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Jess gave a knowing nod, her lips pressing together in a hard line. “Great,” she muttered. “I’m sure she just couldn’t wait to tell you all about it.”

Sam shook her head. “We had work to do. We didn’t really talk about it all that much.”

Jess gave one small nod.

“I really am sorry, though.”

Jess glanced at her, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “You know,” she began, her voice casual, “it feels weirdly—fine. Not great, obviously. But it’s not the end of the world either.”

Sam raised an eyebrow, surprised but relieved to see Jess handling it that way. “Yeah?”

Jess shrugged, tracing the edge of her cup. “I mean, it’s not like I didn’t see it coming. We were just drifting for a while. I kept thinking we’d get back on track, but—” She shrugged, her expression light. “It just wasn’t there anymore.”

Sam nodded slowly, letting Jess’s words sink in. “So, you’re okay with it?”

Jess stared off for a moment before nodding slowly. “Yeah,” she said, looking back at her. “I think I am. I’m sad it didn’t work out, but we were—going in circles, you know?”

Sam watched her, searching for anything hidden behind the words. “Makes sense. Sometimes it’s better to just let go.”

“Exactly.” Jess leaned back, exhaling deeply, as if breathing out the last remnants of the relationship.

A flicker of relief filled her chest. The last thing she’d wanted was to see Jess hurt, and hearing her talk about it with such clarity made Sam’s own shoulders relax.

“Plus,” Jess added with a smirk, “now I don’t have to pretend to love those late-night war documentaries she was always so into.”

Sam let out a laugh, shaking her head. “Gonna go back to late night horror instead?”

Jess groaned, but her eyes gleamed with a playful glint. “Probably not.”

Sam smirked. “So what, you only pull out the horror movies when you’re trying to make a move on someone?”

Jess’ eyes narrowed as she grinned. “You know, it turns out most girls aren’t that terrified when it comes to jump scares. So that move only ever worked on you.”

Sam chuckled, feeling the mood shift back to their usual ease. Jess seemed brighter than she had the last few times she’d seen her, like she’d shed a layer that had been weighing her down.

“What did we miss?” Scarlett asked, as they returned. She dropped her phone on the table, sliding into the seat after Terrence.

“Just Jess admitting her hatred of war documentaries,” Sam replied with a grin, nudging Jess’ shoulder. Jess shot her a mock glare, but the amusement in her eyes was unmistakable.

“Good,” Scarlett declared, lifting her drink. “Here’s to more fun and zero war documentaries.”

Chapter thirteen

Aharsh cough wheezed from her throat as she blinked at the computer screen in front of her.

Sam had awoken that morning to chills and aches all over her body. So, as much as she hated it, she’d cancelled her meetings for the day and started work from her apartment instead.

Although, after just a couple of hours, it was a struggle to even sit upright, much less focus on work.

Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up, seeing Scarlett’s picture fill the screen.

“Hey,” she said, her voice rasping into the phone.

“Well, you sound like shit.”

Sam groaned. “Ifeellike shit.”

Scarlett snorted a laugh. “So I guess you don’t want to grab coffee, then?”