Page 38 of Ashley & the A-Listers (Sweetverse)

38. TRUST

RIVER

“It’s okay,” River told Ashley as they watched Cam walk offstage after the live interview. The television cut to commercial and she glanced at him, worried.

Cam hadn’t done it. He’d chickened out.

After he’d promised, told River to be watching.

“Something probably came up,” he said, shrugging. Maybe he’d believe the lie he told Ashley.

His phone rang right away, and even though he wasn’t ready to talk to Cam, disappointment clawing at his gut, he wanted to escape from Ashley’s pitying gaze even more.

“Gonna take this,” he said, and stood from the couch, walking to the basic guestroom they hadn’t much used since the heat had hit.

“I’m sorry,” Cameron began as he answered.

“It’s okay,” River repeated, numb.

Years of this back-and-forth, will-he, won’t-he.

“Christian and Denise told me they would plan a campaign for us, but I don’t trust it. I’m firing them. He fucking barked at me! I’m going to look for a new manager, one who can help with a campaign to introduce us as a couple,” Cameron said. “I don’t care what their contract says. I’m over it.”

He sounded angry. He always did when Christian rebuffed his demands. Then it would fade, and things would go back to normal, like it had countless times before. River wished he could be a little angry. He just felt… tired.

But indignation fought for space in River’s chest, too. “He barked at you? That’s bullshit.”

Cameron sighed. “I know. “I’m coming straight home and we can talk about this properly.”

River heard the frustration in Cameron’s voice, felt it himself, irritating behind his breastbone, but locked it down. “We’ll make it work,” River said, trying to hide the hurt in his voice. “We always do.”

“I’m sorry, babe,” Cameron sighed. “I’ll fix it.”

The call ended and River sank down onto the bed. This room no longer smelled as good as the nest, stale from lack of use.

If there was a metaphor somewhere in there, River was too hurt to try and find it.

He shouldn’t be so dejected; he’d been through this same thing with Cameron over and over again. This was nothing new.

Except… Cameron had sounded so sure after the heat. Like he really wanted… this. River.

He’s sounded sure before. And yet, here you are.

Maybe something had come up right before the interview, something that spooked him. Hell, Christian had barked at him. River could give him the benefit of the doubt.

Again.

Maybe Cameron was trying to tell him something. He kept promising the same thing over and over again, but could never pull the trigger. Maybe he should just see Cam’s actions for what they were.

But what if Cameron was just… afraid to take the leap? River could understand that. It was a big change.

It would shift their whole lives into something different. River wouldn’t be the screenwriter, the after-credits guy. He’d be Cameron Thomas’s partner. Pack mate.

His chest bloomed with affection at just the thought.

He wanted that. He wanted to belong to Cameron. He wanted Cameron to claim him as his own, and in kind, River wanted to claim him, too.

If Cameron was just too scared to do it himself, if taking the leap was the hardest part… what if River helped?

He sat up from the bed as the idea struck him.

What if… someone else discovered they were involved? What if someone else broke the news, instead of Cameron?

Paparazzi were eager for news of Cam, who’d been pretty quiet since the press tour for the second movie. Sure, this new interview would tide them over for a while, but…

Cameron wouldn’t have to worry about confronting his management, or doing a big reveal in some random interview.

It could just… happen. By chance.

A tip. Just a little one. Maybe the name of a restaurant, a time. It wouldn’t be hard for a photographer to get a photo to the right channels. Hollywood’s golden boy on a date? They’d eat it up.

And then… and then Cam and River could react together .

It would be something they faced as one, instead of putting it all on Cam’s shoulders.

Don’t act like you’re a hero, River scoffed. He knew it was born from a place of selfishness. But at this moment, it didn’t outweigh the hurt.

He was tired of waiting for Cameron to stick to his word, to keep his promises. River was tired of being the kept secret, and as his thoughts swirled and he gave into his irritation, his anger and bitterness, the solution only grew clearer.

