Tapout (The Submission Fighter Book 3) by Sophia Hampton

assisting the first class customers. Hand in hand, they ran through the airport, through the tunnels, and past those waiting for the arrivals. Caroline spotted the sign for the cabs, as she pulled Alice towards a revolving glass door.
     
    Alice sighed as she saw the line for the cab pick-up. It had almost circled back indoors. Caroline was not about to let that slow her down though. She walked to the front of the line where a man in jeans and a faded Hawaiian style t-shirt stood looking down at his watch.
     
    She smiled as she continued to hold on to Alice’s hand. She approached the man quickly, completely blindsiding him. “Oh my goodness! How are you?” She brought the man into a hug, her slender body pressed against him tightly. She stepped over the velvet rope as Alice followed her lead. She continued with her charade.
     
    “I’m sorry, but do I know you?” The man was bewildered but did not seem annoyed. Caroline’s appearance had that effect on men like him.
     
    “It’s Julie! We met in Hawaii. Remember? The suntan lotion fiasco? I still have the burns on my chest!” She pulled at the collar of her black tank top, flashing the man the top of her lacy red bra and the curvature of her cleavage. “Anyways, tell me, how is life? How’s work going for you?”
     
    The man couldn’t take his eyes off of her despite his turn for a cab coming up. Alice caught on quickly, as she walked up to the waiting car and snuck in silently in the backseat. Caroline turned to check in on Alice’s progress. Satisfied, she turned back towards the mystery man as she kissed him on the cheek. “I’ve gotta run. It was so nice to see you though. I guess we’ll always have Hawaii!”
     
    The man watched, his hand over the spot where she had kissed him, as the two girls sped off towards the city in his taxi.
     
    “Sir, we’re trying to get to the Ace Hall Stadium. Can you get us there ASAP? I mean, short of getting us killed. We had to get there like twenty minutes ago?” The cabbie nodded at Caroline, as he made a quick U-turn in the middle of the busy intersection, forcing the girls to slide nearly off of their seats and to the doors.
     
    “Do you mind changing the radio to the MMA match? I think it’s on…” Alice struggled to remember what sports network was covering it, but the driver was as quick as his lead foot and had the radio tuned in before she could come up with it. Alice scooted forward in her seat, as she struggled to hear what was happening. By what she could tell, the introductions had just been completed and the match was about to begin. Perhaps there was hope for the girls and their timing after all.
     
    The driver was all business, pulling into the stadium right as the second round began. From the vague descriptions the announcers were giving via the radio, Alice was just in time. Micah was taking a beating from his competitor, Kelly O’Day. The words “bloodbath” and “killing” were being tossed around between the two sportscasters.
     
    Caroline handled the cab driver his payment, as Alice ran up the steps to the arena, forgetting that the next part was all Caroline’s plan. Her friend caught up, taking her by the arm and whispering in her ear, “We have to get you in through the back way, past the press, and through security. Come on.”
     
    Alice took her sunglasses and placed them over her eyes. She pulled the turquoise scarf closer to her face, hiding her mouth and chin in the process. Caroline led the way past the press who barely registered the two women. The security guard, however, took note.
     
    “Passes, ladies?”
     
    Alice pulled out hers from the semi-final match. Luckily, she had held on to it since then. The guard studied it and quickly noticed the error.
     
    “Ma’am, that’s from the semifinal match. We need to see your pass for tonight.” Alice did her best to look confused and upset, as she scoured her purse for the right pass.
     
    She turned towards