Page 94 of Beautiful Monster

Was I before?

Instead of finishing that sentence, unsure of how…I walk inside.

As I make my way back into the gallery, I feel Sunny’s eyes on me. She looks concerned, biting her lip, and I hate myself for it. My stomach sours.

I walk straight over to Sunny.

“We just stepped out for a smoke,” I say, taking her hand before she can ask.

“I didn’t know you smoked.” She scowls, smelling my fingers as she pulls them to her nose.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “I’ll wash it off as soon as we get home.”

Home. I want to take her home. Our home. Right now.

“They want to see the mural,” she says, holding my hand and looking up at me hesitantly, and her words hit me like a punch. It’s like she read my mind.

Honestly, I don’t want the party at my house. The house is my sacred space, our space. It’s where I leave all this stuff behind.

“What do you think?” she says carefully. Her eyes have hope in them, and I know she wants to take pride in her work at this moment, and I’m only sorry she has to ask me first.

“I wouldn’t deprive anyone of seeing it.” I lean in and kiss her again. She links her hands around my neck and deepens the kiss.

“You will be rewarded,” she hisses against my mouth. “But you really have to shower. You stink.”

There are more people at the house than I expected. Sunny is in the pool with a few of the girls, including Valerie, who are all so liberated they think it’s acceptable to swim in my suburban pool at eleven at night in nothing but their panties.

Thankfully, Sunny has plenty of swimsuits here and is keeping herself covered. I can hardly look at the water with the four pairs of bare tits splashing around in there. Most of the guys are sitting around the patio, but a few of them are watching the girls in the pool because it doesn’t matter how much you appreciate art, tits are tits and guys are guys.

Gino sits back and laughs with a thick joint between his fingers. I have a gnawing feeling in my gut and I just wish these people would leave. I’ve never felt more like a grumpy old man than I do right now. I walk to the bar to get another drink, wondering if I should switch to bourbon just to calm my nerves. But I refuse to be like Sunny’s mom, so I grab a seltzer water instead. I offer one to my tablemates, but they all brought their own beers in a small cooler.

“I love your girlfriend, Alexander. She’s so adorable!” As I glance down in the pool, Valerie has her arms wrapped tight around Sunny, her small tits pressed up against my girlfriend, and the lazy smile on Sunny’s face tells me she’s either been drinking or taking hits off Gino’s blunt. I don’t mind either…I just want her to be happy.

I laugh at them and shoot Sunny a nonserious glare that makes her giggle. Everything in my look conveys that she’s going to be paying for this later.

As I crack open my drink at the bar, I catch a glimpse of the painting. I see Sunny there. The girl doesn’t look like her, but I see her in every stroke. Each day spent painting that wall and how my feelings for her progressed with each brushstroke.

Hearing the party behind me, I see Sunny and Valerie wrestling in the pool. This is how it’s going to be for her at that program. Everyone will want her. Men, women. They will try to suck the youth and life right out of her. And in some sense, no matter if we try to stay together or not, she will stop being mine to some degree.

As I turn around, I nearly drop my crystal tumbler on the pool deck. Sunny’s wet bikini top is sitting on the ground by my feet. My eyes travel over to where Valerie has her perched on her shoulders, playing chicken with another pair of girls. Every guy around the pool is cheering them on and practically drooling at the breast display.

As Sunny and Valerie spin toward me, I see her bare chest, those pink perky nipples for everyone to see, and something in me snaps.

“Sunny!” I bellow, picking up her top and throwing it at her.

She yelps as it lands on the water with a thwack.

“Put it on,” I grit through my clenched jaw. The party goes silent, and Sunny climbs down from Valerie’s shoulders.

I see the stubbornness in her eyes. She wants to fight me and refuses to obey.

“It’s getting late,” Gino says behind me as he motions for Valerie to come with him. The party quickly moves to leave, but Sunny doesn’t back down.

“I was having fun,” she mutters.

I walk away from her and try to be a hospitable host, seeing everyone out and thanking them for coming.

When I finally walk out to the empty patio, Sunny is stomping around, putting away the trash and cleaning up the towels from the pool.