Chapter Twenty-nine
It felt odd driving to work on a Saturday.
“Is it weird that I’m so anxious but actually really excited at the same time?” Matty asked.
Reese put on her blinker to turn. “Not at all. You’ve worked really hard to prepare, and soon you’ll see that work pays off.”
She could see Matty nod in the corner of her eye. “Yeah. I think it’s really nice of Elsie to let me join the rest of the clients who are taking the tests.”
“Do you know how many others will be there?”
“There were five others when we did the test prep last night. We’ll do math and science this morning with a break in between, then lunch, and then the other two.”
“How long does it take to get the results?”
“Technically up to three days, but Elsie said it’s normally emailed thirty minutes to two hours.”
“So you could know today. That’s really exciting,” exclaimed Reese as she pulled her car into Main’s parking lot. “Are you sure you’re okay with me just dropping you off? I feel like I should stick around or something.”
Matty’s hand slid onto her thigh, squeezing it lightly. Her smile was soft. “No, babe, you don’t need to stay. It’ll take all day, and besides, you don’t want to cancel on Haley. You’ve been looking forward to spending time with her.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Just call me if you need me.”
“I will.” She leaned forward, giving Reese a quick kiss. “I’ll text you when I’m done.”
“Okay. Go hit it out of the park. I know you’ve got this,” Reese reassured her.
“Thank you, baby. I’ll see you this afternoon.”
She watched Matty get out of the car and enter the building. Her belly churned with nervousness even though she wasn’t the one taking the test. She hoped Matty did well.
While Matty was doing her testing, Reese had arranged for Haley to come over to her house.
It was the first Saturday in months that they were both available to do something.
Haley wanted to see the progress on the house, so it only seemed appropriate that they work on it for a while.
She was torn between excitement and dread. They were tackling Joyce’s room.
When she got home, Haley was just parking her massive SUV on the street in front of the house.
“I brought us caffeine,” she beamed at Reese as she held up two iced coffees.
“Good, we’ll need it.”
She let them into the house.
“Oh wow. This place is huge,” gasped Haley at the sight of the living room.
Pride swelled in her chest. “Yep, it’s crazy how different it looks. Matty and I are going to rip this carpet out tomorrow, and if we have time, start installing the new floor. Come on, let’s grab trash bags and gloves and get started.”
At this point, Reese was a pro at cleaning out rooms. However, this one would be different.
When they arrived upstairs, they just stared at the closed door for a moment. She had shut it the day she first came back and hadn’t opened it since.
“Are you going to be able to do this?” Haley asked quietly. Her worry was evident.
“Yes. It needs to be done, and I’m more at peace with the house than ever. I need to do this.”
“Are you going to move into it? I assume it’s bigger.”
She shook her head, grabbing the doorknob. “No. My closet and hers are on the same wall. I’m going to knock the wall out and expand mine, then turn this one into an office and craft room. Matty said it wouldn’t be too hard to do.”
With a deep breath, she threw open the door. Or so she tried to. The hoard prevented it from opening fully.
“Jesus, that’s a lot of junk,” breathed Haley.
Reese nodded. The room was full, with a path that led to the bed, which also seemed to be packed.
A small space was the only clear spot where Joyce would sleep.
She tried to push back the mental image.
“Okay, so here’s how we’ll do this. I don’t want to keep anything.
The piles of clothes are gross, and the food and vodka bottles are everywhere.
We’re going to start filling trash bags while making our way over to that window.
The dumpster is under there. We can climb out the window onto the first-floor’s roof and pitch it over.
I don’t want to keep anything except that somewhere in this room is a jewelry box and a box filled with old coins my grandfather collected. Everything else is tossed.”
“Got it.”
The room was full, but not as bad as Reese had expected. Piles consisted of mostly clothing, vodka bottles, and dozens of shoes, some in boxes but mostly loose of varying sizes. Some men’s, some women’s, even some children’s.
“Why does she have so much stuff that is obviously not for her? These are size fifteen men’s sneakers,” Haley asked, holding the shoes up between pinched fingers with a look of disgust.
