069

Tanner worked in his study in the morning. I was still peevish, so I didn't bother trying to coax him from its confines. Before he left, Tanner told me he'd grab a bite with the racquetball buddy, so eat what I wanted at supper. It seemed like the longest extended time we'd been mad at each other. Even the day after the poker game seemed friendlier once I was up then today did. I wasn't even sure it was his fault I detested Geoff so much. If he asked me to give up Tiffany, I'd balk as much as he had, though to my way of thinking, they weren't even in the same league of detestability even if he didn't like her, though he liked her fine. Unless Tiffany was my betrayer, but if she was, I wouldn't cling to her as a friend anymore.

Maybe it was more he didn't seem to respect my feelings about my modesty and not wanting my nude picture in the house. It was one more thing to worry about when guests came over.

I texted Suki about the three pictures we'd chosen and she was happy with all three. I'm glad someone was happy. I had a sandwich before going to Tiffany's. Assuming we'd have some wine, I didn't want go on an empty stomach. Tiffany had let me know Yvonne and Taylor could make it today, Donna was working. Her schedule included working one out of every three weekends. Yvonne was there when I got there and Taylor arrived five minutes later.

As much as I wanted to relax without boundaries with my friends, my doubts about them couldn't help but interfere with my ability to get close. I answered their questions, but there was so much I couldn't tell them, so much I didn't think I could trust them with. All three of them sensed my reserve and finally, Tiffany said something.

"You're not telling us something. What is it?"

"Like what? You want me to spell out all the times we had sex?"

"No, I don't. I mean I'd like to know you're happy, and Tanner is treating you all right, but it's like you're sad. You say everything's hunky dory, but you don't act like it."

"Do you feel the same?" I asked the other two.

"To be honest," Yvonne said, "yeah."

"You're one of the cheeriest people I know," Taylor said. "So chirpy it can be sickening at times. You're not cheery today. It's like you're on another planet and phoning it in."

Crap!. One of the problems with having good friends. It was hard to pull anything over on them; they knew you too well.

"Well, Tanner and I had a kind of fight last night. It wasn't much, but it dragged on through today, so I guess that's it."

"What kind of fight. He isn't hurting you, is he?" Yvonne asked.

"No, the only time he hurts me is if he screws me too hard. This fight was about something else. I'm posing nude for Suki for a commissioned project she got..."

"Wait a minute!" Tiffany said. "You, Brooke Grant, virgin extraordinaire, are posing nude for Suki?"

"Yes, except for the Grant part. It's Mason now."

"Damn, girl!" Yvonne said. "What's the fight about; you posing nude or him not being able to watch."

"Neither, really. Tanner and I got rights of refusal on the picture. I didn't want my face with my naked body, but Suki promised to do a painting which was more generic and my face wouldn't be visible. In return for my help and Tanner's permission, she promised Tanner a painting of his own. Tanner picked one where it's very clear who I am and I'm fully exposed and he wants to hang it in the house where anyone can see it. We fought about it. It's bad enough I'm posing, but to know anyone can see the finished product and know it's me, upset me horribly. He didn't care if I was upset. It's the one he wants."

"Have you got the pictures with you," Taylor said, "so we can weigh in on the subject?"

"These are the three Suki will be painting," I showed them the text I sent to Shizuko with the three identified.

Tiffany said, "These are nice. I wouldn't mind having any one of them hanging in my home. I can see why Tanner likes the one he likes and why you don't. What made you decide to pose nude anyway. It doesn't sound like the Brooke I know at all. Has marriage changed your sense of propriety that much? You never would have posed nude three weeks ago, under any circumstances."

What could I say to them? Mere nudity didn't matter all that much in the current scheme of things. That fucking and sucking strange men was far more concerning to me? That to avoid the one, posing naked for Suki at her house was better than staying at mine to be raped? I couldn't say any of it, particularly if one of them was my betrayer, but if they were, they probably already knew.

"Let me say you're at least partly responsible for my savoir-faire attitude toward nudity, Taylor. Those swimsuits you gave me weren't much better than bare. Tanner liked me to wear them and even encouraged me to go topless on occasion. I didn't die in the process, so I guess I'm a little more relaxed about nudity. It helped nobody knew me on St. Lucia. It's partly why I'm upset now. This painting isn't going to be displayed in Timbuktu where no one knows me from Eve, but in my own apartment where you can look from my face to the painting and know who posed for it."

"We can see your point," Yvonne said. "Out of curiosity, did Suki do any others?"

"Oh, yes, about ten of them. They're in my phone too." I pulled open the photo app and showed them all to them.

"Well, now we've figured why you're so edgy, can we talk a little about the sex thing. You did say Tanner screwed you too hard," Taylor said.

"Sometimes. Not often. He is fairly big and if he's driving, he can leave me a little sore."

"How big is he?" Yvonne asked.

"Do you still have that glass dildo you were demonstrating blow jobs on?" I asked Tiffany.

"Like I would ever give it up. I'll get it." Tiffany got up and disappeared for a couple minutes, returning with the same one we'd practiced on before.

She handed it to me. "Tanner is about this long." I put my finger almost an inch more past the tip of dildo. "And about this big around." I circled my fingers around it but leaving space to show approximately another half inch or so in diameter.

"Be still my beating heart," Yvonne said, fanning her face with her hand. "He's magnifico."

"No wonder you get sore once in awhile," Taylor said. "He's ginormous."

"Most of the time, it's okay," I said. "But if he's had a little too much to drink, or climaxed two or three times already, he can go for a long while."

"He's still going after cumming two or three times," Tiffany said. "Does he have a brother, or a cousin? Please tell me there's a long lost relative who looks like him somewhere in the family tree?"

"You've met the whole family, sorry."

"And for the most part, you get along?" Taylor asked.

"For the most part. I know marriages require compromise and you can't always get what you want, but I wish he had as much respect for my modesty as I do. For someone who claims he'd go berserk if I ever fooled around on him, he certainly doesn't mind people getting an eyeful. The first day of our honeymoon, we made love in the tub."

They looked at each other for a moment. "So," Yvonne said, "big deal."

"You don't understand. The tub was outside the bungalow on the deck. We were seen by four people in a boat who were cheering us on. I was mortified. We went swimming nude, sixty-nined in the hammock outside. Thank God it was dark for both of those. It's like he wanted people to see me naked. It's the way I feel about the picture. That he wants others to see me buck ass bare."