Still sat in the car seat, I blinked back at him in surprise. "Sorry, what?" I laughed, not being able to help myself.

My lips twitched. "You are having a kickboxing class?" I repeated slowly, wanting to make sure I had heard him right. 

 He swept a glare over me in annoyance, clearly not happy that I found it funny. "Yes, I do. Is that a problem?" he snapped.

"No, no, not at all," I smiled as I finished unbuckling my seatbelt. I quickly hopped out of the car, but then I suddenly raised up a finger as though I was remembering something. "After all, I always love it when I get a new student," I said with a flirtatious wink. 

His whole body went rigid, and he eyed me with an incredibly cautious gaze. "You're my instructor?" he clarified slowly, his eyes darting back and forth between mine in a clear panic.

  "Yup," I chirped smugly. Then with a final little chuckle, I slammed his car door closed and started to make my way over to the building.

Once in the changing rooms, I quickly threw on my black running shorts and a blue tank top before heading over to one of the private workout rooms.

Finding the room empty, I threw my water bottle over to the corner of the room before flopping down onto the floor. Staring back at the mirror in front of me, I let out a long sigh as my mind turned with thought.

I wasn't thinking about anything in particular at first, but soon my mind wandered over to the topic of Nathan. And if I was doing the right thing. 

I'm not an expert in morals or anything, but I'm pretty sure it's a really shitty thing to shove your way into someone's life just for their money. I'm sure deep down in that big obnoxious head of his, he had feelings. 

After a few more seconds of contemplating, I shoved all doubts to the back of my mind. I had to do this - It was for a good cause. It wasn't just for me; this was for my dad, my mum, and my brothers - and I'd sell all my morals if I could ensure that they were safe.

Taking a quick glance down at my watch, I let out a frustrated growl as I realized I'd been sat on the floor for ten whole fucking minutes.

How long does it take for one prissy asshole to get changed?

Rolling my eyes, I pulled my phone out of the side pocket of my leggings. Scrolling aimlessly through my messages, it didn't take me long to spot one from Brandon. It was a link to a music video, along with the caption: Do you remember when we sang this for the school talent show?

I quickly clicked on the video and then laughed as I saw the deepthroat music video load up. Brandon and I used to be obsessed with the questionable lyrics of this song back when we were 11. 

And like the two fools we were, we had decided to sing it in front of the entire school – teachers and all. Let's just say we barely made it to the fourth line before we got pulled off the stage for 'improper discussion of extreme sexual conduct and yadda ya ya.'

With a wide-bearing smile on my face, I pressed play on the song, and instantly the intro music echoed out from my phone and through the quiet studio.

At first, I let it play quietly, but slowly I pressed the volume higher bit by bit. Tapping a hand against my thigh, I started mouthing along to the lyrics.

Swaying back and forth, I let myself get lost in the music. Clearing my throat, in preparation for the next lyric, I smiled. "Mouth, wide open, mouth wide open. Put it so deep, I can't speak a sent-"

Before I could get the last word out, I cut myself off as I realized someone was staring at me. Or, more specifically that Nathan was staring at me. 

He was standing by the edge of the door, frozen in shock.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Moving faster than I ever had in my life, I scrambled to turn off the music before shyly looking back towards the door. I swallowed as I saw him staring at me with a singular eyebrow raised.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he finally stammered out. 

My eyes widened, and I quickly scrambled to my feet. "You see, I was erm...I was just..you see I was..., " I blabbered out as I looked hastily around the room for some kind of explanation.

Nathan raised a hand up to cut me off. "You know what, don't even answer that. I don't even want to know," Nathan scoffed as he eyed me up and down judgmentally.

 Horrifyingly embarrassed, I cleared my throat and tried to stop my face from burning up.

Nathan narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure you're qualified to teach? " he asked slowly; as he eyed me from head to toe. 

I felt my blood boil at his insult. "What do you mean I don't look it?" I hissed, squaring myself up in his face.

His eyes sparkled with excitement, almost as though he was having fun taunting me. "Well, for one thing, you were literally just singing about sticking a dick in your mouth, which literally couldn't be any further from professional if you tried. And secondly, you're like tiny. How the fuck do you fight anyone?" he snickered as he did another sweep over my figure.

Setting my eyes deeply into his, I just smiled. "Like this," I shrugged. 

His eyes flickered back and forth between mine cautiously. "What do you-" 

I didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence before I leaped myself into a spinning-kick, and swiped his legs out from beneath him. He hit the floor roughly, letting out a long-pained groan as he did. 

Satisfied with my work, I leered over him as he crouched in pain. "What was that again?" I chuckled.

He maintained eye contact with me for a second before quickly looking away, looking slightly embarrassed. 

 With the awkward clear of his throat, he picked himself off the ground. "You caught me off guard, that's all," he explained quickly.

"Hmm, sure, sure, Natalie," I hummed unconvincingly.

I couldn't resist a smirk as I watched him visibly recoil at the nickname. 

"Natalie?" he scoffed. "Fuck you, you're not calling me that!"

I snorted rudely. "Well, too bad because that's your new nickname. I figured a little bitch such as yourself deserves a little bitch name," I snickered.

He opened his mouth to rebut, but I interrupted him. "Enough talking. Let's get on with the lesson," I snapped as I marched over to the far corner of the room. 

I slid out a thick blue yoga- mat, and dragged it across the room before dumping it at Nathan's feet.

His eyes dropped down to the mat in clear unimpress before shortly returning back to mine. "I was under the impression we were kickboxing, not doing some yoga-shit."

