Dear Grumpy Boss Quotes

“I’d done since childhood. I’d needed the quiet to get my head ready for what was to come, and there was nothing like being alone, under the stars, to make everything else feel small, including me.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“His arms folded across his chest. He stared at me without speaking, moving toward me until my back hit the driver’s side door. Leaning forward, he braced a hand on the glass beside my head. “What the fuck were you thinking? If I hadn’t been there—” He broke off, his eyes slamming shut. “I know, I know. I don’t know what would have happened.” I raised my shaking hands to his heaving chest. “Thank you for being there.” His eyes flashed open and zeroed in on me. “I’ve never been more pissed off at you.” “I wish you weren’t.” My fingers balled his T-shirt in a tight grip. “Please, Weston, don’t be mad at me.” He bent down, his nose almost brushing mine. “I’m so fucking angry, Elise. You have no idea what I want to do with you right now.” I inhaled. His hot breath hit my lips. A wild, frantic current flowed in the narrow space between us. Adrenaline coursed through my bloodstream. My mind scrambled. Then he was on me, or I was on him. There was no telling who moved first. We collided, our lips suctioning to one another, his tongue delving into my mouth. Fingers threaded through my hair, tugging my head back. He kissed me hard, violent, and I clawed at him.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“To willingly be with a man incapable of choosing the woman he said he loved was a form of self-hatred. I’d spent too many years hating myself to ever go back to that.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“In fact, he was a little soft around the middle, which I found attractive on him.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“Titties are tittying nicely.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“I’m not used to jewelry this extravagant.” Weston’s arm circled my waist, and he lightly kissed my temple, his whiskey in his other hand. “Get used to it.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“Miles nodded, his head bobbing loosely on his neck. “Yeah. Ellie and I have been besties forever.” Then he frowned. “Wait. I can’t call you Ellie anymore. Sorry, Ellie.” The hair on the back of my neck prickled. Elise had told me not to call her Ellie. I’d wondered why at the time but had dropped it. Miles knew, though. He knew something about her I didn’t. Elise waved him off. “It’s fine.” Sam turned to her. “Wait, what’s wrong with Ellie? It’s a cute nickname.” Miles tried to snap his fingers, but when he couldn’t, he pointed at her. “Right? It is a cute nickname, but I had to go ruin it. I ruin everything.” His head dropped and Elise reached for him, but he flung her hand off and stumbled to his feet. Elliot and I exchanged a glance. He lifted a shoulder. Neither of us understood what was going on, but my gut told me it wasn’t good. My gut told me to shut my brother up before he continued his path of destruction. I got to my feet, but Miles was already ranting. “I thought it would be funny, you know?” He shook his head. “Maybe I didn’t think that. Maybe I didn’t think at all. I saw you on the first day of school. You had a sparkly headband on, and you were laughing with friends. Friends, Lisie. You had friends, but I was supposed to be looking out for you when I had no one.” He was staring right at Elise, red-faced, his chest heaving. “So, I called you that. Ellie the Elephant, and they laughed. Then I had friends. People laughed with me, they wanted to be around me.” My mouth fell open, trying to wrap my head around what my brother was saying. Elliot’s chair scraped back. He circled the table to get to Elise, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. She was frozen, eyes wide, watching my brother. We all were.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“You’ve given me no indication that ending this is hard for you.” “Obviously it is.” She pulled her face back out of my grip. “We had fun, but I now know a side of you I didn’t before and it’s going to be hard to shut that off. I will, but it won’t be easy.” “I will too. It’s better that way.” Her head bobbed sharply. “It is.” I took her face in my hands again, rubbing my lips over hers. “What harm would one more time do? I don’t think I can shut this off until I have you again.” She shuddered, resting her forehead on mine. “Weston…it’s not smart.” “Nothing about what we’re doing is smart, Elise. Tell me yes. Tell me you’ll come up to my place and let me have you.” I rolled my forehead back and forth on hers and pressed on her bottom lip with my thumb. “I fucking need you, baby. Give me today.” Her breath swept over my mouth as she exhaled. “I—” “Don’t say no.