“You could say we were friendly rivals in high school. It’s good to see you again, Coach McCoy,” Grayson said. There was no animosity in his voice. I wanted to hate him for our history, for his success, but he seemed genuinely nice. He was still handsome with dirty blond hair that was a touch too long and brushed the collar of his white button-down shirt. He’d aged well and filled out.

“Good to see you, Grayson.” The words tasted bitter.

“So, you’re in the NFL. That’s great. You were with the Vikings before, right?” At my curt nod, he smiled and turned to the other coaches. “This woman gave me a run for my money in high school. She beat me, fair and square, and took her team to state. She knows her stuff.”

“Sutton, why didn’t you mention you knew Grayson?” Jamal asked.

I shrugged. “First day. I didn’t want to sway you all one way or the other.” I was amazed my voice sounded so steady.

“Tell us about yourself, Moats,” Jamal said after we placed our orders.

“I’m sure you have all my stats and probably know them better than I do or I wouldn’t be here.”

Joe roared with laughter and slapped his meaty hand on the table. “He’s not wrong. Would moving here be a problem with your family? You have children, right?”

“Yes, my wife and I have two girls. Violet and Rose. They are young enough that we don’t mind moving.”

Grayson looked at me but didn’t bring up the past. I smiled, recalling the sweet blond girls I’d seen cheering on their father. Whenever I saw them on TV, it was hard not to look at Parker, but eventually I got to the point where I could ignore her and focus on the children. They looked so much like her.

We didn’t talk shop until after we all finished dinner. I was surprised I could even swallow food around Grayson, but I ate my steak and salad and even contributed to the conversation. I wanted to hate him, but he acted like we didn’t have a wicked history. He was easygoing and quite charming.

“So, what are you thinking? A year? Two?” Grayson asked.

“A year contract with the possibility of an extension depending on how the season goes, but we’ll get into that with your agent. We just want to see if you’re interested,” Jamal said. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest waiting for Grayson’s response. I needed to find out what kind of deal we were offering. Everything was happening so fast.

“Well, I’m up for the challenge. I’d like to make an impression somewhere and I can’t think of a better place than a fresh team,” Grayson said.