The Beat and The Pulse Box Set 1

by Amity Cross

  “He’s getting worked up over nothing,” I said, hugging my arms around my middle.

  She glanced at me, then at Ash, and this dark cloud seemed to pass over her features. With one swift movement, she shoved Ash hard in the chest, and he fell back against the door. If there was anyone who knew my brother better than I did, it was her.

  “I thought we were through with this,” she snapped. “You and your fucking anger issues. Can’t you see you’re scaring her?”

  Ash pushed against her, bringing their bodies together. “Better me than him.”

  “Him?” she asked, her brow furrowing. “You mean Lincoln?”

  “She won’t say it, but I know he touched her. He—”

  Pushing off the wall, I strode up to them and shoved Ash as hard as I could. “I have feelings for him,” I cried. “I have feelings for him, and I don’t know how to deal with them.”

  He stared at me then, his anger dissolving into something that looked a hell of a lot like shock. “What?”

  “I’m not a child, Ash,” I said, my hands shaking. “I’m twenty-four. I’m a woman. So fucking yeah, he touched me. I wanted him to.”

  Ren was smiling like an idiot, like she’d known all along that this would happen. She was good friends with both Twins after all. Ash had had a rivalry with them since day one, and I doubted that would ever go away.

  “I thought—”

  “You thought it was a one-sided schoolgirl crush,” I interrupted, shaking my head at him.

  His eyes widened, and that’s how I knew I was right on the money. He still saw me as his little sister—the sixteen-year-old who came to watch him fight and the nineteen-year-old who was raped by his AUFC rival. I was neither of those girls anymore. I was Violet two point oh, and I was only just beginning to wake up.

  Ash swallowed hard. “Vee… I’m just trying to look out for you.”

  “I know, but you need to back off.”

  His jaw tensed, and he glanced at Ren, looking for back up.

  “You can’t control her heart, Maverick,” she said. “You of all people should know that.”

  “You said it yourself,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s a good guy.” Who’d done some stupid shit that had hurt me, but Ash had to give us a chance to work it out.

  “I just want to protect you, Vee,” he pleaded.

  “You can’t wrap me up in cotton wool for the rest of my life,” I said, my voice lowering. “You’re the one who wanted me to get out of the house and live my life. You were the one who offered me this job.”

  “You should listen to her,” Ren said, smiling at me. “She’s the Fuller with the book smarts.”

  “Don’t I know it,” he replied, then began to grind his teeth again. He never did like being told what to do, especially by his little sister.

  “You and Dr. Ormond have been guiding me to this point,” I said. “Being shut away in that house… That wasn’t any way to live a life, and neither has being locked away in this office because I was afraid of the guy downstairs. I want what you and Ren have. I want to be able to trust and love and—” I clamped my mouth shut. “You know what I mean.”

  “If he ever so much as—”

  “Shit,” Ren declared. “We get the point, Ash. You’ll knock his block off.”

  He narrowed his eyes, focusing on her and taking the heat away from me. “Spitfire.”

  “Fuck help us when we have kids,” Ren said to me, shaking her head. “I want a boy if this is how he’s going to act over a boyfriend.”

  Ash looked dumbfounded. “You want kids?”

  “FYI,” she said, ignoring the stupid look on my brother’s face. “If you want to talk about you know what, bypass the caveman here and come straight for me.”

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  “You want to call a ceasefire and come get some lunch?” Ren asked. “Kiss and make up?”

  Glancing out into the hall to where I knew half the place had heard our raised voices, I squared my shoulders. Confidence was beginning to suit me. I felt it bristle through my limbs and lodge into my heart like a drug. Maybe I’d needed Ash’s mini-meltdown to shock me into action.

  “Vee?” she prodded.

  I glanced up at her and shook my head. “I’ve got something to do.”

  20

  Violet

  Stepping around Ash and Ren, I descended the stairs and ventured into the gym.

