Free Hooked (The Submission Fighter Book 1) by Sophia Hampton Page B

here?”
     
    “Relax, Caroline,” Alice responded, putting her hand on Caroline’s shoulder. “We just got home. It’s no big deal. I didn’t mean to wake Pete up. I was just trying to get to the room so I could grab some work clothes and head to my shift. Micah came up with me to make sure everything was okay.” Her explanation was spot on, but Caroline still managed to shift her eyes in Micah’s direction.
     
    “What did you do to her?” Caroline demanded of Micah with bared teeth. And for his part, Micah certainly didn’t look like he was going to back down to Caroline’s aggression.
     
    “Caroline, hang on!” Alice exclaimed defensively. “He didn’t do anything!” Here her night had been almost perfect, and it was ruined by a moment of Pete and his screams. She had thought Caroline would be supportive, or at least enjoyed the fact that for once, Alice got to be her .
     
    Caroline went toe to toe with the man, looking him up and down, unsure of where she stood on her opinion of him. He, too, crossed his arms and allowed her to get into his face, not breaking eye contact or claim over his new territory. She gave in first, walking out of the room and back into the living room. Alice and Micah listened to her instruct Jace to go back to bed and for Pete to go home. Doors quickly shut, and the apartment returned back to silence.
     
    “Jesus. What a bunch of lunatics.” Micah was right. She had never seen any of them act this way. The fact that they felt like they needed to treat her this way was embarrassing, especially with her cultivated tough girl image.
     
    Alice sat on the edge of her bed, overwhelmed and exhausted. Micah followed as the bed lurched under his weight. He took her slumped body and pushed it into his arms, leaning her head onto his chest once again, kissing her forehead and cheeks.
     
    Alice whispered into his ear, “I’m so sorry about this, about tonight.”
     
    “Get dressed. I’ll drive you to work, and then I will see you tonight. What time are you off?”
     
    “Two o’clock. Don’t you have training or meetings?” She would hate for him to miss out once more because of her. She wasn’t about to ruin his life over their silly relationship, or whatever they were starting.
     
    “Yeah, but I still want to see you. I still want another chance at dinner. It’s not like we ate much last night.” The last thing on Micah’s mind were those meetings and phone calls Dean had most likely set up for him last night. Tonight and today, he just wanted more of the woman that had seduced him, swayed him, and kept him on his toes. He wanted to learn more about her, to see what she could offer him. He wasn’t sure what was happening or why he, all of a sudden, felt the need to be so committed to something outside the ring, but it was time he tried. It was time he gave this a chance.
     
    He could feel her break into a smile against the fabric of his t-shirt. He fell backwards onto her bed with her falling with him. Both crashed into the pillows and quilts as they wrapped themselves up again in each other’s bodies.
     

Chapter 9: What Goes Around
     
    The day of work flew by in a blur of empty tables and chatty customers. Alice could hardly stand given the excitement and lack of sleep from the night before and the early morning. For once, she was almost thankful that Pete punished her with the morning shift, as at least she had the opportunity to sit down and rest while the diner remained relatively empty.
     
    When her shift finished, she checked her phone. Two missed calls and voicemails—one from Caroline and the other from Micah. She listened to Caroline’s first:
     
    Alice, it’s me. Listen, we have to talk. Pete is mad. Real mad. He left a ton of angry texts on Jace’s phone this morning after he left about you. If you can, get out of work before he gets there or there will be trouble. I’ll see you after my shift.
     
    Alice’s mind raced as she tried to figure