Free Love Unexpected by Anne Leigh

normally let it go, especially when I was eating. Kieran signaled me to check it.
 
    Nalee: Check ChattyPepper.com no w!
 
    Kieran saw the change in my expression, he aske d, “What’s wrong?”
 
    “I don’t know. Nalee wants me to check that Chatty Pepper gossip website now.” I put my phone back in my purse. It pinged again.
 
    Tanya: You gotta check ChattyPe pper.com
 
    “Now what?” Ki eran asked again.
 
    “It’s Tanya, she said to check that Chatty Pepper site. What is it with that site?” I resumed eating the cashew chicken on my plate. Kieran pi cked up his phone.
 
    “Oh,” he said as his gaze landed on mine.
 
    “Now what?” It was my turn to ask. So much for eating. Too many interrupti ons were going on.
 
    He handed me his phone. My heart dropped when I saw the screen. There were two images juxtaposed against each other. The first picture was of me in my light yellow bikini and Kieran in his trunks. We were at the beach; we both had sunglasses on, his left arm wrapped around my shoulder. This must have been taken a few weeks back during semester break. The second image showed Kieran in his dark, green suit smiling at me. This was obviously taken at the awards gala.
 
    Under the picture, the words “Mighty Z’s girl seen with our swim SEX-sation, Kieran” were displayed. A short paragraph described Kieran as ‘hot and hunky’ and a love triangle between Zander, Kieran, and I was insinua ted by the writer.
 
    I felt suffocated, violated. I was in my bikini, spending time with my best friend, and someone took a picture of us to put it up in a sleazy gossip website, without my permission! I lost my appetite. Kieran saw my face getting paler.
 
    “Ace, it’s no big deal. These people have nothing else to do,” His voice calm but his eyes were anything but. He was tamping down his rising anger.

            I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream at the writer. I wanted to tear down this website.

            “I don’t know what to do.” I was livid with anger and mortification. Who were these people? What right did they have to take pictures of us? Or, better yet, why did people even care what I was doing?

            “You can have this ruin your day or ignore it. Listen, I’ll talk to my dad to see what we can do against the site,” Kieran’s dad was a lawyer. He would know if we could file any legal action against the website or maybe just have our pictures taken down.
 
    As upset as I was, for some strange, unknown reason, my thoughts drifted off to Zander. Was that why Zander acted weird that awards night? Did he think Kieran and I were together? Why didn’t he ask me? As silly as it sounded, I wanted to go to Zander and explain. But then again, what would I explain to him? I was probably the furthest thing on his mind. He had dozens of women waiting by the sidelines. 
     
    I decided to do nothing. Nothing was probably for the best. Nothing left a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach.
    Zander
                   
    She told me she was not ready for anything.
                 
    Not ready, my ass.
     
    John sent me a pic from that Chatty Pepper website. Who the fuck were these people anyways?
     
    I was sitting on a metal bench in the locker room, stretching and warming up for football practice.
     
    John had just entered the doorway. He mentioned that he sent me a text.
     
    I hadn’t checked my phone. I didn’t even hear it beep.
     
    As soon as I saw the pictures, I had the strongest urge to slam my phone against the wall.
     
    There she was. Her glorious body on display in a tiny, yellow bikini. She was crazy hot! An arm was snaked around her shoulder. I wanted to break my phone in half. She brought out my caveman-like tendencies. She was with that Swimming Guy, Kieran. I recognized him from the College Sports Awards Night. He was one of the nominees. I guessed that was her type. Football players