  Being lunchtime on a Tuesday, it was pretty quiet apart from the full timers. All in all, there were probably a dozen people in the main room and six or seven working out on the cardio equipment. Nobody was looking at me, they were all focused on what they were doing like true gym junkies.

  Looking around for Lincoln, I spotted him over by the cage in the far corner where he was guiding a couple of guys through some kind of punch and kick repetition on some tall padded bags. His broad shoulders rose and fell as he laughed as one of the guys slipped and fell on his ass.

  A small smile pulled at my lips, and I stepped forward. That was the moment a body positioned itself in front of me, and my vision locked onto Andrea. Shit. Didn’t she have a life? I mean, it was the middle of the day, I always figured she had to work someplace, or maybe this was her gig. Working rich men to pay for her spray tan.

  “Don’t even think about it,” she said, her voice dripping with venom.

  I began to shrink into myself, but I forced out the words that had formed in my brain. ”Excuse me?”

  Andrea narrowed her eyes in challenge. “You think he wants someone like you?”

  I looked at her and realized that someone like him, someone genuinely kind and caring, would never be into a woman like her. I never had to be jealous of Andrea, and it was only ever my lack of confidence that had driven me into that pit of despair. They were never more than superficial. Lincoln and I? We might not end up together, but at least he wanted to know who I was.

  Andrea’s beauty was only skin–deep, and it was a thin layer at that.

  I tilted my head to the side and regarded her. “You’ve never been dumped before, have you?”

  It was her turn to be taken aback. “Excuse me?”

  Man, that felt really good. To just let loose and let it rip. Bloody oath.

  Ignoring her simmering rage, I stepped around Miss Skin-Deep and continued across the gym to where Lincoln was with the other men. I hadn’t been this far before, not even on the night of the opening party, and I was beginning to see Pulse, and myself, in a whole new light.

  Was this how it felt to be fearless? If it was, then Lincoln was right. The girl I was at sixteen, when I sat at Beat watching both twins and Ash train, was still in there. That, more than anything, gave me hope.

  The guy who I knew was Cole, thumped the other guy on the arm and he looked up. His eyes widened at my approach, his gaze running up and down my body. Ignoring the both of them, I continued across the mats. I wasn’t there for them.

  “Linc,” Cole said, nodding in my direction.

  He turned then, his gaze meeting mine, and he smiled. It was this huge grin that told me everything I needed to know. He was glad to see me…out here.

  “Hey,” I said, my voice coming out in a squeak.

  “Vee.” He glanced over my shoulder toward the office. “You okay?”

  My cheeks began to heat, more out of habit than anything else. “You heard, huh?”

  “Not really,” he replied. “Couldn’t make any of it out.”

  “Liar.”

  He held his hands up, palms out. “True story.”

  I glanced at the two fighters and they turned away sharply, pretending to get back into their repetitions on the bag. Eavesdroppers. Lincoln narrowed his eyes at them and gestured for me to follow him across the mats. To my dismay, he led me into the change rooms. He stuck his head into the men’s, and it must’ve been empty because he ushered me inside.

  Standing in the middle of the empty change room, I couldn’t help but squirm. This was where he’d… Where I’
d heard…

  “Don’t even think it, Vee,” he said. “It’s the only private place in the whole gym.”

  “I—” I took a deep breath. “I was thinking it.”

  “Do you want to go someplace else?”

  I shook my head. “No. Here is fine.” It was just a test of my resolve. He didn’t mean anything by it. “About yesterday. We never got to talk about the thing before Ash ripped you a new one.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Lincoln replied. “I can hold my own against him.”

  “I told him to fuck off,” I said.

  “He’s just looking out for you,” Lincoln replied, leaning against the wall. “I get it.”

  I frowned. “There’s looking out for me and then there’s keeping me locked up so I won’t hurt myself. I’m not crazy.”

  “No, you’re not,” he said with a smile. “You’re pretty fucking hot.”

  “Lincoln…” I rolled my eyes at the same time my body began to tingle. All the way from my fingertips to there. You know…there.

  “Can’t lie, Vee.”