If River was in some great love story, one better than anything he could write, then the only thing holding them back from their happy ending was…

The secret.

So maybe it was time to stop keeping it.

The next morning they were awoken by a buzz, intrusive, annoying.

Cameron blearily swiped at his phone, and then sat up in a jolt.

“What is it?” River asked, lifting his head from a pillow, half asleep. Then he remembered the dinner last night, River’s little deal. Hope filled him?—

Before it was replaced with worry as Cameron’s face went so pale so fast River thought he might pass out. His sleep fog cleared and he sat up, a hand on Cam’s shoulder in case he decided to go over.

He remained seated, lips parted as someone on the other line spoke. River couldn’t hear them, but the tinny voice was quick.

The call ended, and then River saw the… hundreds of notifications on Cameron’s phone. Was it about them?

“What is it?” he repeated.

“Someone saw us at dinner last night,” Cam said, voice… soft.

River’s heart leapt into his throat. It worked! “What?”

“Yeah. Someone took a picture, and it went viral overnight.” Cam was repeating facts.

“Fuck.” Forbidden excitement curled through River. This was it. They were a couple. They could do this together now?—

Cameron scrambled out of the bed. “Oh god, I have to tell Ashley.”

River’s head snapped up. “What?”

Cam turned the phone to River, and River squinted to see the grainy photo of… Cameron. Sitting across the booth from Ashley. River was on the other side of Cameron, but in this photo one could hardly tell.

The focus was on the omega. And the alpha.

“She’s going to freak out. Fuck. Fuck!” Cameron cursed, and spun on his heel.

River stared after him as he practically ran out of the nest, feet thudding softly across the hardwood floors to Dylan’s room.

Fuck. Shit.

He wrestled with annoyance, disappointment… This was supposed to be about Cameron and River. Not Ashley.

Ashley was never supposed to be involved. He’d fucked up. Guilt struck, followed by a thread of panic.

River grabbed his phone and a robe for Cam and followed after him. Cam’s feet against the floor would make him cold.

He smelled Cam’s distress from the living room, and heard him from the hallway. “—viral. Everyone’s talking about it. Ashley, I’m so sorry,” Cam said, the words delving into a whine.

The following sniffle broke River’s heart as he finally reached the doorway just in time to see Ashley wrap her arms around Cam. Her expression was worried, blinking the sleep from her eyes as she hugged Cam, tucking his face into her neck.

They comforted each other, and River’s heart lurched. This was all going wrong. This should’ve been a victory for them, but instead it was… the opposite.

Dylan looked wide awake, grim-faced and checking his phone as he sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ll do a perimeter check, see if this has caught up to us yet. If so, I’ll call Wes and see if we can get another guy out here. Or two.” He rubbed a hand down his face, and wouldn't meet any of their eyes as he stood up.

River swallowed. This was bad.

Really, really bad, if Dylan was considering calling in backup.

“Here,” River said, and handed Ashley the robe. She tucked it around Cam and he wiggled his arms into the sleeves before sighing.

“We fucked up,” he mumbled. “Got too comfortable.”

No, I fucked up, River wanted to say. But the words were trapped deep down inside him, buried, and he was too weak to dig them up.

He lifted his phone and pulled up a few social media apps.

Cameron was trending.

The blurry photo was everywhere.

Speculation had already begun. Who was the woman with Cameron Thomas? A lover is what most people guessed, from the expression on the omega’s face.

Even now, jealousy struck River, warring with the guilt. If it had just been him and not Ashley.

“We could get ahead of this. You’re his trainer, after all. Not so weird if you’re getting dinner. And I’m there,” River tried, his blurry face on the other side of Cameron. “Maybe it was a meeting about the script. We were doing research, asking you questions. The photo isn’t scandalous.”

Cameron sniffled, and River wanted to take a calm stroll around the bed and dive out the nearest window. Instead, he waited, his entire body tense, fear filling him as he realized just how bad this could get.

“Or,” Cameron started, clearing his throat when his voice cracked. “Or, we just come clean,” he said, staring up at Ashley. He glanced over his shoulder at River. “We can use this.”

