He pointed at me with his wrapped hand. “You’re a smart cookie.”

I jumped up and down on the spot, ready to get into it. “Where do we start?”

He pointed to the ring. “Let’s see what your maneuverability is like.”

Following him across the mats, he held up the ropes as I ducked underneath.

“So that’s what you were fluffing about with?” I asked as he climbed in behind me.

While I’d been warming up, he’d set up the ring like a pinwheel. A rope was attached to each corner of the ring, crossing in the middle, and then each quarter had been divided into slices.

“Duck and weave,” he declared. “Makes your quads hurt like hell, so I hope you’ve been treating them nice.”

I tested the tension of the closest rope, which was at chest height.

Caleb clicked his fingers, standing in the slice directly opposite me. “Show me your stance.” I assumed the position, and he nodded. “Good. Now, duck and weave while concentrating on your body position and balance.”

“Is that all?” I complained.

Caleb laughed at me like he knew something I didn’t. “Give it a shot, but do it as fast as you can. Here, I’ll show you.”

He ducked underneath the rope to his right, his feet moving with him, and then he ducked back and forth, moving around the ring.

“You can pair it with a few punches once you catch the drift,” he said, his breathing beginning to accelerate. “Makes it a little more interesting.”

I gave it a go and found he was right about the quads.

“Good, now keep it going,” he said, standing back to keep an eye on my form.

I tried to focus on my movement, but my mind kept slipping back to Ash. It wasn’t like I’d never consider marrying him, it was more that it was just a legal thing in my eyes. We connected deeper than a stupid bit of paper, and Australian law didn’t mean squat when you were talking about something as deep as your soul.

Ducking underneath one of the ropes, I wobbled on my feet before righting myself. Ever since he’d brought the wedding thing up flippantly and I’d dismissed him, he’d been acting funny. Now he wasn’t telling me something. Had I hurt his pride that much? The idea that it was something simple like his wounded manhood pissed me the hell off.

I weaved underneath another rope, knocking my head as I went by, and promptly slipped and fell flat on my ass. My tailbone smarted as Caleb began to laugh.

“Shut the hell up,” I said with a scowl.

“You okay?” he asked, holding out a hand. “You’re off your game.”

“Yeah.” Grasping his wrist, his fingers wrapped around mine and he hauled me up to my feet.

“Yeah?” He bumped his shoulder against mine. “Trouble in paradise?”

I shrugged then shook out my arms.

“Was that your boyfriend ringing you before?”

“You give a shit?” I asked with a scowl.

“Of course I give a shit. It’s been a week or so, but I’d consider us friends.” He looked me up and down, and he didn’t make much of an effort to cover up the fact that he lingered on my tits. “Right?”

Scowling, I backed away from him a step. “Not when you look at me like that, you’re not.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, dismissing me with a wave of his hand. “The thought crossed my mind, but you’ve got a knack with putting guys like me in their places pretty quick smart.”

“Guys like you?”

“Devils, Ren,” he said with a wicked little wink. “In all kinds of places.”

I snorted, my lip curling into a smile despite myself.

“What’s the problem?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

I didn’t see the issue with telling Caleb. I mean, the two guys hadn’t even met, and I knew that Ash would make excuses not to since he was happy in his own little world over at Pulse.

I curled my hand around the nearest rope like it would ground me. “He’s not telling me something, and it’s messing with me.”

“Cut the guy some slack,” Caleb said with a wink. “Sounds like he’s got a lot on his plate if what I read in the paper is anything to go by.”

Ash had a lot riding on the gym. I mean, he’d given up a contract fighting in the AUFC, after he’d been banned, to open Pulse and a lot of people were expecting him to fail big time. It did put the pressure on, but Ash had never shown it once. Like the typical bloke he was, he just took it all in his stride and acted nonchalant about it. Yeah, nonchalant until he exploded.

“All you can do is ask,” Caleb said. “If he doesn’t want to talk, then you’ve just gotta give him time to sort whatever’s pissing him off.”

I waved my hand at him and asked, “What were you saying the other week about getting hit in the head?”

“Low blow, One-Shot,” he said with a grimace.

“Sorry, I’m just…” I threw my hands into the air, thoroughly over it.

“Over it?”

“Frustrated.”

“Well—”

I could see a dirty look in his eye, and I didn’t like it one bit. “Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,” I snapped.

“Can’t fault a guy for trying it on with a beautiful woman.”

“Puke.” I pretended to stick my fingers down my throat.

Shaking his head, Caleb ducked out of the ring. “I think we better call it a night. Your head isn’t in the game.”

“Suit yourself.” Knowing that I’d just train to work out my frustration once he was gone, I ducked under the ropes and joined him on the mats.

“When you get home, just talk to the guy,” he said, beginning to unravel the wraps on his hands. “Lay it all out.”

I watched absently as he wound the bandages into a neat pile before starting on the other hand.

“Or is it too far gone?”

“What?” I asked, blinking hard.

“Well, you’re either going to work it out or end it entirely. That’s what it comes down to.”

My lips curled in distaste. “You don’t know anything about it.”

“Just calling it as I see it.” He shrugged in that cocky fighter way of his—like he knew everything when he knew nothing.

“I’m crashing in the upstairs room tonight,” I said, scooping up my bag.

Caleb gave me the once over. “Right.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, just say it.”

He shook his head and began to back away toward the showers. “Don’t let it fester too long, Ren.” Pointing upstairs he added, “I’ve taken a number.”

“Are you coming onto me?” I asked, my mouth dropping open.

He laughed, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “I call dibs when the fallout settles.”

Then he was gone.

Nine

Ren

“I’m sorry.”

I glanced up from the pile of paperwork I was helping out with and found Ash standing in the doorway. The office was empty since everyone had gone home an hour ago, but I’d stuck around a little longer to avoid talking to him. I’d never dragged out a fight this long, or stayed over at Beat to avoid hashing it out, and he knew it.

He leaned against the wall and nudged the door closed with his foot. He had this sheepish look on his face like he’d been caught with his hand in the lolly jar.

I raised an eyebrow and turned back to the paperwork.

“Ren, look…” I glanced up at him, and he shrugged. “You know I’m bad at this shit.”

“It’s not an excuse,” I said, looking at the invoice so I didn’t have to look at him.

“I didn’t like not being with you last night.”

Best not tell him that Caleb was already staking a claim over our nonexistent break up.

“Where were you?” he asked.

“Beat.”

He sighed heavily. “I’m not keeping anything from you.”

I shook my head. “I can tell when you’re bullshitting me, Ash.”

“Look at me.”

I shook my head, stood, and walked over to the filing cabinet. He watched me put the bit of paper away as I stewed on his admission. He said nothing was on his mind, but I could feel it. Something heavy hung in the air, and it was killing me knowing that something was amiss, and I couldn’t help him. He wasn’t letting me in, and after all the work it took for us to get to this point—all the fucking heartbreak and the fighting—it hurt like hell.