  I glanced away, suddenly overcome with shyness. Sucking my bottom lip into my mouth, I shook my head.

  “There are a lot of things I want to tell you,” I said after a moment.

  “Me too.”

  “It’s not easy for me,” I went on. “It’s all so new… I have problems I’m still trying to work through. I don’t want to disappoint you.”

  “I doubt that,” he said, and I stared up at him. “I know the score, Vee. I can call you Vee now, right?”

  “I think you already made up your mind about that yesterday,” I replied with a shy smile. Raising my hand, I let my fingers brush over my lips.

  “I wanna do that again, you know. Kiss you.”

  I pulled in a breath and it wavered unsteadily. Closing my eyes, I tried to calm myself, but it wasn’t really doing much. My lips were tingling with anticipation already. Was this normal? Being in this room, just us alone with each other, was sending me into a total overload. Did he feel it too? The thickness in the air, the spark and the force trying to crash us together? It was so overwhelming I was positive he could.

  “Lincoln.” I gasped, and he stepped forward, his arms outstretched.

  I sank into him, our bodies pressing together, and for the first time in forever, it didn’t send me into a panic. Somewhere along the line, I’d just decided to let it go, to let the fear and the doubt dissolve into nothingness. My past didn’t control me anymore. I wouldn’t let it. It was time to wake the fuck up, and take everything back.

  Lincoln’s lips met mine, and I allowed my heart to take over. Placing my palms against his hard chest, I felt the warmth of his skin against my own. The tip of his tongue traced my lips, and I parted, allowing him access. I tasted him tentatively, and then, as I became bolder, deepened the kiss on my own. This was good…

  Finally, I drew back, and his eyes snapped open. Instead of pushing him away like I had yesterday, I lingered, my lips pressed lightly against his. Our gazes crossed, and I felt his smile as his arms squeezed softly. I moved away, but only so I could see his cute little dimple.

  “What happened just then?” he asked, his fingers brushing against my lips.

  “I…” I swallowed hard. “I wanted more.”

  “You’re more fearless than you give yourself credit for,” he murmured.

  “I’m trying,” I whispered, gazing into his green eyes.

  “You wanna try tomorrow night? Dinner?” he asked, his expression hopeful. “I’ve got an appointment with the physio tonight. Otherwise…”

  I nodded. Hell yes. “Can we do that one more time?”

  “What? Kiss?”

  I nodded, my gaze dropping to his lips. His perfect lips that made me feel alive.

  Lincoln smiled and drew me back in. “Of course. We can do that as much as you want.”

  21

  Lincoln

  Sitting at the physiotherapist’s, all I could think about was my date with Violet the following night.

  I went through the usual updates from the doctor, and they poked and prodded me, declaring my recovery almost over. I’d be allowed back to Sydney and full-time training in the next two weeks, if that’s what I wanted. I wouldn’t be allowed back into the octagon until the final scans came back clear, and that could be another two to three months. But I could go back and train…if I wanted to.

  I’d forgotten about how much my shoulder pissed me off, I’d forgotten about the AUFC and the points I was losing by being out, and I hardly missed my stupid brother, Dean. It was the longest we’d ever been apart, and it didn’t bother me in the slightest.

  It was all because of Violet. She filled up all the blank spaces and then some. I wondered more and more about who she was underneath shy exterior. Considering the things I knew, like the fact she liked superhero movies and liked to read, I really wanted to know more. She wasn’t like the women I was used to hanging out with. She thought about things. Most of the women who hung around the AUFC fighters weren’t much for intellectual pursuits. Fighters were more about the physical, but a sharp mind went a long way to winning a match. A hell of a long way.

  I got into Pulse bright and early the next morning, eager for two things. To get my exercises into gear for my shoulder and to be there when Violet showed up.

  I flipped on the lights as I came in, illuminating the dark gym. It was still quite dark outside, the dawn still giving way to the morning. Six a.m. wasn’t that hard of a stretch for a guy like me. I was always bursting with energy and found it hard to wear out these days—being that I couldn’t train to my full capacity.

