“I’ll consider it.” She laughs. “Oh, hey,” she says, “look at this.” She turns the computer so that I can see the invite page of an Instafriend event. The picture is a bunch of smiling kids holding computers. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, can I send you an invite to an information session on this program I do? It’s a coding camp for kids who might not ever have the chance to learn CS in school. I did it last year over spring break, but this time I’m a team recruiter too.”

“Yeah for sure,” I say.

She smiles and turns the screen back toward her. “Okay, I’m sending it.”

My phone vibrates in my pocket.

She taps her hands on the table. “Time to get to work.” She turns back to her computer and immediately melts. “Awww. Okay, we’ll work in a second, but there’s this video of a puppy inside a watermelon, and it’s eating its way out of the watermelon and it’s so tiny and omigod.”

Warmth spreads through my chest just watching her react to the video. “You think that’s cute? Have you ever seen Otters Cuddling While Floating in a River?”

Her eyes light up. “No!”

“Fantastic film.” I quickly exit from my work and pull up YouTube. “Should’ve won the Academy Award for cuteness, really. Got robbed.” I turn the screen toward her and hit Play.

She covers her mouth with her hand and makes a squealing sound.

“I know, right?” I say.

“It’s official.” She shakes her head. “Otters are cuter than puppies.”

I laugh. “There doesn’t have to be a ranking. Not everything has to be a competition.”

“Um, but then how will we know who should win the Academy Award for cuteness?”

“A valid point.” It makes me happy to hear my own joke returned by her in this new way. What seemed lame when I said it somehow seems cool now.

For a beat there is silence. We are both still leaning in close, like we had been to watch the clip, our faces just inches from each other. I notice that her eyelashes are kind of blond too. My breath catches.

Then the door swings open. “How’s it going?” Braden bursts in with a tray of coffee.

I clear my throat and lean back in my seat.

“Hard at work?” he asks. “Building the best app of the century? Making me rich and successful?”

“You’re already rich,” Sara says.

He considers this. “All right, so just successful then. Are you making me that?”

She shakes her head.

He presents us with the tray of cups. “Coffee for you, my gorgeous CS genius?”

Sara side-eyes him, but takes a latte.

I grab the other one. “Gorgeous?” I raise a hand to my chest. “Braden, you flatter me.”

Both of them burst out laughing.