Page 28 of Ink & Ambition

“You know the only reason I talked to him tonight was because it was the perfect opportunity to ask for the interview…” I say, resolved.

Alex nods, solemnly. It confuses me because I thought this was what he wanted but still…something in his expression looks sad.

“Is there anything else?” I ask, my hand reaching for the door handle but my eyes still on Alex. His jaw ticks when my hand hits the handle.

“No, sunshine. That’s all I wanted to say.” He looks over at me with a lazy smile that completely contradicts his demeanor from just a second ago. The whiplash is confusing, but I don’t dwell on it.

“Okay,” I say, opening the door and sliding out of the seat. “See you in class Monday then.” I don’t give him a chance to reply before I close the door. The temperature has dropped a few degrees since we left his house and I wrap my arms around myself as I rush toward the lobby door. I don’t look back at Alex’s car, but I know he doesn’t drive away until I’m safely inside. In fact, I don’t even know if he drove away after that or if he sat outside for a little while longer. Content to just sit and wait. Not quite sure what for.

Opening the living room curtains, I’m greeted with a groan from the otherwise lifeless lump on the couch.

“Evil,” the blanket mound moans. “Devil girl.”

“Morning, honey!” I cheer, much more brightly than usual. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t completely rib my bestfriend while she’s aggressively hungover? “You know you have a bedroom, right?”

Sydney’s door opens and she laughs while Danika whines, shifting her pillow over her face to block out the sun.

“Headed to the gym. You need a ride to campus, Margot?” Sydney asks as she heads into the kitchen and pulls a water bottle out of the fridge, tosses it to me and then grabs another for herself.

“God, yes, please. Take her with you,” Dani sighs under the pillows.

Rolling my eyes, I drop the water bottle onto Danika who grunts but then mumbles in gratitude. “Yeah, just give me a minute to change and grab my things.” In another five minutes, Sydney and I are out the door and headed to campus. The drive is pretty short but a nightmare to walk, so I’m eternally grateful to my roommates who also act as my personal chauffeurs whenever I need them.

“Do you want me to drop you off by the library?” Sydney asks, pulling onto campus.

I shake my head. “The newsroom. I’m meeting with Nathan to talk through the podcast.” Sydney pulls up to the Lincoln Building and we say our goodbyes before I close the door and she pulls away to park by the fitness center.

As I walk into the building, I bump directly into a large, muscular body.

“Nathan, hey,” I say with relief. “I was just coming inside to meet you.”

He smiles. “I know, but I figured it’d be easier to have this meeting in the campus recording studio so we can really map out how this is going to work. What do you think?”

“Oh good idea,” I reply, and we walk in companionable silence across campus to the media building, which just so happens to be directly next to the fitness center.Could’ve gotten Sydney todrive me all the way there, I think for a second. As we walk by the gym door, Nathan tells me a story about something he did this weekend and I’m so engrossed in his tale that I don’t notice the door swing open and a group of sweaty, chuckling men exit.

“Sunshine?”

Alex is drenched in sweat, his hair a deeper shade of brown than I’ve ever seen. He walks toward us, his freshly exercised muscles straining against his tight gym shirt. He looks back and forth between Nathan and I with narrowed eyes before his gaze finally lands on me.

“What are you doing on campus?”

I hitch my thumb toward Nathan, who’s standing a little taller than he was a second before. “Nathan is my friend from the newspaper who’s going to help us out with the podcast.” I turn toward Nathan. “Nathan, this is Alex, our star.”

“Nice to meet you, man,” he says, extending his hand toward Alex who takes it quickly and shakes it once before they both drop.

“Nathan and I are going to look at the studio and make a plan of action for production. I’ll tell you about it during our meeting on Monday.” I dismiss Alex, grabbing Nathan’s arm to pull him along. We make it another ten steps down the path before Alex shouts my name from behind us.

Nathan and I pause as Alex jogs up to us. “I’ll just come with, that way you don’t have to play telephone, sunshine.”

I look at Nathan, who cocks his head toward me at the nickname. I only roll my eyes in response. I take a step closer to Alex and away from Nathan.

“Okay, listen. I actually think it would be great if you come because I probably won’t understand a lot of this technical jargon but Alex, I mean all the offense when I say…you smell like absolute ass.”

Alex gives me a blank stare and I think for a second that I might’ve genuinely broken him. But then he lets out the most boisterous laugh and I can’t stop the grin that escapes my clutches as well.

“I’ll head back to the gym and shower there quickly. Meet you guys in the studio in ten minutes.” I nod, letting out a resigned breath through my nose and head back to join Nathan as Alex jogs back toward the fitness center.

“Is he coming?” Nathan asks as we continue walking in our original direction.

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