2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

S am yawned as she stepped off the elevator, the faint scent of stale coffee and lemon cleaner filling the air as she made her way toward the office.

Luckily, there weren’t any early meetings or calls scheduled that morning. She’d stayed up late catching up with Scarlett, and once she’d finally gone to bed, it was basically pointless. Jess’ shocked face replayed in her mind on an endless loop, making sleep a near impossible task.

She pushed the office door open and stepped through.

Caleb spun his chair in her direction, pushing away from his crowded but meticulously organized desk. “Hey,” he mumbled. “I thought you’d be here like two hours ago. What happened?”

She let out a dry laugh, moving to hang her motorcycle helmet on the hook by the door. “You’re always telling me I shouldn’t work so hard,” she replied. “I took your advice and slept in.”

Caleb wouldn’t buy that lie. He never did. But even though she’d been up hours before sunrise, that didn’t mean she wanted to talk to him about it. And he’d also know that.

“Right,” he muttered, his sharp eyes flicking to the helmet as it swung slightly on the hook. “Haven’t seen that in a while. You rode in today?”

She adjusted her backpack on her shoulder, avoiding his stare.

“Thought you were only riding late at night now, when there’s no one around,” he said softly, his tone holding more concern than judgement.

“Had a weird day yesterday. Just needed the ride to clear my head.”

He nodded, looking away. Caleb cared about her enough to ask, but also knew a boundary when he saw one. And in instances like these, she was endlessly grateful for that particular trait.

“So,” Caleb started, his voice taking on a slight edge of apprehension. “I guess this is as good a time as any to add on to the bad news.”

She glanced up at him wearily. “What is it?”

He loosed a breath, offering the small apologetic smile he always did when he had bad news to share. It reminded her of the first time he’d done it, when the company was just a few months old and they didn’t have enough cash to cover the bills.

“Andrea just emailed her two weeks’ notice.”

Sam groaned, leaning her head back. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” he drawled. “Sorry.”

The PR manager had resigned the month before, along with another developer. And now with Andrea leaving, that made it three people in just the last month.

“None of them seem too happy about us moving forward with a potential buyout,” he continued. “They don’t want things to change. They like it how it is now.”

Sam pursed her lips as she nodded. They’d kept their entire team remote, with open schedules. And a buyout would change that.She couldn’t blame them for leaving before it happened.

“Besides,” Caleb continued, his tone adding a slight edge, “she said she didn’t feel needed.”

“What do you mean?” Sam asked, her eyes narrowing. “Of course she was needed?”

He exhaled, giving her a somewhat pointed look. “Well, you don’t really let any of the other developers have control over the bigger projects.” His eyes bounced away for a moment. “You can’t blame them for not wanting to stick around too long.”

Her jaw clenched as she shook her head. “You want me to give them control over bigger projects when they can just leave at any moment? This just proves that point even more.”

“So what,” he groaned, “you’d rather keep working yourself to death instead of trusting them to help you?”

Sam crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s better than risking them bailing and leaving us to pick up the pieces.”

He let out a deep sigh. They’d had that conversation many times before. And it always ended the same.

Every time someone on the team left, it stung. But it would’ve stung much worse if they were even more involved—if she let them in on the more important things.

“Remember when we were small and didn’t have any of these issues to deal with?” she muttered.

He snorted a laugh. “What I remember is working out of a glorified closet and how you could barely afford to pay either of us anything.”

“I definitely prefer things the way they are now,” he added. “Even with the stress.”

Sam took a deep breath, stretching her sore neck. “Yeah.”

She took a step down the hall as he called after her.

“Your friend is back there, waiting for you.”

Sam paused, turning to look at him. “What? Who?”

He shrugged. “She said you knew she was coming.”

Sam cocked her head, thinking back to her conversation with Liz the day before. She’d been distracted, but she was almost positive she would’ve remembered if they’d agreed to meet at her office instead that day.

Sam loosed a breath, trudging down the hall.

If it was Liz, then at least she’d be able to get through the work without running into Jess again.

She stopped outside the conference room, peering through the glass paned wall.

Empty.

Sam half turned, ready to go back to her office, but then stopped as a familiar laugh floated in from further down the hallway.

