Chapter 216: Tee-Bob Josset, 14, the doghouse...

The first post-breakup sex between Barbie and Mattie was as good as it had ever been. He was ravenous and spent most of the hour with his head buried between her thighs.

She had been giving him lessons on how to please her. And like with school, he was a good student.

The next week, she texted him again, “Can you stay all day?”

Barbie wasn’t completely over the motel incident— she still felt both Mattie and Tee-Bob had betrayed her. But she also knew that they weren’t malicious, weren’t even bad boys. She realized that she needed, somehow, to get past it, to stop nurturing that kernel of resentment.

Her desire to move on was more than just wanting to get back to her Cajun Arms routine. Her husband, Mark, traveled a lot. He was a heavy equipment operator, and his job took him all along the Gulf Coast.

So, Barbie and Tee-Bob were frequently alone in the house. It was no longer all that awkward between them. But he was still tip-toeing around — overly cautious that he might say or do something to set her off again.

Enough.

At breakfast on a Monday morning, she smiled wanly at the boy, “I have an appointment at 9 — Cajun Arms.”

Relief flashed across his face, “Am I out of the doghouse, Mama?”

“Mostly. Not entirely, but mostly.”