Page 13 of Pulse
“So you don’t know what went down with him and Hammer?”
“I really don’t know,” I replied. That was one hundred percent truth. After I left Beat that night, it was like the pair of them had just disappeared into the ether.
“Hammer came back to The Underground.”
My head snapped up. “What?”
“Yeah, I was surprised too.”
My heart started hammering painfully in my chest. If Hammer was back…that meant... “When?”
“About a week after you left,” she replied. “He said he had an injury that kept him away, but nobody was buying it. You really don’t know anything?”
I shook my head, my entire body zinging with electricity. Ash didn’t kill him…then where the fuck was he?
“Not even Rogue knew what was going on,” Alison went on.
“They’re still together?” I asked, everything sounding far away.
“Nope. Hammer pulled the same shit that Ash did to you by the sounds of it. Just disappeared for six months without a word. He’s got a new girl now.” She smiled, nudging me with her shoulder. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out between you guys. You were fucking meant for each other. Anyone with a pair of eyes could see it.”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “Sometimes being meant for one another just isn’t enough.”
“So, you and The Underground…you’re done for good?”
I shrugged. “What about you?” I asked, turning the conversation back on her.
“I gave up a few days ago when I realized I had a chance to qualify for this.” She waved her hands around. “It was in everyone’s best interests. High chances of injury and all, not to mention the fact that it’s not exactly aboveboard.”
“There’s more money in The Underground,” I said.
“But you can’t talk about Fight Club,” she said with a laugh. “That’s the only rule. This…” she waved her hand around again, “you can talk about.”
I smiled, happy to find a friendly face amongst the competitors. This was yet another place I didn’t fit, despite the obvious.
Alison stood, rolling her shoulders. “I’ll see you out there, hey?”
“You’ve got it.”
How could I focus on all of this when I just found out that Ash didn’t kill Hammer? He didn’t do it, so where the fuck was he? Glancing up at the clock on the wall, I noticed had fifteen minutes before my fight was scheduled to start, so I shoved my things into a locker and scooped up my gloves. Time to put my game face on. If Ash still wanted me, he would’ve come back. It was that simple.
Venturing out from the relative calm of the staging area and into the arena, the din hit me with its full force. Putting my head down, I strode forward, hugging my hoodie tighter around myself. All these people wanted me, so why wasn’t it enough to stop that ache in my heart?
“Hey, One-Shot!”
I turned at the sound of Josie’s voice over the hum of the crowd and saw her waving through the throng of people milling around the walkway from the fighter area out the back to the cage.
Making my way over, I felt a flush rising up my neck to my face as people started to catch onto who I was. MMA was starting to get more popular and that meant fans, which was a totally new experience for me. Ever since that magazine article things had amped up, I refused to get started on Josie and Facebook.
As I approached my over-enthusiastic best friend, I realized she was pulling someone with her through the crowd.
“Look who I’ve got!” she cried with glee.
When I saw a familiar head of hipster hair, my jaw literally dropped.
“Seth?” I exclaimed.
“The one and only,” he said with a grin. “Don’t look so shocked to see me.”
