Page 64 of Ink & Ambition

“So…” Danika starts, sitting next to me. Sydney has taken a seat on my desk chair but pulled the chair as close to the bed as she could.

“So,” I reply, still not able to meet anyone’s eyes. “That was something.”

“Definitely something,” Sydney agrees, putting a gentle, reassuring hand on my knee. “What are we thinking about all that ‘something’?”

“I don’t know.” I blink, finally making eye contact with the girls. “Did I make a mistake?”

Danika shakes her head fervently. “No, Margot, you haven’t done anything wrong.”

“But what was Ryan talking about? Is Alex just using me? For what?”

Sydney sighs. “That’s what’s confusing me the most. What could he be usingyoufor? I mean, if anything, you’re usinghimfor the podcast.”

“But what if he’s using you for the prank. What if Ryan was right and Alex was only getting close to you to use it against Ryan in the prank war?” Dani adds.

I’m already shaking my head. “But that doesn’t make sense either. Alex was adamant I stay away from Ryan at first. That wouldn’t help his plot.”

The three of us sit in silence for another few minutes as we try to piece together the puzzle.

“I think Ryan is lying, and Alex is telling the truth,” I say, having come to a realization. “Ryan was planning to use me against Alex. But that doesn’t answer the question of why he would even think that would work. That would mean Alex would have to care about me.”

Danika and Sydney sigh louder than I’ve ever heard.

“Mar, obviously he cares. Alex likes you. It’s written all over his face every time he looks at you,” Sydney says.

“No, he–” my sentence is stopped as I’m shoved back onto my bed.

“Would you just admit it already so we can get to the next episode of this melodrama!” Danika proclaims. “He likes you, you like him! Admit it. Say it. Right now.” Dani is standing on my bed looking down at me while I’m looking up at her in shock.

“Danika, get down—”

“Say it!” She starts jumping and I’m afraid she’s going to take out an eyeball, either mine or hers. There’s only one way to get her to calm down.

“Alright, alright!” I put my hands up and Danika immediately plops down where she’s jumping. Meeting Sydney’s eyes, then Danika’s, I take a deep deep breath in.

“I like Alex.”

Before I can even get the ‘x’ out of my mouth, Sydney and Danika both are jumping up and down on my poor discount mattress. They pull me up so I’m jumping as well. Soon, we’re a fit of giggles and we fall on the pillows in laughter.

“Okay so what are you still doing here?” Danika jumps off the bed and grabs my arms, pulling me off as well. “Go get your man!”

“Dani…” I roll my eyes, glancing at the clock on my laptop. “It’s almost midnight, I can’t go anywhere at this time of night. No, tomorrow I’ll just—”

My words trail off as a loud knock sounds on our apartment door. I already know exactly who it is, and it seems like the girls do too because Sydney gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and Dani winks over her shoulder before they both scamper out of my bedroom.

Taking a deep breath, I smooth out my clothes and go to answer the door.

“Pst,” Dani whispers from her doorway. “You deserve this.”

I grin and then continue my walk toward the door.You deserve this.

The second I open the door, Alex whips by me like the wind, clearly on a mission. I close the door and turn to face him, the blinking light of our foyer making his expression look even more frenzied.

“Look, I know you wanted some time and space but I can’t just leave things like that. I have to explain, I—”

Without a second thought in my head, I grab the front of his t-shirt and pull his body to mine. Our lips connect before he has time to understand what is going on, which was exactly my intention. No thinking, just doing.

Alex lets out a shocked sigh as our lips touch but he doesn’t pull away. There’s a hesitance to his movements. Surprise, more than disinterest but that surprise doesn’t last long.

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