Aisle Be There

Evan Price is a man built out of numbers, tailored suits, and corporate expectations. As a turnaround specialist for his father’s grocery empire, he’s sent to a dying small-town market to do what he does best: assess the asset, cut the losses, and prepare the property for sale. The logic is clean. The spreadsheet is objective.

But Pine Ridge Market isn’t just an asset—it’s the store where Evan’s grandfather taught him to bake, and it’s currently being held together by Mateo "Teo" Alvarez.

Teo is the head butcher, the community anchor, and a man who fights for his people with everything he has. He feeds the neighborhood, runs a rogue prepared-foods counter, and is secretly organizing the staff to buy the store themselves. He's loud, warm, infuriatingly observant, and determined to treat Evan like a human being instead of a corporate instrument.

When a broken freezer forces them into a midnight crisis, the professional distance shatters. Evan's precise control begins to unravel under Teo's confident hands, sparking an undeniable, combustible attraction. But Evan is carrying a secret that could destroy the community's bid to save their market—and Teo's heart. To keep the man who makes him feel alive, Evan must finally stop being useful to his father's company and start being brave enough to claim a life of his own.