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she whispered. “Because—” I squeezed my eyes shut. What was I doing? “Do you…?” She placed a hand on my chest, over my pounding heart. “Why are you here?” I opened my eyes, taking in the beautiful girl I should have stayed miles away from. That was a habit too. Whatever attraction I felt for Elise had been locked down tight for years. Until now. Nothing I did changed it. Every time I saw her, it grew. “I want you and pretending I don’t doesn’t make it go away. I fucking want you, Elise.” My jaw was so tense my declaration came out tight and angry. She sucked in a breath, her fingers curling into my chest. “You’re an asshole.” “I know that. And wanting you is impossible, but there it is. I know you feel it.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“know you too well,” he murmured beside my ear. “I’ve upset you.” “Stop it,” I whispered. “I don’t want to hurt you.” He nuzzled into my hair. “Don’t you know that?” I squeezed my eyes shut. “No.” “I don’t, Elise. These last few days have driven me crazy and caused me to act outside of my character. I’m sorry for that. You just ended a serious relationship. The last thing I want to do is hurt you further.” I shook my head. “You haven’t.” His mouth was beside my ear, which was the only reason I heard his soft groan. “I wish that was true.” He let go of my elbow to wrap his arm around my middle, drawing me firmly against him. “Weston…” I rasped, torn between pulling away and leaning into him. “Please. This isn’t—” “Once you leave this office, I won’t touch you again. Let me fucking have this, baby. Let me hold you for a minute, then you can go.” It was stupid of me not to immediately walk out his door, but I didn’t. I allowed him to turn me toward him. He took my face in his hands and covered my mouth with his. I held on to the lapels of his jacket, whimpering into his mouth. He kissed me hard, backing me into his door. In that wayward moment, I didn’t even care that Renata must have heard me clunk against it. Weston urged my mouth open and delved his tongue inside.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“Well, was it good?” I rolled my eyes and sank down in my lounger. “It was wild. He kissed like he’d die if he didn’t.” She sighed, sinking down beside me. “Holy shitake, what’s that like?” “Like…I don’t know, it took me over. I wasn’t Elise. I was this sensual being who wasn’t thinking about my rolls or if he could see my stretch marks. It was me and him, and nothing else mattered outside of our connection.” I slapped my forehead. “Why did I have to kiss him? Now I have to live the rest of my life knowing kissing like that exists.” She raised an eyebrow. “You never had that with Patrick?”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“Weston stayed behind me, holding my shoulders. He kept talking to me, making noise. I knew I should have been helping, making us louder, but that wasn’t happening. Fear had clogged my throat. He squeezed my shoulders. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Elise. You’re safe with me. All you have to do is keep walking. Just keep walking. I’ve got you.” In the recesses of my mind, I remembered reading that mountain lions liked to attack from behind. They usually went for the back of their prey’s neck. That was why Weston was staying behind me and not leading me out. He was protecting me, putting himself between me and potential danger. “Thank you,” I whispered.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“I leaned down to grab my backpack, but a band of iron caught me before I could grab it. No, not iron. Strong, unyielding arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind and yanked me backward into something hard. Alarm bells rang in my ears, but before I could scream, a big hand covered my mouth. “Elise,” a low voice gritted in my ear. “Stop. Look in front of you. One o’clock.” My brain raced to catch up. It was Weston holding me, not some crazed rapist or cannibal from the hills. His tall, lean body pressed into mine, crushing my backside against him. “Are you stalking me?” I mumbled from behind his hand. “Let go of me!” He gave me a shake. “Look in front of you, baby. Stay calm.” He turned my head slightly to the right, and though everything inside me wanted to ignore his orders, I focused on the spot. And nearly pissed my pants. No more than twenty feet away stood a mountain lion. Stock-still, it watched us both, standing in the exact path I would have taken had Weston not stopped me.