Page 18 of Ashley & the A-Listers (Sweetverse)

18. HISTORY

ASHLEY

Ashley once again checked her pack to make sure she had everything.

Water, electrolytes, sunglasses, sunscreen.

She hadn’t chosen a long or very difficult hike, but… Cameron was going to be there. Her hindbrain was irritatingly active, obsessed with protecting the omega, even from the sun’s rays.

A knock sounded at the door and she startled.

“Okay,” she whispered to herself. “It’s fine. Just spending my birthday together. No big deal.”

A heady mix of nerves and excitement swirled through her, a fluttering in her stomach that she couldn’t tamp down. Mixed with it all was a sense of dread. The last time she’d spent her birthday with Dylan, everything had gone all wrong. A piece of her couldn’t help but hold onto that anxiety even now.

With a sharp inhale, she collected herself and pulled the door open.

“Happy birthday,” were Dylan’s first words that morning to her, and he greeted her with a smile.

“Thanks, hi,” she said, and was taken back an entire decade, rushing down the stairs to meet him for the concert, and everything that followed.

“All packed?” he asked, and motioned to the car.

From the sunroof of their car, Cam waved wildly before disappearing, making room for River to do the exact same thing.

She chuckled, shaking her head as something sweet and warm curled up in her chest at their antics. Affection.

“I think I’ve got everything,” she said, and lifted her bag by the handle. “Snacks, drinks, sunscreen. What am I missing?”

“Are we swimming at the waterfall? Do you need a towel?”

Ashley snapped her fingers in an aha! moment. “Yes. That’s it! Hold on,” she told him, and let him take the bag while she ran back upstairs.

After grabbing one from the linen closet, she leaned around the banister and called out, “Do I need to grab extras for you guys?”

“No, I packed them one!”

Her lips quirked as she imagined Dylan readying the bags for Cam and River. Were his alpha instincts on overdrive, too?

When she made her way back down, she grinned at him.

“I thought you were a bodyguard, not a caretaker,” she teased.

Dylan rolled his eyes. “River was a big help. Cam was less so.”

That didn’t surprise her, and somehow endeared both of them to her even more. “Alright, I think I have everything,” she said, and carefully folded the towel before slotting it amongst the other items in her backpack.

“Ready?” Dylan asked, meeting her gaze.

If she wanted to, she could linger in that moment, the déjà vu so strong she felt dizzy.

“Yeah, ready,” she said, softer. “I sent you the pin on the map. Do you know where to go?”

“Already plugged in,” he said, stepping back to make room for her.

Ashley locked the door and jostled the knob a few times before she was happy, and stashed her key in a small pocket in her bag before following Dylan to the car.

Cam was grinning at her from the sunroof once more. “You can have shotgun!” he called.

Ashley slid into the front seat and stashed her bag on the floorboard before leaning around to eye Cam and River, who were cozy in the spacious backseat. “What, I’m not allowed in the cool kids’ club?”

River snickered, but Cam was the one who said, “Trust me, I’d love nothing more than to be all squished up with you back here, but we figured you might be able to help Dylan with navigation more from there.”

“I have a GPS,” Dylan muttered softly, though a smile twitched at his lips.

“Listen, I get it,” Ashley teased, turning back around in her seat. “The map can be confusing. All those lanes,” she tsked, shaking her head.

Dylan groaned softly and it just… it was weird, right? Being so normal, so casual? On her birthday . Again? After the last time, when he’d disappeared?

But I missed him, she thought, and pushed her thoughts away.

Once they were all buckled and promised to be on their best behavior—paired with a muffled laugh from River—Dylan put the car in reverse and backed out of her driveway.

He did that thing, the one where he kept his left hand on the steering wheel and placed his right hand on her headrest in order to look out the rear windshield.

She was struck a bit silly for a moment, because Dylan was so goddamned attractive.

It wasn’t fair.

How was she supposed to move on and get over him when he consistently made her… want him?

Is that what I want? To get over him?

Once the front tires bumped off the driveway and onto the asphalt, he turned back around, and they were off.

“You know, as passenger princess, you’re in charge of the music as well,” River said.

Dylan picked up his phone and unlocked it, typing numbers in a pattern that seemed… familiar. “Have at it,” he said.

Ashley scrolled through his music as if she was trying to unravel some grand mystery, and in a way, she was.

What did these songs say about Dylan? When had he added them to the list? How did they correspond with his life? Once upon a time, she would’ve known the answers to her own questions. The lack thereof hit a nerve in her, something that made her stomach flip. She didn’t know Dylan well enough anymore to read him through his music.

She hit shuffle to distract herself. Maybe he was a completely different person now?—

“Oh my god,” she said, because a song by the band they’d seen together on her eighteenth birthday began playing.

“You’re kidding,” Dylan said, and glanced at her. She didn’t know a singular word to describe the look they shared. Bewilderment from her, but something… sadder on his face.

“What is it?” Cam asked, leaning forward between them, and breaking her gaze.

“Uh, just haven’t heard this song in a while, is all,” Dylan said.

