Page 24

Liz caught Sam’s gaze and smiled, lifting a hand in a casual wave.

Sam nudged Tiana, and they both stood, stepping into the aisle to meet them at the end of the row.

“Ready to make small talk with a million different people you’ll probably never see again?” Liz asked with a light laugh, smoothing the lapel of her tailored blazer.

Tiana groaned. “Seriously, this thing isn’t over yet? I feel like we’ve been here forever, and it’s already five. Isn’t that supposed to be the end of the day when you work an office job?”

An amused smile passed over Jess’ lips as Sam shot Tiana a pointed look. “You’re the one who asked to come. You could’ve hung back at the office instead.”

“Yeah, well, I thought it’d be more of a party here,” Tiana muttered, mirroring the look right back at her.

Sam shrugged, watching the swarms of people as they made their way toward the back of the large banquet hall where the networking part of the evening would be held.

“They usually serve drinks at these networking things,” she said, nodding toward the small bar where people had already begun lining up.

Tiana brightened slightly at that. “Good. Everyone here needs to loosen up.”

Liz gave Tiana a surprised smile as she let out a laugh. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“Well,” Tiana said, turning toward the bar, “you know where I’ll be.”

“I have to go talk to a few important people,” Liz said, looking back at Jess. Then she looked at Sam with a grin that seemed to feign embarrassment. “I’m up for a big promotion, so they want me to meet more of the executives.” She let out a short laugh. “You’re so lucky you never have to deal with that, doing your own thing and all.”

Sam hummed, keeping her face neutral as she nodded in agreement.

Liz gave her another smile as she placed a hand on Jess’ lower back, turning her to leave.

“I’ll wait here,” Jess said, staying in place.

“Are you sure?” Liz asked with a questioning look. “I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

“Yeah,” Jess said with a small smile. “You go do your thing. I’ll find you after.”

“Okay,” Liz muttered, frowning as she turned to leave.

A few seconds of silence ticked by before Tiana turned back to them from where she stood at the bar, holding a beer up and tilting her head in question.

Sam shook her head, holding up the bottle of water she’d swiped at the beginning of the event.

“She’s good for you to have around,” Jess said from where she stood beside her.

“She’s something,” Sam muttered with a chuckle as she turned back to Jess. “She always got into trouble when we were kids. And she was always dragging me along, so her trouble turned into mine, too.”

The corner of Jess’ mouth quirked upward. “Maybe you need that. Someone to remind you to take it easy sometimes and have fun. Especially now.”

Sam blew out a breath, laughing. “Well, if you’re the one giving that advice, it must mean I really need it.”

Jess bumped her shoulder against Sam's, the small smile growing on her lips. “Hey, I eased up a little after college. But you—” she paused as the smile fell from her eyes. “You did the opposite.”

It was true. And if anyone were to see it within her, she knew it’d be Jess.

“Okay,” Tiana said suddenly as she approached. “So they’re only serving beer, apparently,” she said, holding a second beer bottle out to Jess. “Hope you’re a fan of fruity IPAs.”

Jess turned to Tiana, giving her a small smile as she took the beer. “Thanks.”

“She hates IPAs,” Sam said with a smirk.

Jess’ smile grew into an amused grin as she took a sip. “Not as much as I used to. They’ve grown on me.”