“Start whenever you’re ready.”
Briggs watched Jake carefully.
The instructor’s shoulders had become tense.
Jake noticed.
“You still worried?”
Briggs spoke quietly.
“I’m watching control.”
Jake gave a humorless laugh.
“Mine?”
“Both.”
Emma glanced at Briggs.
Their eyes met briefly.
Nothing was said.
Jake saw that.
His irritation deepened.
He lifted his fists.
The circle tightened around them.
Briggs gave the signal again.
Jake attacked almost immediately.
His first jab came hard.
Emma redirected it.
His right followed.
She moved outside.
He drove forward with another punch.
Emma retreated one step.
Then another.
Someone near the benches whispered.
“There we go.”
Jake heard it.
His confidence surged.
He pressured her again.
Emma moved backward.
Jake threw another combination.
She blocked and shifted.
He kept advancing.
His shoulders loosened.
“There.”
His voice returned.
“That’s what I expected.”
Emma continued moving.
Jake pressed harder.
“You were getting real comfortable.”
Another jab.
Another step backward.
“Where’d all that confidence go?”
Emma avoided a right hand.
Jake followed.
Several soldiers started reacting again.
The mood began leaning toward him.
Jake sensed it.
He became louder.
“You wanted the mat.”
Emma moved toward the boundary.
Jake grinned.
“Now you’ve got it.”
Briggs’s eyes narrowed.
Emma was approaching the white line.
Jake saw the opening.
So did everyone else.
He stepped in quickly.
Emma’s back foot touched near the boundary.
Jake committed forward.
Then everything changed.
Emma planted.
She pivoted sharply.
Jake’s forward momentum carried him past her shoulder.
She guided him with one controlled hand.
He stumbled two steps.
His foot crossed the white line.
Emma remained inside.
The room went silent.
Jake turned.
Emma stood where he had been.
Her breathing remained steady.
Briggs looked down briefly.
A strange recognition moved across his face.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Jake saw it.
“What?”
Briggs looked up.
“Nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing.”
Emma remained quiet.
Jake pointed at him.
“You keep doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Looking at her like you know something.”
Briggs’s eyes returned to Emma.
Jake followed his gaze.
Emma’s right foot rested slightly angled.
Her left heel remained light.
Her hands were relaxed.
Her elbows remained close without stiffness.
Briggs stared at the position.
His face became unreadable.
Jake noticed everything now.
“What is it?”
Briggs said nothing.
Jake took a step toward him.
“What do you recognize?”
Emma lowered one hand.
“Jake.”
He turned sharply.
“What?”
“You’re fighting me.”
Jake laughed without humor.
“That’s convenient.”
“You wanted this.”
“I wanted an honest challenge.”
Emma’s expression cooled.
“You wanted an easy audience.”
The words hit the gym like a dropped plate.
Nobody moved.
Jake stared at her.
“You think you’ve proved something?”
Emma answered quietly.
“No.”
“Then keep going.”
“I planned to.”
Briggs stepped closer to the mat.
“Turner.”
Jake looked at him.
“Keep your head.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
Jake’s nostrils flared.
“Don’t coach me.”
“I’m supervising.”
“Then supervise.”
Briggs stared at him for a moment.
“Control your temper.”
Jake laughed.
“That what you tell her?”
Emma raised her hands again.
Briggs looked toward her.
He said nothing.
Jake’s jaw tightened.
“There it is again.”
Emma spoke.
“Stop looking at him.”
Jake faced her.
“Why?”
“Because he isn’t the one making you miss.”
A low reaction moved through the soldiers.
Jake stepped forward.
“Fine.”
He reset his stance.
Emma mirrored him.
Briggs gave another signal.
Jake came forward aggressively.
Emma did not retreat this time.
She met his first jab with a parry.
His right hand followed.
She moved inside the angle.
Jake lost sight of her for half a second.
Then he felt a controlled touch against his ribs.
Not hard.
Not damaging.
Just undeniable.
Emma was gone before he could answer.
Jake turned.
Her hands were already back in position.
He stared at her.
The audience stared too.
Jake attacked again.
Emma slipped the first strike.
She blocked the second.
Then she tapped his shoulder again.
Jake backed away.
His breathing had changed.
Not from exhaustion.
From anger.
Emma saw it.
Briggs saw it.
“Turner.”
“I’m good.”
“Slow down.”
“I said I’m good.”
Emma’s voice interrupted.
“You don’t have to prove anything.”
Jake looked at her with disbelief.
“You don’t get to say that.”
“Why?”
“Because you walked in here knowing something nobody else knew.”
Emma shook her head.
“I walked in here knowing myself.”
Jake stared at her.
“That supposed to sound profound?”
“No.”
She adjusted the tape around her wrist.
“It’s supposed to be accurate.”
The private near the cage looked away again.
This time, he was not hiding laughter.
He looked uncomfortable.
Several others did too.
The atmosphere had changed beyond simple entertainment.
People remembered every joke.
Every comment.
Every time Emma walked past and ignored Jake’s voice.
Jake could feel them remembering.
He hated that most.
He stepped toward her.
“You could’ve shut this down anytime.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“When I ignored you.”
Jake’s face tightened.
Emma continued.
“When I walked away.”
Jake said nothing.
“When I didn’t laugh.”
The room remained silent.
“When I told you I knew where the gym was.”
Emma’s voice never rose.
“When I asked whether you were inviting me.”
Jake looked away for half a second.
She had him there.
Everyone knew it.
Emma raised her hands again.
“You kept going.”
Jake turned back toward her.
“So now you’re teaching me a lesson?”
“No.”
“Then what?”