Page 73 of (Un)Rivaled

“Why is that?” she asked.

He chuckled, looking fondly up at his wife. “Started with a bet. I was just a dumb kid, in love with this beautiful girl who saw me as nothing more than a friend. So, one night, a bunch of us were hanging out, and she brought out a deck of cards. Decided to play poker. Night goes on, and everyone goes out except the two of us. And then she decides she’s all in, but I don’t have the chips to match.” He looked up at Marta, smiling softly to himself. “Remember what I said?”

Marta nodded her head, smiling at her husband, tears in her ears. “You had nothing to give me but your last name.”

“That’s right,” he smiled. “And by some dumb stroke of luck, she thought it was a good enough line to keep playing. So, when it came time for the final card, we both showed our hands. Both of us had three of a kind, but she had an ace, and I had a king.” He paused, shuffling the cards in his hands. “Technically, she should’ve won, but I wanted to see how she played it.”

“You would have never known that at the time,” Marta chuckled as she came around and stood at his shoulder. “The man was grinning ear to ear.”

Curt reached out and wrapped his free arm around her waist. He stared up at her, and you never would have known they’d been married for four decades. Curt looked just as lovestruck as he did in their wedding pictures. “I said to her, your choice—is the ace low or high?” He turned tothe rest of us. “If she said low, I would’ve let it go, known she felt nothing for me but friendship. But then she said…”

“High. Always high.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Guess I’ll be taking that last name now.”

Curt smiled like he was still there, looking at the girl who won his heart. “Gave it to her six months later. Called her my Ace of Hearts ever since.” He sighed and looked out to the rest of us. “And now, it’s the house rule: nothing ever rivals an ace.”

My eyes widened as I looked over to Gray, who was watching me apprehensively. Years ago, he’d gifted me the nickname Ace, claiming it had something to do with my grades. But now, my heart hammered in my chest, knowing the truth without him saying a word. All the love I’d questioned, all the times I thought Gray saw me as nothing more than a friend, the answer had been there all along. I just never knew where to look.

“Could you excuse me for a moment?” I said as I started to head toward the bathroom. But instead of turning into the room off the kitchen, I kept moving, walking straight into the garage and up the stairs to Gray’s old room.

As the door closed behind me, I leaned against it, holding my hand to my chest. My heart thumped an unsteady rhythm as my emotions threatened to overwhelm me. It was only made worse when I looked out into the space, and my past threatened to sweep me away. Ever since Gray moved out to the garage when he was sixteen, this room hadn’t changed. I’d spent so many nights here when I couldn’t stand to be home. It still had the same dark blue paint, framed posters on each wall. Photos lined the shelves, and I was in several of them, smiling at Gray like he was the center of my universe.

I walked over to the bed and ran my hand over thecomforter. It was where I had run years ago, when it felt like the ground was about to swallow me whole. Gray held me, pressing an ice pack to my swollen face as I cried myself to sleep. I drifted off, listening to him promise I’d be okay, that he’d keep me safe.

Gray was my safe space, the person I’d always run to when the world was too scary and big to confront alone. And even though moving back was Calla’s idea, I had to wonder if it was really the same thing. If all along, I’d been trying to find my way back to him.

Before I could examine that thought too closely, though, a knock sounded on the door.

“Ace, open the door.”

FORTY

I held my breath as the doorknob turned, watching as Devyn came into view. From the moment she walked away from the table, my heart sank, unsure how she felt about my dad’s story. And even though she was in front of me now, I still couldn’t tell, not with Devyn’s mask firmly back in place. There was no betraying what was going on under the surface, if she’d put the pieces together about her nickname. Honestly, I’d forgotten all about how that saying came to be in our home, just knowing my dad always referred to my mom as his ace of hearts, that the Ace always represented the best of the best.

“Why?” she asked, still grasping the door handle.

“You know why, Ace.”

“I need to hear you say it.”

I moved toward her, and she shifted out of my way, allowing me into my room. It was weird being back in this space. Not so long ago, it was where I imagined living for the foreseeable future. But now, home was with Devyn, in our bed up in the mountains. While I knew I should feel guilty about moving out right after I came home, I couldn’t,not when it meant spending each night wrapped in my wife’s arms.

I walked over to the picture I’d placed on my mirror over a month ago, long before I ever thought Devyn and I would work things out. Tugging it free, I moved closer to her, showing her what I’d saved for so long. “When I first started calling you Ace, it wasn’t even on purpose. It just slipped out. But I knew what the word meant to my family.” I sighed, dropping down to the edge of my bed. I thumbed the pictures. “I’ve always loved you, Devyn. Sure, it was in different forms and ways over the years, but I loved you all the same.”

“Gray…”

“No, I need to get this out,” I said, staring down at the picture of her. I couldn’t face my wife just yet, couldn’t bear to look at her if she didn’t feel the same. “But none of that compares to this time we’ve spent together, Devyn. I aminlove with you. It’s terrifying and consuming, but fuck, if it’s not the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I am so in love with you, and that’s why I call you Ace. Because no one else in this life, or any other, will compare to how I feel about you.”

I dared to look up, but it was too late. Devyn was already kneeling in front of me, wiping away tears I hadn’t realized were falling. She smiled softly up at me. “Then it’s a good thing I’m in love with you too, Grayson.”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“I’ve been falling for you for twenty years, Gray. I love you. I am in love with you.”

“Say it again.”

“I love you, Gray.”

I groaned as I pulled her into my lap. “Now say what I really want to hear.”

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