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.
“You have no idea,” Liv admitted, shrugging.
A few minutes later, when Quinn approached her, Liv’s mouth went dry. She was just so handsome, and God , remembering the way Quinn took her that morning, the feel of her fingers, her mouth…
Liv clenched her thighs, trying at once to calm her body and to get some pressure where she needed it, again, always ready for Quinn.
“Good afternoon,” Quinn said, greeting them both before focusing her attention on Liv. “I have something for you.”
“I’ll bet you do,” Audrey interjected, and Liv gripped Quinn’s forearm and dragged her a few feet away.
“Sorry about her,” Liv apologized.
But Quinn just laughed, something like fondness in her expression. “Like I said before, she’s a trip. It’s fine.”
“You said you had something for me,” Liv reminded her after a few moments of silence between them, the energy charged as they stood close.
“Right,” Quinn said, reaching into her pocket. She handed Liv a small piece of paper, a phone number etched across it.
“Is this your number? You could have just texted me?” Not that Liv was complaining about the idea of having Quinn’s number in her grasp.
“I will text you later,” Quinn promised. “This is Emma’s, though…”
Liv stopped short. She’d made so many mistakes in her life. Really, more than her fair share, but the way she’d treated Emma after everything that happened between her and Quinn… That was in the running for one of her worst fuck ups.
“She made a joke earlier this week, told Mel to have you call her…” Quinn explained. “She’d love to hear from you.”
God, that softness again. Liv couldn’t take it, not head on like this. Not if all they were doing here was a new attempt at an old goodbye.
“She made a joke to Mel? They’re friends, too?” Liv asked, an endeavor to redirect the moment, as she moved the sheet of paper between her fingers.
Quinn nodded. “You know me. I try to make all my people love each other.”
“I do know you,” Liv said, and she didn’t mean to make it tense, but her words felt heavy.
Too heavy, because Quinn cleared her throat and then said, “We’re having dinner with Dan Copper and his team tonight, but… I’ll text you about… after ?”
Liv nodded, words caught in her throat.
“I’ll come to you this time,” Quinn offered with a wink, and then she excused herself, saying that she had to get with Mel to go over something for their presentation the next day. Liv wasn’t entirely following, distracted by the idea of Quinn in her bed.
Liv ordered room service for dinner that night.
She wasn’t particularly hungry, but she needed a drink and didn’t want to place a whole order just for wine.
While she waited, she changed into her pajamas.
It was too early for that, but she wasn’t planning on leaving the room for the rest of the night.
Even after several gulps of wine, it took a while for her to work up the courage to call Emma.
She was just about to dial when she received a message from an unknown number with a Michigan area code that simply said.
Room number? Liv added Quinn’s contact to her phone and then replied with the answer to the question.
Shortly thereafter, her phone pinged with a response .
Quinn: Dinner is going well. Can I come up in an hour?
Liv sent a simple thumbs up in response, not wanting to distract Quinn from her business dinner, before returning to the task at hand. She typed Emma’s number into her phone and, with her eyes closed, pressed her thumb into the call button.
“Hello?” Emma sounded older, sure, but she’d recognize that voice anywhere.
“Hey Em, it’s Liv,” she said, before awkwardly adding, “Olivia…Palmer.”
“Liv!” Emma sounded genuinely happy to speak with her. Even though Quinn had told her to call, the excitement in her voice shocked Liv. “Can we switch to video call?”
Liv agreed, and after a few moments, she was looking at the beautiful face of her old friend. Emma was super cozy, in a sweatshirt with a blanket over her shoulders, and she watched as she settled into a giant brown sofa.
“How are you?” Liv asked.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Emma answered. Like a casual acquaintance would, which… Liv supposed was more than they were to each other at this point. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” Liv answered softly. “This week has been kind of a lot.”
“I’ll bet,” Emma replied with a knowing look. “How are you holding up?”
Liv thought for a moment before answering.
“It’s honestly pretty wild, but… I don’t know.
My whole life is work, and having her here has been…
well, you know. I’m just grateful that she’s even talking to me.
And, you, I can’t believe that you didn’t just hang up when you heard my name.
Like I said, it’s a lot. More than I deserve, really. ”
It was clear that Emma had several thoughts running through her mind, but what she said was, “I’m happy to hear from you.”
