Page 21 of (Un)Rivaled

I narrowed my brow. “Calla hates blue cheese.”

Theo shook his head. “It’s not for her. Devyn is getting settled in, and she asked me to pick up some lunch for her too.”

My pulse almost stopped at his words. I turned around, leaning over the bar. “What do you mean, settling in?”

Theo and Cole exchanged a look, like they knew they had said something that wasn’t meant for my ears. Cole ran his hand over his face, “Look, we don’t want to get in the middle of whatever is happening between you and Devyn.”

“Speak for yourself,” Theo added. “I very much want all the details of how you two got married and managed to elude everyone for so long.”

My hands clenched the bar top, almost hard enough to hurt. I’d nearly forgotten I’d dropped that bomb in front of all our friends. Honestly, I was surprised it took this long to come up.

Cole silenced Theo with a stern look. “But we alsounderstand we’d want to know if we were in your position. Have you talked to Devyn at all?”

“No, why?” I bit out. “She okay?”

“Yeah, she’s good. Just some work stuff,” Theo answered, his voice tense with something unspoken. “Calla convinced her to stay in town for a little bit, at least until she’s able to clear her head. She’s crashing with us for now…” He glanced at Cole. “But she didn’t want you to know she was here.”

My chest felt like it was about to cave in at his words. I was used to Devyn staying away, but that was when we were in the city. There, we had no history. But the idea of both of us being in town and not reaching out? That made my stomach sour. Even if I knew why she didn’t want me around, it burned inside.

Theo’s face turned contemplative. “Maybe you should reach out to her.”

“I don’t know what to say to her,” I admitted. “Wouldn’t even know where to start.” My voice trailed off, unable to bring myself to say anything more.She had every reason to hate me.Despite how I felt about it, there was nothing I could do unless I told her everything. And that wasn’t something I could risk, not yet. Pushing that thought out of my head, I glanced over at my friends. “Sorry you got put in the middle.”

“No need to apologize to us,” Cole said. “That’s your private shit. Tell me, don’t tell me. That’s up to you.”

Theo shook his head. “I agree. It might be fun to pretend otherwise, but this is your business, Gray. We’re here for you.” He crossed his arms in front of him, and his cheek twitched with amusement.

“What?”

Theo sighed, leaning forward. “Look, Calla would killme for saying anything, but are you sure there’s nothing between the two of you?”

I shook my head. “Not anymore.”

“Your caveman stunt last month might say otherwise.”

“I don’t know what the fuck that was about.” I ran my hand over my beard. “Never felt like that before, man.” My blood pressure spiked just thinking of that asshole. I didn’t know his history with Devyn, and I didn’t want to know. But it killed me to believe she’d let someone like that close to her, someone who would dare put his hands on her. I swear, if he hadn’t backed up, I would have killed him then and there.

“I get it,” Cole shrugged. “You had to protect your girl. We’ve all been there.”

“She’s not my girl.” The words soured on my tongue, but I pressed on. “I don’t know if she ever really was. And honestly, after everything we’ve been through, I have no right to think of her as mine.”

Theo and Cole stared at me, as if hoping I’d elaborate. But my past with Devyn wasn’t something I talked about easily, especially with the guilt I felt about letting her down. After all, I was the one who walked away first but then refused to sign the divorce papers when she asked. Because even if I wasn’t sure I’d ever have her again, signing that line felt like a nail in our coffin, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it, at least not yet. Maybe it’d be different if she met someone and moved on. But as far as I knew, she was as closed off as me and didn’t seem to date people for very long. And while I hated the bitter taste that always accompanied the thought of her with anyone else, Devyn was clear. She didn’t want to be married to me.

“You know,” Cole muttered, toying with the glass in his hands. “When I first met Alex, she hated me. Neverin a million years would I have thought I’d get to call her mine. I thought I would never deserve her, so I did everything in my power to stay away from her, everything to convince myself she wasn’t for me.”

“What’s your point?” I snapped, feeling too raw.

“My point is that, sometimes, we can’t see what’s right in front of us.” He shrugged. “Maybe there’s a reason all this came out now.”

“Yeah, my big fucking mouth,” I groaned.

“Maybe,” Cole said. “But I wouldn’t count on it. And for Devyn’s sake, I hope it means something good is coming. Girl’s been having a lot of shit luck lately.”

“Okay,” I growled. “Someone really needs to tell me what the fuck is going on. Now.”

Cole glanced over at Theo, waiting until he gave a nod before continuing. “She got fired. Fallout from the whole thing with the guy from the bar.”

“Jack,” Theo seethed.

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