Page 1 of Ink & Ambition

Chapter One

Margot

“Thisplaceisdisgusting,”I grunt.

Flashing lights and deafening music assault my senses the minute we walk back into the house from the backyard. The bottom of my shoe sticks to the floor and it takes more effort than it should to pull myself free.

“Disgustingly beautiful. Where else will you see people lined up to do a keg stand? It’s a magnificent display of humanity,” my roommate, Sydney responds.

A cold wet line of sticky amber liquid creeps down my arm as a drink is spilled above me. “Truly glorious,” I deadpan. Sydney grabs a napkin from the nearest table and starts wiping the beer off my shoulder but I take it from her hand to do it myself. “Seriously, can we go now? I promised an hour. It’s been an hour.”

“Not yet,” she replies, taking the wet towel and throwing it on the floor, just adding to the grime and filth. “We have to find Danika first.”

“Yeah, that keg stand line? I think I found her.” I point in the direction of the chaos and spot our other roommate in the midst of a gymnastic feat she is in no way qualified to do.

“Ah, shit,” Sydney mutters and we both shove our way through the crowd surrounding Danika. A tall, muscular boy in a homemade muscle tee holds up our friend and keeps her steady as she chugs the beer flowing from the tap.

“Twenty-nine, thirty!” The crowd cheers, and Danika is placed gently on her feet as if she’s floating down from a cloud, Mary Poppins style.

“Thanks, gorgeous,” Danika winks at the boy who held her up and whose eyes cannot willingly leave hers. “Hey, ladies!” She grins as we come into focus for her.

“Ready to go, Dani?” I ask, not hiding the desperation in my voice.

“Just a sec. I got one more piece of business to take care of.” Danika turns around and grabs the neck of the boy who was holding her up. He responds immediately, pulling her back up into his arms and locking their lips together. While she sucks his face, I look around the room one last time, knowing this will take some time.

Somehow, I got away with not having to go to any parties during our first two years of college but Danika practically begged Sydney and me to come out with her more this year. And while this is certainly the last place on Earth I’d like to be right now, knowing that it made my best friend happy is reward enough–for now.

Danika and the boy break apart with a loud lip smack that I can’t help but physically recoil at. “Thanks for the assist,” she says as he sets her on her feet again, this time with much more reluctance.

If I wasn’t completely used to this behavior from her, my jaw would be on the floor but instead I’m checking my watch and wondering when she’ll finally be ready to leave.

“Okay, ready!” Danika cheers, pulling herself away from the boy and pushing between us, linking our arms and guiding us to the exit. Sydney and I crane our necks to give each other a knowing look behind Dani’s back as we move toward the door.

“Did you have fun?” Sydney asks, the sweetness in her voice never wavering. She genuinely wants to know if Dani had a good time tonight. Whereas, having known Danika since I was five, I couldn’t care less if she enjoyed herself. She knows we only came with her because of our pact. And in exchange for us going to parties with her, Danika has promised to give us free health checks as soon as she becomes a real-life doctor.

Dani rests her head on sweet Sydney’s shoulder. “The best time, Syd. What about you?”

I open my mouth to respond but am cut immediately off.

“Not you, nerd. Iknowyou didn’t have a good time. I’m asking Sydney.”

Giving her a dig in the ribs, I don’t even need to respond because she’s absolutely right. There’s nothing I detest more than wasting my time standing around a crowded frat house watching hundreds of drunken, half-naked people fall all over each other.

But Sydney smiles. “I had a great time.”

Just as we separate to single-file out the door, a loud commotion sounds behind us. Suddenly, I’m jolted forward as a huge weight hits my back.

“What did I fucking tell you would happen if I ever saw you in my house again.” A loud, deep voice growls close to my ear. When I turn around to face the chaos, I see a guy laying on the floor at my feet and a huge man, the owner of the voice, towering over him. I know I’ve seen his face before but I can’t pinpointexactly where I know him from. Clearly he’s a Tomlin University student but I don’t think I’ve seen him in any of my classes. Maybe he’s an athlete? Not that I keep up much with sports but my job on the school newspaper keeps me pretty up to date on the happenings on campus. Maybe I wrote a story about him once?

The entire room has paused as if this is the event they are all waiting for. Eyes are glued to the mess directly in front of me and I feel Danika shimmy up beside me to get her own eye-witness account.

“Alex, man, listen–” The poor guy can’t get another word out before he’s being picked up by the front of his shirt like a rag doll and thrown back on the floor.

Alex?Hm, not ringing a bell. Probably for the best, this guy seems like trouble. Throwing someone out of a party? What right does he have to do that? I cringe at the insane display of toxic masculinity happening right before my eyes.

“Clearly you’re having trouble with your ears,” Alex says, his voice deadly. “Or you’re just not listening. So, let me make this abundantly clear.”

Abundantly?I wouldn’t expect a brute like him to have such an extensive vocabulary. I chuckle at his use of the word, which draws the crazed man’s eyes directly to me. My eyes widen while his narrow. He glances around me for a split second before grunting.

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