Page 97 of Dear Grumpy Boss

“I need you to tell me how you guys got together in high school.”

Sam turned away from watching his wife, a smile tipping his lips. He was a big man, but gentleness exuded from him. He had fluffy brown curls and soft, caramel eyes that melted when he was looking at Rebecca.

“I was a jock, she was a theater kid.”

I grinned. “I’m not surprised in the least.”

“No.” He shook his head. “She hasn’t lost her flair for drama.”

I clinked my glass with his. “That’s why we love her.”

“One of the many reasons.” He took a sip then got back to his story. “We didn’t have any of the same friends, but we were in English together our sophomore year. She’d caught my eye right away but wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

I gasped. “Rude.”

He chuckled. “I know, right? The truth was, I was a cocky little shit. I was on the varsity team my first year of high school so I thought I was a big man. Girls were into me, even the older ones, so I couldn’t figure out why Rebecca wouldn’t even say hi to me. I thought I was going to forget about her, then I saw her in a production ofChicagoand that was it for me.”

“Roxie Hart?”

His cheeks flushed. “Yeah. There’s no forgetting Roxie.” His grin was lopsided and adorable. “I upped my game, stopped hanging out with other girls, and focused my full attention on Rebecca, asking her out every other month while putting in the work of getting to know her. She wasn’t mean about rejecting me. She kept telling me we didn’t have anything in common and didn’t make any sense together, so I made her see that we made sense. When the spring musical auditions came around, I got my big ass up on that stage and sang my heart out.”

I snorted a laugh. “Did you land a role?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I can’t sing a lick. They made me part of the company. Rebecca got the lead.” He took a long swallow of his margarita. “On the last day of the play, she walked right up to me and said, ‘I’ll go out with you, but if you screw around and break my heart, I’ll break your dick.’ That was when I knew I was going to marry her.”

I tossed my head back, laughing, buoyant on their story. I didn’t care what Weston said. Happy endings were possible if you were with the right person.

A brush along my cheek startled me.

“What’s so funny,bella?”

I whipped around to find Luca grinning at me. Over his shoulder stood Weston, his expression stony.

“Luca!” I cried, hopping up to hug him. “What are you doing here?”

He squeezed me tight and kissed both my cheeks. “West was in the mood for drinks. I had nothing on, so here I am. And what a treat, I get to see my best girl.” He pulled me to his side so he could face Sam. “Did we interrupt?”

“Not at all,” I answered.

Sam rose to his feet, all six feet, five inches of him. He held out his hand to Luca.

“Hello. I’m Sam,” he said amiably.

Luca shook his hand, introducing himself, then we all turned to Weston. Sam held his hand out to him. Weston’s eyes flicked down to it, his upper lip curling slightly before finally taking Sam’s hand.

He was being weird.

When he took a seat across from me, rigid and staring straight at me, it finally hit me. Without Rebecca and Simon here with us, it probably looked like I was on a date with Sam.

“Hi, Weston,” I said.

“Hello,” he uttered.

“Remember that conversation we had about happy endings?”

His nod was barely perceptible.

“And remember when I told you about Rebecca marrying her high school sweetheart?” Again, he nodded. “Well, until just now, I’d never heard their full story. Sam just let it all out, and I have to say, I’m an even firmer believer in happy endings.”

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