basorexia || matt daddario au [completed]

10. boxing.

"then what's yours?"

"i'm not telling you, but if we get close and a supernatural creature takes over, i'll let you be a part of it." she winked playfully and slowed her pace down.

matt looked forward and held a door open for her. cassie read the sign, glimpsed at him and then walked inside the building.

"good to know i have a safety." he said and closed the door after him.

"why are we here?" she asked quietly and turned around to look at him.

"because, cass..." he breathed out and put his hands on her shoulders. "this is a hobby of mine that basically no one knows about."

"boxing?" she snorted and averted her eyes to him. "boxing is a hobby of yours?"

"don't look so surprised."

"matt?" the man behind a counter finally acknowledged them. "hi, man."

"hey." matt grinned and stepped closer, the brunette following his move. "this is james, the owner of the club."

"cassie." she warmly smiled and shook the older man's hand.

james seemed to be in his middle thirties, altough he looked rather young and fresh. cassie was certain that if she was around seven years older or so, she'd find him extremely attractive — he was a handsome man.

"nice to meet you. may i ask what she's doing here? we haven't had a female in a very long time." james asked carefully and locked his hands together against his lap.

"well, i have my training time now, and i was going to ask if she can try it out with me?"

"wait, what?"

"okay, you need to stop saying that." matt laughed and cassie pursed her lips with a stupid smile.

"yeah, of course. you know where the gloves are, and be careful." james approved without hesitation and nodded.

"always am. come on." matt nodded forward to cassie and walked over to the room with equipments. cassie took in their surroundings and briefly watched a few people hitting either a punching bag or each other.

"may i ask why you box? and do you box in serious competitions?" she asked quietly and accepted a pair of fingerless fighting gloves he handed her.

"i don't know. one day it just happened. even though i'm not an angry person with problems in my life, it's kind of relieving to punch on a bag for a while. i don't know, makes me feel calmer afterwards. and no, i only do it here for fun." he answered and bit on his lip. "i have to change my pants, i'll be right back."

cassie nodded and gazed at him as he disappeared into what seemed like a locker room. she stretched her fingers several times before looking over at two guys boxing in the ring. matt returned a short while later and put a hand on her shoulder, startling her completely.

"oh my gosh, matt you can't– where's your shirt?" she exclaimed but cut herself off, eyeing him quickly.

"in my locker." he laughed and fixed his own gloves firmly.