Just Don't Fall (Sweater Weather, #1; Appies, #1)

by Emma St. Clair

“Well, well, well,” Logan says. “If it isn’t little Peter Parker, all grown up.”

Parker is nothing short of stunning, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the shift from my best friend’s adorably dorky little sister to … this.

If Parker wasn’t laughing, she was smiling. Always. She was a compact ball of sunshine who drove away the constant storm cloud I lived under. For a while.

She smells like cinnamon and cookies and something familiar that hits me hard. The word that comes to mind is home. She smells like home.

I take a deep inhale, wishing there were some way to bottle this whole fall vibe up. I’d make a killing selling it online, marketing it as a fall elixir powerful enough to almost make you forget your old crush.

Despite what I told Brandon, there have been no Jerebrians in a long time. My dating life has tumbleweeds the size of buildings blowing through it. I tell myself it’s because I’m focused on work. Which is true. I’m busy. And, fine—I might have slight workaholic tendencies. But that’s not why my proverbial dance card stays empty. File that under: it’s complicated. And I’m picky.

“I’m glad you wore the pink,” he murmurs, and I don’t miss Mia’s smug smile as she continues taking pictures. My heart vibrates like the plucked string of an instrument. It’s not quite him saying I’m beautiful, but it’s something. “Yeah?” “But you need to stop looking so miserable or I’ll have no choice but to take it personally.” A laugh bursts out of me, and Logan’s arm tightens around my waist. “That’s better,” he says. “Can’t have my Parker unhappy.” My Parker? He may not have told me I look beautiful, but this is somehow ten million times better.

have to warn you,” I tell Logan as we enter the room already filled with people. “My dad will still probably try to pawn me off on some son of a businessman.” Logan frowns. “You’re not a pawn, Parker.” Be still, my swooning heart. I think I need to raise the bar for what inspires swooning. Not being a pawn should be the baseline of common decency.

That is one thing that hasn’t changed about her. She illuminates whatever space she’s in. She illuminates me.

But location shouldn’t predetermine the success or failure of something like a relationship. No matter where my home base is, I’ll be traveling much of the year anyway. Distance and separation will always be an issue. We can talk through that. Parker is worth trying for, worth trying to figure out all these complications.

“Did you wear my jersey?” I ask. I can’t not ask. And yeah, maybe it makes me a brute or an egomaniac or whatever. But I have to know. Parker’s smile is soft. “Of course. I’ve only ever worn your jersey, Logan.”

“Felix already thinks I’m your girlfriend. What about the rest of the guys?” “I don’t know. But we should probably make sure we’re on the same page about what this looks like.” I lean closer and lower my voice. “Because if you were mine, I’d be sure everyone knows it. There would be no question in anyone’s mind.”

“Maybe it’s not too much. Maybe you’ve just grown used to not enough.”