Page 78 of Keeper
“Oh, no. I dumped him and Marta both.”
“Good.”
She sighed pensively. “But sometimes I wonder. What if Marta really was telling the truth?”
I shook my head with grave doubt. “From the short amount of time I spent with her today? That girl can’t be trusted.”
“That’s what my heart says, too,” Ainsley muttered. “I just wish she’d admit it so I could move on and get closure.”
“I don’t think you’ll get closure from her. Some people are so good at lying, they actually believe their own lies. She’s probably dug-in way too deep to ever admit what she did.”
Ainsley nodded sadly. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
“I gotta ask, though: how did you let her worm her way back into your life?”
“It’s my fault,” she said. “I reached out to her a few days ago. She said I should visit … so I did.”
“Why? Why would youevergive her another chance? She’s shown you exactly who she really is.”
“Because …” she trailed off, hesitating. “God, that’s another story entirely. I can’t tell you this—you probably already think I’m an idiot.”
“I don’t think you’re an idiot,” I said, pulling her tighter against me. “Tell me. I told you, I want to get to know you.”
She took a deep breath and reluctantly began to speak.
“A couple months ago, I started dating a guy from school. Um, it didn’t work out, and—” She hit a roadblock and the words stopped coming. “God, this is so embarrassing. I can’t do it. What if I tell you and you don’t like me anymore?”
“That won’t happen.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“Because no matter how bad you think it is, we wouldn’t have met if things hadn’t happened exactly how they did. Everything happens for a reason,” I said, borrowing some of Coops’ wisdom. “So you can tell me everything—the good and the bad.”
She paused.
“He had pictures of me—okay?” The rawness in her vulnerable eyes told me just what kind of pictures she meant: intimate ones. “And just a few days ago, he posted them on the internet with my name and phone number attached.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s a vengeful asshole and he was mad I dumped him, I guess? Anyway, the only reason I found it is because my phone starting blowing up nonstop with messages from creepy internet weirdos.”
“Damn. That really sucks,” I muttered. “Is that why your phone was off the night we met in the club?”
She nodded. “Exactly.”
“Poor thing. You called the cops on him, right?”
She was ashamed to admit, “No.”
“Why not? What he did is illegal, Ainsley. You can’t post pictures like that of someone else without their consent.”
“I don’t know. I guess I panicked. Because what if the cops didn’t take me seriously? How can I prove that it was him who posted it, or that I didn’t consent? That’s how I ended up visiting Marta. How dumb is that?”
“It’s not dumb. You had personal photos blasted all over the internet. It’s understandable to freak out,” I said. “That said, you need to take care of this. Tell you what, I’ll put you in touch with my lawyer. We’ll get this taken care of ASAP.”
A heavy breath escaped her. “Thank you, Tanner. You have no idea what a huge relief this is. Not just that you’re offering to help, but the fact you’re not making a huge deal out of it, either.”
“Don’t mention it.” I kissed the top of her head, the invigorating sweetness of her hair filled my senses. “But wait, how did this lead to reconnecting with Marta?”
