Page 3 of Ashley & the A-Listers (Sweetverse)

3. HEADACHE

ASHLEY

Dylan was glaring at her.

“What’s your problem?” she asked, kicking her foot up on the metal bench next to her.

“That is just so gross,” he said, wrinkling his nose at her from across the metal table.

To spite him, Ashley licked a huge stripe up the side of her ice cream tower. It wobbled precariously on a waffle cone, and a drop fell to her ripped-up jeans.

Dylan’s gaze fell to it, eyes locking onto the drop, and Ashley’s cheeks heated. She dabbed at it with a napkin before she could embarrass herself further.

“That’s what you get,” he jibed, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

At seventeen, Ashley was full of angst and easily annoyed. Dylan was usually doing the annoying.

“You’re just jealous because you won’t get anything besides chocolate.”

“Why fix what isn’t broken?” he asked. “Chocolate never fails.”

“Where’s the fun in getting the same thing every time?” she argued.

“At least I know I’ll like it every time.”

“I haven’t found a flavor I don’t like,” she pointed out.

“Yet.”

Ashley rolled her eyes and licked up another glob of matcha and cherry swirled ice cream. It did taste a little grassy, but she would die before she admitted it.

Another group of teens arrived, and had the audacity to sneer at Dylan and Ashley’s dark attire, as if they were the ones committing fashion crimes, while dressed in khakis and jerseys. Gross.

“Wanna get out of here?” he asked.

“Hell yeah,” she said, and slung her legs off the bench.

She was shorter than Dylan and it was more apparent than ever as they walked side by side, ditching the ice cream parlor and following the sidewalk through the park. No growth spurt, yet. Maybe she’d be like this forever, looking up at Dylan while he towered over her, protective.

Would that be the worst thing?

Maybe Ashley didn’t want to be another person Dylan had to look after. His older omega sister was surely enough of a handful.

For such a warm night, the walkway was mostly empty, so they trekked on in silence. Their hands brushed, and Ashley pretended not to notice.

She peered up at him through her heavy bangs and swallowed the ice cream that suddenly felt like cement.

“I think I’m a beta,” she admitted. The only information she had to base this on was that most of their class had presented so far, and they were among the few left.

“What makes you say that?” Dylan asked, glancing down at her.

Their eyes met and she averted eye contact before he could see her cheeks pinken.

Ashley had no scent coming in, but she was rife with anticipation. “I just don’t feel any different.”

“Do you want to be a beta?”

Ashley shrugged. Presenting as an omega was special. Presenting as an alpha, as a girl, was almost impossible.

“I think beta is what’s expected,” she finally decided on.

He snorted. “So naturally, you hate that,” he teased.

“Naturally,” she scoffed. Ashley wanted to be special. Who didn’t?

“Who knows, maybe you’ll be the first girl in our class to present as an alpha.”

“Not likely,” she muttered.

“Graduation is in a few months. It’s maybe just not time for you yet,” Dylan mused.

“How do you feel?”

He shrugged. “Not much different. I bet I’m a beta, too.”

“But your dad was an alpha,” she pointed out.

“And my mom was a beta, like yours,” he said. “Who knows what’s going to happen?”

Silence fell between them for a bit as they made their way to the parking lot.

Dylan’s cone was gone, and Ashley was only halfway through.

“You can bring it, come on,” he said, and motioned for her to get in the car.

“Ice cream?” she asked. “In the car?” That drop on her knee spilled through her mind again.

He winked at her over the top of the car. “You get special privileges.”

Ashley was unsure of why the ice cream swirled in her stomach at that point, but she got in.

She was extremely careful not to lose a single drop as Dylan started the car and directed them out of the lot. He merged with traffic easily and she was content to sit in the passenger seat as he turned on Chemical Imbalance, a rock band they’d both been obsessed with since they were fifteen.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Well, if you’re so concerned about presenting, why don’t we get some tests?” he asked.

Ashley blinked. Why had that never occurred to her?

“Really?” she asked.

“Yeah, why not? We don’t have to take them now, we can just—have them on hand,” he elaborated.

“That’s a great idea,” she admitted. “Guess that’s why I keep you around after all.”

“Yeah, that and I’m your perpetual ride,” he groused.

“Onward, my faithful steed,” she declared, brandishing her almost empty cone like a sword.

“Please don’t launch ice cream at my windshield,” he begged.

“I won’t, I won’t,” she said, choking down the last of the grass and cherry and crunching the cone.

By the time she was done they were pulling up at a local drugstore. Her nerves fluttered erratically.