Reese dug through a purse with a broken strap.
She added the roughly three dollars in change to the container they designated for money or jewelry.
“I seriously think it was an act of defiance against me. She filled this house with junk just so I would have to go through it. Do you know what I found inside my closet? Three crates full of strawberry pie filling.”
Haley frowned. “You’re allergic to strawberries.”
“Exactly.”
“Reese, that’s awful.”
“Yep. Honestly, at this point, I’m getting pretty numb to it. I just want this to be over with. I’m moving on. I’m making this house mine. I’m getting to see you more. I’m making friends at work. And I have a girlfriend whom I really like. I just need this shit gone so I can go on with my life.”
“Speaking of her, how are things going?”
She shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, but the grin on her face was anything but.
“It’s going well. It’s been a few weeks since we got back together and things have been great.
I think she was just scared and didn’t know what to do.
She likes living in a safe bubble of routine, so when it wasn’t so safe, she freaked out. ”
“Sticks to a routine, huh? Sounds like someone I know.” She cut her eyes to Reese.
“I know, I know, but I’m working on letting go of controlling everything. I’m getting out more. I’m making friends. I’m not hiding in my bedroom and only speaking to just you.”
“Gee, thanks,” joked Haley.
“You know what I mean. I was worried moving back was the wrong move, but I was very wrong. This has been fantastic for me. It’s like I’m starting the life I should have had.”
“I’m glad. You deserve it.”
Reese found herself nodding in agreement. She did feel like she deserved it. She’d done the work, and she was starting to see the rewards.
***
Reese was brimming with anticipation as she pulled back into the parking lot of Main. Matty hadn’t said how the testing had gone in her text.
When Matty came out, her face was unreadable. That made the nerves in Reese’s belly step up a notch.
Matty slid into the passenger seat and then pecked her on the cheek quickly. Reese waited impatiently as she belted herself in. She drummed her fingers on the wheel until it was too much. “Well? How did it go?”
Her face fell, making Reese’s do the same, but then she cracked a grin. “It went great. I think I really did well.”
Reese threw her arms around Matty. “That’s great. So now we wait for the email, right?”
“Yeah, hopefully it won’t take too long. Want to go back to my place? I’ve got shrimp marinating for tacos, and I made a slaw last night to go with them.”
“That sounds delicious.”
She pulled out of the parking lot and headed to Matty’s place.
One thing that Reese loved about dating Matty was how much she cooked.
Reese could cook some things, nothing too complicated.
She was a master of TikTok ramen and could make a ham and cheese omelette as long as the shape of the omelette didn’t matter.
But Matty could really cook. She put thought into her weekly meals.
Like thinking to make slaw the night before so it could sit in the refrigerator overnight to develop more flavor, or get up that morning to make a marinade for the shrimp.
Reese wouldn’t have been surprised if she made her own tortillas.
“Here, squeeze a little lime on the shrimp. Do you want guac? It’s not homemade. They had the little cups on sale, so I grabbed some.”
“Sure. I don’t know how you do it with the groceries. You shop so well.”
Matty shrugged. “It helps keep the bill low. If I shop the sales and plan ahead then I’m saving and can put that toward other stuff.
Technically, I have enough that I could get a car.
That had been my original goal, but with commuting to work with Kerrie and having other alternatives, I’ve been pushing it off. ”
“I think that’s smart.” She put some of the guac on her taco. Her mouth watered in anticipation.
“Did I tell you I’m officially submitting the paperwork to have my felony expunged? Kerrie helped me through the process on Wednesday evening.”
She smiled widely at Matty. “That’s fantastic. You’ll be able to apply everywhere with a clean record and GED.”
Matty’s face broke out in a restrained smile. “Hopefully, I’ll get the GED.”
“You will.” She took a bite, moaning with her eyes closed.
“Good?” She opened her eyes to a smirking Matty.
“Very good. You spoil me with all this tasty home cooking.”
