Page 40 of Finding Jess

Tess began walking away, and as she did, Scarlett looked between them. “What?”

“Nothing,” Sam said quickly, but the grin splitting her face made it impossible to sound convincing.

“Absolutely nothing,” Jess echoed, her voice muffled by her hand. But when her eyes darted back to Sam, her laughter doubled.

Scarlett’s gaze bounced back and forth between them, growing impatient.

Jess’ laughter finally died off as she shook her head. “Remember that girl I dated in college?”

Scarlett cocked her head to the side, eyes glazing over in thought. Then, after a moment, she jerked her head back and said, “The one Sam was like super jealous of?”

“What?” Sam asked, glaring at Scarlett. “I wasn’t jealous!”

Jess laughed hard again, and Sam couldn’t help the way it infected her, pulling the smile back across her own lips.

Scarlett gave her a pointed look, arching one brow. “Really? Because I distinctly remember you drunk-calling me from that sorority party just to rant about how their names were too similar.”

Sam’s face flushed as she sputtered, “That’s not—”

“What?” Jess interrupted, her wide eyes darting between them as her grin morphed into something deeply entertained. “You never told me about that!”

Scarlett shrugged, turning back to the dresses in front of her.

Sam opened her mouth in a desperate attempt to form some response. But any attempt at rebuttal failed entirely. Instead, she shook her head, looking down with an embarrassed smile.

When she looked up again, Jess was watching her with fresh amusement.

“Don’t,” Sam groaned in warning, although she couldn’t keep the smile off her lips for long.

Jess chuckled, lifting her palms in the air. “I’m not saying anything.”

Scarlett picked up a new dress, turning around to hold it up in front of her. “What about this one?”

Sam pulled her eyes from Jess, humming softly as she looked over the new dress. “It could work, I guess.”

Scarlett frowned, turning back to hang it where she found it. “Definitely not that one, then.”

Jess smirked knowingly, her fingers trailing lightly down the intricate white lace of a long gown hanging on the rack. The glint in her eyes told Sam she was already gearing up to tease her about something, but before she could speak, Scarlett’s voice broke in.

“Okay, what about this one?” Scarlett asked behind them.

They both turned around at the same time.

“Oh yeah,” Sam said immediately with a grin. “I like that one.”

Jess nodded in agreement. “It definitely looks more like you.”

Scarlett gave one satisfactory nod, hanging it on the empty fitting room rack beside her.

“What about this one?” Sam muttered, pulling another dress out from the rack in front of them. “You said you want something with lace, right?”

Scarlett’s eyes went wide, striding toward them. “Holy shit, it’s gorgeous!”

“Well, that sounds promising,” Tess called out, ambling toward them with a polite smile. “Are you ready to try some on?”

As Scarlett took the woman around, pointing out each dress she’d found, Sam made her way to a set of chairs placed outside the dressing room.

She dropped into one of the plush seats, letting out a small sigh as she leaned back. A moment later, Jess followed, sitting in the second chair beside her.

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