Page 27 of Ashley & the A-Listers (Sweetverse)

27. GIRL TALK

ASHLEY

“Still love me?” Ashley asked Lyric on the way out of the gym.

“Always,” Lyric said, blond hair only a little messy, face still red from the exertion of their session.

“Good. See you next week?”

“See you next week,” she agreed, and waved on her way out. The alpha that came with her, Henry, wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they left. He was intense. Quiet. And he adored Lyric, was protective of her.

Ashley had the feeling he tolerated her because Lyric liked training with her. Ashley didn’t mind. He was an alpha with an omega, and he was marking his territory.

She found it amusing more than anything, because Ashley had no desire for the omega.

Her nose wrinkled. Nah. Lyric wasn’t hers in any way except contractual obligation to help the singer keep up her stamina for stage performances.

Ugh, Dylan was right! Dammit. She could be a professional trainer and admit that she had… mixed feelings about a certain omega.

She frowned as she neutralized the scents, noting the lack of disappointment she usually felt when she erased Cameron’s scent.

Mine.

Ashley paused, spray bottle in hand, face flushing at just the thought. The hindbrain claim.

Cameron was in no way hers.

Okay, so she liked when her and Cam’s pheromones mixed. Big deal.

But then she kept noticing other things.

Like the blankets she passed at the supermarket as she shopped for groceries. The big, soft, colorful ones that would break up the harshness of Cam’s apartment.

Ashley scratched at her bond mark, confusion filling her.

“It’s biology,” she mumbled to herself, and continued walking, grocery cart wheels squeaking the whole way.

The entire time her thoughts circled the same drain.

Alphas and omegas didn’t spend that much time together outside of courting. Following that logic, it was kind of an odd situation that Ashley was hanging around with Cameron so much, even if the reasons were justifiable—training him, being mated to his bodyguard.

Biology had to take over eventually, and it was trying to. But Ashley was stronger than her hindbrain, so there was no shame. It was just natural.

Ashley winced as she stepped onto her front porch, the mail on the stoop organized in a small pile.

Have I really been spending so much time at Cam’s?

Shaking her head, Ashley let herself in, put the groceries away, and started dinner, decidedly not letting herself think about Cameron.

Dylan texted her for a bit, but then the doorbell rang, and she grinned.

Her friends were back.

Kenzie squealed as the door opened, and she leapt at Ashley, hugging her tightly. Jordan laughed over her shoulder, and Ashley tugged her in, too.

“I missed you guys!” she said, inhaling their familiar scents all muddled together, more than usual, probably from traveling together.

Kenzie sighed, then paused, sniffing, and pushed Ashley back by the shoulders. “Why do you smell different?”

Her cheeks flamed, and Ashley shrugged, trying to appear casual and collected. “We can, uh, talk about that later. But first, how is your brother?”

“He’s fine,” Jordan said, waving a hand and moving in for a hug. “He’ll recover. I’m more interested in why Kenzie’s right—you do smell weird.”

I’m not the only one!

“Rude,” Ashley mused.

“That’s why you love us,” Kenzie sang, and made her way to the kitchen that she probably knew as well as her own by this point.

“Spill, I want to know everything that’s been going on.”

Once Jordan took a seat beside Kenzie on the bar stools, they stared at her patiently, and Ashley sighed.

“Fine, we’ll get right into it, I guess,” she said, and they both nodded as if that was just what they were waiting on. “Okay, so you know Dylan,” Ashley began.

“Yes, The Dylan?” Kenzie asked.

Ashley nodded, and Jordan held out a hand to pause. “The one who left after kissing you on your eighteenth birthday and showed back up as the bodyguard for your mysterious client?”

Her cheeks were red-hot as she nodded. “Yeah, the same one.”

Kenzie stood up, hands on her hips. “Did you guys hook up?”

Jordan melted into the chair before she could answer, both hands lifted, fingers pressing to her temples. “Wow. Ten years later, huh?”

Ashley closed her open mouth, fiddling her fingers together in a tangle before answering. “Yeah, so. Uh, we’ve kind of reconnected the past few weeks.”

Silence. Ashley glanced up from mixing the stir-fry to find them both slack-jawed, eyebrows raised.

“Is he hot?” Kenzie asked finally.

He came in his pants last night to me riding his face, so…

Ashley ignored the blush on her face. “Yeah—yeah, you could say that,” she offered.

“Okay, so he came back into town for this job, this mutual client. You reconnected… is that why there was so much mail at your door?”