“You deserve to be spoiled, but if you want to repay me later...” Her tongue licked up a little guac in the corner of her mouth while her eyes dropped suggestively to Reese’s chest, then slowly back up.
Heat rolled in her lower belly at the heated gaze. She crossed her legs in response to the ache between them. “I’m up for repayment.”
As they finished their meal and were cleaning up, Matty’s phone pinged. She paused, glancing at the screen before looking at Reese with wide eyes. “It’s the results.”
“Open it,” Reese rushed.
“What if I failed?”
“Then you’ll retake it, but I have a feeling that’s not going to happen.”
Matty picked up her phone, her thumb unlocking the screen. She looked up with a grimace. “I don’t think I can look. I legitimately might throw up. Here, you look.”
The phone was pushed into Reese’s hands. She fumbled with it for a second before righting it. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Please.”
Her thumb clicked the email notification. It took her to the email, which she quickly began to read. Her eyes brightened as she looked up. “You passed.”
Matty’s mouth dropped open. She didn’t respond for a full ten seconds, then said, “For real?”
“For real. You got your GED.”
Reese had no idea which of them squealed, but they were quickly in an embrace, jumping up and down. Hester hissed and ran under the couch. Neither noticed, though. The air around them was electric. Excitement vibrated through them.
When they released, Reese handed the phone to her with a delicious smirk. “Here’s your phone, Matilda.”
Matty blanched. “Oh god, I never wanted you to know that.”
“I never thought you’d be named something so, so feminine. Like, it’s not just feminine, it’s really feminine. What’s your middle name?”
“We don’t have to do this.”
“Oh, but we do. Come on, Matilda, what is it?”
Matty tried to sneer, but there was no hiding the merriment still dancing in her eyes. “Faye. It’s Grammy’s mother’s name.”
“Matilda Faye Crew. Jesus, they really saddled you with that, huh?”
“What’s your middle name? Is it any better?”
“Actually, it’s not. They told Joyce she was having a boy, and she refused to change it, so I’m Reese Bennett Lloyd.”
Matty blinked a few times. “Bennett?”
“Yep.”
“God, she really was an ass.”
The bluntness made Reese bark out a laugh. “Yeah, pretty much. At least Reese is unisex.”
“Let’s make a pact. We keep these awful names to ourselves.” She held her hand out to Reese, who took it.
“Deal.” She tugged on Matty’s hand, pulling her against her. “Do you get a diploma?”
Matty’s hands snaked around her waist. “I do. I’ll get it and the transcripts showing I passed in the mail from the Department of Education.”
“We’ll have to frame it and display it.”
Matty rolled her eyes. “I mean, it’s like a high school diploma. People don’t hang those up.”
“Nonsense. I’m buying a frame.”
“Whatever you want, baby. Kiss me.”
Reese didn’t hesitate. Her lips quickly met Matty’s.
It was soft and tender, but Matty’s hands began to dip lower, grabbing her ass, which made her deepen the kiss.
Matty never ceased to make her feel desirable.
In every caress, every kiss, even just how she would catch her eyes trailing over her body, she could feel Matty’s attraction to her.
She pressed tightly against Matty, feeling their breasts and bellies together.
Her mouth tore away to latch onto Matty’s ear, tugging the lobe between her lips.
Pleasure slid down her spine and between her legs when she heard Matty’s throaty moan.
She loved making that noise come out of her girlfriend.
“God, baby, that mouth of yours,” Matty groaned.
“Why don’t we go to your room and let me give you a celebration gift?” Reese whispered against her ear.
She felt Matty’s body shiver against her own. “Can I make a request?”
“Absolutely.”
“Remember what we talked about last weekend?”
Reese thought for a second, then her eyes widened. She pulled back. “You mean...?”
A sly grin spread across Matty’s handsome face. “I couldn’t stop thinking about what you with your ass up in the air for me would look like.”
All the air left Reese’s lungs at the bluntness. Her body burned all over at the thought.
“I mean, if you want to bend over. I shouldn’t assume—”
She pressed a finger to Matty’s lips. “No, no, I’m game.”