Page 41 of Ashley & the A-Listers (Sweetverse)
41. NEW NORMAL
DYLAN
Dylan glanced through the windows and into the apartment from the balcony, confirming that no one would overhear his conversation before he sat down on the wicker outdoor couch.
He pulled up his boss’s contact info, and breathed out a sigh before calling.
“Pike here,” he answered.
“Hey, boss,” Dylan said.
“Dylan, how’s it going?”
“It’s alright. I just wanted to give you an update.”
He’d sent Wes a notice as soon as shit had hit the fan, but a few days had passed since then. A few days of guilt and paranoia gnawing at him.
“How’s the client?”
“He’s… good,” Dylan said.
He heard the protest of a leather chair on the other line. “Are you calling because you need that other guy?”
“If I did, do you have one available?” Dylan asked. It wasn’t that dire yet, but if it came to it, Dylan wouldn’t turn down an extra set of eyes.
“Of course.”
“Great, that’s… good,” Dylan said. “Thanks, boss.”
“Is that all?” Wes asked, in that way that meant he knew it wasn’t.
Dylan winced and rubbed a sweaty hand on his thigh. “I’ve gotta come clean about something.”
Wes cursed. “Christ, Dylan, if you fucking bonded that omega?—“
“I didn’t!” Dylan interrupted. “I… bonded his trainer.”
The silence was heavy, and Dylan shook his head.
“It’s complicated, okay?”
“Isn’t it always?” Wes drawled. “Is it the girl from the news? The alpha?” he asked with a sigh.
Dylan could just see him pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, that’s the one.”
“So you’re in a pack now?” Wes asked.
“If I say yes, what does that mean?”
Wes paused. “For the job, or for your life?”
With a groan, Dylan said, “Both? I don’t know.”
“Well, as for the job, we both know you’re capable. Are you compromised?”
“You know we’re not compatible in that way. I’m still interested in keeping the omega safe.”
“So you can still do your job?”
Dylan swallowed, and a beat passed before he answered. “Yes, sir.”
There was a pause. “You know, it becomes a different kind of job when your responsibility is also your family.”
Dylan turned and glanced through the windows. Ashley and Cam and River were piled on the couch, limbs tangled as they watched a movie. Ashley pulled down one of the colorful blankets she’d been slowly filling the apartment with and draped it across them.
“The stakes are higher,” Wes continued. “The failures hit harder.”
Dylan rubbed a hand down his face. Wasn’t that the truth.
“I feel like I fucked up by letting that pap get close. I didn’t see him, and now Ashley’s all over the news and getting torn apart by rabid fans, and Cam’s team has him doing damage control.” He sighed. “I let them down.”
His mistake had affected all of them.
He hadn’t protected them like he was supposed to. Maybe Wes should just send someone else down here, someone fucking competent.
Wes scoffed. “Your job is to protect his life, not his image. As far as I'm concerned, you’re doing that.” His sigh filled the resounding silence. “I can see that puckered-up expression from here, Dylan. You know I’m right.”
“I guess,” Dylan grumbled.
“Listen, I’m not in the business of making you feel better; that’s what your pack is for. I’m just here to tell you to do your job right, but… you already are. No one has better interests at heart for a pack than a pack member themself, which you are now. So, congrats.”
A shuffle, a murmur of a voice on the other end. Wes’s voice went utterly gentle. He must have been talking to?—
“Now, my beta requests that you quit hogging my time, and I’m inclined to agree.”
Dylan shook his head, smiling softly. “Alright. Thanks, boss. I’ll let you know if we need that extra guy.”
“See that you do. And Dylan?”
“Yeah?”
“If I had a nickel for every time I sent an employee out only to come back packed up, I’d have about three nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened so fucking much.”
Dylan snorted.
“Sorry, boss.”
“No apologies. Listen. I know the last job was… tough. That it didn’t end well. But you’re a good guy. A good alpha, or else I wouldn’t have let you back into the field. You’ve watched his back so far. You’ll do right by them.”
Dylan inhaled. Wes trusted him. He wouldn’t let him down. “Thanks, boss.”
They hung up and Dylan sank into the couch, head lolling to the back cushion as he stared up at the ceiling and the clouds just past it.
Dylan had been so caught up in Ashley and Cameron and River, enjoying his time with them, that he hadn’t noticed the paparazzi. But this wasn’t like the last job. His mistake wasn’t irreparable. In fact…
He stood, pausing with his hand on the sliding glass door and catching sight of the pack.
All curled up on the couch, the hum of Ashley’s purr probably making Cam happy. River next to Cam, arm around the back of the couch to hold the omega between them.
Through the bond he felt the satisfaction of Ashley, her contentedness of being with them.
Wes was right. The stakes were higher, and Dylan couldn’t afford to fuck up.
This mistake had brought them closer, into a pack, but not all mistakes had happy endings. He knew that better than most.
He’d protect this pack, because now he couldn’t afford not to.
Ashley couldn’t even go to her favorite place, the gym. None of them knew how long she’d be on leave, and—if they were being real— if she’d be allowed to return. She was keeping herself busy at her house while Cam was on set, coming to them in the evening freshly showered and yet still tinged with the chemical scent of cleaner and paint.
Painstakingly avoiding the internet, since it was filled with rage for the alpha courting Hollywood’s favorite omega.
The ire was growing stale, since Cam’s new team refused to let them offer any details. Cameron was about to disappear from the media, anyway, since he was too busy filming.
So maybe things would go back to normal.
Or maybe this was their new normal.
Dylan pulled open the door to the sound of an explosion on the television, Ashley’s purr a low hum beneath it. She glanced over at him, arching a brow as if to ask if everything was okay.
He nodded, stepped across the threshold to join his pack, and wondered…
Would that be so bad?