Page 27

“You haven’t seen any of them since your mom passed?” Jess asked softly. “Not even Liz?”

Sam shook her head, avoiding her gaze.

Having her there in the moment had felt like a life raft. But now, knowing that Jess had seen her fumble and lose her composure in front of those people—hergirlfriend’sparents—made it worse. Like she was nothing more than that same powerless child she’d once been.

Like she’d never changed.Never become anything.

“I’m sorry,” Jess said, giving her an earnest look that held no ounce of pity. Just pure empathy.

She loosed a breath, scratching the back of her neck as her brain worked to push out those bad thoughts and reset itself.

“It’s fine,” she breathed, smiling a little too wide. “No big deal.”

She looked away, scanning the empty lobby, but she could feel Jess’ eyes raking over her, the way they had so many times before.

She looked back at her and saw a slightly curious expression adorning her features.

“What?”

Jess pursed her lips into a tight line. “You know you don’t have to do that with me.”

She frowned. “Do what?”

Jess stared at her for a moment, her intense gaze softening a fraction. “You know what.”

Sam faltered for just a second, but luckily, her brain had already switched gears. She could feel it forcing her confidence back, searching for something to latch onto and take her far away from all of those memories.

“Why are you so good at reading me?”

Jess instantly rolled her eyes, but the corners of her lips turned up slightly. “Why are you so good at changing the subject?”

Sam didn’t bother suppressing her grin.She couldn’t help it, anyway. That teasing tone in Jess’ voice was one of her favorites.

“You know your charm won’t distract me like it does with everyone else,” Jess continued, a challenging, but amused, glint in her eyes.

“Oh, I know,” Sam muttered with a chuckle. “It never worked on you.”

Jess watched her for a moment, opening her mouth before closing it again and glancing away. She crossed her arms over her chest before looking back at her, the seriousness returning to her warm eyes.

“So?” she prompted once more.

Sam blew out a breath, running a hand over the back of her neck. “I’m fine,” she said. “Really.”

By the look in her eyes, she could tell Jess wanted to push her on it. To get a deeper explanation.But instead Jess just nodded slowly, giving her a soft, understanding smile. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Sam asked slowly, cocking an eyebrow.

“I didn’t bring you out here for an interrogation. You were getting enough of that in there,” she said, glancing toward the auditorium.

Sam hummed, nodding slowly. “Yeah. Thanks for giving me an excuse to leave.”

Jess’ lips twitched into a faint smile.

“Oh, thank God. Are you finally ready to go?”

Sam turned, seeing Tiana walking toward them with a new drink in hand.

“Not yet,” she replied, taking one more swig of the water before screwing the cap back on. “I should head back in and talk to some more people before we leave.”