Page 71 of Maid in America

“Last hole. You go first this time.” Barrett tossed her the dimpled ball and pressed himself against her back. Her body tensed, subtly pressing back against him, feeling the heat from his body warm her own.

He spoke into her ear, voice gravelly, dripping with sensuality. “You might be schooling me out here on the course, but back in the bedroom, I think I could still teach you a thing or two about proper putter handling.”

“Oh yeah?” She swung too hard again and accidentally whacked the ball out of the course boundary, this time smacking the meaty back of the same father’s thigh as he stood at the club return window.

“Ow!” The man hissed, turning, glaring at them with a look of simmering rage.

“Holy crap!” She jogged over to retrieve it. “Sir, I am so sorry. This thing has a mind of its own. I swear, I wasn’t aiming for you.”

“Be careful!” he growled, slamming the ball back into her palm. “I’m gonna have abruisenow!”

“Won’t happen again.”

She walked back to Barrett, making a face of pure embarrassment. “Fuck, that was mortifying.”

“I don’t know whether to penalize you a point orgiftyou one. That was impressive.”

Chastity looked at the final course. “How about this.Iknow I beat you.Youknow I beat you. How about we play this one for all the marbles? The loser buys the winner a round atThe Alibi.”

Barrett held his hand out, and she shook it.

“Girl, brace yourself. Get that wallet ready. I feel like sometop-shelfliquor tonight!”

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“Sixty-eight dollars for fourdrinks? Girl, that was half my damn tip yesterday!” Barrett laughed. “You are so not a cheap date!”

“Hey, I didn’t make the rules.”

“Yes, you did!” he exclaimed playfully.

Barrett’s Jeep was backed up a few feet away from the treacherous edge of a mountain in the small dirt parking lot of one of the many scenic lookouts in the Grand Tetons. The spot provided a breathtaking view of Jackson, the city small and glinting in the low groove between the mountain ranges. Beams of light stroked the homes there with ethereal fingertips. Green expanses of untouched land spread out around the edges for miles, dotted with elk and cars along the thoroughfare, cutting through the edge of it all.

With the trunk door open wide, Barrett and Chastity sat in the back, bundled together in a fleece blanket, watching in serene silence as the sun lowered toward the horizon, bathing everything in a soft, daffodil-colored glow.

As the minutes ticked on, streetlights ignited, glittering like fireflies in the distance. Leaning back, Chastity breathlessly gazed at dusk’s palette of plums and tangerines along the scattered clouds that had formed far overhead. Tears pricked her eyes as she appreciated the view, so glad to be in this moment with a man beside her who made her heart and stomach dance.

Barrett leaned against the backing of the rear seats, ignoring a view that would still the heart of the finest painter, instead focused on the glint of tears in Chastity’s ochre eyes.

“Why are you crying?” he asked gently, with no hint of judgment or humor in his tone.

“Oh,” she said, allowing the tears to fall from her face.

Barrett watched as the stream of liquid captured the colors of the evening sky as it traveled to her quivering lips.

“I can’t seem to control it. Just… my fucked-up emotions getting the best of me. Being bipolar sucks, sometimes.”

Barrett wiped her cheek softly. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Chalk having emotions up to some disorder. You’re not expected to be a robot. Emotions make us human. You’re allowed tofeel.”

Chastity clamped her hands together nervously. “I guess I didn’t realize I was doing that.”

They sat in silence, one eventually broken by a sharp sniffle. “When you find out you have this…thing… inside of you that’s wrong, you question every emotion, every feeling, wondering if it’s normal, you know?”

“I can’t name one single normal person. Normal isn’t real. It doesn’t exist. Chastity, you areextraordinary. You…whoyou are… everythingyouare, is completely one-of-a-kind.”

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