Page 32 of Ink & Ambition

Without responding, I give him a shrug that hopefully says,sorry, not sorryand I climb into the backseat without another word in his direction. The truth is, Danika is probably going to drag us to that party anyway, for some reason, I like the idea of making him sweat about it.

“Not a peep,” I say to the girls as soon as my butt hits the seat. Danika mimes zipping her lips and throwing the key, then Sydney mimes catching the key and unlocking Danika’s lips.

“Margot and Alex sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i—”

“Children. You are both children.” I buckle my seat belt and listen to Dani and Sydney sing for the entire ride home.

Chapter Fifteen

Alex

Acrashsoundsfromthe kitchen, loud enough to be heard over the pounding bass of the music but I hardly register it.

“Everything’s fine!” Keith shouts, and I chuckle at my frat brother. A minute later, he’s back in the living room, sipping his beer and handing me a bottle of water. I mutter my thanks, twisting open the cap and taking a deep chug. We stand against the wall, surveying the masses. Devon is on the couch with the same girl he had draped across him a few weeks ago. At least, I think it’s the same girl. It’s hard to tell in that position. I look around for Kai, but he’s absent again. He hasn’t really been around the last few days and I make a mental note to pound his door down tomorrow and figure out what’s been going on with him.

“Your girl coming?” Keith asks me, taking a sip of his beer.

I scoff. “Margot isn’t my girl, Keith. She’s a girl…that I know.”

Keith looks back at the crowd. “A girl that you know.” He nods slowly. “A girl that you’ve spent almost all your free time with. A girl you’ve brought up in conversation at least four times this week. A girl that–.”

“Okay. Your point has been made but whatever you think, it’s not that. In fact, it’s sonot thatthat I actually don’t even want to hook up with her. We’ve got a mutually beneficial relationship and it actually appears that I like her company as a person more than just a chick who can give me half-assed sex whenever I want.”

Keith looks over at me with an impressed expression. “Wow, Alex. You really are all grown up. I am…,” he sniffs, wiping away a pretend tear, “so proud of my little boy.”

“You want something to be proud of?” I ask, grabbing him around the neck into the crook of my elbow, holding his head in a choke hold. He laughs as he tries to fight me off but I’ve got a foot of height on him and just as much muscle, so he’s got no shot.

“If you boys are done touching each other’s butts, you can move out of the way,” a familiar voice says next to us. I let Keith’s head go at the sound.

“A pleasure as always, Danika.” Danika smirks in response and I look over her shoulder to find Sydney who gives me a small wave and smile. But there’s a painfully empty place where a third person should be.

“If you’re looking for Margot, she’s at home... ‘sick’.” Danika adds air quotes to the last word and rolls her eyes.

“That so?” I ask, taking another sip of water. By the time I’ve twisted the cap closed, I’ve made my decision. “We’ll see about that.”

I clap Devon on the back and nod toward the girls, one of which is staring at me agape, the other with a devilish grin mouthing the words2Ato me with a wink. I head toward the front door, grateful to myself for always keeping my things on my person during these parties so I’ve already got my wallet and keys.

Getting into my car, I take one moment to pause and decide if I’m making the right choice. Then I look back toward the house at all the drunken ridiculousness going on. If I could spend a night hanging out with a friend or a night fending off drunken girls, I’m always going to pick the former. I just didn’t realize that friend would be Margot.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I get to the second floor of her building in seconds. Not that I’m in a rush or anything. I’m just fighting off the adrenaline of showing up at her door unannounced. When I get to apartment 2A, I silently thank Danika for the information before knocking on the door.

There’s a hushed jolt heard from inside and then a shuffling. “Who is it?”

I roll my eyes but smile, leaning my arm on the doorframe. “Open up, sunshine.”

A gasp of surprise and the door opens immediately.

“Alex, what are you doing here?” Margot flips the light switch next to the door, as if she needs more illumination to make sure it’s actually me. The bulb flickers relentlessly, but she doesn’t seem to notice or care.

I can’t help but notice her. Her brunette locks, typically worn down and loose around her face are up in a messy bun with a few pieces loose to frame her face. She’s standing there in short shorts and a pink tank top, sans bra, I can’t help but notice.Focus, perv.

“Well, I was looking forward to hanging out with you at the party but since you pussied out, I came here to get you.” I stand up straight, throwing my hands in my front pockets.

She huffs a breath, her resolve returning. “That’s nice and all but I didn’t pussy out. I’ve had a long week of classes andhonestly, I was just looking forward to laying on the couch and reading.” She’s quiet for a moment and then continues. “Plus, I’m meant to be 'laying low', aren’t I?” She uses air quotes around the words “laying low” but I would’ve gotten her meaning by tone alone. I hadn’t realized that my wanting to keep her anonymous for the prank would result in her hiding out in her living room wasting away with Shakespeare or whatever is it women read.

Whatever the reason she told me—and herself—, she did seem much more comfortable in her own apartment, clad in comfy pajamas.

“Such a nerd. Fine, show me your bookcase. I’ll pick something to hold my interest.” I gesture toward the apartment but she doesn’t step aside. Instead, she looks at me with this intense gaze and then she takes a deep breath.

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