Page 66 of Pulse
“I thought I was in love with you,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “I-”
Everyone just stared at her in shock, but when I glanced at Ren, she was standing stony-faced, her entire body rigid. She didn’t have to say it. She’d known all this time.
“Monica?”
Everyone turned as Coach stood at the far side of the studio, a confused look on his face. I’d thought the shit had already hit the fan, but it turned out it hadn’t splattered yet.
“Someone better start explaining,” Coach said, striding across the mats, “because when a father hears the words rape and cripple…”
Monica started breathing hard, swatting tears away with the back of her hand.
“Monica.”
“It wasn’t kids who trashed Beat,” she said, her eyes downcast. “He attacked Ren… I…”
“Who?” Coach said thinly, his gaze flickering to mine.
“Hammer…” she said through a hiccup.
“I was there to stop him,” I hissed. “We trashed the place. I trashed it trying to-” I clamped my mouth shut.
Monica glanced at me, but her gaze didn’t quite meet mine. “I gave him a key and the alarm code.”
“Monica,” Coach whispered. “You’re not serious…”
“I’m completely serious Dad. It was my fault. I helped them and I ruined everything.” She shook her head, glancing away, the shame clear in her features. “I wanted her gone. I didn’t know that he was going to do those things. I didn’t know it was going to turn out the way it did.”
“What did you fucking expect?” I roared. “Hammer is evil. He’s fucking evil and after what he did to my sister you let him in here?”
“Ash.” Ren wrapped her hands around my arm and tugged, but I was too far gone to let her pull me back.
Lincoln stepped forward then, his skin turning white. “What did he do to Violet?”
Well, that fucking crush went more than one way. I snorted and narrowed my eyes at Monica. “I was never in Thailand.”
“This just keeps getting better and better,” Dean exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air yet again.
“Then where were you?” Coach asked.
“I was in prison.”
I swear there was a collective gasp as the truth finally came out. There was no use trying to hide it anymore. Ren knew and had accepted me and my shortcomings, she fucking loved me, so who the hell cared what anyone else thought.
“Hammer attacked Violet,” I went on, not wanting to elaborate the details. That was her part to tell. “I retaliated, which was what they wanted, and I got kicked out of pro and sent straight to the slammer.”
“Hammer fights at The Underground now,” Ren said. “He came after me to get to Ash.”
“He saw you as a threat.” Everyone glanced at Coach, whose expression was unreadable.
That was the thing about Coach Miller. I remembered the day I first found Beat and the moment I thought I knew what he was going to do, but didn’t. I was just a messed up kid with hardly any idea how the world worked, and here was this man with the most unbelievable poker face giving me a hard time and tough love… Little did I know it was for my own good. He wore that same expression now.
“Monica.” Coach gestured for her to follow him and she hesitated, wrapping her arms around her stomach.
That was our cue to get moving so I grasped for Ren’s hand and a moment later she laced her fingers through mine. No doubt there would be more choice words between the Twins and me, not to mention Coach, but for now I wanted Ren. I tugged on her hand, leading her toward the kitchen. The truth was out now and everyone would do with it what they wanted, it was no use trying to convince them that my intentions for being back at Beat and with Ren werehonorable. At least, not right now.
“Ren,” Monica whispered as I passed.
I hesitated, glancing over my shoulder, my hand still firmly wedged in my Spitfire’s.
