Page 42 of Pulse
I sat at the dining table and studied the decor. It had female touches all over the place and I guessed that was Violet.
I wondered about the rest of the house, what else he kept locked away here. There must be a gym hidden away in a corner, a lounge, study…whatever random rooms fancy houses had. All I knew about homes were two bedrooms, a lounge, kitchen and a bathroom. That’s all anyone ever needed. All this space for two people seemed…a lot.
“Hey.”
I glanced up at Violet as she hovered in the doorway to the kitchen.
“Things aren’t going too good?” she asked.
I grimaced. “I needed a time out.”
“Sometimes I wish I could punch him out, but the best way to get through my brother’s thick skull is to slap him around with words.”
“Yeah, I’m just having a hard time figuring out the right ones.”
She slid into a chair opposite. “Maybe you should start at the beginning.”
“What do you mean?” I asked with a frown.
“Put aside all the things you can’t agree on and get to know one another. You know, for who you are underneath the surface and all that.”
I raised my eyebrows in genuine surprise. “How do you know this stuff? Are you a shrink in training?”
“I don’t talk to many people,” she said with a laugh. “But I read a lot of romance novels.”
I felt a smile crack the surface and I laughed despite the ache I felt in my soul. I liked Violet Fuller. A lot.
“You know,” I said. “I think you’re right. There are so many things he never told me… I guess we were too into each other to bother. Do you think he’ll go for it?”
Violet winked like she knew something that I didn’t. “I know he will.”
I’d decided I was in this for the long haul the moment I gave up my placing in the AUFC, so there was no doubt that I was going upstairs to try again. Violet’s suggestion had just cut out the middle man. The ‘middle man’ being lots of arguing.
“Thanks,” I said, pushing the chair back.
“You’ve got guts,” she said as I rose to my feet. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For sticking around. For trying to help him.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know about helping him. It feels a little more selfish than that.”
Violet smiled, looking pleased with herself. “You’re honest,” she said.
“Is that a good thing?”
“It’s a very good thing. Ash needs someone to be brutally honest and you’re the perfect person.”
I backed away, making for the stairs. “Well, we’ll see how that goes.”
People said that honesty was the best policy, but sometimes it was too brutal to vocalize. Maybe that’s the only way Ash could understand things. He was brutal when he fought, so perhaps ripping it off like aband-aidmight do the trick. Sighing as I climbed the stairs, I liked Violet’s other approach much better. Go back to the beginning and get to know him again.
Yeah, that sounded just about right. Theband-aidripping could come later.
I eased open the bedroom door and peered inside. Ash was sitting on the end of the bed, elbows on his knees, head bowed.
“Ash?”
