Good Girl

Mallory and Erin lay on two lawn chairs at the golf course. It was a beautiful day to spend the day at the Seacliff Country Club. The gang was all there, the entire band and their significant others, except for Tess. Tess had texted Mallory some ten minutes ago, saying she was on her way.

Matt and Zacky were yards away in front of them, practicing their swings and having a bit of a one-on-one tournament of their own. Brian and Johnny could care less about golf, joking that Matt and Zacky were beginning to get “old and boring”. The two had run off an hour ago, most likely to the open bar.

“Would you like another drink?” Their personal runner for the day, Kevin asked Mallory as he picked up her empty margarita glass.

“Yes, please,” Mallory smiled politely. “And put it in a bigger glass this time, please.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kevin nodded. “And you?”

“Another tequila sunrise,” Erin told him, handing him her empty glass.

“I’ll be back with your drinks shortly.” Kevin walked away.

Mallory sighed contently, leaning back in her chair and looking up at the bright blue sky. “It’s a good day to tan.”

“Sure is,” Erin agreed with a nod. “We’ve got our bathing suits on under our clothes and there’s no one out here so…”

Mallory was about to respond when there were two loud honks from the parking lot. Mallory squinted her eyes, peering over at the parking lot that was a good distance away. A hand rose from the inside of a moonlight blue convertible, waving at them. Mallory recognized the wavy, dark hair.

“Is that Tess?” Mallory asked, wondering if Tess was borrowing a friend’s car.

“Sure looks like it,” Erin muttered, standing up from her pool chair.

Mallory stood up, too. Following Erin to the parking lot, Mallory realized it was definitely Tess. Tess stepped out of the convertible, shutting the car door behind her and leaving the top down. She grinned from ear to ear.

“Your car broke down or somethin’?” Erin asked skeptically.

“I got rid of it,” Tess said nonchalantly.

“What do you mean you ‘got rid of it’? You went from a banged up Honda Civic to a…” She examined the car closer. “Audi A5 Cabriolet.”

Tess laughed, throwing her head back and flipping her dip-dyed ends over her shoulder. “Remember that guy I told you about? He bought it for me. I just drove it right off the lot.”

“What?” Erin sputtered in shock.

Mallory shook her head, internally shaming Tess for using some poor guy’s money. “Wow. That’s just… I’m glad he likes you that much to buy you a brand new car. You really needed one.”

Tess laughed at Mallory’s comment. She leaned over into her new car, grabbing her purse and oversized sunglasses. “You guys were relaxing, or what?”

“Just relaxing, you know the usual,” Erin shrugged.

Erin and Mallory were permanent country club VIPS. The membership was a couple grand a year and couples got a slight discount, which wasn’t much. Tess had always joined Erin and Mallory at the club as a guest, using their guest pass. Guests got the same services and amenities as the permanent members.

“Are those the same Louboutins that I bought a few weeks ago?” Mallory asked with surprise, looking down at the brown wedges on Tess’s feet.

“Yup,” Tess nodded with a smile. “He bought me a pair.”

Mallory briefly remembered how badly Tess wanted those shoes when she bought them. Tess practically whined over not being able to afford them, but refused when Mallory offered to buy her a pair. Mallory knew that Tess had fallen in love with the shoes the second Mallory touched them.

“A Michael Kors bag too.” Mallory noticed the light coral handbag on Tess’s arm, the signature MK symbol gleaming in the sunlight.

“Mhmm. He got this for me, too.”

“Wow,” Erin raised her eyebrow.

If Mallory didn’t know any better, she’d say that Tess was copying off of her. Mallory wondered what else she had that Tess was going to make that poor man pay for.

“We’ll almost be like twins now,” Tess said to Mallory.

“Your drinks,” Kevin handed Erin and Mallory their drinks when they returned back to the chairs.

“Did you play already?” Tess asked after ordered a lime margarita for herself.

“A bit,” Mallory responded, sipping on her strawberry margarita. She’d hit a few balls earlier. Growing up in a country club, her swing was fairly decent as taught by her father. Dressed in a black polo shirt and white shorts, she looked like she belonged there.

“We’re gonna tan a little,” Erin told Tess, pulling off her t-shirt and exposing her lavender bikini top.

“Well, I’m gonna go do a little swinging,” Tess said, grabbing a club and a bucket of golf balls.

“She’s something else, I swear,” Mallory laughed, shaking her head. Only Tess would go golfing in a pair of five-inch wedges.

“Definitely.”

Mallory stood up, pulling off her polo. The multi-colored bandeau bikini top squished her breasts. She kicked off her clean, white sneakers and unbuttoned her shorts. She pulled her shorts down her long legs just as Matt glanced over at her. She liked when he was all dressed up in his golfing outfit. His sleeves of tattoos really contrasted with the purple polo he was wearing. She waved and blew him a kiss, teasing him in her bikini.

“Here.” Erin handed Mallory a bottle of tanning lotion.

Mallory smoothed the lotion down her arms, stomach, and legs.

“Uh, Mal…” Erin called after a couple minutes, her voice trailing off.

“Hm?” Mallory looked up at Erin, who was staring straight ahead. Mallory’s eyes looked straight ahead at what Erin was watching.

Twenty yards ahead of them, Matt was positioned behind Tess, hugging her from behind. Mallory could hear Tess’s giggle as Matt’s hands held her hips and turned them the correct way. Then his hands covered hers, demonstrating the correct swinging position. He leaned over her shoulder, bringing Tess’s arms back and demonstrating a swing.

“Don’t you think that’s a little… not alright?” Erin asked Mallory lowly, her eyebrows raised in concern.

Matt let go of Tess after a couple of minutes, stepping back and out of the way. Tess raised her arms up and back, the handle of the golf club clutched in both hands. She swung the club forward, the golf ball flying off of the tee and landing a good amount of yards away. Tess dropped the club and jumped excitedly. Mallory watched Tess impulsively embrace Matt in excitement.

Mallory shook her head at Erin’s question, not thinking much of it. “Nah. He’d do the same thing if it were you.”