Page 25 of Finding Jess

“Well, I think they’re absolutely disgusting,” Tiana muttered before taking a large gulp of her own. “But I’m not about to listen to one more guy tell me about his boring finance job without having a drink first.”

“Sam!” Liz called out from somewhere across the room. She looked up to see her weaving through the crowd of people.

Liz grinned, looking over her shoulder as she said something Sam couldn’t hear.

And then she froze as two familiar faces trailed behind Liz, emerging from the crowd.

“Mom, dad,” Liz said excitedly as they approached, “you remember—”

“Sam?” the older man said as he stared at her wide-eyed.

“Oh my gosh!” The woman exclaimed, surging forward and pulling her into a tight hug.

Sam stiffened. Then, slowly, she reached one arm around the woman.

“Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs,” she mumbled, fighting to gain her composure as she took them both in.

“Oh, get out of here with all that,” Mrs. Jacobs said, chuckling. “You’re all grown up now. You can call us by our first names.”

Sam pulled away, nodding as she planted what she hoped was a convincing enough smile on her face. Even if she wanted to call them by their names, she couldn’t. She’d never known them as anything else.

“Gosh, how long has it been?” Mr. Jacobs asked, looking her over. “I can’t even remember the last time we saw you.”

Her smile faltered as she instantly recalled the memory. She could still see the moment in her mind, as if it had only just happened. The day the social worker came and picked her upfrom their house, even after she’d begged them not to go. After she begged them to take her in.

“Yeah, I can’t remember either,” she lied, glancing away as she took a sip from her water bottle.

The woman turned to Jess. “Hey honey,” she said, giving her a hug. “It’s nice to see you again.”

Sam watched Jess greet them both. If she’d already met Liz’s parents, they must’ve been more serious than she originally thought.

Mrs. Jacobs turned back to her. “Well, you look great!” she gushed, squeezing Sam’s arm.

“What brings you to our company’s event?” Mr. Jacobs asked.

Sam cocked her head, but before she could clarify, Liz cut in.

“He’s one of the execs at the firm,” Liz said matter-of-factly.

“Oh,” Sam muttered, trying and failing to gain back her professional demeanor.

Mr. Jacobs smiled proudly, bumping his shoulder against Liz. “Got this one her first job there right out of college.”

Liz’s smile faltered. “I had other offers,” she said quickly, with a laugh that sounded just a tad too forced. “But—it just—made sense to work there, you know?”

Sam nodded, not entirely caring to hear the details.

“It was hard to get her to focus on anything other than soccer in college, but we did it!” he said with a boisterous laugh. “Sam, where did you play in college? You were so talented, I’m sure you had recruiters all over you.”

She glanced away, avoiding his gaze. And her eyes met with Jess’ instead, who seemed to be watching her intently. Sam shifted a fraction closer to her. Maybe it was out of some long-lost habit, or maybe it was something else. But either way, it made her feel better.

She cleared her throat, looking back at him. “I didn’t play in college.”

He jerked his head back, as if it somehow offended him. “What? Why?”

She shifted another inch closer to Jess, scratching the back of her neck. “Uh—I couldn’t play in high school. So—” she trailed off, wracking her brain for any way to change the subject.

He either didn’t care to hear the rest, or was entirely oblivious.

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