Page 93 of What We Got Wrong

Emma paused, as if asking Liv for permission, so Liv nodded for her to continue. “It doesn’t matter what I think, I know that. And this part is very, very important: I love you both. I do. You know that?”

“I do,” Liv admitted with another slight nod.

Emma nodded back and took a deep breath, gearing up to speak. “I think this has gotten to the point where you’re hurting each other. And I don’t think Quinn is going to stop it, even though she’s in pain. I think it’s going to have to come from you.”

“We have another whole semester.” She could hear the panic in her own voice.

“Is doing this for five more months going to make it easier, or harder, to end it?” Emma asked, her words far too gentle and…Liv didn’t know what to say. She knew what the right thing was, it was just at odds with what she wanted.

“My last final is in forty-five minutes,” Liv whispered. “I’m going to head over and review my notes one last time.”

With empathy she didn’t deserve, Emma reached her hand out to Liv. “I’m not trying to upset you.”

Liv took her hand for a second, squeezing tightly. “I know. You’re a good friend, Em.”

She couldn’t focus on this now, on what Emma had said and the fact that she was right. She needed to concentrate on her exam, needed to center her attention on school, just for a few hours, and then she could go home and fall apart.

After her test, Liv rode her bike to the apartment, grateful for the brisk air and the lack of snow, which helped to clear her mind at least a little.

Quinn was there when she arrived, getting ready for the dinner, and…well, that was certainly its own kind of distraction. Because she looked perfect in snug, straight-leg black pants and a sleek sweater that must’ve been made with her body in mind, the way it clung to the muscles in her arms and stretched across her chest. She was also wearing glossy men’s leather dress boots with thick soles that made her even taller.

“What is this outfit?” Liv asked.

Quinn shrugged, a bit preoccupied. “I brought it to pair with my blazer for internship interviews in January.”

Oh, sure. Liv knew that Quinn had to have an internship—it was required for her degree. Though she’d elected to go the business route, drawn into an industrial psychology focus as she closed out her program. Her professors had even referred her to a few options that would work around her swim schedule, at least until the end of the season.

But this look, the way she was wearing it now… It was pure sex, at least to Liv.

“I think you’ll get the job,” Liv said, and that at least earned a small laugh from Quinn.

“I have dinner with the team tonight,” Quinn said. “Emma’s demanding we do a big end of semester celebration.”

“Yeah, she mentioned something about it at lunch today,” Liv replied unthinkingly.

“She invited you,” Quinn realized. It wasn’t a question, but Liv nodded. “And you said no?”

Quinn looked hurt. And as Liv continued watching her, she realized that she looked small. Wrecked. Like she was slowly being taken apart piece by piece.

“I didn’t know if it would be appropriate,” Liv answered, her voice weak.

“Sure, of course,” Quinn responded. “I’m going to go help Em set up. I’ll be home late.”

She walked out without any further acknowledgment to Liv, and the coldness was…entirely earned, Liv knew. It was 100% her fault, all of this was. She had tried as best she could not to think about what Emma had said, but seeing Quinn hurt, she knew that their friend was right. Because nothing, no matter how much Liv wanted more time in this little bubble that they’d created, was worth hurting Quinn like this.

Liv waited up until Quinn got home, the clock moving slowly but also far, far too quickly. She was alone with her thoughts, with her pain, and she was dreading the conversation they needed to have, but she knew it had to happen before they were apart for the holiday break.

“How was the party?” Liv asked tentatively as soon as Quinn walked through the door.

“I was the only one without a plus one,” Quinn said, and it was clear that Quinn had been focused on their interaction for the last several hours, too. “Even douchey fucking Brandon drove in for it.”

“You finally met Emma’s boyfriend,” Liv replied. She knew it wasn’t important, not with all that they had going on, but she was curious.

“Yes, and he’s exactly what you’d expect. So, I couldn’t hang out with Emma because, gross, so I sat with Janelle and her brother,” Quinn said.

Liv knew that she was trying to bait her with a mention of Janelle. Honestly, the idea of Quinn at a party with her made Liv enormously jealous, but she wasn’t going to rise to it. “She brought her brother?”

“Yeah, he’s a freshman this year,” Quinn replied. “There were others who brought friends, too… I don’t understand why you couldn’t come. We’re supposed to be friends.”