She might not have wanted my help, but she needed it. Grayson was a big dude and no way could she get him into the house without another person. I opened the passenger door and pulled him out. I put his arm around my shoulders and walked him into the house. Parker walked on the other side of him in case he wobbled. She directed us to the couch. He stretched out and started snoring.

I looked at Parker. “Is this a thing with him? I can’t begin to tell you how much trouble he’s in.”

“No. This isn’t normal for him at all. We’ve just got a lot going on right now.” She sat in the chair opposite him. She looked defeated. Her normally bright eyes looked dull and her features sad.

I wanted to comfort her but that wasn’t my job anymore. We were friends, that’s it. “I don’t want to pry. At all. But as his coach, I need answers. I need to go back and figure out what we’re going to do about this. He needs help. Even if this is a one-time thing, we have to treat it as though he has a problem. Nobody wants an alcoholic quarterback.” Her eyes welled up and I felt like a real ass. “Truly. We only want him to succeed.” Me, for selfish reasons, and the team because they needed a leader to guide them to a winning season.

“His problems aren’t alcohol or lack of commitment to the team. He loves being a Cheetah.” She looked at him slightly snoring on the couch with his forearm covering his eyes and shook her head. “I’ll have him call Coach Pierson later tonight.”

I took a deep breath. “I’m here if you need to talk. Either as his coach or as your friend. Take care of him and reach out if you need anything.” I meant it. Our past was the past and I could put any lingering feelings to the side to help somebody who needed it.

“Thank you.”

I stood and had to brace myself for the giant fluffball of a dog that barreled toward me. “You must be Buttercup.” The dog stopped short in front of me and wagged her tail. I smiled and let her sniff my hand before I petted her.

“You know our dog?”

“Grayson was mumbling a lot about dogs on the drive over here.”

She cringed. “I’m sorry, Sutton. I’ll talk to him when he sobers up.”

I stood. “I have to get back to work, but keep in mind what I said.” I couldn’t believe I was opening myself up like this, but a long time ago, I loved this woman. She didn’t deserve to go through whatever this was alone, and she probably didn’t have a lot of friends since they just moved here.