Page 43 of Pulse
He glanced up, his gaze fixing on me. “You’re still here.”
“I said I needed a time out, not that I was leaving.” I crossed the room and sat on the opposite side of the bed. “It was either cool off or let things descend into a slanging match.”
He grunted, casting his gaze back out the window.
“We need to start from the beginning,” I said. “I think somehow we met somewhere in the middle.”
“The middle of what?”
“You know; the bits after people learn about all the mundane things.”
“Like theirfavoritecolor?” Ash snorted.
“You scoff at me now, but everything’s important.”
I wasn’t sure what to follow that up with so I fell back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. A moment later Ash lay back next to me. He was close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body, but not close enough to touch. The chemistry was still there between us and it was hotter than ever, but we’d just implode if we couldn’t get our heads on the same wavelength. If we gave in, we’d be over before we even started.
“It was my birthday the other day,” I said, not knowing why I cared to tell him.
“It was?”
I nodded, closing my eyes.
Ash snorted. “I didn’t know.”
“It was the second since my mum died.” I felt his fingertips graze the back of my hand and I stiffened. “It was always just me and her,” I said awkwardly. “I didn’t want to be reminded.” Pulling my hand away, I sat up, trying to distance myself from him.
“I’m sorry,” he said, sitting beside me.
“For what?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
I glanced around the room, studying every nook and cranny I could see from my perch on the bed. I could feel Ash’s gaze fixed on me, but I didn’t have the courage to stare back.
“Where are your parents?” I asked.
Ash grimaced and cast his gaze onto his hands.
“Did I ask the wrong thing?”
“No, it’s just… They gave up on me the moment I was sent to prison. I haven’t spoken to them in five years and I don’t expect to start any time soon.”
“They never came to visit you?”
He shook his head.
“Violet?”
“She sided with me and was put into the same pot.” He began worrying the hem of his shorts. “It’s just her and me.”
“They just abandoned you?” I tried not to let my jaw drop, but this was the one thing I knew all about. Parents who were meant to be there but weren’t through their own choice.
“I wasn’t a good kid Ren. I fought kids twice my size just for kicks, I was constantly getting suspended from school. I got expelled three times. My parents put up with me until they saw an opportunity to get rid of me for good. It was like they were biding their time until I was old enough to go out on my own.” He ran his hand over his face, obviously uncomfortable with the subject matter. “It wasn’t until I found Beat that I felt like I belonged somewhere. It… Fuck.”
I’d always thought we were alike and now I knew it. “You could’ve told me.”
“You don’t need more shit to deal with. You’ve got your fair share and then some.”
