Page 18 of Catch
I had to look at it from her perspective. I had a wonderful dad. Parker was under the thumb of her parents. “I love you. I know you’re strong and one day you’ll figure things out and stand up to them.”
We had slipped back into Sutton and Parker, two girls in love. We were always going to be together regardless of the Graysons, Amandas, and Kirstens of the world.
Chapter Eight—The Defense
Present
Parker peeked her head into my office and waited for me to wave her in. “Since you aren’t going to call me for coffee, I thought I’d bring the coffee to you.”
I stood when she placed a cup of coffee in front of me. “Parker. What are you doing here?” I tried not to gape or think about what I looked like at the moment.
“I had to drop something off for Grayson and decided to force you to have coffee with me. I mean, if you have time.” Parker was wearing a blue dress, short heels, and had her hair loose around her shoulders. It was hard to miss the giant diamond on her hand or the tennis bracelet on her thin wrist.
I looked at my watch. The team meeting after lunch started in half an hour. “I have about twenty minutes.” I tossed the rest of my energy bar into the trash and pointed at the chair in front of my desk.
“I’m sorry to barge in but I figured you probably didn’t have the time with the season starting. And it’s just coffee.”
I smoothed back my hair and tightened my ponytail. I looked like I was still in high school, and she looked like a quarterback’s wife. I took a sip and had to stop myself from smiling. The coffee was perfect. She remembered how I liked it; two creams and two sugars. Not refined sugar, but cane sugar. I took another sip and tipped the cup in her direction. “Thanks.” It was extremely hard to keep eye contact.
“Where do we start?” she asked.
“What do you want to know?”
“For starters, how was college?”
I leaned back and folded my arms. “This sounds like an interview.” Her smile always gave me butterflies. I was guarded this time, but a few flutters made their way inside. I smiled in return. “College was exactly how I’d thought it would be.” Minus the relationship with her. “I’ve been working every day since college.”
“And look at you now. First female offensive coordinator for the NFL and you’re only thirty-three years old. I know this might sound silly, but I followed your career. I was worried that you were working too hard and not having any fun.”
That was offensive even though I knew she didn’t mean it to be. “I did. What about you? You’re married and you have two daughters. Tell me about that.”
“The time has flown by. My daughters are amazing and incredibly smart. I can’t believe how perfect they are.” Her voice grew softer and she turned her face and averted her gaze just a little bit as she thought about them.
“You always wanted children,” I said.
“You would love them. Their personalities are so different and yet they complement each other so well. They are best friends, and I couldn’t be prouder of them. I’m sure that will change as they grow older, but now they still play with each other.”
“Will you show me photos?”
She opened her purse and pulled out her phone. I studied her face while she scrolled through her photos. She always tanned better than I did and her sun-kissed skin made her blue eyes even lighter. Her lips were still full and the tiny laugh lines around her eyes grew more pronounced when she found a photo she wanted to share. She handed me the phone. “The one on the left is Violet, or Vee, and Rose is the one petting the goat.”
They looked just like her with blond hair and blue eyes. Rose had Grayson’s square jaw, but the rest of her features were Parker’s. “They’re beautiful. And this is such a fun age.”
She tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Speaking from experience?”
“Not me. Hayley has three boys all under the age of ten. I try to hang out with them as much as possible.”
“How is she doing?” Parker asked.
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.”