“Yeah, so. Uh. Fuck, fine, here,” she said, and tugged down her tank top strap, slamming her eyes closed. Excitement, giddiness, and fear all fizzled through her like a shaken champagne bottle. After all the times she’d cried over Dylan and told them his worst sins, she’d turned around and bonded him? Surely they’d be happy for her, right? Or would they tell her she’s an idiot?

Just say somet?—

“Oh my fucking god, ” Kenzie shouted, while Jamie gasped like the dramatic fuck she’d always been.

“You’re bonded, ” Jordan whispered, as if it was a conspiratorial secret.

After a few more seconds of silence she cracked an eye open.

“Are you happy?” Kenzie asked.

Ashley didn’t even hesitate when she nodded. Her throat was tight and she didn’t know why.

Kenzie practically spilled over Jordan’s lap, off the chair, and into Ashley’s arms. “Oh my god, I can’t believe you got bonded before either of us,” she said, squeezing tightly. “I need to hear all about it.”

“It must be serious if you’re bonded and all, so. From the top,” Jordan said, then pulled out a small tube and waggled it in the air. “Shall we celebrate?”

Ashley cleared her throat once Kenzie released her, and dashed a few tears away as relief overwhelmed her. She didn’t know why she’d been so nervous to tell them; they were her best friends.

“What’s wrong?” Kenzie asked, framing her face.

“I don’t know,” Ashley admitted, and shook her head free, brushing her long hair back. “I guess I wanted your approval or something.”

“All we care is that you’re happy. Even if that’s with some questionable guy from your past,” Jordan said.

“Okay, okay,” Ashley said, staring up at the ceiling to dry her eyes. “It’s fine. Let’s go out back?”

Her two closest friends followed her out the back of the kitchen to the tiny patio outside while she let the food simmer. The sun was setting, so the entire backyard was cast in shadow, cooling the area off from an unbearable summer heat to something much more comfortable.

They sat at Ashley’s little patio table like the three of them had done many, many times before. The tube Jordan had brought along popped open, and the scent of cannabis drifted out.

Once they were passing the joint around, they both stared at her. “So…?” Kenzie asked.

“I tried to hold out longer, but…” she sighed wistfully. “You know, you see that one person and it feels like no time has passed at all even though you’ve both lived entire lives in the space of their absence?”

Kenzie had a knowing little curl to her lips. “I don’t know, but do tell.”

A smile tugged at her, and then she told them the whole story. From the bits they knew—that she’d been giving him the cold shoulder to give himself a taste of his own medicine—to the bits they didn’t.

The sparring, and the night he’d come by to look at photos, and the way he’d cried?—

“I love a man who can show emotion,” Kenzie said, shaking her head while Jordan rolled her eyes.

The tentative truce they garnered, the book she’d spotted him reading?—

“A romance? Fuck this perfect guy,” Jordan said before arching a brow. “But you already did.”

Ashley smirked before continuing on about the too-fancy dinner?—

“Wait, wait, you’re telling me some famous client wanted to impress you with a high-class restaurant and you’re hung up on his bodyguard?” Kenzie asked.

Ashley tilted her head to the side, “Well…”

“Oh, so this story gets better, ” Jordan teased, leaning forward. “I can’t wait for it to get complicated.”

More than you know, Ashley thought.

And complicated it got, as Ashley told them about the birthday plans, the hike, the kiss that started it all, and then the?—

“Oh my god, the same fucking night?! ” Kenzie screeched, flapping her hands. “Holy shit, Ashley.”

Jordan closed her dropped jaw. “Okay, I need to find a mate, like, yesterday, if the right one can make someone like you, Ms. Rules and Logic, throw it all out the window. How’s it so far, walking on the wild side?”

Kenzie leaned forward, and Ashley wondered if she and Jordan realized how in tune with each other they were.

“It’s definitely… something,” Ashley said, feeling the echo of Dylan through the bond. “I can feel him all the time.”

“What’s it like?” Kenzie asked, propping her head on an arm.

“It’s weird. Like, I can feel him even right now. He’s… amused. So C—his client must be doing something silly.”

“Where did you bite him?” Jordan asked.

Ashley tapped her other shoulder. “Same spot on him.”

“So it was at the same time?” Kenzie asked, leaning across the table. She fanned herself. “Oh my god, that’s hot,” she said, glancing at Jordan.

Jordan met her gaze. The stare lingered, and Ashley cocked her head to the side.

What was that?

“Can confirm. It was very hot.” Ashley’s cheeks flamed.

“So how do you feel about it all? I mean, what’s next?”