Ashley read the message loud and clear: he still hadn’t told Cam about their past.

“It’s so… angsty sounding,” Cam said.

“We used to listen to it all the time,” she told them with a chuckle. “You should’ve seen our style that went with it.”

River’s mouth dropped open and he leaned forward conspiratorially.

“Oh shit, were you goth kids?”

Ashley nodded, and River leaned back to cover his mouth before laughing. “I can’t say much. I hung out with the skaters.”

That image merged perfectly with the River sitting in the seat with tattoos scattered up his arm. “And now you’re a screenplay writer?”

He shrugged. “Exactly. I find inspiration where I can get it,” he said, and nudged Cam, who held up his hands innocently.

“It’s all you, I just answer the random-ass questions you ask me all the time.”

“And I’m forever grateful,” River said. “You’re the one with experience on the other side of the script.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cam said, and Ashley caught a flush to his cheeks before she spun back around to face the road.

Their conversation carried on in low murmurs, and she shared a look with Dylan before settling into her seat.

The drive wouldn’t be more than an hour, so they had a while to go.

It wasn’t awkward like she’d feared, and as the song changed, she wondered how often that same band would play.

Ashley didn’t listen to them very much anymore, because of the memories it would bring back.

Like the night that changed everything.

Birthdays were her new favorite thing. Especially if they all turned out like this.

The lights went down, and the crowd around them came alive, yelling and screaming. The pure energy that infused the venue brought her and Dylan to their feet, and she couldn’t help but grip his arm and shake him with excitement.

“It’s happening!” she yelled.

She felt like she had helium in her chest, like if she didn’t stay latched onto him she’d float right off.

He didn’t shake her off, and she gripped tighter.

Dylan wasn’t embarrassed to be seen here with her; he was just anxious about the crowds.

He had certainly grown into his growth spurt the past few months, but he wasn’t growing out of their band.

A thought he proved true only a few moments later, when the stage glowed red and the band came out. He whooped and hollered with the rest of the crowd, and Ashley already knew they’d be croaking through bruised throats by the end of the night.

She knew every fucking word.

And so did Dylan.

They sang them together, turning to grin at each other as they shouted the lyrics and pumped their fists and danced and acted like absolute fools.

She’d never seen a musician live outside of a coffee shop or open mic night, but this was certainly a different realm. There were pyrotechnics and lasers and LED screens that matched album artwork.

“Oh my god,” she cried as the lead singer stood in the crowd, a hundred hands holding him up as he sang.

Then they jumped, and she swore she could feel the venue shake beneath their weight as the crowd raged with them. When he brought a stool out to sing some of the slower, more heart-rending songs, it gave her pulse a chance to slow down, too.

The whole time she kept thinking about how they just had a handful more songs to go, and then this night would be over.

She swayed to the music, and the venue was aglow with lighters and cell phones. Her arm hurt by the time the song ended, only for the band to go right into the next one.

Dylan swayed with her, and she glanced up at him just to see if he was as entranced as she was.

It was too dark to see the color of his eyes, but she knew they were soft. Softer than they usually were when he looked at her.

His arm was around her shoulders and she was squished into his side, her arm around his waist, and a moment ago she’d thought nothing of it. But now, with him staring down at her as they sang the song to each other, it felt… like so much more. So much bigger than anything had ever felt, settling in her chest and barely making room for her ever-beating heart.

Was this ? —

Were they ? —

Did she ? —

Ashley had read her fair share of YA books, alright, and she knew this chest-squeezing feeling was something maybe she’d recognize later, but right then all she knew was that…

Well, it was no secret she loved Dylan. Ever since they were kids.

But maybe, just maybe, she loved Dylan.

The venue faded away. The echo of the crowd, the strum of the guitar, the thousands of people around them became background noise as her and Dylan’s gazes locked.

She watched the thought occur to him, felt his eyes dance from one side of her face to another. She tilted her head up, just a hint, and bravely—considering she’d never been kissed before—waited.

Dylan’s head lowered and she sucked in a sharp breath seconds before he followed. Their lips pressed together and her heart stopped and she gripped his side tighter because it felt like the whole world came out from beneath her feet.

This is really happening.

She perked up on her tiptoes, pressing into the kiss with a confidence she didn’t really know how to feel yet, and Dylan steadied her, his other hand rising to frame her cheek.

I’m practically living a romance novel right now.

Her cheeks split in a grin against the kiss, and her lips wobbled with nerves because, let’s be real, she had no clue what she was doing.

Dylan was a constant, an anchor for her in this suddenly topsy-turvy world, and then his lips were moving and she followed like an echo.

Then it was a real kiss, and Ashley’s heart leapt into her throat and her stomach was fluttery in the best way. She was warm and safe, and Dylan was kissing her, and ? —

The song ended and the crowd came alive again, startling them both away. Her gaze darted toward the stage, where sparks were flying as the music ramped up again.

The electric tension was still alive all around them, but when their gazes met she didn’t find a weird, new elation in Dylan’s eyes.

She saw something she’d one day realize was… fear.