Marney in the Middle

Chapter 15: Rule One

'Rule one: Every time you end up alone with him, make it count. I'm not saying make out or get handsy, but I'm also not not saying that. Just be sure to always leave him wanting more. It'll keep you on his mind and drive him nuts.'

I knock twice on the front door and take a step back. The blinds are shut on the window beside me, so I can't see inside. But there's no sound. No music or people's voices. Tugging at the hem of my dress and resting my medium-sized black purse - well, Toria's purse - on my forearm, I wonder if I'm early. Reese didn't actually tell me a time. And being early is a definite no-no in my sister's eyes.

The door opens before I can fret too much.

"Hey," Reese says with a smile. He motions for me to come inside before he disappears.

I close the door behind me and look around.

Clean.

The floral couch isn't home to random items like yesterday, the coffee table and shelf behind the couch aren't covered in reading material and unopened mail, and the shelf against the right wall is nearly organized. As I step into the kitchen, I notice it's also fairly clean. A few knick-knacks are on the kitchen table, but the teal countertops are void of dishes and appear to have been wiped down. The TV in the second livingroom is on, which seems to be a consistent practice when Lois or Hal isn't around. Cartoons, from the sound of it.

"Wow," I say mainly to myself.

Reese, who's leaned over a stack of papers on the table and holding a giant black permanent marker, glances up at me. "What?"

"Uh, it looks nice, that's all."

He nods, "I cleaned."

It makes me feel bad that I'm surprised. Of course he can clean - he's not totally incapable. Walking past a desk that's pushed in the corner to the right of the entrance way, I set my purse down and look at what he's busy with. Flyers that exclaim PAR-TAY in all capital letters. At the bottom it gives this address and the time: 8 pm tonight.

So I am early. My mind begins to fret over how that looks when I realize Reese and I are alone. I gulp down a sudden onslaught of nerves; time to practice rule one uninterrupted. Pushing my hair off to one side so it drapes over my right shoulder, I skirt around the table toward him. He doesn't look up or even seem to notice me beside him.

"Hey," I say in what I hope is a sexy or at least cute voice.

Nothing.

This is going so well.

Shut up.

Placing my hand on his shoulder, I say 'hey' a second time. Reese looks up, his greenish grey eyes locking on mine. Little wings flutter about my abdomen. I take the pen out of his hand and set it down beside the stack of papers. But then I pick it up, put the cap on and set it back down before putting my hand back on his shoulder. It would have dried out!

Ok, not smooth, but I can salvage this.

Reese is still looking at me with an expression somewhere between curious and confused. Resting my right hand on his arm, I move close enough that there's only a few inches between us. He seems to get the hint and rests his hands on my waist.

A gigantic heart flip.

I glance at his lips. He moves quicker than me. Before I can commit, his lips are on mine. They're soft like his movements, not rushing or pushing greedily. My breath catches in my throat. He pulls away faster than I can react. Not wanting our first kiss to be one where I don't kiss back, I move my hand to hook behind his neck and pull him into another kiss. This time I move against his lips, mimicking his movement.