Page 8 of (Un)Rivaled

I blushed, running my hand through of my hair. “You heard that, huh?”

“Yup,” she said. I expected her to hurl more insults at me, to take off and run away, breaking this weird truce we had going on. Instead, she just rolled her eyes. “It’s fine. I’ve called you worse before.”

“Oh, yeah?” I smiled at her. “Like what?”

“Not gonna tell.”

“C’mon, Devy. I promise not to laugh too hard.”

She coughed a laugh then turned to look down at her feet, “I might have implied you think I’m a know-it-all because I use multisyllabic words, making it impossible for you to comprehend what I’m saying.”

My cheeks flushed at her implication, and I hated that she’d picked up on one of my biggest insecurities without even trying. No one but my parents and teachers knew the extent of my failings. Even though they tried to help, itdidn’t make my brain work any better—it didn’t make it any easier for me to concentrate.

Hating how raw I felt with her words, I hopped off the rock, trying to get as much distance from her as possible. “Gotta go.”

“Wait,” Devyn said as she rushed after me, taking my hand in hers. I almost jumped at her touch, and not only because her hands were like ice. Something pulsed between our fingers, something I’d never felt with anyone else. It was weird, almost uncomfortable. Without thinking, I pulled my gloves off, placing them around her hands before she could say anything. She looked down at her now-gloved hands and frowned, as if no one had ever done something like that for her before. Maybe it was weird, but I went with it. Her wide brown eyes looked up at me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything like that. Truthfully…” She sighed. “Truthfully, I’ve always been a little jealous of you.”

“Of me?” I laughed.

“Is that so hard to believe?” Devyn spit out. “You’re so…nice. Everyone likes you! No one thinks you’re mean or rude.”

“I don’t think you’re those things.” Devyn narrowed her eyes. “Anymore.”

“It’s fine.” She shook her head. “I know I can be abrasive at times. It’s not like I try to be that way, but I just hate being talked down to. If I don’t make people see me, then they treat me like a kid.”

“Youarea kid,” I smiled, stepping closer to her.

“Semantics,” she grinned back at me.

I shook my head. “Look, I know we’ve never gotten along before, but maybe we could try something new. Maybe try not hating each other?”

“Like a truce?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

She paused, searching my expression for any clues of deception. Finally, after a long, tense moment, she nodded. “Fine.” She held out her hand. “But only if I get to call you Grayson.”

I placed my palm in hers. “Never gonna happen, Devy.”

FOUR

ME

Come on, Calla. Please talk to me.

The text message from earlier this morning stared back at me, joining the dozens of other unanswered ones. It had only been a couple of days since the blow-up at the bar, and my heart ached from missing my sister. Would she ever hear me out? Did I even deserve that? Calla was usually the most forgiving person in the world, but this was a deep secret I’d kept from her foryears.

But how was I supposed to tell her? Oh yeah, so you know your high school boyfriend? Yeah, I married him on a drunken whim in Las Vegas. And even though Gray and I had been friends first, she was the one he dated, the one he actually wanted. I couldn’t bring myself to explain how I had been madly in love with him and was willing to settle for second place.

I would rather eat a tin of thumbtacks.

My phone chimed, and I instantly sat up, hoping it was Calla. But no such luck—just another text in a group chatwith my law school friends. They were trying to arrange drinks, and usually, I’d try to make an effort, even though I’d most likely back out at the last minute because of some work emergency. But today, I didn’t even feel like responding, too busy wallowing about being such a shitty sister.

The worst part was that there was a moment last year when I could have told her. It was right after I found out Calla was dating her older boss, even though it was against the company’s rules. I thought it was going to end in disaster, but luckily for them, Theo was too stubborn to let my sister go. He loved her with a fierceness I only dreamed about. They were even expecting a baby this summer.

And while I was thrilled it had worked out for them, when I first found out, it hurt that Calla had lied to me, even though it had only been a couple of weeks. Add another check into the hypocritical column for me. We’d promised each other no more secrets. That was the moment I should have told her everything.

But I’d done what I always did: made excuses in my mind to hide the past with Grayson. Because as much as I wanted to tell Calla, she was the one person I couldn’t admit the truth to. Not only because Gray had been hers first, but because I would hate to see her opinion of me change. She was one of the few people who saw the good in me despite my surly personality pushing most others to the periphery. Even back home, where she’d tried to pull me into the fold of her friend group, I felt like the outsider, like I was one quip or smart ass comment away from being excommunicated.

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