Page 86 of What We Got Wrong

“No,” Emma said, cutting her off. “Liv. I love you. But I do not want to be a part of keeping something from her again. We knew she was going to be weird about Paris, but that was sweet, so I knew she was going to come around on it eventually. But this…this is just bad.”

“It’s so bad,” Liv agreed, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m not ready to give her up.”

“I get it, I do,” Emma replied. “But Liv. You have to tell her. Tonight.”

And so, that night, after they had lunch with Emma, after Quinn had gone to the gym in the afternoon—because one workout a day wasn’t enough, even in her off season—after Quinn hopped in the shower, and Liv took the opportunity to order delivery from their favorite Thai restaurant, after Quinn dressed in sweats that hung on her hips in a way that made Liv just a little bit breathless, Liv sat Quinn down on the couch in their living room and stood in front of her, not at all ready to have this discussion.

“We need to talk,” Liv said carefully.

“Always a good sign when a conversation starts with those words,” Quinn replied, immediately looking nervous. “Is this about Janelle?”

That threw Liv off just a touch. She did have questions there. “No?”

Quinn raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure? There was a weird vibe earlier. I didn’t mean anything by introducing you as my roommate. Janelle has been having a rough time with hers, and she made a joke about, like…it never works out with random assignments. I obviously had to correct that misconception.”

Well, that was equally adorable and unhelpful in this moment.

“No, it’s not that,” Liv said. “I didn’t love it, but I am your roommate.”

“Right,” Quinn said, and Liv watched as she blinked several times in quick succession, as if trying to reset herself. “So…what’s the issue?”

Liv was about to explain, she was, but there was a knock at the door and she had to go sign for their dinner.

“You ordered Thai Star?”

“While you were in the shower,” Liv confirmed, carrying the bags into the living room, but setting them down away from Quinn so that they could talk first.

“Am I dying?” Quinn asked.

“That’s not funny,” Liv replied.

“Well, the last time you talked to me like this, you sent my parents to Europe, so I can try some fun guesses. Oh, is it a sex thing?”

“I’m working with Conner this summer,” Liv said.

“So not a sex thing,” Quinn replied, devastated, though she still added, as if in jest, “Or, I guess. Maybe a sex thing.”

“Quinn,” Liv breathed, slamming her eyes closed in an effort to shut out the discomfort.

“Sorry,” Quinn said, and when Liv opened her eyes, she seemed contrite. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

Liv nodded, even though she knew it didn’t make sense. “I don’t know what I want to hear, I don’t know what you need to hear… I don’t know what to do?”

“Well, y’all are going to be in the same zip code, and you have your system,” Quinn replied. “So, where does that leave me?”

“Quinn, you’re the most important person in my life,” Liv said.

“That’s really not something most people say to their roommate,” Quinn replied.

“You called me your ‘roommate’ today, not the other way around,” Liv exclaimed before throwing gasoline on the fire. “And to that girl who was hanging all over you!”

“I thought this had nothing to do with Janelle?” Quinn was uncharacteristically smug, throwing the words back at Liv.

“It doesn’t,” Liv said. “But I’m a little confused how your little admirer hasn’t come up in the year you’ve been swimming with her?”

“Janelle is not my ‘admirer,’” Quinn said, rolling her eyes. “She’s a teammate. There are plenty of teammates of mine that I haven’t specifically talked to you about.”

“She looks at you with heart eyes,” Liv replied, and she knew this was going off the rails, but she just couldn’t stop. “She touched your arm.”