I said my pottery course had finished because I wanted an evening to myself

My partner picked up a bowl I'd brought home and said, 'You should sign up again. We could go together next time.' There are still four classes left in this course.

It started as my Thursday evening out. My partner was delighted for me, then began suggesting we join the next course together. We already share most weekends and several friends. I wanted one place where I arrived alone and nobody knew us as a pair.

Instead of saying that, I said the course had ended halfway through. For the next three Thursdays I said I was browsing shops or taking a long walk. I went to pottery. My partner hasn't forbidden solo hobbies or demanded an account of my evenings; I invented the problem I was avoiding.

Now there's an end-of-course display, and I would actually like my partner to see the things I've made. Inviting them means explaining the weeks I hid. Not inviting them means treating a perfectly ordinary class like a secret life.

How do I say that I want the class to stay mine while also admitting I lied? I'm worried the request for space will sound like an excuse for the deception, even though it's the conversation I should have had at the beginning.