Liv was going to do her very best not to cry on this phone call .
“Will you tell me about your life?” Liv asked, her voice soft. She was afraid that Emma was going to shoot her down, just like Quinn had.
She was pleasantly surprised, though, when Emma spoke. “I have a little girl. She’s three years old. Paisley is my whole world. She’s sleeping now, that lovely little terror.”
“Will you send me a picture?” Liv asked hopefully.
“Of course,” Emma replied. She clicked away from the video portion of their call for just a minute, and Liv heard the telltale ‘woosh’ of messages coming through.
When Liv navigated to the appropriate app, she was bombarded with the cutest little carbon copy of Emma, flaming red hair, bright green eyes, and freckles splashed across her round cheeks.
“Em, she’s beautiful,” Liv gushed. “She looks just like you!”
“Thank you,” Emma accepted brightly. “She’s amazing, honestly. It’s like she changes every day.”
“I’m sure,” Liv said. “And Brandon?”
“He’s good,” Emma answered, though her voice had changed a bit, sounding ever so slightly constricted. “He’s out with his friends right now at a basketball game, so we had a girls’ night, me and Pais.”
“That sounds delightful.” Liv didn’t know what to say. She wanted to dive deeper. She wanted to apologize. She wanted to beg for forgiveness. “Emma, I’m really sorry—"
“Nope, nope. Here is the thing, my friend. I want to talk about everything, I do. But tonight, can we not? You’ve got a lot going on already this week, and frankly, so do I? I’d rather have a pleasant conversation with an old friend than cry with you over the phone right now. Is that okay?”
Liv was taken aback by the request. Even if Emma intended it as a reprieve for them both, this felt beyond generous, and Liv was quick to nod her agreement.
“Great, so Quinn texted me a picture of her and Rhea Freaking Stewart today,” Emma said. “What’s up with that? ”
When they’d exhausted the Rhea topic, or at least, the version of the Rhea topic that met the standards of “pleasant conversation,” they rotated through safe subjects: more about Paisley and Liv’s job.
At one point, Emma even asked Liv if she’d seen any good movies lately.
It was awkward, but also beautiful, talking to Emma again, regardless of the topic.
“I’m glad that you called,” Emma said, after they’d been on the phone for a while.
Liv nodded. “Me too.
There was a knock at the door that grabbed Liv’s attention, snapping her head towards the sound.
“Do you have to get that?” Emma asked, her eyes twinkling through the phone.
“I think I do,” Liv replied, grinning right back at her.
“I’ll talk to you again soon,” Emma said hopefully.
“I promise,” Liv choked out, watching as Emma winked at her before hanging up the call.
After taking a moment to compose herself, Liv walked to the door of her room, stopping only briefly at the mirror to ensure she looked okay. When she answered, Quinn was leaning against the wall.
“Why are you dressed?” Quinn asked, her voice gravelly in a way that reverberated across Liv’s whole body.
Liv whimpered at her words. She figured the right thing to do was to maintain the tone Quinn was setting for the exchange.
Maybe volley back something equally steamy, or just slide out of her shirt.
But she was a little raw from the conversation she’d just finished.
“I just got off of the phone with Emma.”
Quinn softened. “Are you okay?”
Oh, Liv could just about crack open at the tenderness in her tone, the warmth in her eyes. At the familiarity of it,?especially after the conversation she’d just had. And, oh, she wanted to answer that question. To tell Quinn exactly how she was feeling in the moment, how vulnerable .
But she knew that’s not what Quinn wanted. “Let’s not talk.”
Concern washed over Quinn’s face. “Liv, I don’t want—"
“Quinn, I know that you have this whole gentlemanly, good guy thing that you do, but if you don’t want me to start crying on you, I need you to stop talking.”
Liv knew the look she shot her at that moment was pure pleading, yet Quinn seemed for a minute like she wasn’t sure which choice she was going to make.
She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, at war with herself.
And Liv understood, because Quinn was a good person, and no matter what had happened between them in the past, Quinn was someone who could be counted on to be there for the people around her.
But Liv also knew that Quinn was raw right now, too.
And probably overwhelmed, and maybe even a little scared.
So, she understood when Quinn stepped into her room, licking her lips and pulling Liv into her with a bruising kiss before tipping her head back just slightly, whispering, “Okay. Let’s not talk. ”