Ashley swallowed. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, like, where does Dylan live? Is he going to move back here? Oh shit, you’re not leaving, are you?”

For the first time since this whirlwind romance part of her story had begun, she… paused.

Where did Dylan live? Surely he wasn’t planning to go back after he got done with guarding Cam. Would they move in together? A happy thrill shot through her at the idea. How were they supposed to navigate life together after the job was done?

“Well, he’s going to be guarding his client until at least after the movie is shot. That’s still a few months away.”

Jordan cocked her head at her as the beta passed the joint back with manicured fingernails. “You didn’t think that far ahead, did you, babes?”

“He’s not going to leave again, for sure,” Ashley said. “That’s what the bonding thing was about. So I suppose that means he’ll be staying here. Or something,” she tried, but Kenzie leveled her with a stare. “Okay, fine! No, of course I didn’t think that far ahead! I was caught up in the moment—there was no time for logic, only feeling! Fuck!”

Ashley dropped her head into her hands.

“Aww, no, don’t stress. Don’t. It’s fine,” Kenzie tried, and she heard an oof before Jordan joined in.

“Yeah, you’re bonded, so the relationship is, uh, solid, if anything. It’s just a matter of where it will be solid! Which is an easy fix. Just a conversation that needs to happen. No biggie.”

“Right,” Ashley drawled, and picked her head up.

The sun was mostly set by now. The automatic bulbs Ashley had put in would click on at any time.

“So just to clarify, you’re really just all about the bodyguard?” Kenzie asked.

“Listen, there’s history with Dylan! And it’s not like there isn’t—“ Ashley stopped, realizing what she was about to admit aloud. Something she hadn’t even allowed herself to dwell on.

In unison, they both sat up, like sharks smelling blood in the water.

“Isn’t what?” Kenzie asked. “You sly dog. Did you fuck an A-lister?”

Ashley held out both hands, cheeks red. “There’s been no fucking! And don’t reduce him to that.”

“Oh, why? Is he so much more?” Jamie asked.

Ashley crossed her arms and slumped back into her chair, because actually, yes. Cam was so much more than just some movie star.

Ashley thought back to that day on the mat, when she and Cam had been in perfect sync, the adrenaline and flow and proximity. The way he’d tried to impress her for dinner and hadn’t wanted her to spend her birthday alone. The way he and River traded turns to sit beside her on the couch. The way her hindbrain lit up around him.

“I haven’t let myself think about it,” she said, shrugging.

“Liar,” Kenzie hissed, and planted her palms on the table. “Tell meeee,” she demanded, in a weird gossip-goblin voice. Ashley couldn’t help but laugh.

“Okay, okay! Well… what if he was?” she hedged, picking a thread on her jeans. “ So much more than just some A-lister.”

Jordan looked faint. “If you end up mated to some hot Hollywood star on the red carpet, I will just die.”

“You can bury us next to each other,” Kenzie said.

“Aw, babe. That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Jordan said, laying a hand against her chest. A hand with two fingers manicured much shorter than the other three.

“I literally spent the last few weeks with you at your brother’s bedside, but okay,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Ashley’s lips curled, and affection for her friends swelled in her chest. She narrowed her gaze as she watched the two of them interact. She loved them, always looking out for her even when she was being dramatic. And something was different.

“I’ve been waiting for this. Spill. What’s going on?” Kenzie drawled, successfully distracting her.

Ashley chuckled, delighted with Kenzie’s reaction because… because she wanted to squeal too, okay? Cameron was a movie star, after all.

Which is exactly where her problem lay.

“If I were to admit that maybe I felt a type of way about this client… he’s a celebrity. He’s my client .”

They both stared at her, waiting, and Ashley huffed.

“Even if I did pursue him, court him?—”

“He’s an omega!? ” Kenzie screeched as Jordan grabbed her shoulder, and Ashley paused, mouth open.

Fuck. She’d left that out, hadn’t she?

“Okay, fine, yes. He’s an omega! Not my only omega client, I’ll remind you. But an omega that I definitely have…” She thought of the last time Cam had gotten her down to the mat, the way they’d panted together, and then the scent mark when he’d helped her up. “...Chemistry with.”

“Okay, so what’s giving you pause?”

“You can’t judge me,” Ashley told them.

“Babe, this is a safe space! Tell me all your sins,” Kenzie cried.