“You good?” he asked, glancing down at her as she rounded the car. He struck her as… hot, in that moment. With his chestnut hair swooping across his forehead like that, taller and dressed in their favorite band’s tee and his usual jeans. What had happened to awkward, gangly Dylan?

Her cheeks flushed again , and she hated it. “Yeah, lead the way,” she responded. In that moment she was thankful for the heavy bangs and many layers to her equally dark hair to hide her cheeks.

She and Dylan had been friends for years. Best friends, and nothing more. What they had was special, and she wanted it to stay that way.

Walking into the drugstore felt forbidden, but Dylan confidently made his way to the counter, and requested two hormone tests for them.

Tests were free, so all they had to do was check their IDs before bagging them and handing them over.

“Well, that was easy,” Ashley declared as they stepped outside.

“Told you,” he said. “Do you wanna take them now, or wait?”

Her stomach squirmed with nerves. “I don’t know.” What if she didn’t like the result?

“Hey,” he said, and she glanced up from her side of the car, meeting his gaze across the top.

“I’ll still be your friend even if you are a boring beta,” he promised.

Ashley rolled her eyes. “Same, dipshit.”

He crooked a grin at her and then ducked into the car, and Ashley followed suit.

“We can wait,” he decided . “Here, why don’t you just take yours home?” He dug his own out of the bag before handing the plastic over. “We can always get more if it doesn’t detect anything.”

“Thanks,” she said, frowning down at the logo through the plastic bag.

“Ready for home?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess,” she said. “Mom will probably want me home early since it’s a school night.”

It wasn’t that long ago that Dylan would come stay with her, since his mom didn’t care. But that was… God, she guessed months ago at this point. When had that happened?

Would it be weird if she invited him?

Something kept her from voicing the option.

“Cool,” he said. “I can get home and check on Gemma.”

Gemma was the oldest, the first to fly the coop. She was also an omega, so Dylan was nervous for her first college semester.

Ashley liked to think Gemma was a strong, independent young lady—like herself—and could take care of herself just fine.

Then again, Ashley wasn’t an omega.

Dylan turned the music on, successfully distracting Ashley from all thoughts as they sang along terribly to the rock band. It felt like it always did, like Dylan was the only person she could be herself around.

Once they arrived at her house, Ashley gathered her things, opened the door and turned to look at him. “Text me when you get home, idiot,” she teased.

“Will do, jerk,” he said.

Feeling like everything was once again right in the world, she got out of the car and let herself in the house as his headlights finally splashed across the drive.

“Honey, is that you?” her mom called out.

“It’s me!” she said, and took her stuff to her room before appearing back downstairs.

“How was your day?” her mom asked.

“Oh, you know,” she mused in that teenager-y way.

Her mom smiled softly, closing the book she was reading and patting the couch. “Wanna hear about a dickhead at work?”

Ashley chuckled. “Did you put him in his place?”

“Sure did.”

“Do tell,” Ashley said.

Despite her weird feelings, looming graduation, and finals, Ashley sat and reveled in the story of her mom, a beta, putting some alpha idiot in his place.

Maybe if Ashley turned out like her, being a beta wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Fucking Dylan.

She was still reeling.

“Wow,” Jordan said, and leaned back into the wicker couch, her alpha scent bitter with surprise. “After ten years, he just… shows up?”

“I guess!” Ashley said with a sigh, throwing her hands up. “I haven’t seen him since I was eighteen. Or heard?—“

“A single word,” Kenzie finished, shaking her head. They’d listened to the story so many times at this point. “The audacity of that alpha.”

Jordan’s brow furrowed. “Why was he at the gym?”

“Oh,” Ashley said, waving a hand and joining them on the cushions. She felt warm, more so from being flustered than the evening temperature. “He’s the bodyguard of a new client in the gym.”

Both of her friends looked disappointed, and she rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t like he came there just for me —he did have a reason to be in the gym.”

“Well, that’s disappointing,” Jordan muttered.

Kenzie smacked her arm. “No, it’s not, because we don’t like Dylan, remember?”

“Of course I know we don’t like Dylan,” Jordan answered. “That’s why it would be extra tasty if you ignored his ass if he was there for you.”

“Well, he wasn’t.”

Kenzie clapped. “Did it feel good to ignore him? Like you had the upper hand?”

A smile curled Ashley’s lips at their support. “Actually, it kind of did. I always wondered what I would say to him if I saw him again, and instead I was just… so pissed, I shut down. Honestly, that’s what he deserves.” Ashley covered her eyes. “I felt my face get hot, and I was so angry all over again, like I was eighteen.”

This time it was Jordan’s turn to comfort her, and she and Kenzie enveloped her in a group hug. Kenzie’s muted beta scent was just as comforting as Jordan’s alpha scent. It’s how they’d bonded when they’d first met—two female alphas at the same gym; what were the chances?

