Page 42 of Ashley & the A-Listers (Sweetverse)

42. LIGHTS, CAMERA…

ASHLEY

“This will be good for you!” Cameron said, voice pointedly cheerful. “To get you out of the house!”

Ashley didn’t see why it was such a problem if she tackled yet another DIY project in her mother’s house, working out her frustration on painting and ripping up carpet, but…

As she stepped on set, seeing the hustle and bustle of Cam’s world, she was struck with wonder.

“Wow,” she said, eyes wide at all the people, the PAs and the crew, the cameras and lights, and the sets that seemed so complete and whole on the screen and yet were nothing more than props in a warehouse.

“See? It’s kind of cool, right?” Cam asked, hand locked in hers as he tugged her around.

Dylan followed at a comfortable pace behind them, playing the part of bodyguard all too well. She spied River at a white folding table of other people, all glowing softly from their laptops as they typed away. He met her gaze and smiled, but didn’t wave and quickly went back to his work.

Cameron showed her around set, but it wasn’t long before a PA approached him, announcing that he was needed at makeup.

“Wanna see the trailer?” Cam asked, and Ashley shrugged. Why not?

Cam showed her to the trailer, and told her he’d send Dylan when it was time for him to be on set. “River might stop by, but it’s unlikely. He’s been really busy.”

The trailer was small, cozy, and empty. There were hints of Cam all around over: A mini fridge full of protein shakes and drinks heavy on electrolytes. A coffee bar with sugar spilled on the counter, just like it was at home—Dylan. Protein powder also dusted the counter—Cameron. No traces of River, but it was like that at the apartment, too; the guy was just so damned tidy.

It wasn’t long before Dylan came to collect her, and she tried to ignore the few glances she got as she was escorted to the sidelines.

At least she could velcro herself to Dylan’s side for the most part. They were behind all the crew, boom operators and light guys and the director and producers and PAs. River was on set, in a different chair this time, but a laptop still in his lap, his fingers tapping away at the keys.

It was actually less chaotic than Ashley had heard from Cam and River’s stories, but she still tried her best to stay out of the way. She’d really thought sets were busier than this.

Approaching the set was a character in a fluffy white robe and—wait.

That was Cam.

Ashley’s brows furrowed as a few different people spoke to him, his makeup artist following and adding a few last touches before Cam was led to the bed on set and?—

“What kind of scene are they shooting today?” Ashley asked, though she had a pretty good idea—and a sinking stomach.

Dylan shrugged. “Looks intimate. I don’t know.”

They were too far back to really catch anything Cam was saying, but he nodded before stepping beneath the lights and pulling his robe off.

For a second, between the thirty or so people milling around, she thought Cam was completely nude, and had to fight to keep her mouth from falling open.

It took her a moment more to realize he was wearing boyshort underwear, painted or dyed to very closely match his skin tone.

As her hindbrain sat up to take note, Ashley tried to talk herself down.

Think about the facts . Ashley had seen the movies. She knew Axel Stevens was a spy, a fighter, a seducer. The staple of all action movies was the attractive love interest, the relationship the main character usually sacrificed it all for.

She gave River props for at least writing him as more of a sidekick and giving him an arc in the series, instead of killing him off or using him to further Axel’s own plotline.

The man himself, Lane, came on set next, and he and Cam shared a familiar smile before the director began going over something with them.

“I don’t know if I should be here for this,” Ashley murmured, turning her head as Lane— Cale began taking off his robe before slipping under the covers to protect his privacy. He was handed a small tube of something Ashley couldn’t make out.

“I have to be here,” Dylan said, though his gaze was averted out of respect. “But if you want to chill by the refreshments table, or even go back to Cam’s trailer, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

Ashley hemmed and hawed and bided her time until the actual filming started.

It got quiet on set and the lights went down and then… they were rolling.

She couldn’t hear exactly what was said between the characters, but she had enough of an eyeline to see Axel and Cale kissing passionately, ravenously.

Ashley’s hindbrain raged at seeing Cam kissing another person.

Which wasn’t fair, because it was literally Cam’s job.

I can do this. I can tough it out. He’s just acting.