She continued walking until the area opened up into the large workspace they’d set up for when remote developers in the area wanted to come in.

Two developers sat at adjacent desks, smiling up at a woman sitting atop one of the desks in front of them.

She said something that Sam couldn’t quite make out, and they both burst into laughter.

“Oh, if you think that’s funny,” the woman started, and Sam stopped, immediately recognizing the voice.

“No way,” Sam said, a wide smile expanding on her face.

The woman instantly turned around, her face already holding its familiar teasing grin, as if she’d been waiting a while to catch Sam’s reaction. Her dark skin glowed beneath the harsh fluorescent lights, her expression radiating the kind of warmth that instantly drew people in.

“Ah!” she squealed before hopping off the desk and striding forward with her usual confident bounce. Her long box braids, tied up in a high, perfectly styled bun, swayed as she moved, a few loose pieces framing her face in playful contrast.

Sam dropped her backpack, knowing exactly what Tiana was about to do.

And a second later, she jumped up onto her, wrapping her legs around her waist and her arms around her shoulders in a tight embrace.

“What are you doing here?” Sam asked with a laugh.

Tiana pulled her face back, her bright brown eyes sparkling as she gave Sam a cocky, teasing look. Then the wide grin grew mischievous before she dipped her head down and kissed her.

Sam smiled, laughing through the kiss that she also half-expected.

A moment later, Tiana pulled back, unhooking her legs as Sam lowered her to the ground.

She shrugged, her arms dropping, but still holding onto the sides of her t-shirt. “I missed you,” she said with a wide smile. “I couldn’t wait.”

“Right,” Sam replied with a laugh, shaking her head. “I thought you were staying in Dallas for another month?”

Tiana gave her a teasing push. “Dallas got boring quick. I was ready to come home.”

Sam snorted, reaching down to pick up her backpack. “Everywhere is boring to you after a couple months.”

“Exactly,” Tiana replied with a smirk, crossing her arms over her tight sky blue tank top. “Which means it was a perfect time to come back here for a little while.”

Sam smiled as she rolled her eyes.“Of course it was.”

Tiana laughed, lightly shoving her shoulder. “Oh, don’t act like you’re not ecstatic to see me.”

Caleb cleared his throat as he turned the corner toward them.

Sam shook her head, giving him a semi-apologetic smile. “Caleb, this is Tiana.”

Tiana wrapped an arm around her waist, leaning her head into Sam’s shoulder. “Old friends.”

Caleb nodded slowly, raising one eyebrow as he gave Sam a questioning look.

“Sort of grew up together,” Sam elaborated. “We were in the same foster home for a while.”

“Oh,” Caleb replied with a small nod.

Tiana laughed and Sam watched his professional demeanor finally begin to soften, the way people always did around her warmth.

She glanced around the office. “So if this company is such a big deal, why do you have like zero people working?”

“Most are working remotely,” Caleb answered before Sam could.

Tiana nodded. “Well, could you use one more amazing employee in the office?” she asked, shooting Sam a broad grin.

Sam smirked, shaking her head as she caught the slightly horrified look Caleb threw her way. “How did I know that question was coming?”

“Because,” Tiana replied with a coy smile, “you know I’d be the best hire you could ever get. Really, I’d be helping you out.”

Sam chuckled. “That’s so kind of you.”

She glanced back at Caleb, who gave her a look that said absolutely not .

“It’s his call,” she said, nodding toward him. “He does the hiring.”

But before Tiana even looked back at him, Sam already knew how it would end up. When she wanted something, most people couldn’t resist her charm.

To his credit, Caleb kept his usual tough demeanor in place for at least a few seconds before finally giving in.

He loosed a breath, tilting his head back in defeat. “Fine.”

Tiana smiled widely, turning back to Sam as she pushed up onto her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss against her cheek. “Thanks.”

She pulled away and ambled back to the desk she’d been sitting on before grabbing a large duffel bag off the floor that Sam eyed warily.

“Don’t worry,” Tiana said with a chuckle. “I’m not gonna ask to stay with you. I have a friend here who said I can crash at her place ‘til she moves.”

Tiana threw the bag over her shoulder. “So,” she said, smiling between them both, “when do I start?”

