Page 22 of What We Got Wrong

“Yes, but first, we need to capture this,” Emma said, pulling them both to her sides so she could take a selfie.

There were already a ton of people at Scarlet’s when they arrived, the party underway and the alcohol flowing. Quinn led them through the house, down the long hallway to the kitchen, where they grabbed hard seltzers for Liv and Emma and a Coke for Quinn before they continued searching for Scarlet. There were people everywhere, playing poker in the dining room, making out in the living room, dancing in the basement. It was near the makeshift dance floor that they found a place to relax, the three of them sitting on a love seat, Quinn and Emma each on the cushions and Liv on the armrest next to Emma.

“This is fun,” Emma said after a few minutes of casual observation, drawing out the last word, painfully obvious that she didn’t mean it.

“Be nice,” Quinn scolded her, and Emma took a long gulp of her drink.

“This does not taste very strong,” Liv said, sipping on hers.

“That’s how they get you,” Emma replied, and she read the can. “This has more alcohol than a lot of beers.”

“Are you an expert?” Quinn asked.

Emma grimaced, taking another drink. “My boyfriend throws a lot of parties. He’s kind of been ‘that guy’ ever since middle school. He’s been known to grandstand about beer and how much better it is than other drinks, so we’ve had this conversation about a dozen times.”

“He sounds like such a dude,” Quinn replied.

“Such a douche,” Emma responded, and it wasn’t clear at all whether she misheard Quinn, or she was calling him that herself. She would have asked to clarify, but Liv giggled, capturing Quinn’s full attention.

After a minute, though, Liv’s face fell. “Oh, Joel is here.”

It took Quinn a moment to recall who he was; it had been so long since Liv had even mentioned him. As soon as she saw his face, though, she realized this was the guy in Liv’s run club who had hit on her several times.

“Did he do something?” Emma said. Quinn understood why she was asking the question. Once Liv pointed him out, it was obvious that he was keeping an eye on her, his cheeks red.

“No, it’s been a while since he’s asked me out. He’s mostly been leaving me alone,” Liv replied. She leaned into Emma a bit, though, and Quinn was irrationally jealous, not because she thought that there was anything between them, but because their connection had grown stronger in her absence.

“I found you,” Scarlet called out, approaching them with a small group of people. She was clearly drunk, holding a stack of plastic shot glasses, a bottle of tequila tucked under her arm. She plopped down on the arm of the loveseat next to Quinn, handing out shot glasses to everyone, even Quinn, even after she said no, and called for them all to raise their glasses. “To the end of swim season, so Quinn can finally have fun.”

Emma downed her shot along with Scarlet and her crew, but Liv caught Quinn’s eye from the other side of the couch. She quietly mouthed, “Are you okay?” and didn’t take her own shot until Quinn nodded, still holding the tequila Scarlet had poured for her.

“Are you not going to drink that?” Scarlet asked, eyeing her like this was a very important question.

“Let’s go dance,” Emma said to Liv, jerking her away from Quinn. Emma had picked up on a tension that no one else in the group seemed to mind, but Quinn was glad her friends weren’t going to witness this.

“I’m not,” Quinn replied. “I’m not in the mood to drink tonight.”

“But this party is for you,” Scarlet said.

Quinn rolled her eyes. “This is not for me. But I’m happy to be here, with you and with my friends.”

“I’m going to go get more liquor,” Scarlet replied, as if that was a direct response to Quinn. As soon as she walked away, Emma and Liv came back to check on her. She assured them that she was fine, and she felt like she did a decent job selling the lie.

“Come dance with us,” Liv called to her, but Quinn immediately shut that down.

“I’m smart enough to not dance with my hot friends at my girlfriend’s party,” Quinn replied, and she regretted it as soon as she said it, even if there was little chance that either of them would remember this conversation in the morning.

“You think we’re hot,” Emma teased her.

It was the way Liv was looking at her, though, that held her attention: her cheeks tinted pink, her lips pulling up shyly at the corners, the slightest hint of flirtation shining in her eyes. It was possible that Quinn’s heart stopped beating for just a second.

Oh. This was bad.

“Y’all go have fun, I’ll keep an eye on you from here,” Quinn told them. She had to create some distance.

It wasn’t particularly coordinated, or even overtly sexual, but watching Liv and Emma with their arms around each other was the best kind of torture she’d ever have to endure. She was having a normal reaction to seeing this. Normal for anyone attracted to women, she was pretty sure. It was entirely ordinary for her to suddenly feel like she needed a cold shower.

“Are you going to be babysitting all night?” Scarlet asked, throwing herself into Quinn’s lap. “I know I told you to bring them, but I thought we’d get to spend some time together.”