Page 4 of Falling for Her Grumpy Boss

Until she disappears behind a curtain without a backward glance.

She’s not for me.

I know that with the same certainty that’s guided every decision I’ve ever made.

Different world. Different dynamic. Different rules.

I finish the whiskey in one measured swallow and rise from the chair, the shift back into my own world already settling into place. There’s a hundred decisions lined up that don’t allow for distraction.

By the time I step out of Indigo, I’ve already moved on.

Or I should have.

But something stays with me anyway.

This place isn't for me.

But something about her makes me wish it was.

CHAPTER 1

PRESENT DAY

Dylan

Noise rolls over me the moment I step inside. Deep male laughter carries from the living room, low and easy, layered with the higher pitch of women talking over each other, the clink of glasses, the soft rustle of gift wrap being shifted from one place to another. It smells like coffee and sugar and something warm from the oven, the sweetness so thick I can almost taste it.

I pause just past the doorway, letting it hit me.

What holds my attention is not the party itself or the decorations or even the neatly stacked gifts lining the wall. The noise and movement fade into the background until they barely register. What matters are the men filling the space, the ones I’ve known longer than anyone else here. My brothers, not by blood but by everything that counts, stand at the center of it all, grounded in a way I don’t remember them ever being before.

Caleb stands near the couch, with one hand braced on the back as he leans down to murmur something into his woman’s ear. Maggie tilts her head toward him, her smile softening in a way that doesn’t belong to anyone else in the room. His fingers drift over her shoulder without thought, settling there like they’ve always known that spot.

Across the room, Logan and Asher move around each other without looking, one reaching for a drink while the other shifts a chair, their rhythm so practiced it doesn’t need words. Josie laughs at something one of them says, the sound bright and full, and Logan’s head turns instantly, attention locking on her like nothing else matters for that one second.

Jeremy stands near the center of it all, Clara tucked into his side, his hand spread wide over her lower back like he’s anchoring her there. The baby is passed from arm to arm, but every time Clara reaches out, Jeremy’s gaze follows, steady, tracking, making sure she doesn’t have to ask twice.

I exhale slowly, the noise settling deeper into my chest.

They make it look easy.

I know better than to believe any of this came easy, because I’ve watched each of them fight for what they have now. I’ve seen the long hours, the setbacks, the moments that could have broken them if they’d let it, and I’ve watched those same edges get worn down and rebuilt into something stronger. What unsettles me is not the effort it took to get here, but the way they stand now with their women beside them.

That part looks easy.

Like they stepped into something that was always meant to fit. There’s something in the way they look at them, something steady and unguarded, like they’ve found a place where they don’t have to brace for impact anymore.

My fingers curl loosely at my sides as I move further into the room, nodding at Asher and Josie and accepting a clap on the shoulder from Logan as I pass. He doesn’t say anything, just gives me that quick, knowing look before turning back to Josie, his hand already finding hers again.

I don’t linger.

Caleb straightens when he sees me, his grin wide, unguarded, the kind that would’ve gotten him punched in high school if he’d worn it like that back then.

“About time you showed up,” he says, pulling me into a brief, solid clasp of hands that turns into a shoulder bump. “We were starting to think you got lost on the way.”

“Hard to get lost coming home,” I reply. Despite how unsettled I feel, my voice comes out steady, even as my gaze drifts past him to where his woman sits, watching us with quiet curiosity.

He follows my line of sight, something softening in his expression before he looks back at me. “Yeah,” he says, quieter now. “It is.”