Page 42 of Ink & Ambition

“Yes, practically on top of me, there was no way for me to casually leave without him coming with me. I didn’t look to see what the guys were doing but based on how the rest of DE left right after us, I’m guessing they didn’t glue the door.”

“No,” I sigh, running my hands through my hair. “They couldn’t.”

“I’m sorry, Alex.”

I whip on her. “Sorry? For what?”

“I had one job and I failed.”

I meet her eyes again. “Margot, please. Don’t even think about that. I’m just glad you’re okay.” I want to pull her into a hug but I don’t know if that’s appropriate. We are friends. And friends hug. Giving myself the permission to hold her, I reach out and pull her in. She gasps a little but lets me embrace her, only for a moment before we pull away from each other, slightly more flushed than before.

“What excuse did you give?”

“Excuse?”

“For getting your dress from my house. For coming to the gala?”

“Oh,” I don’t miss the way her cheeks turn slightly pink as she looks down, suddenly very interested in the pack of grass beneath us. “Well, I just told him the truth. I told him I was your date.”

My heartbeat picks up just slightly. Of course she would say that. That is the alibi we agreed on. But still, hearing her say the words, knowing she said them to the president of my rival frat, a guy who obviously has his eye on her, I can’t help but feel a swell of pride.

That feeling was quickly followed by a crash of regret when I remembered I left her behind for her to end up in this situation. And based on her expression, she’s just remembered, too.

“What the hell happened, by the way? Why weren’t you there?”

“I’m so sorry, sunshine. My dad showed up and demanded I go with him. There was nothing I could do. Believe me, I tried.” Margot leaned back against the brick wall.

“Well, I didn’t know that. So…I had to make something up.” Her voice is small and I can’t help but get the feeling that I’m not going to like what she is about to say.

“Sunshine…”

“I told Ryan that I was supposed to meet you back at the house and then I’d change and we’d go together. I tried to walk there myself but he demanded to walk me to your door. I couldn’t avoid explaining to him that you must’ve left without me when he saw the empty house.”

“You told him I stood you up?” I practically yell, trying my best not to but hardly succeeding.

“I didn’t have much choice! Ryan offered to bring me here ashisdate and I told him I’d take the ride, but I still wanted to come and find you.”

I shake my head before I realize I’m doing it. “I’ll bet Ryan was more than glad to help you out.”

Margot stands back up. “It was nice of him to do it.”

“Of course he did it, he wants to play knight in shining armor and get in your damsel in distressed pants after.” Margot shrinks back at my crassness and for a moment I feel guilty about taking this out on her. I should be happy. She got out of a bad situation–that I put her in–and now she’s here. But for some reason, I can’t get the image of his hand on her back out of my mind.

While I’m stuck in my thoughts, I don’t notice Margot’s building anger. “Hey, I did what I had to do for you and your stupid prank so let’s just get back inside so that this night and our fake date can be over.”

“Woah, woah, hold on. Wait—”

But Margot just shakes her head, refusing to listen to anything else I have to say right now. Honestly, I don’t blame her. She walks toward the door and with a sigh, and I follow after her, not another word uttered between us, but the air full of unspoken emotions.

We sit in silence. We eat in silence. And just when I’m about to suggest we head out, I’m met with silence when I glance over to her chair and notice it empty. When had she gotten up? Scanning the room, I find her standing in front of the bar. With Ryan. He’s laughing, she’s smiling, and suddenly my blood is boiling.

I go to bust out of my chair and break up their little party but a small voice in the back of my mind stops me. It saysfriend. Over and over it says that word in my mind until it gets too loud to ignore. Margot is my friend. She did her part of the prank and now she’s free to do whatever she wants. With whoever she wants. Even if that whoever is Ryan. Even if that whatever tears pieces of my soul bit by bit.

I swallow my pride, not an easy thing to do with how big it is, and I head over toward them. Ryan is laughing still and I want to smack the glee off his face, but Margot is touching his arm and I can’t ignore that.

“Hey,” I say to her, almost sheepishly. “I’m heading out with the boys. Do you want to come with us?” I leave the invitation open. It’s a simple yes or no question for her. Yes, I want to comewith you or no, I want to rip your heart out and stomp it on the ground.

Margot meets my eyes and I’m sure she can see the trepidation behind them. It’s standard to leave a party with the person you came with and while Margot ismydate, she did technicallyarrivewith Ryan, so the choice is really up to her.

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