Charles clinked his glass against mine. “To the cup. May it bring us everything we ever wanted. Or at least make us realize what we really wanted all along.”
Chapter 18
Silas
Well, it was official. My season was over. As of three days ago, I left my last game for the year, and now Elliot was heading to the playoffs. His season was not over. He’d have another four games at the very least.
In reality he’d have ton more games than that because he was going to win it all. I wanted to see it happen.
I itched to reach out to him and make sure all was well. His heat was a few weeks ago, and I wanted to know how he was feeling. We used protection, as we always had, and I knew he was on thepill. Accidents happened, and I knew Elliot would tell me if there was a lingering result of our time together.
No news was good news, I guess.
Tomorrow I would reach out to some contacts, because there was no way in hell I was missing the final game. Even if I had to sit in the stands by myself, I wasn’t going to miss watching Elliot play for the cup. I was sure I could play it off like I was doing research or something for my new job. But really, I just wanted to watch Elliot play.
Hell, if I really wanted to, I could get tickets to all of the games for the rest of the year that Port City played. That might be going a bit overboard. Borderline stalker behavior.
I turned off the TV and tossed the remote onto the ottoman. The house was quiet, the hum of the air conditioner the only thing in the space. Maybe I needed to get a cat. I wondered if I could get a cat just for the off-season. I could foster a few kittens, maybe a dog. Anything to keep the loneliness at bay.
I grabbed one of the blue pillows I’d picked out and hugged it to my chest. I fought the urge to cry. I didn’t need to be doing that right now. It had been months since Elliot and I separated, it shouldn’t affect me so much. I should be over it.
A knock at my door kicked me out of my head space. It didn’t chase the melancholy away, but at least if I had someone to talk to, I could hide it. I didn’t even bother checking the app to see who was there. I simply opened the door.
I was shocked to find Elliot, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He wore a baseball cap, a pair of gym shorts, and a loose sweatshirt. It wasn’t even a Badgers sweatshirt.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
I should turn him away. But I was weak. I would never turn away my omega, no matter what. Even if having him here in my home could cost me my career, I would give it up. He couldn’t be in heat, that had happened weeks ago.
It was more likely that having him here was going to cost me my sanity. I was no closer to being over him and moving on. Not when I kept seeing him everywhere I looked. Even when I shut out the world, he was there when I closed my eyes.
“Of course,” I said.
I thought he would be out celebrating with his team or enjoying a home-cooked meal from his mom. I never expected to find him on my doorstep.
He walked in, went straight to the couch, and sat down. I followed. Then he bounced up onto his feet and started pacing.
“Is everything okay?” I asked. For a moment I worried that someone found out about us. But even if they did, it wasn’t as if we did anything wrong. We broke up before I officially accepted this job. “The team?”
Elliot shook his head. “Everything’s fine. Perfect. I don’t have any complaints. My team is heading into the playoffs. We’re going to win the cup.”
I grinned. I couldn’t help myself; he was so sure of his team and his own talent. “Hell yeah, you are.”
“You—Silas. We can’t be together.” His voice came out tortured, strained, like he was fighting for his life.
My jaw clenched. “I know, Elliot. We already went through that. We broke up or stopped being… whatever.”
“I mean, there’s no way we can be together. I’ve looked. I’ve tried. I’ve read the rule book backwards and forwards. I’ve thought of every single scenario, and all of them suck.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, didn’t you try to think of some solution to this?”
“Well, yeah. But I wanted us to be together.”
He stopped pacing and faced me. “Did you think I didn’t?”
“I didn’t know for sure what you wanted.” It was awkward with me sitting and him standing, but if I went closer to him, then I was likely to end up in his arms confessing everything.