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“When Elise’s pickle was gone, I put mine on her plate. We’d never eaten a meal together where I didn’t give her my pickle. There’d also never been a time when she hadn’t beamed at me for doing so. “Thank you, Weston. You’re my favorite person to eat sandwiches with. I always get double the pickles.” I wiped my mouth with my napkin. “I like how happy a pickle makes you.” Her cheeks flushed. “It’s the little things, you know?” Luca’s head cocked, his eyes darting from me to her. I could practically hear the gears of his mind turning, but whatever he was thinking, he chose not to speak it out loud.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“Weston,” she breathed, her cheeks flushed. “Luca didn’t say you’d be here.” I couldn’t take my eyes off her. “What on earth are you wearing?” She reared back, her hand flying to her chest. There was so much bare skin. Her tits were practically on a serving platter, shoved up and out by a corset contraption beneath an open flannel top. It was a bewildering combination that had clearly scrambled my brain. “I’m wearing clothes, Weston.” She started to pull her flannel closed, but Luca caught her hand. I scoffed. “Barely.” “You look perfect. Don’t let this jackass bring you down,” he murmured gently.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“I was responsible for too many livelihoods to loiter on the seventh floor, waiting for a glimpse of a smile from a girl who could barely deign to acknowledge me.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“My body might not have been everyone’s ideal, but it belonged to me. If I didn’t love it, who would?”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“If she had any idea how much it bothered me that I couldn’t witness every single one of her breaths, she would have run far and fast.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“You make sound points. There’s also something to be said for conquering your fears. We wouldn’t have fire if a couple cavemen hadn’t conquered their fear of burning alive. Would you rather be living in the dark, Lisie? I wouldn’t.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“There is a shelf where I keep the jars with their hearts. I always take the hearts. Leaving them behind to rot seems wrong, somehow. My morals are my own. Don’t judge me. Earlier, I gave her her own jar. She asked me why. I told her to put it on a shelf. Anytime she wants, she can pluck my heart from my chest and put it in her jar. My heart is hers, after all.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“You haven’t demanded it, because you’re a better person than me, but you should know I’m yours too, Elise. There is no one else—and there won’t be.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“Well, was it good?” I rolled my eyes and sank down in my lounger. “It was wild. He kissed like he’d die if he didn’t.” She sighed, sinking down beside me. “Holy shitake, what’s that like?” “Like…I don’t know, it took me over. I wasn’t Elise. I was this sensual being who wasn’t thinking about my rolls or if he could see my stretch marks. It was me and him, and nothing else mattered outside of our connection.” I slapped my forehead. “Why did I have to kiss him? Now I have to live the rest of my life knowing kissing like that exists.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“Closure isn’t real. There’s no door between pain and happiness. No matter how many conversations I have or don’t have with Patrick, I still have to walk through the way he hurt me.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“They say Plato invented the concept of soul mates. I say your parents invented mine.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“Problems were like puzzles to me. I had to solve them before I could relax. If Elise Levy wasn’t happy, I would find a way to make her so.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“In my world, where my role was big—the boss, creator, CEO—having the reminder I was nothing more than a piece of dust in the grand scheme of things kept me grounded. It gave me peace.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“My body might not have been everyone’s ideal, but it belonged to me. If I didn’t love it, who would? There was more to love than hate. No one got to tell me how to feel about myself.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“Who was I defending myself to? I was out here panting and sweating and having the time of my life. Each time I pushed myself, I took ownership of my body.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“I want you”—her fingers wrapped around my cock, sliding down my length over my pants—“to fuck me with this. Do it hard and dirty so I forget every reason why you shouldn’t.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss

“Guys like him, with giant dicks and egos to match, were probably flooded with testosterone. It was all they could do not to beat their chests at every chance they got. Giving me hickeys and bowing my legs during sex was the socially acceptable equivalent.”
― Julia Wolf, Dear Grumpy Boss