Page 73 of Pulse
Chapter 22
Ren
We spent the afternoon in the coffee shop around the corner talking and getting Ash reacquainted with the world again.
He said it was like he’d forgotten how things worked, that his senses were all out of whack. Much worse than jail had been. He said that inside he’d had human interaction, no matter how fucked up it’d been.
It’d been about six months since I’d seen Seth and even longer since I’d laid eyes on the owner, Joseph. They’d welcomed us with open arms and smiles and Ash met Seth for the first time, properly, on equal ground. Last time Maverick was being a jealous asshole...a quality which I now found endearing because this time around he was all mine.
Sitting at the coffee shop had an ulterior motive attached to it, which was letting things cool off at Beat. It’d been an emotional cluster fuck of a day for everyone and distance from it was the only thing that seemed logical. They’d come round, I was sure of it, but first they all needed time to get with the program.
The thought had crossed my mind that Ash would become a beast again the moment the lights went out. Being in a place that had sparked such an explosive response in him and after being cooped up for so long, it had to mess with his mind. He’d been okay with it during the day, but the worst thing that had happened between us had happened at Beat at night.
Things had been going so well with his anger and with us, that I was afraid it was all an illusion. Maybe this would be his trigger.
As we approached Beat through the lengthening shadows, my worry began to change into a full blown concern. Beat in the day time with the real life consequences of his actions were one thing, but going back in the dark? I wasn’t so sure. Darkness brought all kinds of feelings and memories to the surface and Beat was full of them. Good and bad, but that’s the thing about memories…the bad ones always threatened to overwhelm.
Images of Hammer pinning me against the mirrors, Hammer chasing and dragging me to the mats, Hammer touching me… Before I could stop it, I shuddered, my hand tightening around Ash’s. What was my problem? I’d been living and training here ever since it’d all gone down… I was okay with this.
Ash glanced at me, a frown creasing his forehead.
“Spitfire?”
“I’m alright,” I said as I dug in my pocket with my free hand for the key to Beat. “It’s just been a big day.”
“We can give tonight a rest if you want.”
“No, we need to start training in a real gym. You don’t have the full set up at your place. This will be better.” I unlocked the door and shoved inside, punching in the alarm code as I went.
As expected, it was dark and silent. Everyone had gone home a while ago and it was just us….and our demons but who was counting those? Me.
Flipping on the back set of lights, the shadows became even longer, the orange glow dappled by the yellowness of the overhead bulbs. I kicked off my boots and walked across the mats, wishing I’d thought this through a little more. I could’ve been a little more sensitive about training here at night.
“When do you want to go back to The Underground?” I asked trying to distract myself. “The new season starts in a week. It’d be good to get in on the ground floor this time. Start to finish.”
“We’ll go tomorrow and convince them,” Ash said, pulling off his T-shirt and stuffing it into his gym bag.
I tried not to drool as his impressive body came into view, but I didn’t have a choice. Distraction obtained. I shook my head as if I was trying to clear it and said, “I hope you know what you’re gunna say, because I don’t have the foggiest.”
“I’ll think of something,” he muttered as he shoved his jeans off his hips.
Fuck me. I stared at his ass in his boxer briefs and couldn’t believe he was mine. Glancing up at me, he smirked. So no Hulk smash beast, just the sexy caveman beast. I could deal with that.
He pulled on his trademark shorts and began stretching his arms across his chest. I watched carefully as his gaze scanned the studio and his expression slowly changed from cocky asshole to troubled.
“Are you okay?” I asked, not sure if I should go to him or not.
He grimaced before turning toward me. “It’s just this place has a crap load of memories. Good and bad ones.”
We stared at each other for a moment, letting the notion sink in. The last few months, spending time getting to know one another, had done Ash good. He seemed to be able to voice his feelings a lot better than before.
“I know,” I whispered. “Same.”
