Page 16 of (Un)Rivaled

Maybe if I had an in at the hospital, I could manage to get him into the trial. Unfortunately, I didn’t know any of them. I was just nobody, a name in the crowd. And while most people might recognize my name from my baseball career, it didn’t help me with this. In the world of New York’s elite, people lived or died by their last names and their family connections. It was a hard club to break into and something as fickle as a sports career that would never open the doors I needed.

“Maybe,” I said. “We’re meeting with the doctor again next week to go over his latest scans, so maybe he’ll have some more options for us.”

As the machine wound down with a sad, whirring sound, I placed the bat back in my bag and left the cage. Cole met me on the other side, handing me back his bat aswell. But as I stood up straighter, he clapped me on the back.

“You know, whatever you need, Alex and I are here with you. All of us. We’re all in your corner. “

“I know that,” I said quietly. “Means more than you know.”

EIGHT

FIFTEEN YEARS OLD

“Are you serious, Grayson?”

I turned my head from my spot on the dock, twisting to see my best friend heading my way. Her hands were clenched at her side as she stomped toward us. Her blonde ponytail swung happily with each step, a stark contrast to the look on her face.

“Oh, shit.” Wade, my other best friend, smirked from my side. “You’re in trouble now, Anders.”

If you could’ve felt my heartbeat, you would have thought the same. But the fire in Devyn’s eyes only made me smile, loving she let me see underneath her usual mask. It’d been up too much this past year, settling in almost permanently after she’d showed up at my house in the middle of the night last summer, claiming she’d walked into a door.

I knew it was a lie, knew it as much as I knew my name. But no matter how much I tried to push her, she refused to tell me what really happened. All Devyn wanted was a safe place to land, and she’d come to me.

After that night, I thought we’d be closer than ever, butit was the opposite. Ever since she went back to the city at the start of the school year, she’d started to pull away. We usually talked every day. Now, I was lucky to get her on the phone once a week. If I did manage to get a hold of her, our conversations were tense and brief.

At least things seemed to get better after she came back into town this summer. We spent almost every day together, laughing and hanging out like we used to. But I could tell Devyn was holding something back, like there was a wall she’d built to keep me out. I hated she felt like she had to hide anything from me.

But there wasn’t any hiding right now—she was pissed. She stomped toward me, her pale top practically glowing against her tanned skin. It was a big point of contention between us. Because of my background, I tanned easily, soaking up the summer rays as quickly as I could. Devyn was the opposite. She’d go from pale to burnt, then, after a lengthy healing period, back to pale. But the last month on this very dock had finally given her some lasting color, and I hated how much I liked it.

She stepped up to the edge of my blanket, and I had to grip the edge to keep from reaching for her. When the fuck had that started? We’d always pushed and teased each other, but lately, I’d wanted more, things I shouldn’t want to do with my best friend.

She arched a brow at me, oblivious to my turmoil. “I am going to kill you. You left me to fend for myself against Mrs. Dorset. You know she wanted you to be the one to drop off her lunch.”

“Because she’s always insisting I stay,” I chuckled, rising onto my elbows to smile at Devyn. She’d started picking up shifts at the Lost Tavern this summer, and despite her initial fears, she was doing a great job. Still, there was a part of herthat was holding back, relying on me to deal with any complaints or questions. That wouldn’t do. I wanted her to feel confident. “You can handle her, Devy.”

She tried to hide her smile, but the edge of her lips ticked up. “I hate you.”

Wade chuckled, dropping his sunglasses back down to cover his eyes. “You fucked up this time, Anders. She’s going to kill you.”

“Nah,” I said, smiling to meet Devyn’s frown. “She loves me too much to stay mad at me.”

As the words came out, anxiety crawled into my chest. Maybe love was the wrong thing to say, especially as we navigated this new normal. I waited for her to freeze, to change the subject, but she just smirked at me.

“You’re testing that theory.”

I hated how relieved that made me. Just hearing Devyn tease me was a welcome surprise, making me think we’d get back what we once had.

I forced myself to move, shifting so I could face Devyn fully. I leaned back on my haunches so she could see the sincerity in my eyes. “I’m sorry, Ace. I knew if I went with you, all the customers would look to me for answers.” I smiled up at her. “I want them to see you as someone capable, someone with authority. And I meant what I said; I knew you could handle it.”

Devyn stared at me, her hands plastered to her hips. Her fingertips tapped along the pockets, bringing my eyes down to check out her outfit better. Her denim shorts ended only a couple of inches below her hands, cut shorter than anything I’d seen her wear before. She wore a billowy white shirt over them, covering up the bikini shining through the opaque fabric—just enough of that bright blue color to tease what was hiding underneath.

Fuck. I needed to get it together. This wasDevyn, my closest friend, practically a sister to me. At least, that was what everyone else always assumed. We’d grown up together, so people thought we were like siblings, but I’d never felt that way toward her. Friends? Hell yes. She was my best friend in the world.

Now, I was picturing so much more than friendship. This summer had been painful. It was hot, even more than usual, so we spent most of our time at the dock and in the water. Almost every day, Devyn wore some bikini that left little to the imagination. While I tried my best not to be a creep and check her out, I couldn’t help it. Her body had changed over the past couple of years and was softer, more feminine. Her long legs led to some serious curves, the kind I had no right noticing. But it was impossible to look away, and every day, the urge to touch her became stronger and stronger.

“Gray!” Devyn snapped, nudging me on the shoulder. “Have you heard a single word I said?”

“Sorry,” I chuckled. “Didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

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