I smiled. “She loves being a mother like you. They live in Rhode Island, so I get to see them whenever I have a break.”

“Which is rare because of your new job. I’ve got to give it to you, Sutton. I always knew you’d end up in the NFL. I’m proud that you made it to this level.”

She was proud of me? I figured she never gave me a single thought after she hooked up with Grayson. “Thanks.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“How’s your dad?”

For the first time since she sat down, I gave her a genuinely happy smile. “He’s great. He also moved to Rhode Island, and he started dating again.”

She returned my genuine smile with one of her own. “That’s so wonderful to hear. I always admired him. He was cool and supportive. Did he ever write his novel?”

“Funny you should bring that up. He’s finishing it right now.” He was also working on a book about me, but nobody needed to know that. Half the proceeds would go to my charity. For the first time since she walked into my office, I was able to keep eye contact with her in a way that didn’t feel like a challenge.

“And your charity is getting books in front of children. I guess I didn’t realize you liked to read.”

I threw my hands up in mock disbelief. “Max said the exact same thing. I love to read. I just have zero time for anything but football.” I crossed my arms. “I’m listening to a true crime novel in my car right now. I get to hear forty minutes of it a day. Twenty minutes on my way in and twenty minutes on my way home.”

“Huh. I guess I never knew that about you,” she said.

“Honestly, I’m not surprised. It’s all about football. I can have fun after I’ve proven myself.” I didn’t know when that would be.

“But you still make some time for yourself, right? More than forty minutes of audiobooks a day, I mean. What about vacations? Have you been anywhere exciting?” she asked.

I realized she was invested in the conversation. This didn’t feel like a reach out because Grayson was told to be friendly toward me. This was a door opening. Slowly and carefully. “I went to Portugal about four years ago.”

“With Lexi? That’s your girlfriend’s name. right?”

“No. Well, yes, Lexi.” I nodded. “She’s my girlfriend now, but I didn’t go with her. We’ve only been dating for about two years. I went with my dad. He needed to get away from everything for a bit, so he picked Portugal and we hung out there for two weeks. It’s now one of my favorite places on Earth.”