end too.”

Because it always revolves around Sarah. That’s something I need to remember.

I just nod and take off toward the locker room.

Where the fuck is my head at? Great question.

I’m angry.

I’m hurt.

And I’m trying to figure out why the girl I thought I loved would do this to me.

Maybe what it comes down to is I got played.

Simple as that.

**OLLIE**

“DID YOU WATCH THE GAME?” Ross asks as he comes into my dorm room.

I shake my head as I bury myself further into my bed, where I’ve stayed for the past three days.

Thankfully, I haven’t had to go to work because it was a weekend, and I skipped out on classes on Friday, so I’ve just remained planted here, unmoving, not wanting anyone to communicate with me besides Silas.

And he hasn’t said one word to me.

Not a single one.

And I don’t blame him.

From his vantage point, another woman he loved betrayed him. If only he would listen to me.

Ross takes a seat on my bed. “Silas got into another fight.”

My gut squeezes from the thought of it. The other night when we were watching, Silas got into an altercation with another player. I watched as he tossed his gloves to the ice along with his helmet and upper-cutted another player. That other player did the same.

The sight of them grappling nearly made me throw up.

“Was it bad?” I ask.

“The player caught Silas right in the face. The announcers were saying it looked like Silas just gave up and wasn’t invested in the fight at all. And from where I sat, it seemed like he wanted to be punched. It was their second loss in a row, and Mr. Mustard was complaining about Silas and how he needs to get his head in the game.”

“I’m sure it’s not, thanks to me.”

“But you didn’t write that piece in the article.”

“I know that, and you know that, but he doesn’t. For all I know, Silas is reeling right now. He trusted me when his trust was hard to earn, and look what happened. He’s hurting, Ross, and all I want to do is fix it.”

“So fix it,” Ross says. “The guys come home tonight. Ian told me. Go to his place and force him to talk to you. He can’t avoid you if you’re in his apartment. He deserves the truth.”

“But I don’t know what the truth is. All I know is that I didn’t write it.”

“So explain that to him. Let him know that you plan on getting to the bottom of this.”

“I don’t know, Ross.” I sigh. “Maybe I should just give up. He’s probably better off without me.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” Ross comes closer and places his hand on my leg. “Ollie, you’ve been significantly happier since you’ve been together. He even said it himself that he was learning to trust again.”

“That means nothing when I lost that trust.”

“Well then, tell me this,” he says. “You said you love him, right? Are you just going to give up on that? Do you think you could get over him?”

“No,” I say. “But I don’t think I have a choice. I think it’s inevitable.”

“It is if you don’t try.” He pushes at my leg. “Just go over there, talk to him. Get him to listen to you.”

I pull my weighted blanket that smells like him closer to my face. “And what if he doesn’t believe me?”

“He will. Trust me. You just need to talk it out. Okay?”

I roll my teeth over my trembling lip. “I don’t know.”

“You’ll regret it if you don’t. Talk to him, make sense of it all.” Ross is right. I can’t imagine ever feeling how I feel for Silas for anyone else. He’s such a good man. Private, thoughtful, caring, kind, funny . . . just perfect. I can see my life with him. Through ups and downs, wins and losses, good assignments and bad assignments. I can see how we balance each other out. And I can’t just let that go. Let him go.

I take a deep breath and say, “Okay.”