“True, but is $300 going to seem like that big of a deal after having it for a long time? It should last a while.”
“That makes sense. I do like the convenience of the ice maker. And I have the money. I just hate the idea of spending a large chunk at a time.”
“That’sunderstandable.”
She stood there patiently waiting for Reese to decide. It seemed important to her to think it over completely. After a few more minutes of walking between a few of them, she landed back on the stainless steel one.
“Okay, I think this is the one. You’re right. It’s a long-term investment. $300 in the scheme of things isn’t that big of a deal. Let’s go find that sales lady to order one.”
Matty was pretty sure she saw Reese die a little after swiping her card to pay for the refrigerator. Then she was still in shock when they checked out with the new cabinet knobs and some plants she found in the garden center.
Once back in the car, she couldn’t help but chuckle at Reese’s expression. Wide eyes and a slack jaw turned to look at her. “I can’t believe I just dropped that much money.”
“And we still get to order flooring.”
Reese let out a groan as she started the car.
They had dinner at a local steakhouse. The food was fantastic, but the conversation and time with Reese were even better. They discussed everything from preferred ways to have their steak to Matty’s frustration with a pipe job she had been assigned at the women’s facility to Reese’s discovery of several boxes of still-wrapped paper towels in the back of the pantry when she was clearing it.
It was that place in a relationship timeline where everything was new. Each new piece of information contributed to Matty’s heart swelling with the need for more. More information, more time, just more of Reese. There had never been someone she had been this intrigued by, but that shouldn’t have been surprising to her. She had never taken relationships very seriously. Nothing that had deep meaning. It always seemed to get in the way or wasn’t sustainable. The girls she’d seen were addicts too. It was hard to get serious with someone who would disappear for days at a time, or she would do the same.
By the time Reese was pulling up to the apartment, Matty wasn’t ready to say goodnight.
“Um, I don’t know if you’re busy after this, but do you want to come in? We could watch a movie.”
“I would like that. I was just going to go home and doomscroll and text you until bed anyway.”
“Awesome.”
There was something about the air of the apartment that felt charged. Like it could start crackling at any moment.
Matty turned on the lights and fed Hester while Reese turned on the TV to find something to watch. Matty couldn’t care less what they watched as long as it involved them close on the couch.
“What do we want to watch?”
Matty shrugged as she reached into the cabinet for a glass. “I don’t know. Maybe a crime doc? Do you want anything to drink?”
“I love crime docs. Water, please.”
“Me too.”
She got them both a glass of water. Hester’s bites of food sounded awfully loud in the apartment until Reese spoke. “How about this one? A girl is harassed, and no one knows who it is until a shocking discovery is made.”
“I love a shocking discovery. Let’s do it.”
Matty set the glasses on the coffee table, then took a seat on the couch. She patted the spot next to her. “Want to snuggle up?”
“Yes, please,” grinned Reese. She took the spot, burying herself in the arm Matty draped over her.
The heat from Reese’s body against her own was welcome. It crept through their clothes and into her skin. And the sweet scent of her perfume. It was intoxicating.
She hardly paid attention to the movie, hearing only bits and pieces as Reese relaxed more and more against her. She was content to stay that way for the rest of the night.
But then Reese’s hand was on her thigh. Its weight and heat burned through her jeans. Like an iron. It wasn’t even a large hand. It had pale purple nail polish, for Christ’s sake, but it might as well have been a kettlebell.
When the pretty pale purple-painted nails began to ever so slowly stroke the inside of her leg, electricity jolted through her from her head to her toes and landed squarely between her legs. Her breath hitched in her chest. Air seemed too difficult to take in.
She glanced at Reese’s chest. She was breathing completely normally. How was she not crawling out of her skin with anticipation?
