BOXER

twenty four

At this point, nothing Luke did surprised Brielle anymore. She was becoming pretty used to his unpredictable tendencies and had learned to just go with it most of the time.

But occasionally, there were things that occurred that were difficult to simply just go with.

Part of her felt stupid for not expecting this. She wasn't completely oblivious - she knew her and Luke's relationship was somewhat different than a customary friendship and she had caught on to his occasional flirtatious attitude.

But she never thought he'd act on it. She thought it was just the person he was, and that his protective attitude was what caused him to be extra affectionate sometimes.

She didn't realize it was like that.

Once his lips touched hers, she didn't completely process what was happening before her instincts caused her to kiss him back. But within a few mere seconds she flinched and pulled away as quickly as possible, not only because she could taste the blood in his mouth but also because she realized what was happening.

It just didn't feel right.

And once they pulled away, she stared at him for what felt like forever with an expression that was a mixture of confusion and worry. From the look Luke was giving her, she could tell he probably felt the same thing.

Brielle wasn't quite sure what to say, or what to do, as she was somewhat speechless and a little uncomfortable considering how they were still standing in the middle of the ring.

She gulped before taking a small step back, creating some space between them.

She expected Luke to say something, but he remained silent - and she hated that, because she couldn't quite tell what he was feeling. She didn't want to hurt his feelings by pulling away, but the kiss just came out of nowhere and she didn't know if she was ready..per say, for that.

Thankfully, Luke finally made a movement and slightly grabbed Brie's hand, leading her out of the ring.

He didn't make eye contact with her, and rather his expression was somewhat blank. She simply let him lead the way into back room, not asking any questions and hoping that what had just happened wasn't going to affect them much.

As they entered the back room, a number of people congratulated him and gave Luke daps as Brielle simply stood behind him awkwardly. His hand still was attached to hers, but she eventually let go of it to allow Luke to give full attention to the people who were congratulating him.

He took a seat on one of the couches, which also happened to be the last available seat in the room. Once Luke realized this, he looked up at Brielle from his seat as he grabbed her hand.

"You wanna sit on my lap?" He slightly grinned at her - this being the first time he showed any type of expression towards her since the kiss.

Brielle was more so expecting him to act colder towards her, thinking she had hurt his feelings by pulling away, but he seem relatively un-phased. And that was good.

But she didn't want to do anything more that would give off the impression that her and Luke were anything more than friends. The whole arena had already saw them kiss and she could feel the rings girl in the back room giving her glares. She could only imagine how many of them Luke had been in.

"It's fine, I'll stand," she insisted, smiling lightly to ensure that her tone was light spirited.

"You sure?" 

"Yeah."

He leaned back against the couch for a few seconds before realizing that he obviously was not going to make her stand. "Nah. Just take my spot."