  There was a crash upstairs as a door opened, and a moment later, Ash barreled down the stairs and into the gym.

  He’d obviously been arguing with Ren about something, but it didn’t sink into my thick skull until I saw him coming straight for me. Fuck, and here I was thinking that it was already over with after our little talk the other day. Seemed to be from the way Violet had been talking. Wishful thinking on my behalf, huh?

  “Hayes,” Ash barked and I stilled, waiting for the inevitable. Shit, that guy had to take a motherfucking chill pill.

  Ren thundered down the stairs behind him, and I realized they must be staying upstairs in the apartment now. She had been living above her dad’s boxing studio for what felt like years now, so it was only a matter of time before they moved it over here. Just didn’t expect it to be until they’d finished renovating the place, but then again, all they needed was a mattress.

  Right now, it didn’t bode well for me. Round two was approaching for another slanging match.

  “Ash!” Ren exclaimed.

  “Leave off, Ren,” he snapped, not slowing his pace.

  “I can’t believe you’re still on that,” Ren exclaimed. “Leave the guy alone.”

  Ash came to a halt in front of me and glared before saying to Ren, “I’m making sure she’s looked out for.”

  “We went over this,” she said, punching him in the shoulder. “Leave them alone.”

  “What do I have to say to you to make you believe me, Ash?” I asked, thoroughly pissed off. It was way to early to deal with this shit.

  “Nothing.”

  “To me, it looks like you’re more afraid of letting her go than seeing her hurt.”

  Ash fisted his hands into the front of my T-shirt and yanked me close, his expression pure rage. “You know shit,” he hissed.

  “I know I hit a button,” I retorted. “Looks like it was the right one.”

  With a roar, he drew his fist back and punched me in the face, his hand colliding with my cheek. I stumbled back a step, slightly dazed for a moment. It was only a split second because shit, we were both fighters, and I was a pro. I got punched in the face on my fucking coffee break.

  I squared my shoulders and was about to launch myself at him when Ren put on her game face and launched first.

  “Enough.” She shoved between us, and Ash openly
seethed, practically frothing at the mouth, but at her insistence, he took a step back. “What the fuck?”

  I stared Ash down, my face beginning to throb. It was also beginning to sink in that he’d punched me right in the face. Asshole.

  “Someone better start talking, or I’ll beat the both of you,” Ren exclaimed.

  “I know guys like him,” Ash spat. “They fuck anything with tits then chuck them out. I won’t let that be Violet. She’s too good for him.”

  Ren stared at him open mouthed. Ren and I’d always been good mates, but Ash? Never. His sister meant a great deal to him, but he didn’t understand that I wasn’t one of those guys. I’d dabbled like any red-blooded man with a raging libido, but I’d given it up ages ago. It was empty. Andrea had only served to remind me of the things I didn’t want.

  What I wanted was the more. A deeper connection and someone to see me for the man I was. Someone like Violet.

  “You can’t be serious,” Ren exclaimed, her attention on Ash.

  “I’m deadly serious,” he replied. “He’s not who I want her to be with.”

  “I wake up, and I think about her,” I snapped, not taking my gaze away from Ash. “I come in here and hope I see her. I’m a different person when I’m with her. I’m better, she’s better… She’s getting stronger. I can see the Violet I remember more and more. Not that we’ve had the chance to be together.”

  “See?” Ren asked Ash.

  I shook my head. Feelings weren’t my strong suit, not like fighting, but I guess this was just another way of doing that without the fists. “You fought for Ren, and I’m doing the same for Violet.”

  “She’s been through so much,” Ash said, his voice thin.

  “I know, and I want to help her.”

  “Give him the chance, Maverick,” Ren prodded. “What’s life without taking a leap, right?”

  “Yeah, I’d be a fucking hypocrite,” he snapped, still clearly pissed about the whole situation. “The warning still stands.” He jabbed a finger at me.