Page 63 of What We Got Wrong

“I know you don’t think they’re paying much attention to you while you’re here,” Quinn said, and Liv could sense that she was being cautious with her words. “But at least you think they’ll do this for you?”

“Oh, I mean… They want me to be safe, Quinn,” Liv replied with a sigh. “They’re not bad people, they just…they have a lot going on, and I’m not the priority.”

Quinn leaned into her. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I’m okay,” Liv responded, trying her best not to cry. “I have to say, though… What you said before, about my parents meeting you, and what would they say?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I could wave a bisexual pride flag in their faces, and they wouldn’t think twice about it. I honestly don’t think they’d figure anything out,” Liv said, almost unthinkingly.

Quinn’s face pinched, though the corner of her lips pulled up. “Bisexual? I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you say that.”

Liv’s heart drummed in her chest, both excited and terrified for Quinn to say more. She’d talked with Emma about it a little, trying the term on for size, and it felt right. But sharing this with Quinn felt so much bigger.

“Thank you for telling me,” Quinn gushed. She was looking at Liv with pride, with awe, with something deeper that Liv wouldn’t name, until Quinn jumped up and threw on her jacket. “I feel like we need cookies to celebrate. Or would you prefer cake? This is a big deal.”

“It is, thank you,” Liv replied. She felt warm all over at Quinn’s response, at the sweet look that she was giving her. “Maybe we can celebrate in a different way?”

Liv reached out a hand, folding her fingers inside Quinn’s coat, and tugged, pulling their bodies together.

Chapter 23

Liv

Now

Everything was moving on schedule when Liv checked back in at the conference. The meet-and-greet for Rhea was fully set up before Rhea herself had even shown up, with tables full of swag for her to sign, branded both with her non-profit and with the J&P logo, as well as bottled water, coffee, and an assortment of pens. They had stacks of her most recent book to give away, along with a photo station, where she’d move halfway through the allotted time.

Rhea showed up about thirty minutes before the scheduled start of the event, and there were people already lining up to see her. Liv was sure her friend was getting a bit of a kick out of this. It had been a while since she’d been considerably in the public eye, but Liv had known that the folks at the conference would get excited for anyone dubbed the “celebrity guest.” Plus, it was great that Rhea was getting more accolades for a short time.

Liv showed her around the area, walking her through the process they’d set up. After a quick selfie at the photo station, Rhea’s idea that Liv begrudgingly obliged, Rhea turned to Liv with a smile.

“So, Audrey and I had a lovely, amazingly carby breakfast to soak up the remnants of last night,” Rhea said. “We texted you, but no answer…”

Liv didn’t respond right away, trying to decide what she wanted to say before landing simply on, “I went to talk to Quinn.”

She was a professional woman, a grown adult, for God’s sake, so why did her blush have to betray her? Rhea immediately clocked it and wiggled her eyebrows at Liv.

“Was it good?” Rhea asked under her breath. Liv looked around, checking to see if anyone else was paying attention. When she confirmed that no one else was paying them any attention, she reached for Rhea’s arm, then threw her other hand to her forehead, pretending she was going to faint. “Yes, get it, girl.”

“It’s not just about that,” Liv whispered to her friend. “She’s incredibly sexy, of course, but it’s…more.”

Liv couldn’t explain it. She couldn’t put into words all she felt for Quinn. Maybe not ever, but certainly not here, standing in this room full of people.

“Yeah, sweetheart, I have eyes,” Rhea replied, beaming at her. “I saw you with her. You look fantastic together.”

She knew it didn’t mean anything, that her friend was hyping her up, but Liv was encouraged by her words.

Liv spent the meet-and-greet floating around, speaking with people from her teams, checking in with Rhea, and fielding questions about the connection between J&P and Rhea’s work from employees interested in learning how they, too, could get involved. When Audrey arrived, she helped with that last point, given her area of expertise in the nonprofit sector of the business.

The session went longer than expected, but that didn’t surprise Liv. They were nearing the end of the conference, with just one more full day to get through, and folks were starting to get restless with the back-to-back trainings and workshops, so they were taking the added opportunity to hang out in a more relaxed space.

Rhea wasn’t exactly helping the matter. Liv could hear her shouting out, “Just one more photo,” from across the room.

It wasn’t until the room had mostly cleared out that Liv saw Quinn and Mel walk in. They approached Rhea, each giving her a big hug, and Liv smiled to herself as they took photos on all three of their phones, which Liv was going to address that with Rhea later.

“You’ve got it bad, dude,” Audrey whispered, and Liv realized that her cousin had noticed her watching Quinn.