Page 43 of What We Got Wrong

“I’m coming, too,” Rhea announced. She pulled out her phone, ordering them a car. “I’m switching to water now, though.”

“That’s a real grownup, right there,” Audrey teased.

“I’m over thirty,” Liv replied, mildly offended.

“I’m not,” Audrey responded, shrugging.

“I may be a real grown up, but I still want to be a part of the operation,” Rhea teased.

“There is no operation,” Liv assured her, settling their tab with the bartender. She added, more to herself than anyone else, “But I would like to go see her.”

It was the most honest Liv had been with herself in ages.

Chapter 16

Quinn

September, Sophomore Year

Quinn woke up before Liv the next morning, as she had almost every day since they’d first moved into the dorm. She got ready for practice as normal, but felt strange leaving after everything that had happened, what had almost happened, the previous night. Her body was buzzing, though there was a tiny voice in the back of her head telling her that she was a complete moron for letting that opportunity slip through her fingers…

As quietly as she could, she ripped a half sheet of paper out of her notebook, scribbling a note to Liv.

I didn’t want you to wake up to nothing this morning. Have a great day! We’ll talk later. :)

A smiley face? She cringed but folded the sheet and left it on Liv’s desk, propped up against her water bottle, where she was sure to see it.

Quinn tried not to panic as she went through the day without hearing from Liv. It was totally normal for her to go through classes or practice without any texts from her friend, and it likely had nothing to do with the fact that they’d kissed.

It was just… Quinn couldn’t stop thinking about it. She was distracted in class, doodling in her notebook instead of paying attention, thinking about how Liv’s lips tasted, of the sounds that she’d made as they kissed.

Luckily for her, though she felt terrible for thinking it, Emma was fighting with Brandon, so she was also struggling to get through practice. Their swim drills were possibly the worst since they’d started at Livingston, to the point that they’d both been ordered to stay late after the second training of the day to do additional laps in the pool as punishment.

Even though she was late getting back, she still hadn’t heard from Liv, so she was a bit surprised when she walked into their dorm at the end of the day to find her roommate sitting in bed, clearly waiting for her.

“Hey, how was your day?” Quinn greeted her tentatively. She set her gym bag down at the end of her own bed and moved to sit across from Liv.

“It was…good, I think,” Liv answered, in a way that didn’t make Quinn feel at all better about the worries flitting through her mind.

“Okay…do you want to talk about last night?” Quinn didn’t know how this conversation would go, but they needed to rip off the band-aid, right?

“Yes… I’ve been thinking about it all day,” Liv said, deeply earnest, pulling the notebook that had been sitting beside her up into her lap. Quinn was taken with how prepared she was for a discussion about the possibility of them having sex.

“I mean, me too, but I didn’t make notes,” Quinn joked, trying to lighten the tension of the moment.

“You wrote me a note this morning,” Liv replied.

“Fair,” Quinn said, sufficiently put in her place. “Did you…write a contract?”

“I’m not my parents, Quinn,” Liv huffed before shuffling the papers in front of her and then adding, almost under her breath, “I did write up some suggestions for rules.”

“You wrote some rules for us?” Oh, well, if that wasn’t the cutest thing. Quinn tried not to laugh, though she wasn’t sure if she successfully covered it, because Liv looked self-conscious. Quinn certainly didn’t want that, so she reached out her hand, interlacing their fingers. “Okay. Hit me with your list.”

“I know it’s silly,” Liv replied, but Quinn just shook her head, waiting patiently for Liv to speak. “I just want to make sure we’re on the same page. We’re not dating… No feelings. I think that should be with other people, too. Like, obviously I’m not going to want to start anything with anyone here, but if you find someone that you want to actually date, this would need to stop. That kind of thing.”

“I told you, I’m not dating this year,” Quinn said. “But okay, I agree with all of that.”

“I also think this shouldn’t leave this room,” Liv added.