Page 77 of Crash
I did want to fight, I missed the rush like nothing else, but I wasn’t sure anymore.
“Linc? You still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. I’m in the undercover carpark at the hospital,” I added like it was an excuse for my uncertain silence.
“Does Ash have you tied up with anything at Pulse?” he asked.
“No, not really…”
“Good, then I’ll get Josie to book you a flight.”
Fuck. They’d have me there by the weekend if they got their way.
“It’ll be really good to have you back, son.”
“Yeah,” I said, tightening my grip around the steering wheel. “Yeah, it will.”
**
I missed lunchtime at Pulse, but Violet had been bogged down with work anyway, so she didn’t miss me.
When I ducked my head into the office, she just waved me away with a smile and told me not to worry about it. She hadn’t even noticed I’d been out all morning. I needed to talk to her before Josie got back to me with my plane ticket, but I didn’t know how to bring it up.
Leaving Violet now…it didn’t feel right, but I didn’t really have a choice.
Thumping back down the stairs, I walked across the mats to where Ryan and Cole were going through their repetitions on the bags. Ash gave me a look from his position to the side but didn’t say anything.
“How was your appointment?” he asked, coming to stand beside me as the numbskulls finished their repetitions and swapped places.
“Fine.” Last thing I wanted was to tell Vee’s over-protective brother about having to jet back to Sydney before I’d even told her.
“So, we’ve still got you for a while yet?” He was looking at me like he already knew, and he probably did.
I shrugged.
“I’ve noticed that the exercises you’ve been doing are getting easier,” he declared.
“Yep.” I watched Cole and Ryan, knowing exactly what Ash was getting at. He was trying to get a confession out of me with a good cop, bad cop routine.
“The guys will miss you,” he prodded. “I know they’ve picked up some valuable stuff from your sessions, mate.”
I grunted, crossing my arms over my chest.
He gave me another look before backing away. “Suit yourself, but you better tell her.”
I shot him a warning glance and nodded.
“Let me know when you’re leaving,” he added. “Forpayroll.”
Narrowing my eyes, I shook my head. Obviously, trying to keep shit from Ash Fuller was pointless, but as long as he didn’t tell Violet first, we wouldn’t have a problem.
Shit. Things had been fucking great the past few months. I never expected to see her again—even with her brother as the owner of the joint—let alone start this thing with her. I’d wanted it forever, no other woman had stacked up to my idea of being with her, and now that I had the real thing? I’d been right all along.
Violet… She filled all the little holes inside me that I didn’t even know were missing. I thought being apart from Dean and the AUFC was tough, but leaving her would be the hardest thing I’d ever have to do.
It was then that I realized I might’ve fallen harder forVeethan I’d originally thought. This was the part where you told the woman who had your balls how you felt and planned for the future and all that scary shit I didn’t have any answers for. The only certain thing in my life was competing in professional MMA. I didn’t know how to have a relationship anymore than she did.
My phone pinged with a message, pulling me away from my thoughts. Pulling it from my pocket, I glanced at the screen and dread settled into my bones as I read the message from Josie.