***

Sam ran a rough hand down her face, blinking at the laptop screen.

“Sorry,” Liz mumbled from behind her desk, giving her an apologetic frown. “Is that going to be too much work to set up? I don’t know anything about the software stuff, just the reporting we handle.”

Sam shook her head, blowing out a breath. “No, it’s fine. Just a little more than I was expecting.”

After spending another hour with Liz going through the details, she quickly realized why Howard had picked this firm as the one to test out the software on. The systems they had in place were archaic, to say the least. So if it worked there, it’d be all but guaranteed to work at every other firm they owned.

But that also meant that the project would be twice as much work as they anticipated. If they wanted to stick to the two-week timeline they’d planned on, she’d need to carve out a few more hours of work each day.

“I know the feeling,” Liz said, leaning back in her chair. “I wasn’t expecting this on top of all my other work.”

Sam glanced up at her as she continued scrolling mindlessly through her phone, only stopping to take the occasional sip of her pink smoothie.

The day before, when she’d first seen her, it’d felt impossible to stop thinking of her as the twelve-year-old girl she’d last known. But after spending a couple more hours together, she knew why.

Turned out, she actually hadn’t changed all that much.

“So,” Liz said suddenly, setting the phone down on her desk. “You and my girlfriend—” Sam’s eyes flitted up, catching the slight emphasis she placed on that word. “You guys had a thing?”

The look on her face somehow seemed both oddly amused and challenging at the same time.

Sam held her stare for a moment, wondering how Jess would’ve broached the subject. She also couldn’t help but wonder if a ‘ thing’ had been Jess’ exact description, or Liz’s altered version.

“Yeah,” she answered, leaning back in the chair as she blew out a breath. “Sorry. I was caught off guard yesterday and didn’t really know how to say that.”

Liz stared at her for a moment, her hardened gaze morphing into an amused smirk.

Then she waved a hand in the air, as if brushing the awkwardness away. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone is someone’s ex’s ex. Especially in the lesbian dating world.”

She let out a laugh, and Sam forced a smile as she nodded.

Then Liz glanced up at the door behind her with a smile. “Speaking of.”

Sam turned around, stopping as she saw Jess freeze in the doorway.

“Oh,” Jess said, a stunned look adorning her face. “I’m—I’msorry,” she stuttered, eyes bouncing between Sam and Liz. “I didn’t realize you were in a meeting.” She glanced back at Sam for a split-second before her eyes returned to Liz. “Are we—still on for lunch today?”

Liz’s eyebrows knitted together as she peered down at the silver watch on her wrist. She groaned, shaking her head. “I completely lost track of what time it was.”

Sam stayed partially turned around, watching Jess, who carefully avoided her gaze.

“That’s okay,” Jess said, with a small shake of her head. “Its fine if you’re too busy.”

Liz looked at Sam then. “Wanna come with?” she asked, although it seemed more like a polite formality than an actual invite. “So we could finish—“

“No,” Sam replied, just a bit too fast. She smiled, shutting her laptop. She dropped it into her backpack before grabbing her helmet off the floor. “That’s okay. I have to get going, anyway.”

She glanced back at Jess, whose eyes now seemed to be fixated on the motorcycle helmet in her hand.

Sam swallowed, moving it slightly out of view as she looked back at Liz. “I think I have enough to get started, so we probably don’t need to meet again until Friday.”

“Oh, okay,” Liz said, standing from her desk. “What time on Friday are you thinking? We’re hosting a networking event for some of the other firms we work with at the conference center down the street, so I might need to cut out a little early that day.”

Sam frowned. Howard had told them about it that morning and asked if they could attend so they could meet some of the executives at the other firms they owned.

“I forgot about that,” she muttered. “I guess we’ll need to meet earlier in the day.”

“You’re coming?” Liz asked, her eyebrows raising.

Sam nodded. “Yeah. They emailed us about it this morning.”

“Oh thank god,” Liz breathed. “I always get so bored at those things. At least I’ll have you guys to hang out with.”

Sam gave her a small smile, nodding. “I’ll message you later about figuring out an exact time to meet up that day.”