Cale pulled out the small tube—lipstick!—and Cameron applied it, giggling and flirty and filled with sexual tension. But with every kiss—that beta was marking him with his lips—and fake moan that drifted across the silent set, Ashley’s face flamed a little hotter, because she was taken back.

To every time he’d made a similar noise beneath her.

Ashley had seen Cameron’s intimate scenes in those other movies and knew it wasn’t accurate to the real thing, but holy shit. Across set, listening to it, knowing they were getting all close and that beta was grinding against her omega?—

“Ashley?” Dylan asked quietly.

Ashley snapped out of it, blinking and glancing at him. “What?”

“You feel… intense. You good?”

Ashley nodded and tried to play it off, realizing her teeth were bared. “I’m gonna go, uh, sit in the trailer, like you suggested.”

Dylan nodded, brows knotted, and she sensed his worry through the bond. “It’s fine, I promise. I just don’t wanna be here, ” she said, motioning with her hand in a circle to encompass where she was standing.

“Alright, as long as you’re sure,” he whispered.

“I’m sure,” she answered, and then began the trek toward the collection of trailers that belonged to all the important people.

She let herself into Cam’s and sighed as his familiar scent, faint as it was, filled her.

In the peace of the trailer, she tried to put the sounds and images of Cam with another person out of her mind.

The actor was a beta, so it wasn’t like she had any right to feel so… so territorial.

Her brow furrowed and she glared at the movie poster hung on the wall.

That’s what she was feeling: territorial.

Very alpha of her.

Ashley rolled her eyes at herself and plopped down in a chair, leaning her head back and trying to talk herself out of it.

“He’s an actor. This is what he does. It’s a professional setting. His job, ” she muttered in the quiet of the trailer. “There’s no reason to feel so fucking alpha about it.”

She stood up to begin pacing.

“Just because you’re pack now doesn’t mean you can be a weird hot head about his job, ” she grumbled. “He’s your omega, remember?”

Something in her still bristled, because no matter how much she told herself and her hindbrain the fact, they weren’t… bonded.

There was no biology to back up what she was telling herself.

That Cameron was hers.

She glimpsed the clock, realizing it had been more than an hour.

How long were they going to shoot the scene?

God, not being there and knowing what was going on was almost worse than witnessing it.

How annoying were these feelings?

With a groan, she sat her ass back in the chair and scowled at the door as if daring Cam to walk through it. Then she tilted her head back and admonished herself some more with her inner voice.

Just when she was about to throw her hands up and go suffer alongside Dylan some more, she heard voices outside.

“…upset?” That sounded like Cam.

“…feels complicated,” she heard Dylan reply.

Casual. Act casual.

Ashley stayed in the chair, though she felt weird about it because it faced the door, which made it seem like she was a testy parent waiting for her teenager to return home after staying out past curfew.

Instead, at the last minute, Ashley busied herself at the tiny coffee bar, pretending she’d been doctoring the stale coffee in a foam cup.

The door rattled before it opened, and she glanced over as she emptied one too many sugar packets in her drink.

“Hey,” Cameron greeted, dressed once more in that fluffy white robe, followed by her alpha. “Dylan said you left set. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Ashley said, and waved the hand with a half-empty packet, accidentally sending a spray of sugar through the air. Dylan snorted and she shot him a glare. “Just felt weird listening to that,” she tried, but it fell flat like the sugar did.

“Mmhmm,” Cam hummed, eying her. “Is that… all?”

“Yep,” she agreed—too quickly—and caught Dylan rolling his eyes. Through the bond she felt his amusement, and wondered what the hell he found so funny.

“So you’re not… jealous?” Cam asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

Ashley’s gaze caught on the splash of red across his neck, the actor’s lipstick left behind.

“Nope,” she lied.

Cameron shrugged, and she watched him toss a—what the hell was that, a deflated ball?—toward the small couch bed.

“Great,” he drawled. “Oh, did you make some coffee?” he asked, squeezing past her to access the pot.

She stepped out of the way, but not before catching the scent of that beta all over him.

A growl slipped out, and before she knew it she had a hand against his shoulder and pushed him against the wall to their left.

Cameron smirked up at her. “There it is.”

Realizing what she’d done, she shook her head and moved back, but not fast enough. Cam’s finger slipped into her belt loop, holding her close.

Not that she fought that hard.