River gulped. Could they turn this around in their favor? Could his plan still work?

“We’re a pack. All of us. That’s what we can tell them.”

Her lips parted, but she closed them as Cam turned to look at her again. “You want a pack, right?” he continued.

Her gaze darted to Dylan, then to him, then back to Cam. She swallowed. “Yeah, I do want a pack. And I…” She seemed to sway into him, nostrils flaring as she smelled his distress, the vanilla burnt and bitter but sweetening by the moment. “I adore you,” she said softly. “But I already rushed things with Dylan. I want to make sure we do this right. It’s what you deserve,” she said, and tucked a curl behind Cam’s ear.

It was so sweet it made River’s chest hurt. Why was it so easy for them?

“If you’re going to tell the world I’m courting you, I’m going to do it properly,” she said. “I’m going to mean it.” Again, her attention flicked to Dylan, who nodded, a smile pulling at his lips, before landing on River, lingering. “And we all have to agree on this.”

River had done the unforgivable. In the moment—coming up with the idea, making the decision, phoning his contact—he’d been frustrated and angry. He still was!

And in turn, he’d hurt… not only Cameron, the love of his life, but Ashley. Someone totally innocent in all of this. His insecurities weren’t her fault, and yet she was paying for them.

If this… terrible, awful decision of his resulted in even one good thing for Ashley, it could be Cameron.

And wasn’t it, in some twisted way, what River wanted, too? A pack with Cameron?

“Ashley and I already kind of broached this topic with each other,” Dylan said. “I don’t see any of us bonding,” he said, motioning to River and Cam. “But I don’t see why Ashley couldn’t, in time. I’ll just be…”

“A pack mate,” Ashley declared.

Dylan nodded his head, a fond smile on his lips as he gazed at her. “I’ll go where you go.”

As one, the three of them turned to him, and panic rose in River’s chest.

They know. They know you’re the odd one out. The beta. The problem.

“We can use this to come clean,” is what Cameron said, turning and facing River, slipping off Ashley’s lap. “We can go public. This is our chance.”

Cameron was… smiling?

His grin was widening as he approached River, as he grabbed his hands and tossed his phone onto Dylan’s bed. “We can be a couple. Part of a pack. And get dinner together, and hold hands.” He squeezed River’s hand, and hope gleamed in those pretty hazel eyes.

River felt lightheaded. Cam was none the wiser. They didn’t know it was him.

Maybe… maybe this mistake would work out? Maybe this disaster didn’t have to be all bad? Maybe River hadn’t fucked up beyond repair.

Not if Cameron looked this excited.

“Is that what you want? A pack out of this? This pack?” he asked.

Cameron nodded. “But only if we all want it.”

Did River deserve it?

No.

Did he want it?

Happiness, with Cameron? Out in the open?

More than anything.

“I want it,” River said, the words raw from the pure truth. Emotions were high and he wasn’t sure if he was relieved or scared, but tears welled all the same as Cameron embraced him. “I want you.” His voice cracked on the words.

In whatever way Cameron would have him, River would give himself.

“So… we’re doing this?” Cam asked as they broke away. He thumbed at River’s cheek and then half turned so he could face River and Dylan and Ashley at the same time. “We’re a pack?”

A grin was curling Ashley’s cheeks, and even Dylan was cracking a smile. River was the only one still wiping tears away.

“We’re a pack,” Ashley said, and growled playfully before picking Cam up with an affectionate squeeze.

“We’re a pack,” Dylan said, nodding once, and somehow it felt like a vow.

River felt the buzz of hope and elation in his chest, and tried to give himself over to it.

“We’re a pack,” River repeated, and let Cam pull him into the hug.

His plan had technically worked. Cameron was going to come clean about him, about the pack. They were together.

So he should feel relief, right? Not this… itchy, uncomfortable indignation.

You got what you wanted.

But he couldn’t shake the idea that he’d traded one secret for another.