Page 90 of Pulse
Chapter 27
Ash
Things kind of went back to normal after a couple of rounds.
Well, the normal for me when I was fighting before. The only difference was that Hammer was keeping his distance. I wasn’t sure what his game was, but I kept my eye on him at all times. And Hamish kept his word and watched the fuck when I was in the cage.
I was winning, Ren was winning and things were going as well as we could’ve hoped. Hammer and me were neck and neck on the leaderboard and the course was set for one hell of a Championship smack down.
It was six weeks until the fight and hopefully I would be able to put an end to this once and for all.
Beat was quiet without Coach, the Twins and Josie around. They’d gone to Sydney for the AUFC season and wouldn’t be back for a few weeks, so Ren and I pretty much had the place to ourselves. As she put it, it was all eat, sleep, train, repeat.
Once this chapter was over, we could start thinking about what came next. I still didn’t know.
I was standing near the bar waiting for Ren to get her stuff, when I spied a guy staring at me. Narrowing my eyes, I wondered if he had something to do with Hammer and was about to go give him a piece of my mind when he approached me.
“Ashley Fuller?”
I glanced at the man and looked him up and down. His clothes were too nice to for this scum sucking hole and he held a pretty expensive looking smartphone in his hand. There was no way this dude was associated with Hammer. No fuckin’ way.
He grimaced when I didn’t reply and held out his free hand. “I’m Scott Grayson. I’m a scout with the AUFC.”
My eyebrows rose. I wasn’t expecting that. “Things that dire you need to come poking around underground cages?”
He dropped his hand and shrugged. “The league’s only six years in. We come where there’s talent and if we need to come to shit stinking holes like this one, we will.”
I grunted. At least the dude had the decency to tell it like it was. The league was still young and the money wasn’t quite there compared with the cash that was flung about underground rackets. Short story, they needed draw cards to bring in the fans and sponsors.
“Look, I’ll cut to the chase.”
“Good,” I retorted, already gearing up to hear the spiel.
“We want you back in the league.”
I snorted. “After you cunts kicked me out for protecting my sister?” I shook my head, anger beginning to rise in my guts. “Why the fuck would I want to go back after I was treated like a fuckin’ animal?”
“Because you were one, Fuller.”
I couldn’t help wincing as his words hit home. I’d been trying to do the right thing in my mind, but he was right. I’d been an animal and ruined everything.
“Why now?” I asked, curling my fingers into tight fists.
“You’re lucky they sent me,” Grayson replied. “I convinced them that you’d changed.”
I snorted at the irony.
“I’ve seen you with Ren Miller,” he went on and my gaze snapped to his.
“What’s that meant to mean?”
“I’ll never understand why such a promising fighter quit, but seeing her with you? Shit, I get it. I don’t know what it is, but something’s changed you and it looks like it was her.” He fished in his coat pocket, pulled out a card and held it out. “Here, take my card. Have a think about it. We’ve got an offer lined up that is…let’s just say it’s non-standard. Come in to the office and let’s talk about it, hey?”
