Free TKO (A Bad Boy MMA Romance) by Olivia Lancaster

then propped herself up on her elbows. I knew when she gave me this look, there was no way of avoiding her. It was the same look my dad used to shoot me when he could tell I was lying about something. Alice was basically his carbon copy, except female and tiny. With much more attitude.
     
                  “No, no. Everything is totally fine,” I lied, shaking my head and swirling some veggie fettuccine around my fork before popping it into my mouth. She couldn’t interrogate me while I had my mouth full, could she?
     
                  Turned out, she definitely could.
     
                  “Don’t lie, Gem. I can always tell when you’re lying. You do this weird eye-twitchy thing, every single time,” Alice scolded me, rolling her eyes.
     
                  I shrugged, pointing to my chewing mouth.
     
                  “Well, swallow your damn fettuccine and then answer my question,” she said. There she went again with the potty-mouthing. She knew exactly how to push my buttons. And it worked.
     
                  I swallowed hard and set down my fork with a clink.
     
                  “Alice Knight, you know I don’t like when you talk like that,” I began sternly. But she merely raised her eyebrows and looked at me expectantly. Damn it. She always knew exactly how to get me wired. It must have been genetic.
     
                  “Just something weird happened at work, but it’s none of your business, okay? Don’t worry about it. Eat your pasta. And eat the actual vegetables in there, too!” I added.
     
                  “How about I eat one veggie for every question you actually answer properly,” she bargained, a smile pulling at her lips. She was infuriating, but god, she was fun. Sometimes I wished I could be half as silly and clever as she was. Dad always said that I got the book-smarts and Alice got the street-smarts. I was a straight-A, straight-laced girl with single-minded ambition, while Alice was more of a free spirit who used her wit to make jokes and play games rather than to write essays and slay the debate team.
     
                  And here I was, about to get gamed by a high school sophomore. Unreal.
     
                  “Okay. Fine. But this is not gonna be a regular occurrence, alright? This is a one-time thing. No more trading interrogations for nutrition at the dinner table from now on,” I said, laying down the rules. Alice giggled.
     
                  “What happened at work?” she asked, spearing a piece of squash with her fork and holding it poised in front of her mouth.
     
                  Reluctantly, I replied, “A patient I’ve been working with crossed a line during a session.”
     
                  She popped the squash into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “See? That wasn’t so bad. On to the next question: what exactly did he do?”
     
                  I frowned. “How do you know it’s a he?”
     
                  Alice clucked her tongue and shook her head. “Nope, I’m the one asking the questions. Now spill, or I will never eat another zucchini again!” she threatened, grinning. That was a flat-out lie, a totally empty threat. Zucchini was one of her favorite foods.
     
                  Sighing, I answered, “Okay, okay. He got a little handsy with me and now I’m worried that things are going to be weird tomorrow at our next session.”
     
                  Her blue eyes went round with interest. “Handsy? Oh my god, Gem! What the hell did he do? Are you okay? I am more than willing to kick his ass for you.”
     
                  “Language, Alice!” I laughed, but I felt rather pleased to have a little sister ready to stick up for me, even if she did only weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet. Though, I assumed that once she realized