Page 91 of Maid in America

As if she had a sixth sense, summoned by Barrett’s thoughts, Chastity walked out the automatic doors of the Harmony Institute, bouncing in a red tulip skirt and white tank, looking like fuckingsex incarnate.

His hands itched, wanting to tug the waistband of that skirt until it was around her ankles, where itbelonged. He imagined her bare ass, full and firm, in the black lace thong he remembered so vividly.

“Barrett, did I lose you?” Will’s voice interrupted his dirty thoughts.

Focusing on anything but the mental image of Chastity naked would take a real concerted effort on a day like today, on a day when she was so close but totally out of bounds.

For a while, being friends was enough. At least she was still in his life, and he in hers. But as the months passed, his heart ached at the thought that when she started dating again, that it might not be with him.

He knew that if that happened, he couldn’t stand by and watch, pretending to be happy that she was with someone else as he stayed downgraded to some friend zone.

Maybe it was better to go to someplace with eggs on burgers than to sit around and be made to look like a fool. His heart had already broken for her once.

Twice might break him completely.

She grinned at him through the windshield, and he waved, trying his best to hide the sadness in his smile.

“Nah, man. I’m still here. I’ll do it. Tell Ava I’m in.”

“Thank you, man. Starla thanks you. My future marriage thanks you... I owe youbigfor this.”

With a snort, Barrett looked at his phone in the mount on his dashboard. “Yeah, you do. But make the checks fat enough, and I’ll dry my tears with dollar bills.”

“I gotta run. Ava will get you set up with everything. We’ll cover relocation expenses. You’ll be golden, Pony-boy,” Will said.

Chastity pulled open the car door and hopped in.

Barrett cleared his throat, “Alright, catch you later, Will.”

“Oh! Hi, Will!” Chastity chirped.

“Oh… hey, Chastity! How are things goin’ on your end?”

“Great. Feeling good!Helluvalot better now that the docs and I’ve gotten the meds balanced.”

“You guys out running errands together?” Will asked. “If youare, make sure to pick him up a hamper so he has a place to finally put all his dirty clothes. The irony of someone cleaning houses for a living and—”

“Hey, I thought you had to go, wise-ass,” Barrett said, rolling his eyes.

“No. Not running a bunch of errands. My car’s in the shop right now. Barrett offered to drive me to my therapy appointment today. Isn’t he sweet?”

Will laughed, “Yeah,a real cupcake, that one. Okay… I’ll let you two get on with your day. Congrats. I’m real glad you’re doin’ well. Take care, Sweetie.”

“Thanks, Will,” she said.

“Later, Chode,” Barrett said, throwing a peace sign at his phone.

A laugh erupted on the other side. “Bye, Dickweed. Keep an eye out for Ava’s emails. I’m sure you’re about to get a barrage of them.”

“Will do.” Barrett ended the call. He did his best to muster a smile. “Let’s grab some grub before all this hard labor.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re assembling a dining set from Ikea. It’s not like I’m asking you to haul bags of cement.”

“Have you ever put together anything from Ikea? The hard labor isn’t physical. It’s a mental challenge. Building furniture from there is like trying to solve a Rubix cube.”

She grabbed his hand and gave him a warm smile, laying the side of her head against the backrest. “Thank you for waiting. I got really good news, but I’ll tell you over dinner.”

He loved her like this.

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