“It’s...no,” I managed to get out, unsure about whether I should explain that half of my life was trying to get undergrads to think past the beliefs their parents had taught them and utterly failing. And grading the same papers over and over. And feeling like a tool whenever I had to meet with like, actual smart people.

Or maybe I should’ve just gone with the whole Lily-thinking-I’m-sexy point of view.

“What do your students call you?” she asked. “Professor…?”

“Bell,” I said. “But I usually ask that they just call me Sam, because Professor Bell feels weird. Even though whenever I ask them to call me Sam, there’s normally at least a quarter of the class that look at me like they know I am wasting their too-expensive tuition, and they...are not wrong, probably. Anyway!” Wow, apparently my brain really couldn’t go with the pretend you’re sexy plan there. Probably for the best. “What do you all do? You know,” I cast a glance at Lily, “when you’re not singing and designing your own clothes, and stuff.”

“We all work together, actually,” Lily said, gesturing toward the rest of the table. But she totally smiled at me first, quick and small, like it was a secret. “At a veterinary clinic. Bri’s one of our vets, and Jonny and Preeti are vet techs. I’m a lowly receptionist.”

“Excuse me,” Preeti butted in. “I think you mean to say customer care specialist.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Sure.”

“Seriously, though,” Bri took a swig of her beer. “Lily’s job is harder than mine.”

“Bri,” Lily deadpanned. “You literally took out a dog’s eyeball today.”

“Yeah, and then I got to kill some old lady’s cat and she cried for an hour. It’s a job that keeps on giving, veterinary medicine. But you had to deal with that asshole who made that other client cry in the lobby. And who then tried to refuse to pay for bloodwork. Even though he definitely fucking okayed the bloodwork. Anyway, you’re a goddamn angel.”

“One hundred percent,” Jonny said.

I agreed that Lily was probably an angel. But I hated that she had to deal with assholes, instead of...being surrounded by pretty fabric all day, or whatever she actually wanted to do with her life. I had to fight a completely inappropriate urge to rub my hand over her back.

“Anyway,” Lily said pointedly, “Some other people will likely show up in a bit. We do have some friends outside of work.”

“Debatable. But yeah, my roommate Alexis will probably show up at some point,” Preeti said. “And Jonny’s new boyfriend that he won’t tell us anything about.”

“I don’t even know if he’s coming, and if you call him my boyfriend, I will punch you in the face.”

“Wow, y’all are feisty tonight.” Bri raised her eyebrows.