Page 20 of Pulse
Chapter 7
Ren
Two days later and I was still reeling from Violet Fuller’s surprise visit.
My focus was off, my thought pattern constantly betrayed my training and I could hardly hear what anyone was saying to me. I was on another planet.
I always thought Ash and I were the same.
I learned the hard way that we weren’t. I understood control and boundaries. Ash never did. After everything was said and done, did I really know him?
I knew about his problems, I knew how angry he was and the things he was good at, but I don’t really know anything else.
I doubted I’d ever met the real Ash Fuller.
“Ren?”
I was standing in the middle of the gym, staring at the elliptical machine when Josie startled me. My heart hammered in my chest and I clutched at it like I could still it through my own flesh.
“Are you okay?” she asked, frowning at my reaction.
“Yeah, I’m just…”
“Distracted?”
“Yeah, that.” I sighed. Ash had gone to prison protecting his sister from the same man who’d tried to attack me.
“Does it have to do with that woman who came to see you the other day?”
I shook my head, no. Yes, it had everything to do with her.
“Well, now I know you’re lying to me.” Josie huffed, putting her hands on her hips like she was a displeased parent. “Lincoln told me who she was.”
I hadn’t told him to keep his mouth shut, but I was still angry with him for blabbing. “Well, he should’ve kept it to himself.”
“I don’t know who you are anymore Ren,” Josie exclaimed.
“What are you fucking talking about?”
“You’ve been through some heavy shit in your life, but you let this beat you down? A man?”
I bit my bottom lip so hard it was a wonder I didn’t break the skin. He wasn’t just any man. He was the man. My man. And he left.
“I’m sick and tired of seeing you do this to yourself,” she exclaimed.
“What would you know?” I snapped and instantly regretted it when her face fell. “Shit, Josie. I’m sorry.”
She sniffed and glanced away. “I mightn’t have any idea what happened that night you bashed on my door, but I can have a good guess.”
Fuck. I was so caught up in my own depression that I was forgetting about the people that were still here. I was the bitch now.
When I didn’t reply, Josie said, “What did she want?”