“I’m afraid of what my other clients will think,” she admitted. The people she had to face everyday as a trainer. What did it say about her as a trainer if she ended up dating one? “Do I fuck all my clients to get them?” She could hear the gossip now, see the comments online, see… fuck, headlines. Cam was famous. ”Dating or bonding or packing up with this omega would change my whole life. He has a bodyguard to help with paparazzi, for god’s sake. Is indulging myself in this omega worth risking everything on?” She didn’t want to be known as the trainer who fucked her clients.

Kenzie and Jordan sobered as Ashley spoke, and when she finally glanced up, she found them deep in thought. They shared a look before Kenzie spoke.

“Well. How does it feel to be with this omega?”

Ashley paused, turning her attention inward. Cameron was… exciting. Attractive. Spoiled, she thought with a soft smile. He was playful and fun and talented and competent.

“Okay, well, we already know from that look on your face,” Jordan said, pointing at her.

Ashley covered her mouth and felt the curl of a grin there, felt it in her chest, too—a flutter of something she hadn’t felt until… until she saw Dylan again.

“Is that worth more to you than what some judgmental idiots have to say?”

She wanted to say yes. But this was her career, her life. That gym had supported her for years, seen her through some dark times. It’s how she’d met her very best friends, the same ones comforting her now.

How did she know this wouldn’t be a passing fling? That Cam wouldn’t move on to filming and forget all about her? She just couldn’t trust it yet.

Hell, Cameron kept his boyfriend of two years a secret, still.

Would he want to keep her a secret, too? For the sake of his career?

Ashley paused, locking onto the parallel.

It had never occurred to her to keep Cameron a secret. She supposed that would solve her problem, if no one knew she was dating a client. But the thought sat wrongly at the front of her mind and she shook it away.

When she committed, she committed.

Clearly, she drawled internally, and her bond mark tingled as if to emphasize her point.

“You don’t have to make any decisions right now.” Jordan said, the voice of reason. “You still have weeks to make up your mind, get to know this omega more.”

“So, sorry. Who are you again?” Kenzie teased. “Mated. Bonded. With a pack on the way?”

“No one said anything about a pack,” she whined.

Except Nic. Dylan. The tiny little voice in the back of Ashley’s head that she kept ignoring.

“Your client is an omega. You’re an alpha. Dylan’s an alpha. Sounds like pack material to me.”

River is his beta, Ashley added in her head. Even if they were a secret, they were meant for each other. She kept her mouth shut and shrugged.

“I can’t promise anything, and I’m not—I mean, I only just solidified things with Dylan. Like you said, there are still conversations to have.”

Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Joining us for dinner tonight, or having dinner with your friends? From Dylan.

Dinner with friends. Enjoy your night, see you guys in the morning?

A tiny bit of lovesick disappointment leaked into the bond before it was hidden away, and Ashley smiled. See you then, he replied, and even sent a fucking heart emoji.

“Is that him?” Kenzie asked. “You’re smiling like a loon.”

Ashley, still grinning, put her phone down after responding with a matching emoji. “Maybe.”

“God, you’re cute and happy,” Jordan whined. “When will it be our turn?” she asked dramatically.

Ashley narrowed her eyes.

“They always say it’s when you least expect it,” Kenzie reminded her.

“Isn’t that the truth.” She paused for a beat, soaking in this time with her friends. “I missed you guys,” Ashley said, and laughed when they both awwed loud enough to fill the backyard.

“We missed you, too. I can’t believe we only left town for one minute and you ended up bonded.”

Ashley shrugged, and let Kenzie hang off her arm while they trailed back into the house, dishing out stir-fry and ending up on the floor around the coffee table while they played catch-up.

“So, anything interesting going on with you two?”

They shared a look, and Ashley tried not to glare in suspicion, but something was up.

“No, nah?—”

“Nope.”

They both answered at the same time, and Ashley… let them keep their little lies. There was something going on, and maybe they weren’t ready to address it yet.

Ashley knew what that felt like.

Ashley tried not to let their questions linger in her mind, but they did anyway. A pack. Not even a month ago a pack had seemed like a foreign concept, something that happened to people around Ashley but never… her.

Now she was bonded and—god dammit—had feelings for an omega that were becoming harder and harder to ignore.

She and Dylan did have a few conversations on the back burner. Especially because their time at the gym together was dwindling with each passing day.

What are you so afraid of? You’ve been alone before.

Her stomach rolled at the thought.

Her life felt so full now, with Dylan and Cameron and River filling it. What did she even do with herself just five weeks ago?

What would she do with herself when they were gone?

And what would she do to keep them from leaving?

Forming a pack was a commitment to each other, a family.

As her friends left and she was alone in the house, she wondered if having a pack to fill it was the answer she should’ve been looking for all along.