“Sounds good,” Liz said, stepping out from around the desk and making her way toward the door. “Well, I guess we’ll walk out with you.”

Sam followed silently behind Liz and Jess as they all made their way back out of the building, exiting out onto the sidewalk. The office building loomed behind them, its tall glass windows gleaming faintly under the muted afternoon sun.

Her bike stood parked just off the sidewalk, its black and chrome frame catching the reflected light.

Sam took a step toward it, setting her helmet on the seat as she adjusted the backpack straps over her shoulders.

Liz stepped forward behind her, letting out an impressed hum.

“I’ve always wanted to learn how to ride,” Liz said, her heels clicking softly on the pavement as she bent slightly to examine the bike. She trailed a hand just above the handlebar, not quite touching it, as if afraid to disturb its pristine shine. Then she let out a soft chuckle, straightening up. “But Jess says she refuses to date anyone who rides a motorcycle.” She snorted a laugh, looking up at Sam as she rolled her eyes. “You know, danger and all that.”

Sam looked at Jess, the words spurring some unrecognizable feeling.

And this time, Jess didn’t avoid her gaze. She looked up at her, mouth opening and pausing with unspoken words.

“I don’t blame her,” Sam said softly before Jess could speak.

Their eyes remained fixed on each other as Sam offered her a small, understanding look.

Then, without another word, she swung her leg over the bike, the leather seat creaking faintly beneath her. In one smooth motion, she pulled the helmet down over her head.

The bike’s engine roared to life, its deep growl cutting through the hum of the city. Sam’s gloved hand gripped the throttle, her gaze flicking up to Jess one last time before she pulled away.

***

Three Years and Eleven Months Earlier.

Sam awoke to an arm shifting around her torso.

Soft gray light glowed through the wide cracked window on the opposite wall. She turned slowly, feeling Jess’ chin resting on her shoulder. And by the way her chest rose and fell against her back, she knew she was still asleep.

She tapped her phone screen where it laid on the bed beside her pillow, checking the time.

Then, ever so gently, she slid Jess’ arm out from around her, scooting her body forward to rise off the bed.

Sam grabbed her t-shirt off the floor and slipped it on before tiptoeing out into the main area of Jess’ tiny apartment.

These days had become her favorite. The ones where Jess’ roommate left for the weekend to stay with her boyfriend, who lived a few hours away, giving them the space to themselves.

She made her way into the small kitchen area and began prepping a pot of coffee while she checked the string of texts Caleb had already sent her that morning. An endless stream of problems only she could fix.

Within a few minutes, a noise floated out from the bathroom, and Sam followed it.

A light in the bathroom seeped out through the open door, where Jess stood at the counter brushing her teeth.

Sam walked up behind her, sliding both arms around her stomach as she kissed the back of her neck.

Jess relaxed into the front of her body with a soft hum.

“You should’ve slept in longer,” Sam whispered against her warm skin.

Jess leaned forward, rinsing out her mouth.“ You should’ve slept in longer,” she said, turning and sitting on the edge of the countertop beside the sink.

Sam rubbed the palm of her hand into her tired eyes. “Caleb texted about some urgent error that keeps popping up for the new client.”

Jess frowned, tilting her head. “According to Caleb, there’s an urgent error every other day.”

Sam chuckled. “Yeah. Maybe I’m not as great at this whole software engineering thing as I thought.”

She stepped in front of her, and Jess wrapped a leg around her waist, pulling her closer.Then she leaned forward, kissing her cheek.

“What I mean,” she mumbled into her skin, “is that Caleb considers just about every minor inconvenience to be urgent.”

Sam pulled back a fraction, a knowing smirk tugging on the corner of her lips. “He just knows how important it is to me,” she said, pulling her t-shirt up her body and over her head.

Sam caught the way Jess’ eyes flicked down to the thick scar running from the base of her neck to the edge of her sports bra.

“I just,” Sam started, her voice lowering into a soft whisper. “I just want it to be worth something, you know? I want it to be worth—everything.”

Jess stared at her for a long moment, as if searching for something in her eyes.

Then she pulled Sam close again, trailing a light finger up the scar and stopping when her hand rested around the back of her neck.

“ You are worth everything.”