I shook my head. I didn’t know the rules of an open marriage. I just knew that I didn’t think I could be with her because that probably meant the relationship would be behind closed doors again. I wasn’t doing that again for anyone. I plugged my phone in and slipped back into bed. It wasn’t my place to worry about them, but Parker still had a pull that was impossible to ignore.

* * *

Jamal had Grayson by the face mask. “Whatever’s going on with you, you need to shake it off. Go take a walk.” He pushed Grayson away and barked for Archie. “Get in there and show your starting quarterback how it’s done.”

Grayson ripped off his helmet and threw it across the field. He had shown up in a foul mood all week, but at least he was on time. Whatever was going on in the Moats’ house wasn’t going well and Grayson was terrible at hiding his feelings.

I walked over to Jamal and nodded in Grayson’s direction. “What’s going on with him?” I’d been studying films on the Jets, not watching practice.

“He’s thrown every single pass either at the receiver’s feet or too high. If he plays like this on Sunday, we’ll lose for sure. I want Archie warmed up in case this sorry sack shows up to play instead of our star.” Machismo was alive and well in football and it was hard to not roll my eyes at Jamal.

I jogged after Grayson because he didn’t deserve being called out like that. “Hey, Grayson. Hold up.” He turned but kept walking. I caught up to him and kept in stride. “Look, don’t worry about Coach getting all up in your face. You know what this is like. You’ve been around the league long enough to know he’s just blowing off steam.” I abhorred making excuses for rude behavior, but I had to communicate with Grayson on a level he understood.

“I’m just tired of all the rules. All the time. Here, at home, in life.”

I softened my voice. “Are you going to the team therapist? She’s worked wonders with other players and coaches.”

“I hate feeling like this,” he said. His features were scrunched up into something that resembled physical pain.