She gave me a weak smile. “I’m okay. This was a choice we both made. It’s a long time coming. But we need your help because this is killing him and I don’t want him to lose everything over this.”

I was shocked that she was so supportive of him. Again, I didn’t know the rules of an open relationship, but I was pretty sure successful ones didn’t end with divorce. Parker stood there, cool and calm with her tears in check.

“Does the divorce have to happen now? I know that sounds insensitive, but you’re at the tail end of the season. A divorce now will affect everything in your life from the game to how people treat you socially. Remember when Jakob Phillips had an affair and left his wife? It came out in the middle of the season. The Packers never won a game with him as starting quarterback. They benched him and eventually released him.” I realized it sounded like I was more worried about our careers than the personal lives of the people in this house. “I’m not trying to be dismissive of everything you’re going through. But you do have responsibilities outside of this house.”

Grayson groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. “I know. And I’m going to retire to minimize the damage. I just need to get to the end of the season.”

“That’s why we called you. We need help navigating the fallout,” Parker said.

I looked at them. They both were anguished. I had to be honest. “A divorce at this point in the season will hurt your credibility as a player. One of the reasons you came back to the NFL was because of the money, right?” Grayson nodded “You want to set your family up for the future. This will hurt your endorsements and it will hurt the team. Honestly, I think the best thing to do is wait until the season is over and make this happen as quietly as possible.”

Grayson nodded even though he looked devastated. “I thought you might say that. This is killing me. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t.”

“Is this why you’re having a rough time at work?” I asked.

“Yeah. I know I sound like a complete idiot right now,” he said.