Absolutely Not in Love (Sweater Weather, #7; Appies, #2)

by Jenny Proctor

“Hockey players are all the same,” I say with a huff. “You just have to trust me on that.” She purses her lips, judgment clear in her expression. It’s one of the reasons I love Summer so much. She is fiercely loyal and supportive to a fault, but she won’t hide her feelings to spare someone else’s, especially if she senses any degree of injustice. “How does it make your brother feel to know you regard him so highly?” “My brother is different,” I shoot back. “He got out. Jadah saved him from himself when she got pregnant with Maddox.” Summer shakes her head. “You aren’t being fair, Gracie. Josh is a good guy. He would have stayed a good guy even if he’d kept playing hockey. I think this is a lot more about Gavin, which is stupid because your high school boyfriend was an idiot boy, and you were only seventeen years old. This isn’t the same scenario at all.” My jaw clenches at the thought of Gavin, the first and only hockey player I ever dated. He was Josh’s age, a senior when I was a junior, and he was one of the most popular guys at school. I thought I was immune to the lure of popularity. I was the nerdy, bookish musician. I didn’t care about pep rallies or homecoming or anything else regular high schoolers cared about. But then Gavin looked at me, he saw me, and suddenly, other people saw me too. The attention was intoxicating. He was intoxicating. And then a switch flipped, and I couldn’t remember why I hated hockey so much. For the next six months, I was actually excited...