“Either way, she’s home, and looking for jobs. She’s proud of me, and loves me, and understands. But…” He shook his head. “I know she’s still not okay, Giana. I know she needs help. She might be fine for a while — find a job, find a guy. But the cycle always repeats.”

I stared at my hand on his chest. “What if there was a way,” I whispered.

“A way to what?”

“To help your mom the way she really needs it.”

Clay’s brows perked up.

“What if you could cover the bills for a while, and still send her to rehab — maybe not one as fancy, but a nice one.”

“I think that would be amazing,” Clay said, thumbing my cheek. “But I also think it’s impossible, unless I’m willing to take out a pretty sizable loan.”

“Not necessarily.”

Clay eyed me curiously as I sat up fully, crossing my legs under me. He slid up until his back was to the headboard, waiting.

“We had a sponsor reach out to us, and they’re looking to do a big campaign leading up to the bowl games and championship.”

The curiosity on his face vanished, replaced by hard stone. “No.”

“Hear me out,” I said, putting up my hands. “It won’t be like a Kyle Robbins situation.”

“How would it be different?”

“Because you don’t want it for the same reasons,” I explained easily. “And it wouldn’t be an ongoing commitment.”

“I need to be focused on the field right now. We’re only a month away from bowl season.”

“And you can be. Look,” I said, pulling his hands into mine. “One commercial. One event where you sign some sneakers. You’d probably have to wear them exclusively for a while, but it wouldn’t be forever. I can work out the terms to be whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Clay frowned, considering. “It can be like that?”

“When you’re the best safety in the nation?” I arched a brow. “It can be like anything you demand.”

He smirked, leaning his head back against the headboard as he studied me. “You’re sounding like my agent now, Kitten.”

“Maybe I will be one day.”

“Is that something you’d want to do?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. Charlotte said something to me when she extended my contract. She said I’d already succeeded in proving people wrong about me, but now she wanted me to ask myself what I actually want from this so I can reach out and take it.”

Clay sat up. “I’m not kidding, if you wanted to be my agent, I’d take you in a heartbeat. I bet Zeke, Riley, and Holden all would, too. Maybe even Leo — if the showboating sonofabitch doesn’t try to represent himself.”