Ashley loved these two, her best friends. Maybe once upon a time, the three of them had envisioned packing up, if only to keep Jordan and Ashley’s alpha hindbrain in check, but Ashley didn’t want a pack of pals. She wanted the fantasy; she wanted bondmates.

“Hey, for the first time seeing that asshole in—what, ten years?—you handled it a lot better than I would have.”

Ashley shrugged and melted out of their embrace and into the couch. “I don’t even know. Last I heard he was all packed up and looking for an omega.”

A pang of hurt filled her and Ashley tried to tell herself it was misplaced. Dylan had left before she even knew she was an alpha. That couldn’t be why he’d left.

“What are you going to do?” Kenzie asked, leaning into her. “If he’s going to be in your gym for so long?”

Ashley groaned, and inhaled their comforting scents.

“I have a headache just thinking about it,” she muttered.

She was so… frustrated with Dylan! For showing up like it was no big deal. With herself, for feeling so young and powerless and stupid again.

Maybe she should get a personal session in before her new client the next day, blow off some steam.

Ashley loved working out, loved that feather-light feeling after a hard, sweaty workout, even loved lifting with an audience, and feeling the gaze of jealous men who wished they were half as badass as she was.

“I suppose I could cash in on some of my saved PTO…” But the suggestion did not fill her with relief.

“But you love your job. Don’t let this asshole alpha ruin that,” Jordan said.

She was right. Ashley knew she wouldn’t be using her PTO. “You’re right. I love my job, and I’m fucking good at it.” She liked being in charge, being the manager, running the gym smoothly. And of course, the perks, like using the gym whenever she wanted at no charge.

“Yes, Alpha!” Kenzie cheered.

Emboldened, Ashley nodded. “And I have a new client, too—Nic just texted me today.” Training was a good way to earn a little extra dough in her paycheck.

She hoped her client wasn’t an asshole. Lots of guys refused to take her seriously when they realized a woman would be training them—nevermind she was an alpha and could probably bench their max, easily.

“That’ll keep you busy, right? You probably won’t even notice if Dylan is there,” Kenzie pointed out.

“You’re so right. He’s not even worth it,” Ashley agreed.

She’d have to read their intake forms and see what their goals were, where they wanted to end up, and make a plan for getting them there smoothly. Busy work.

But first, relax. You can do all that stuff tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

As if she’d read her mind, Jordan leaned forward and slid a small plastic tube off the table, which contained a joint, lifting it with a questioning glance. Ashley sat up, and came to a conclusion.

“I’ll fucking live my best life, train this new client and look hot while doing it, and he can suffer, for all I care,” Ashley declared.

“Yes!” Kenzie cheered, and motioned for Jordan to continue. “It’s the least he deserves.”

She squeezed the sides and the tube opened with a pop, and the scent of cannabis spilled into the room.

“That’ll show him. See how he likes being ignored,” Jordan said with a nod.

“Chances are, I won’t even see him that often. My hours are pretty steady, but who knows what kind of crazy schedule they’d have his client on.”

Kenzie passed the now lit joint to her, and Ashley inhaled deeply, smoke filling her lungs as the three of them sat on the couch in Kenzie’s apartment. The window behind them was open, and the smoke jerked in the air as the breeze sucked it out into the midday.

“That reminds me—the guy Dylan’s playing bodyguard for. You gonna tell us who it is?”

Ashley chewed on her lip. There were no secrets between the three of them, but Ashley protected the gym’s clients, not to mention the NDA’s she had to sign for every new client.

“I can’t tell you—I can’t!” she insisted when they both groaned.

“You’re just too good,” Jordan said, shaking her head. “But we won’t press, will we?” Jordan asked, nudging Kenzie.

She rolled her eyes and nodded. “We won’t press,” she said, sounding sullen about it, before cracking a grin and winking.

“I almost forgot there was someone new on the scene, once you brought up Dylan.”

Ashley sure hadn’t. She was still a bit starstruck even now, recalling just how handsome Cameron Thomas was in person. But now it was all shadowed by Dylan’s reappearance.

Ugh.

He managed to ruin everything, even all these years later.

Maybe, if she was lucky, she wouldn’t have to see him much at all.

One could certainly hope.

“Well, the good news is, I’m going to be kicking someone’s ass as soon as tomorrow.”

“Ooh, I hope it’s someone fun, ” Kenzie said, with a wink.

Ashley rolled her eyes, cheeks pinkening. Leave it to everyone around her to try to pack her up, except herself.

“Yeah, maybe they will be.”