Page 1 of Falling for Autumn Again

Prologue

Autumn

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be here in less than one hour.

I snuggle next to Ezra’s side, not caring that hay from the loft of the Linus’s barn pokes me in the side. I can’t care. Not with Ezra right next to me.

I peer up at him, his brown hair mussed from all of the times I ran my fingers through it tonight.

“You look good in a cap and gown, Green,” he says to me.

“I looked like everyone else.”

“Not true,” he says, holding me a little tighter. Ezra has been holding me since junior year. But I’m not sure I’ll ever get enough of it.

I’m not naïve. I know we’re young—and I know people talk about how young we are. But tomorrow Ezra and I leave for New York, leaving all those gossipy geese behind us. It won’t matter what anyone in Love says. We’re all that matters.

His dreams and mine.

I’ll be a world-class chef and Ezra will be the best architect known to man.

But first—college.

“I should get you home,” he says, though he makes no motion to leave my side.

I tighten my leg wrapped around his, locking myself around him. This move always gives me a few more minutes of his time.

“No,” I whine. My parents have no idea I’ve gone out tonight. There’s no reason to rush. And knowing what Ezra has to go home to… I’d much rather stay right here.

But he only has one more night in that house. One more night with Mav, who couldn’t even sober up enough to make it to our graduation. One more night, and then we’re starting fresh. College, New York, and every dream we’ve ever dreamed! Just the two of us.

“If your dad finds out I’ve got you alone in a barn—he’ll never let me take you to New York.”

“Ez—youaretaking me to New York. I’m pretty sure the Linus’s loft is the least of his worries.”

Besides, Dad likes Ezra. He always says, “That kid is a miracle. No mother and a no-good father.”

“But that’s for school,” he says—still on his Ed-Green-is-going-to-suddenly-disapprove-of-mekick. “I don’t want him to ever have a reason not to trust me. No dad will complain about college.”

Except that Ezra’s dad had complained a lot. It turns out that when you’re home tipsy the majority of the day, a teenage boy comes in handy. They’re good for cleaning, working, making dinner, and any other pesky task that needs doing.

But Ezra will be free of him soon enough.

When I give him an unconvinced glare, a low laugh falls from his lips.

“I’m sorry. I don’t ever want to be on Ed’s bad side. In four years you’ll be a chef and I’ll be a year away from my degree. I don’t plan to wait around. I’m asking for your hand. That’s plenty of waiting as far as I’m concerned. And I’d like your dad to still like me.”

I sit up, hay in my hair and dizzy with the quick motion. "Fine." I moan. It’s not the first time we’ve talked about marriage but it still makes my head spin. "I guess we should get a little sleep. We have a long drive." A two-day drive. We'll stop halfway and stay with Ezra's aunt Marilynn.

“That’s my girl.”

I shove his shoulder. “I’m not a horse.”

But Ezra tugs on my arm, pulling me back down with him. “I’m aware,” he says before pressing his lips to mine for the hundredth time tonight.

I take it.

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