Chapter 39
Quinn
Now
Things had been normal since getting back from Chicago.
They’d gotten several requests for more information from J&P leaders, and they’d connected with a few of the other companies that had supported the event.
In the six weeks since she’d been home, Quinn didn’t think that a day had gone by without some sort of conversation with conference attendees or other potential clients who had heard about their workshop from someone who had been present.
They were busy fielding requests and intake calls to align on services.
They were busy, and things were good, and everything was normal.
Every day, Quinn stopped at her normal coffee shop and she ordered her normal drink—an iced coffee, no matter the weather, because she was a reliable stereotype—and then she drove her normal route to her office.
She listened to her favorite playlist, and she purposefully didn’t think of tangled sheets, or of reckless kisses, or of walking away.
Of course, she hadn’t heard from Liv. And that, too, was good, she supposed.
Because it was what she asked for, and she absolutely, completely didn’t regret that request with every fiber of her being.
And it didn’t run through her mind, at least ten times a day, that even when things were complicated or messy or just plain bad between her and Liv, Quinn’s life felt better, more full , when Olivia Palmer was living life alongside her.
Nope, she didn’t think about that, not one bit, and she didn't think about texting Liv to re-open the lines of communication, because that?
That would be a scary disruption to normal…
But, as she walked into the office, there was something noticeably abnormal about this day.
The receptionist/assistant/jr. consultant that she and Mel had hired as soon as they got home, Autumn, was standing on the wrong side of her desk, clipboard in hand, jumping in Quinn’s way when she attempted to walk by.
“You have an early meeting,” Autumn announced awkwardly.
“I checked my schedule before I left last night,” Quinn replied. “My morning is clear. I don’t have anything until my intake with the J&P Buffalo office at 1:00 PM?”
“Mel added it last night,” Autumn said.
As if summoned by her name, Mel walked up to the desk, placing her hand on Quinn’s arm and guiding her towards the conference room.
“Good morning,” Mel said, her tone chipper, at least for Mel.
“Good morning,” Quinn replied, her confusion making her far less cheerful. Mel stopped them at the end of the hall. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t hate me,” was all Mel said before she opened the conference room door.
And sitting at the end of the room was Liv, holding a small bouquet of sunflowers. She was beautiful—her long, dark hair loose, expression soft. She jumped up the instant their eyes met, loudly slamming her hip into the conference table.
“That hurt,” Liv said, wincing from, Quinn thought, both the pain and the embarrassment.
“So smooth,” Mel said with a friendly teasing tone, and she began to close the door. “You’ve got this.”
Quinn assumed that the platitude was aimed at her, but when she looked up, she saw Mel wink at Liv before pulling the door closed behind her .
“Are you okay?” Quinn asked. Liv was still rubbing her hip with one hand, clinging to the flowers with the other like they were a lifeline. Quinn was a bit worried the stems weren’t going to make it through this conversation.
“You know better than anyone how great I am at messing up a first impression,” Liv said. She was dressed casually, in a plain white T-shirt and dark jeans that fit her very well, Quinn couldn’t help but notice.
“What are you doing here?” She hoped it didn’t sound mean, but Quinn felt like she was in a bit of shock, and she had so many questions.
“I asked Mel if she would help me surprise you,” Liv replied simply.
“You asked Mel…when?” Quinn was even more confused.
“I got her number from Emma a few weeks ago,” Liv explained, and Quinn felt her own eyes go wide in surprise. “I took her to dinner last night and presented my case. To Mel and Emma both, actually.”
“Presented your case,” Quinn repeated back to her. She knew she sounded less than intelligent, but she was having trouble keeping up, especially with those bright blue eyes boring into her.
“I needed to practice my speech,” Liv said, matter-of-factly.
Quinn laughed. “Okay. Did they have any feedback?”
“Emma was far more generous than I deserved,” Liv admitted, and Quinn was pleased at the thought of them being in each other’s lives again. “And Mel…well, she told me it’s okay if I do it badly.”
Quinn groaned. “She did not.”
“She did, which was…not exactly the motivation I was hoping for, but not terrible advice, either,” Liv continued.
She thought for a moment, and then Quinn watched as her face changed, like she’d remembered something that she wanted to sa y at the start.
“First, though…I remember what you said in Chicago. I understand that you asked for space, and I genuinely don’t want to disregard your feelings on that.
I know that I’ve not always taken your needs into account, Quinn, and if you want more time, I will leave. ”
Quinn absolutely did not want Liv to go. “I’ll listen to your speech. You came all this way.”
