Hooked (The Submission Fighter Book 1) by Sophia Hampton Read Free Book Online

made the car late to get into the parking gates. Instead, they drove around mindlessly, as Alice fretted away the seconds, hoping and silently praying that the match ahead of Micah’s was running late. Her hands twisted nervously around her beaded fabric purse, as she grew tenser by the moment.
     
    On their third or fourth round about the lot, Alice had had enough. “Just drop me off Jace! I’m not sitting in this car any longer!” She shouted bitterly, not caring how she came across to her party. To her luck, Caroline agreed and practically begged Jace to let the ladies out. He relented, tossing Caroline their tickets.
     
    As he sped away angrily, Caroline grabbed Alice’s hands and took off on a jog shouting back at her, “I’m not letting you miss this. Screw them!”
     
    They entered the arena in time to see the victor be declared in the women’s match. The crowd was mingling, as the octagon was cleaned and prepared for the next round. Caroline texted Jace an update while Alice stood and searched the stadium for Micah. In the meantime, the teams for the next match entered the arena from the locker room.
     
    Her heart jumped from her dress, as she spotted his tattooed arms and body bobbing in and out of the crowd that flanked him. She couldn’t help herself, as she passionately shouted out his name once again. Over the boiling crowd, she knew he wouldn’t hear her, but for a split second, she saw him glance towards where she sat as if he could feel her presence. But he quickly put his head down, shook it gently, and entered the octagon with his coach and a trainer by his side.
     
    The announcer began his pre-show routine, wildly announcing the fighters, Micah and Jack Caller. Just like the last week, the crowd seemed to be almost all in favor of Micah’s opponent. And as Jace and Pete finally took their seats next to the girls, they too let out a yell in Jack’s favor.
     
    For Micah, being the underdog was almost as intoxicating as winning. With the crowd expecting Jack to take him easily, he had a lot to fight for regardless of Alice’s absence. With nothing to lose, he had everything to win. And as he shook hands with Jack, placed his mouth guard in, and nodded to the night’s ref, he felt a calm take over him like never before.
     
    The buzzer sounded, and the crowd’s excitement transformed as the two men quickly struck. Jack Caller, fearless and experienced, jumped into action, avoiding the typical pace and starting jabs. His first hit connected with Micah—square in the jaw. His head lurched back and to the side awkwardly. His second one, a left strike, had Micah collapse to the ground.
     
    Alice’s eyes widened as she watched the man fall inwards towards his toes and then straight to the ground where his opponent took no hesitation in gaining an advantage by jumping quickly on him for a takedown. Micah squirmed from under him, managing to hook his leg around his opponent and using it as leverage to propel himself forward.
     
    He quickly sprang to his feet and managed to pull a spinning back kick against his opponent as a wild cheer came up from the small section of supporters Micah had on his side. Jack wouldn’t back down. Straight jabs to his shoulder, face, and head were square on, as Micah failed to block nearly all of them. His sight hazed over as the volume and force of each hit became more and more pressing.
     
    The buzzer couldn’t come sooner for Micah. As he stepped backwards to his side of the ring, he closed and opened his eyes quickly looking for relief from the blur. Turning his head slowly to his right, he spotted something: a woman in red. She was standing, screaming his name.
     
    It was Alice.
     
    He stared hard at her as the ring cleared in front of him. She had noticed him, as she fixed her eyes upon him. She nodded, as if to say, I’m here. Go win. And with that, she silently sat down with her group. And Micah’s world flashed back into action, as the ref indicated