My heart sank.
"You're married??" I blurted out.
"Uhh, well technically not yet. Just engaged," she said, not really knowing how to respond.
"Oh. Umm." I quickly tried to recover from the awkwardness. "I just meant that you should probably remove your ring before grappling. It can get caught on things and cause injury."
"Oh, that makes sense! Of course, let me take it off!" Nicole said and removed her ring and put it with her stuff on the side of the mat. I couldn't help but be crushed by this news though.
Of course she was with someone, how could she not be?
Nicole returned and we began our grappling match. I expected Nicole to be tentative since she was a complete beginner, but she quickly tackled me to the mat. I was surprised by how strong she was.
I recovered quickly enough and
