Page 46 of (Un)Rivaled

Devyn rolled her eyes again. “C’mon, Gray. You knew I was crazy about you. But then you dated Calla, and I…” She placed her hands over her face. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Now, we’re not even friends. And you’re with Kelsey?—”

“Who?” I spluttered.

Her brows furrowed. “Kelsey. I saw her on your Instagram.” She flinched. “Okay, I might social media stalk you from time to time, but that’s not the point.” Waving her hands in the air, she continued, “You’re with someone, and if she makes you happy, I am so happy for you.”

“I don’t have social media,” I grumbled. “My manager set up an account, but I’ve never used it. I sure as shit didn’t post a picture with a girl I barely know.”

“Really?” she said, her smile wider than it’d been allnight. “Does it make me an awful friend that I’m relieved to hear that? Seeing that picture…” Devyn shook her head. “I thought you found your person.”

Her words echoed inside my chest, giving life to a feeling I’d tried to bury for so long. But standing here, with Devyn, after so many years apart, everything I’d tried to ignore became clear. She was the one I wanted, the one I had wanted for so long, heartache was an old friend. I had missed my chance before; shit, I had fumbled so many chances, I didn’t deserve one now. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to risk her walking away without putting it all on the line, once and for all.

“Yeah, I did,” I said, finally realizing it myself. “Years ago, on this beach, back home. She was so mad because these birds kept flying away when she was trying to draw them.”

Devyn’s eyes widened with recognition. “Gray, what are you saying?”

I reached out, pressing my hand against her neck. Her pulse flickered under my touch, the rhythm even more intoxicating than our drinks. “You’re my person, Ace. It’s you. It hasalwaysbeen you.”

She pulled me in by my shirt, not caring who was around us. The first touch of her lips to mine was tentative, almost unsure if she should have done it.Fuck that.I practically growled as I pulled her hips closer to mine and slotted my mouth over hers. She let out a little gasp but sunk into the embrace, her fingers in the nape of my neck.

When I pulled back, I stared at her. “Holy shit, Ace, that was?—”

“Pretty incredible,” she answered for me. “This doesn’t even feel like real life right now.”

I reached up and brushed her hair away from herforehead. “You’ve always been the most real thing in my life, Devyn. I hate that I’ve wasted so much time with you.” I kissed her once again, already consumed by how she felt pressed against me. “But I’m done wasting it.”

Devyn giggled, the sound lighter than anything I’d heard from her before. “That sounds good to me.”

“Yeah?”

She reached up, pulling me down until our foreheads touched. “I don’t want to waste any more time either.”

I couldn’t help but kiss her, wanting to hear that little gasp from her again. Devyn was my dream woman—my best friend and the sexiest woman I’d ever seen, all bundled up into one. As she groaned against my lips, I pulled back. “Shit, can we get out of here?”

My team cut off her response when they started cheering behind us. “‘Bout damn time Anders met his match,” Damien called out.

I flipped him off behind my back, kissing Devyn once again before turning around to face them. Devyn curled into my side, and I put my arm around her shoulders, holding her close. “You never answered me, Ace,” I whispered in her ear. “You want to get out of here?”

“I do,” she said. “But this is your night with your teammates. We should celebrate with them first.”

“The only celebration I want is my head between your legs while you scream my name.”

Devyn’s eyes widened, but the flush on her cheeks told me she was open to the idea. Thank fuck. But as my arm tightened around her, she paused me. “Later, Gray.”

Several of my teammates’ wives came over, pulling Devyn out of my arms to join them for a drink. She rolled her eyes, probably knowing the truth, just like I did. After two years of trying to set me up with all their single friends,they were probably dying to learn all about Devyn, the girl who owned my whole fucking heart.

Damien came up to my side and passed me a beer. “That was a hell of a kiss for friends, Anders.”

I glared in his direction, not needing anyone else’s input on my relationship with Devyn. We both knew friends would never fully encompass what we meant to each other, and that kiss sealed our fate. All my life led me to this moment—to complete clarity that I was in love with Devyn Winters, and I had been for a long time. And while that love had taken many shapes and roles over the years, it was always there, as steady as the beat in my chest. She was mine, and I was done waiting.

“Damn, you really got it bad, don’t you?” He laughed and nudged me with his elbow. “You know, there’s a twenty-four-hour chapel around the block if you want to make this thing official.”

I choked on my drink, but for the first time, the idea of being married didn’t raise red flags. Not when it was with Devyn. “Give me some time,” I said, never taking my eyes off Devyn. “But it is fucking tempting.”

TWENTY-FOUR

As Grayson recounted his version of events, it took everything in me not to fall apart. It was such a stark contrast from my last memories of him, of hearing him say we made a mistake, that it was hard to breathe. His side of the story was everything I wanted to hear after all this time. To know he had loved me just as much as I loved him… It made the remaining pieces of my walls shatter into dust.

“I don’t remember any of that.” My words came out whispered, shame coating each one. Maybe if I had, things would have been different between us. Maybe I would have fought for us instead of walking away.

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