Page 87 of (Un)Rivaled

Gray chuckled as he parked then pushed open the driver’s side door. He walked around the truck to open mine as well. He took my hand. “I don’t know about that, Ace. That thing was a menace.”

“Only because I ran over your toes once!”

“Twice,” Gray said as he helped me down to the ground. When I was steady on my feet, he leaned down and kissed me softly. “You sure you’re up for this tonight? We can always come back.”

I nodded but held him close. “I’m sure. It feels like a good end to this chapter of our lives. Time to focus on the future.”

Gray hummed his agreement, holding out his arm for me to lean on. As we walked through the parking lot, I tried to push the negative thoughts out of my mind and focus on tonight. After David and Jack were both arrested, we weren’t sure if the charges against them would actually stick. While Jack was a little more cut and dry, David was another story, and we were afraid his powerful friends would help him out.

However, the SEC had apparently been investigating him for a long time. Shortly after his arrest, they charged him with a litany of crimes. Between the criminal, fraud, and insider trading charges, David would most likely spend the rest of his days in prison.

After getting the call from the DA earlier and my new walking boot, I was in the mood to celebrate. When we got to the storefront, Gray passed me my keys, holding up the shiny new silver one he’d attached last week. “Let’s see how it looks.”

I held my breath, not sure what to expect when I walked through the doors of my dad’s old law firm. After everything that happened with Jack and David, I tooka couple of weeks to decide what was next. The investigative part of my life was over, but I wanted to use my law degree to help people, not corporations. Once I knew I didn’t want to walk away from being a lawyer, there was only one place I wanted to practice. Here, in the same office my dad used, in the town I loved more than words.

For the past two weeks, Gray had worked tirelessly to bring the office into the modern age. I tried to help, but he insisted on surprising me. If it was anyone else, it would have been terrifying. But Gray knew me—knew me better than anyone else in this world. In fact, when I told him about wanting to take over my dad’s space, he just smiled, knowing I was going to do that before I even did.

“Oh my God,” I said as I stepped into the new sitting area. They had scaled back all the shades of brown, now accenting them with white and pale blue. They replaced the antique chaises with a more modern couch, one very close to the one I had in the city. I squinted as I looked at it. “How did you know about this? You never saw my old apartment?—”

The words were barely out of my mouth when the room erupted in a loud cheer of “Surprise!” I jumped out of my skin, almost losing my balance as I took in everyone. Everyone I loved was gathered in my new office, and I already knew what Gray had done.

He came up behind me and rested his arm around my shoulders. “Don’t be mad, but they all wanted to help. I thought they should be here when you saw it for the first time.”

I just shook my head. Anger was the last thing I found. For so long, I’d been an island, never letting anyone close for fear of getting hurt. However, as I looked around the room at my friends and family, I felt lighter than I had in months.Hell, it was lighter than I’d felt in years. I’d wasted so much time looking for a place I belonged, yet it had been here all this time, just waiting for me to discover it.

I wrapped my arm around Gray’s waist and laid my head on his chest. “It’s perfect.”

Later that night, after everyone else went home, I sat in my office, alone. The front room looked like a disaster, but I was happy everyone enjoyed themselves. Everyone seemed pleased about my new adventure, especially my older sister, Laurel. She asked that her divorce be one of my first cases in my new digs. While her husband, Harry, fled after his involvement in David's schemes became public, she refused to remain married to him for another moment.

I happily sighed as I rested my sore foot on my spare chair. Gray came up behind me and dropped a kiss on my forehead. “Happy?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but I think my dad would be proud.”

“I think he’d be so fucking proud, Ace.”

I swiveled to face him. “So what did Theo pitch this time?”

Gray chuckled, and I couldn’t help but do the same. My brother-in-law might not be Gray’s agent anymore, but he couldn’t help himself. Every week, Theo had a new can’t-miss offer Gray had to hear about. He leaned against my desk. “He asked me if I ever thought about coaching.”

“Coaching?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Gray answered. “Apparently, the league just voted to add on three new teams. One is starting up about an hour from here. They’re looking for a new assistantcoach, and Theo threw my name into the ring. Said the job’s mine if I want it.”

“And do you?” I leaned forward and propped my elbows on the desk. “Do you want it?”

“I think I might,” Gray smiled. “It’s close enough to home that I would be back most nights. Sure, I’d have to travel, but I’d here more often than not. And fuck, Ace–” He sighed, running his hand over his beard. “I miss the game. If I could teach a new group of guys to love it like I used to? Shit, that’s the dream.”

I stood, hobbling over to kiss him. “Sounds to me like you know your answer.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “If you want to, I say go for it. If anything, sign a one-year deal and re-evaluate after that.”

He pulled me in between his legs and kissed me. “Might need a good lawyer to look over the terms. Know anyone available?”

“I think I have someone in mind. And from what I hear, her rates are very competitive.” I pressed up against him. “In fact, she might just be willing to broker some kind of deal. For husbands only, though.” I expected Gray to laugh, but nothing came. In fact, when I leaned back, there was a stern look on his face, one that made my stomach twist into a complicated knot. “Gray? What’s going on?”

He shifted me back into the chair and pulled an envelope out of his pocket. I frowned after he passed them to me. As soon as I opened the top, I knew what they were. Tears stung my eyes while I looked at the divorce papers, ones I knew like the back of my hand. In fact, when I read through them, there it was.My signature.These were the last set of divorce papers I sent Gray earlier in the year, the ones he never returned. I assumed he destroyed them. But now, theywere in my hands, and this time, his signature was on the line next to mine.

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