Flow (The Beat and the Pulse #6) by Amity Cross

that comin’ from?”
    I shrugged, feeling my cheeks heat with embarrassment.
    He sighed and glanced away into the darkness. “She wanted me to go pro and move to Sydney with her. I wanted to stay in Melbourne and make a life here. That was the first problem. The second was she had feelin’s for another guy.”
    “Oh,” I murmured, beginning to feel childish considering the thoughts that had gone through my head earlier.
    “It was a long time comin’.”
    I didn’t know what else to say, so I said ‘oh’ again. Lame .
    “Listen, Lori…” He hesitated, and I glanced up at him.
    “What?”
    “You and Storm…”
    It was my turn to frown. “What about me and Storm? I told you…”
    “Do you know why he came back?” he asked.
    I shook my head. “No. The other night… Well, that was the first time I’d seen him since…” I didn’t want to elaborate on the foursome I’d walked in on, so I added, “Since two years ago.” I watched him closely, my earlier thoughts about fucking like animals fading into the background, and I slapped his chest. “What do you know?”
    “I didn’t like the way he talked about you,” he began, his eyes beginning to fill with anger. “You weren’t tellin’ the whole story, Lori.”
    “So you set out to prove me a liar?” I exclaimed.
    “No.” He stepped forward, practically caging me against the wall. “I went out to try to protect you.”
    “ Protect me? ”
    It had been like a month since I found Hamish sitting at the end of the bar. A month of talking, hanging out, and a few casual conversations between his fights. That was hardly any time to get to know another person, let alone feel so strongly about them you wanted to go out and do a bloody background check on their asshole ex.
    “He got kicked out because one of the ring girls claimed he’d abused her.”
    “What?” For a moment, I wasn’t sure what Hamish had said. I’d heard him, but it didn’t sound real.
    The world was spinning. I could feel the blood draining from my face and pooling in my toes. Storm was a master at emotional manipulation against the women he slept with, but physical abuse?
    “The girl filed a complaint with the UFC, and the police alleged that he put his hands around her throat and tried to strangle her. There were other marks on her body…marks easily covered by clothin’. Sponsors canceled their contracts with him, and people boycotted, so the only thing the UFC could do was kick him out. Zero tolerance.”
    My body felt numb, and I slumped against the wall, slipping down it a few inches. Hamish curled his hand around my arm, trying to steady me, but I shook him off.
    “Lori…” His voice was low and calm, reassuring and full of concern all at the same time. I knew he was trying to make sure I was fine, but the only thing it did was spin the merry-go-round faster and faster.
    I didn’t know why I asked it, but it was the only thing I could think of at that moment. “You looked into all of that for me?”
    I glanced up at him and hesitated when I saw the look on his face. His eyes were dark and full of emotions—anger, jealousy, and something else I didn’t know—as his hands fisted into the hem of his T-shirt like he needed something to hold onto. It was yet another instance of feelings blurring the line, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it.
    “He’s not a nice guy, Lori,” he said. “He needs to get the message to stay away. That’s what you want, right?”
    I swallowed hard and nodded, starting to feel cold. It was more to do with finding out about my ex-boyfriend’s newly developed choking habit than the actual temperature out here.
    “What did he do to you?”
    I froze, my gaze falling to the ground at my feet. “Does it matter?”
    “It does if he did to you what he did to that girl.”
    I wasn’t prepared for the fierceness in his voice, and an odd sensation ricocheted through my body.
    “Lori?”
    His hands found mine, and I closed my eyes,