Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“He’s not coming back, Nanna. Not after this.”
“Maybe not. But even if he gives up on you, don’t give up on yourself. Not again. You already did that once.”
Her words are what I need right now.
“Thank you, Nanna,” I say. “You said you needed to go to the grocery store earlier. Go ahead and do that.”
“No. I’m going to stay right here with you.”
“Please. I’m begging you. I could use the space.”
It’s clear she doesn’t want to go, but she resigns. “Okay. I’ll get ready and get out of your way.”
“Thank you. There are a lot of things I want you to be a part of in my life. When I became an adult film star isn’t one of them.”
I meant it as a joke, but neither of us is laughing because there isn’t anything funny about what just happened.
She forces a smile, and I can see the worry in her gaze.
“Oh, come here.” She approaches and kisses my forehead. “You’re a good kid. Don’t ever forget that.”
“Thanks.”
She grabs her things and heads out. I continue inspecting my phone, trying to run through all the possibilities. All the ways someone could have pulled that video from it.
I remember deleting the video, so someone would have had to have hacked my phone or something to make it happen.
I’ve heard stories about people hacking people’s phones for information, and I wonder if that could happen with a phone. I google it, and find out it’s possible. I read a few articles talking about looking for suspicious apps, but I’ve checked a few times and nothing looks suspicious. I’m looking through everything yet again when I notice that I have two “Stock” apps on my phone. It’s not an app I ever use. Just part of the default package. There are two subfolders with them in it. Maybe a coincidence or something I did by mistake.
I click on one and it shows prices from some Dow Jones stocks, so I close out and click on the other.
A screen pops up that says, “Mobile access allowed.”
Shit.
I’ve been fucking hacked. And there’s only one person who had the chance to do this…
36
MARK
I head down the hall, back to my apartment.
The sting of everything that’s happened hits me hard, but I know I can push through it.
Dad offered me some meds, and Mom’s gotten some of her guys on this. The video’s already been taken down, so now they just need to find the bastard who did this.
Although, I bet Tim knows who it is.
He has to.
Thinking about him showing it to another guy—bragging about fucking me in the mansion—hurts.
I don’t doubt he meant the things he said, but it tears me up knowing he could feel that way and still embarrass me like that…and put me at risk by sharing it with another person…someone who obviously wasn’t all that trustworthy themselves.
He texted me. Asked me if I was coming back into town tonight. He said he needed to talk to me about something. I told him I’d be home, but I couldn’t talk to him yet. I’m not ready. There are still too many thoughts. I’m ashamed…and embarrassed…and so fucking disappointed.
I reach my door, fumbling with the keys for a minute, struggling to get the right one because I’m so distracted. Then I open the door and see Tim sitting on the couch.
He stands up quickly. He has this sad expression on his face. Like he just watched someone kill a puppy.
I’m glad he’s here because at least it means he cares. At least it means that all this passion…all these things that we’ve been feeling and sharing…meant something to him.
It’s confirmation I like, but I hate myself for liking it because it doesn’t change what he did.
“I told you I couldn’t talk,” I say.
“Hear me out. Please.”
And I will, if only because it means I get to spend another moment with his beautiful face.
“Mark, I didn’t ever share that with anyone.”
I want to believe there’s another explanation so much that it makes me sad.
“I think it was Keith,” he says.
“What?”
“Computer science major. Develops websites. I can tell you right now I let him use my phone sometimes when we were messing around. I always thought he was just checking to see if I was messaging other guys, but I found this…”
Tim pulls out his phone and shows me a suspicious app he discovered after our fight. “I think he hacked my phone and then released the video.”
“No,” I say. “Keith? He’s never been anything but nice to me.”
“You might have seen that side of him, but I’m the one who saw the crazy stalker side when he was trying to get back with me. I told you he would show up at my place…and I don’t know that it was a coincidence that we kept ending up at the same parties. I think a part of this might have been a way of keeping tabs on me. Look, I downplayed how crazy his shit was when we talked because you were his friend, but I’m not just talking about him showing up at my door. There were some threats in there.”