Page 38 of Pulse
Chapter 13
Ash
Violet was giving me that look again.
It had become her trademark in a way, mainly because I kept doing stupid shit.
I was on the flat of my back, bench pressing a weight that bordered on dangerous without a spotter. Drop that shit on my chest and hello pearly gates.
The downstairs gym had become my home inside my home, or some other stupid house arrest metaphor, and I spent just as much time here as I did when I was off training at Beat and then some. But right now, Violet was ruining my mojo by being all ‘authority figure’ with me. When the fuck did our roles reverse?
“You had no right inviting her here,” I said, scowling up at her as I lifted the bar back into the bracket.
She glanced at the weights, then at me, her eyebrow quirking. Typical Fuller.
“Well, I don’t have to worry about neutering you,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “You’re doing a bang up job of cutting your own balls off.”
“Fuck,” I exclaimed, sitting up. “Watch your mouth.”
“Hypocrite.”
“I’m serious Violet,” I snapped. “You had no right inviting her here. You know I didn’t want her seeing me like this.”
“You need to make it right with her,” she said, ignoring my tone. “She loves you.”
“How do you know?” I put a stop to Ren ever loving me the moment I left. To her, that was the ultimate betrayal. It was the unforgivable.
“I know because she came here to face you. Twice.”
My heart twisted in my chest and I stared up at Violet. “What?”
“That wasn’t a ghost you saw.”
“You...” I couldn’t believe what the fuck I was hearing right now. Ren had seen me doped up to the eyeballs...she’d seen me...
“You need to let her in. Let her care Ash. I know you don’t want to look weak, but-”
“But nothing,” I snapped, rubbing my eyes.
“If you love someone, you love them despite their flaws. She came back twice Ash. Twice. If she didn’t want you because you were weak, then she wouldn’t have come back at all.”
As usual, my little sister knew more about the world than I did and it put me to fucking shame. She’d gathered up the courage to face the world that she was so afraid of to try and save me and my stupid fucking heart. She went and faced down an angry Ren Miller. Reign of Terror. Fucking hell.
“I don’t even know what to do,” I said, swatting the back of my hand at a bead of sweat that was tracking a path down my forehead.
“I’ll tell you what you’re going to do,” she declared. “You’re going to go pick up your phone and call her. You’re going to beg her for forgiveness. You’re going to ask her to come back and you’re going to tell her everything. You’re going to grow the fuck up and realize that you can’t be everything to everyone all of the time. You’re going to realize you’re human just like the rest of us.”
“Fuck,” I hissed.
Violet clapped her hands together. “Up. Go on, get going.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’d make a good coach?”
