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

by Emma St. Clair

On the plus side, the glaring sure is making my crush curl up into a ball in the corner.

I hold my breath, knowing my weakness for any and all male-scented products. Cologne. Deodorant. Aftershave. I’m a sucker for them all.

But hearing Logan say he’s mine? The phrase I cannot even was literally borne out of some moments like this.

I cannot. I cannot even.

“I’ll stick to you like glue,” she says, and her words sound somewhere between a threat and the sweetest promise.

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.

“I would, actually,” Logan says, and then his voice changes. It’s sincere and impassioned. “We’ve lost years, and that’s my fault. But I want to know what I missed. To know who you are now, Parker, and who you want to be. Not to start over but to start fresh.”

Logan looks downright murderous now, which makes me feel all warm and happy. Guess I’m into homicidal urges now.

I’d also like to stab Brandon with a fork. A plastic one because I’m not really a violent person. But the heavy-duty plastic kind because I still do want it to hurt.

Holding hands, I’ve decided, is severely underrated.

“Hey, Pete,” he says when he’s done with my fingers. “At the risk of sounding like a douchey mansplainer and having you kick me in the shins under the table, do you think you could calm down and just enjoy?”

“We’re going to the bookstore?” I ask in a hushed whisper. “If that’s okay?” Oh, it’s more than okay. It’s making sure I’ll never enjoy another date as much as this not-really-real date. Especially when Logan says he’s picking a book for me, and I need to pick one for him.

Not moving away, I let my mouth hover near her ear. “Maybe it’s not too much. Maybe you’ve just grown used to not enough.”

Happy bubbles of ignorant bliss are highly underrated. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.