“Thank you,” Liv breathed, a relieved smile overtaking her face, and Quinn didn’t bother trying to hide her own grin.
Liv set the flowers down, interlacing her own fingers, and squared her shoulders.
“So…I know that things between us have always seemed incredibly complicated. Mostly because I’ve made them incredibly complicated. ”
“We both messed up, Liv,” Quinn said. She wasn’t going to let Liv beat herself up, not when Quinn had let her down, too. “I told you that I would always prioritize our friendship, and then I ghosted you when my feelings got a little hurt.”
“You had every right to protect yourself,” Liv insistently. “I was—"
“Also, in your own way, trying to protect yourself,” Quinn offered.
Liv nodded. “Yes, I think so. And I was wrong about so many things, and I made so many mistakes. I wish more than I can express with words that I didn’t hurt you.
I don’t ever want to hurt you again. But I’m not that person anymore, and I guess what I’m asking for is the chance for us to get to know each other as we are now. ”
Butterflies erupted in Quinn’s stomach, and she was not at all playing it cool as she stammered, “What…what might that look like?”
“It can look however we want it to,” Liv answered. “I want to spend time with you, with your friends, with your family. I want to be a part of your life again.”
Quinn was touched, but… “You live in Illinois? ”
At that, Liv shook her head, the most nervous she’d been since Quinn had walked into the room. “I talked to my parents about you. About us, and my dad suggested I work out of the Detroit office for a while.”
“You’re moving back to Michigan?” Quinn asked, her throat thick.
“I moved back,” Liv corrected, and Quinn’s jaw dropped. “Last week.”
“So presumptuous,” Quinn teased.
Liv huffed, biting her lip, which Quinn found extremely distracting, before she started to ramble.
“Quinn, I know this is a lot. I’m throwing so much at you, and if you need time to think, I totally understand.
I just, I wanted to be clear with you what I want .
I don’t think I was during the conference, I was just so glad to see you and be around you and touch you… ”
There was a beat, then, when they stared at each other, when Quinn was pretty sure they were both replaying in their minds all the ways that they had touched each other those few days in Chicago.
It was a wonder that she wasn’t throwing Liv down on the conference table, especially when she watched as Liv’s pink tongue darted out, licking her lips.
No, they needed to stay on track.
“So, to be clear,” Quinn said slowly. “What is it exactly that you want?”
Liv’s response was immediate. “I want us to try. I’d love to date you. But I can be patient. I missed you, and it was so good being with you again. It’s my turn to say to you, Quinn… I’ll take whatever you will give me.”
“You want to date me,” Quinn replied, and even with all that they’d been through, she still felt some semblance of wonder at that.
“I do,” Liv confirmed. “But I’m not trying to jump into what we had in college, or even what happened in Chicago… I think we should take it slow, take time to really get to know each ot her again, to build a relationship together. I’m not trying to play house with you. I want to be your home.”
Quinn had never once in her life been accused of being stoic—even if she was strong, self-assured, confident, butch—and at that moment she was about two seconds away from blubbering into Liv’s shoulder.
Only…
“I mean…you haven’t actually asked me out,” Quinn stated.
Liv’s face flushed. “Right. I went off script, sorry.”
“It’s okay, do you want to start over, or…” Quinn was trying to ease the tension of the moment.
“I’ll just pick it up from here, thanks,” Liv said, her beautiful grin growing. “Quinn Miles, do you want to go on a date with me on Friday night?”
“Friday,” Quinn replied, milking the moment while she finally stepped around the table, moving closer to Liv, who was trying her best to be patient. “Why wait? Are you free tonight?”
“Yeah?” It was a question, Quinn was certain, though she loved how Liv’s face had softened, and Liv melted even more when Quinn nodded. “Tonight works for me.”
“It’s a date,” Quinn said, at last close enough to touch Liv. She ran her fingers down Liv’s arm before threading their fingers and tugging her so that their bodies were touching. “Is a pre-date kiss allowed?”
At the movement, at Quinn’s words, Liv’s breath quickened, her face flushed, and Quinn became aware of how hard ‘taking it slow’ was going to be.
But in this moment, with Liv standing here with her, looking gorgeous and saying all these beautiful things, she needed the contact, needed to feel her lips to know this was really happening.
“I mean, I did come all this way,” Liv said, parroting back her words from earlier, her blue eyes sparkling.
So Quinn pulled Liv even closer. She knew the road ahead for them wasn’t going to be easy, that they had work to do to rebuild the trust they’d once had, that they didn’t even know, really, if the people they were now would be compatible.
But as Quinn pressed a quick, chaste kiss against Liv’s soft lips, it felt like a promise.