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

by Emma St. Clair

“Using my middle name doesn’t make me comply,”

Hockey reflexes, man. Not a thing to be trifled with!

“Any chance I can get a fork?” I ask. “Chopsticks and I don’t really get along.” Parker pins me with a look. “You balance that big body on tiny blades, and you can’t use two sticks to pick up food?”

“What are the library hours?” I ask. “And do I need to apply for a card?” Felix smiles. “My library is your library. But no dog-earing pages or breaking of spines.”

“Her name is Ivy,” Felix says. “Your library has a name?” I remember something Alec said the night before at the bar and laugh. “The guys think Ivy is your secret hook-up.”

“Just be careful. If you do anything to hurt Parker—intentionally or otherwise—I think you’ll be dealing with a whole lot worse than wardrobe replacements.” I crack a smile. “Like knee replacements? Hip replacements?” Felix does not smile back. Instead, he nods. “You’re getting the picture.”

Until Logan raises one brow and speaks first. “Sounds like I got an upgrade. From fake date to fake boyfriend.”

“But,” Logan continues, while I’m still floundering in fantasy land, “we will have to discuss how to handle this with the team. Because I don’t want my clothes replaced with a crop top and biker shorts again.” “The guys did that?” I find myself biting back a smile. “They did.” “Did anyone get any pictures?”

“If you were my girlfriend,” Logan says then, his voice gravely and low, “there would be a lot of physical contact.”

“There will be no kissing, Logan. Because my first kiss isn’t going to be with someone I’m fake dating.”

“Suit up, buttercup. We’re going skating.”

“Take the chair, Boss,” Felix says from the door. “You deserve it.” “Shut up, Goalie. Mind your business,”

“No. No, he didn’t Tobey Maguire you.”

We’re clearly not on the same page. I’m not sure our books are in the same bookstore.

When her eyes meet mine, she freezes. And then she sees the giant lump of cat on my chest and gasps. “A little help, please. How do I get him off me?” “I have no idea,” Parker whispers, her gaze darting between Mr. Eds and me. “I’ve never seen him on a person. This is … unprecedented.”

“Because if you were mine, I’d be sure everyone knows it. There would be no question in anyone’s mind.”

Logan smiles knowingly as I scrape the bottom of the butter dish with the last breadstick. I point what’s left of it at him. “If you so much as hint that I was hangry earlier, I will kick you in the shins.”

“But any man who takes his date to a bookstore and does all this is worth it.”