"I'm here for my lesson," I say, which is obvious, which is stupid, but my brain is not cooperating.
"I know," he says.
There's a pause. He's looking at me differently than he did last week. More directly. Like he's trying to figure something out.
"We should talk first," he says finally.
My heart drops. "Okay."
He comes around the desk. "Training room."
I follow him through the gym to the same space we used last week. He stops in the middle of the mat and turns to face me, arms crossed, and suddenly the room feels very small and I feel very exposed.
"What were you doing at the fights?" he asks.
His voice is level, but there's something underneath it. Not anger exactly, but something close.
I swallow. "My friend invited me."
"Your friend."
"Sarah. She… She wanted to go. She'd heard about them. She asked if I wanted to come with her."
"And you said yes."
"Yes."
"Did you know I'd be fighting?"
"No," I say quickly. Too quickly. "No, I had no idea. I didn't even know the fights were here until we showed up. I didn't know you—" I stop. Take a breath. "I didn't know that's what you did."
He's quiet for a long moment, watching me. I can't read his expression. I don't know if he believes me.
"You left," he says finally.
"What?"
"You left. As soon as the fight ended, you left."
"I—yes. I did."
"Why?"
Because I was terrified. Because watching you fight did something to me that I don't understand and don't know how to process. Because I went home and touched myself thinking about you and I can barely look at you right now without wanting to do it again.
"It was intense," I say instead. "I wasn't expecting it to be that intense. I needed air."
He nods slowly. Like he's accepting this answer even if he doesn't entirely believe it.
"Are you going to come back?" he asks. "To the fights."
"I don't know," I say honestly. "Maybe. Sarah wants to."
"If you do," he says, "stay toward the back. Away from the ring. It gets rowdy sometimes. People get careless. I don't want you getting hurt."
The concern in his voice surprises me. It's genuine, unguarded, and it makes me wonder if there's more to us than just a teacher-student relationship.
"Okay," I say softly. "I will."
