“Set a specific time you will call her to see how she’s doing. A set day at a set time, and otherwise, you will not be answering. Gently but firmly explain that because she didn’t respect your requests before, this is now how it will go. If she wants to have contact with you, then she’ll have to accept these new parameters.”
It sounded so easy and so mean at the same time. How would Grammy feel? But then again, Grammy didn’t really care about how Matty felt either. She would need to think it over. “I suppose so. I think I need to sit with it a little while.”
Reese nodded, brushing her fingers through Matty’s hair. “I understand. You need to do what’s good for you. Can I ask you for something, though?”
She closed her eyes, leaning into the caress. “Of course.”
“Look at me.”
She opened her eyes to meet Reese’s serious face. “Yes?”
“Promise you won’t shut me out again, because I’m not doing this a second time. I understand you were startled, then felt foolish, but I don’t want a relationship where mypartner closes me out. If you need time to process, then you tell me that and do not cut me off. I understand needing space, but practically ghosting me is not cool.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t handle it well. I promise I’ll communicate. I’ll keep having moments that are new or uncomfortable, and I can’t just hide every time, especially if I’m going to have a girlfriend.”
For the first time that night, Reese looked uncertain. “So, by girlfriend, do we mean we’re, like, officially together?”
“I mean, I’d like to be. I understand after this week if you need time to decide—”
“No, no, I don’t. We’ve addressed the issue, you promised to communicate, I think I’d like to make it official.”
Matty grabbed Reese’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “Let’s do this properly.”
“Properly?”
“Properly. I’ve fucked this whole week up. I want to ask you something.” She scooted over, propping herself up to be face-to-face with Reese. She held their clasped hands between them while looking deeply into her eyes. Her belly fluttered. “Reese, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?”
“I would love to be.”
For the first time in over a week, Matty felt joy.
Chapter twenty-nine
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.”