I rolled my eyes so hard I almost strained myself. "It's called conditioning; you idiot. To hit strong, you have to be strong."

He frowned. "Yeah, well, I am strong," he threw back defensively.

"Okay, then let's see it," I shrugged. "Drop, and give me some push-ups," I demanded as I nodded my head down to the mat. 

 He didn't move an inch and just stared at me in the same manner you might look at a puppy who was trying to bark orders at you.

"Awfully cute, that you think you can boss me around...but no," he snorted. 

My eyes narrowed into slits. "And why not?"

He stared at me with a lack of bother. "I messed up my shoulder a bit last Wednesday so, I'm still a little sore and-"

"Yeah, and nobody gives a shit, so get on the floor," I interrupted rudely. 

I was well aware I was likely making zero progress with the whole 'getting-him-to-like-me plan,' but it wasn't my fault he was acting like a little prissy bitch. And who knows, maybe he was into girls who insulted him?

He gave me a dirty look but reluctantly gave in. "Okay, fine, whatever," he grumbled. With an overly exasperated sigh, he lowered himself down to his knees before getting into a plank position.

He did about ten push-ups in no time at all, and my brows immediately shot up in surprise. 

So, prissy boy has muscle does he...

My eyes trailed over his shoulders, and I watched, slightly hypnotized as the muscles rippled through the material. Shamelessly, my eyes journeyed a little lower to his toned arms. They were the perfect kind of thick - the kind that you could imagine wrapping around you at night. Hmm, he has big hands too; I wonder if he-

Shit. Focus, Sophie, focus.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I was supposed to be affecting him, not the other way around. And I was doing a shit job at it so far with all the snarky comments and bossing around.

 Nathan cleared his throat, and he glanced at me from over his shoulder. "How many more of these?" he asked.

"Erm...no more. That was enough," I said, despite the fact I had no clue how much he had done. "We can start with the fighting, get up," I said with the clap of my hands.

Walking to the box in the corner, I grabbed two sets of punching gloves. Keeping one for myself, I threw the other one over to Nathan.

 He failed to catch them, and I stifled a laugh. 

He shot me a nasty look. "Oh, shut up," he grumbled sulkily, as he picked the gloves up from the floor.

"Anyway, let's get started, shall we," I said as I led him over to one of the punching bags. "I'm going to show you a few basic kicks and punches, and afterward, I'd like you to copy me, okay," I explained. 

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm not an idiot. I know how to kick," he scoffed.

 I tapped a patronizing finger over my lips. "Shh, Natalie, teacher's talking," I chided. 

His eyes narrowed in annoyance, but he didn't say anything.

Deciding to get on with it, I got into a good stance before firing out a series of punches and kicks in a sharp rhythmical fashion onto the punching bag. Once I was finished, I let out a breath before turning back to face Nathan.

He blinked back at me, slowly, his eyes flickering back and forth between the bag and me in disbelief. 

"In what world would a beginner be able to repeat that?" he mumbled, a little bit of arrogance lost from his tone.

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics before giving him a short comforting smile. "Come on, at least give it a shot; you might surprise yourself," I encouraged. Not that I would ever admit it to him, but seeing him a little bit doubtful was kind of cute.

He looked at me for a long time, but then slowly he nodded his head. 

"Okay, okay. Fine. I'll guess I'll give it a go," he said as he slowly moved over to the punching bag.

 He then proceeded to give the bag three measly punches and a kick while barely making an impact on the bag. I wanted to laugh so badly, but I knew that was probably a little too mean.

With an amused smile, I picked my gloves off my hands and walked over to him. 

"You're way stronger than that; your technique is just so messed up," I explained softly. "Here, let me show you."

 Slowly, I reached out for his hands. His skin felt warm yet smooth, and the moment I touched him, his eyes snapped up sharply to stare at the side of my face. Those deep-reaching green eyes of his burned through me; and gnawed at my curiosity to return his gaze.

Feeling a little smug that I was having an effect on him, I focused on the task at hand and closed both my hands over his so that they formed into a tighter fist. 

"You need to keep your hands balled up and tight at all times," I whispered. Then slowly, I moved my hand up the length of his forearm. "And it's important you keep your wrist straight too," I corrected as I continued to move my hand gently over his.

I still felt the heat of his gaze on my own, and I finally looked up at him to find him staring at me with a careful yet intense kind of gaze.

Yes, yes, it's working. It's working.

Deciding to take it up another level, I pressed my hands ever-so-lightly over his chest, right above where I could feel his abs. I felt him tighten the second I touched him, making me internally rejoice.

 "And you must engage your core each and every time," I explained softly; as I lifted my gaze to his. He swallowed as our eyes met; seeming frozen in time.

 Suddenly, out of nowhere, he ripped himself free from my touch. "I don't like to be touched like that," he hissed, his eyes hard-set and cold.

I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. I was shocked, confused, and above all, embarrassed. 

Scratch embarrassed, I was humiliated...

A coldness radiated out through his eyes as he glared down at me. "I think our lesson is done for today," he spat.

Roughly, he pulled his boxing gloves off his hands; chucked them to the floor before marching his way out of the room. 

Standing alone in the room, I was left with one thought; and one thought alone: This was going to be a lot harder than I thought.

--------------

Author's note:

Hope you enjoyed chapter Six. Just a note if you look up the song I mentioned in this chapter, please, please listen to it in a room alone or with headphones on lol. 

Anyway, why do people think Nathan is being all weird and stuff? 

Next update: Wednesday (6-8PM -UK time)