“Sorry,” she whispered, hands balling into fists. She glanced over her shoulder at Dylan for help, but the fucker just shrugged .

Lot of help you are, she thought at him.

“There’s no need to be jealous,” Cameron said softly, catching her attention once more. “It’s acting.”

“I know that,” Ashley hissed, but refrained from admitting she’d spent the last two hours trying to convince herself of it, too.

“It’s not even sexy,” Cameron tried.

Ashley arched a brow at that.

“We aren’t naked. There’s coverings. And the ball,” he explained, waving a hand at the couch bed.

“What does the ball do?” she asked, curiosity overriding everything else.

“We put it between us,” Cameron said. “So there’s no touching. I can’t begin to tell you how unsexy it is. Plus there’s all the people, and the lights, and the intimacy coordinator.”

“It’s acting,” Ashley repeated.

Cameron nodded. “It’s just acting.”

“She’s still conflicted,” Dylan called out.

When she cranked her head around to glare at him, she found him seated in the chair, finding his place in a book.

“Whose team are you on?”

“Why?” Cameron asked, instead of letting Ashley deflect like she wanted to.

Ashley threw her hands up. “I don’t know, ” she said.

“Would it help if I showed you?” Cameron asked. “So you can see it’s not what you’re thinking.”

Showed her? Were they conspiring against her?

“I—I…”

But Cam was already tugging that loop on her pants, pulling her across the room.

She tried to catch Dylan’s gaze as they walked right past him, but he was nothing but amused.

Maybe a little aroused.

Fucker.

Cam pushed her to a seat on the couch bed and motioned for her to lay down.

“Get comfy. I’ll show you exactly what Lane and I were doing.”

“We don’t—it’s okay, there’s no need to?—“

Cameron pressed two confident hands against her shoulders and pushed her down to the cushions.

Then he picked up the half-deflated ball and held it out to her. “Feel it. See how there’s still air in it?”

Ashley squeezed the tough material between her fingers. “Yeah, sure,” she said, stomach twisting with nerves and?—

Cam stripped off his robe, revealing a few other red kiss marks along his collarbone and chest, and Ashley shut her mouth because she wasn’t sure what would come out of it besides the growl at the base of her throat.

His shorts were still intact, and now that she was close up, it was obvious there was cloth covering his important bits. From further away, it had looked more like a trick of the eye.

“We put this,” he began, grabbing the ball and placing it against his groin, “between us.” Then he crawled atop her.

Ashley huffed, and on the small mattress they had to make several adjustments to get all their body parts in place, but once they were…

“See? Nothing sexy about it,” Cameron said.

The ball was carefully placed between them, cupping Cam’s groin but smooth against her. “This keeps the actors from touching,” he said.

Then he moved.

Her cheeks flared, because it was a perfect mimicry of the real action, and she flashed back to every other time they’d been together. To Cam, desperate and needy and never satisfied.

“Are you still filming today?” she asked.

Cam shook his head.

“Good,” she muttered, and lifted her hand to smudge a lipstick mark off him with her thumb.

His skin pebbled beneath her touch.

He ground against her, the movements fluid and smooth as if they really were fucking, and Ashley tried to convince herself it wasn’t sexy. Maybe to him in the moment of filming it wasn’t, but here and now with him above her and his scent smothered with that actor’s light floral one and his lips stained on her omega’s skin…

Every part of the alpha in Ashley roared to life, because the only beta that belonged with Cam was River and?—

“Was River there?” she asked.

Cam nodded. “He’s always there.”

“And he doesn’t care?”

“Nah,” Cameron said.

“River’s not an alpha,” Dylan remarked dryly from across the room.

Fuck. Dylan was still here.

Ashley couldn’t see him around Cameron, but she felt his smugness through the bond and she wanted to smack him for it.

Cameron continued to move against her, and Ashley tried to deny the warmth blooming low and hot, but she couldn’t.

Ashley groaned and covered her face, cheeks aglow, and Cameron came to a stop, the ball resting between them.

“Surely you’re not getting turned on right now?” Cameron asked, a bit of disbelief in his voice.

“Bingo,” Dylan called out.

“Dylan, shut up!” Ashley griped.

“No,” he said simply, and his amusement chimed through the bond.

Fucker was so relaxed in the cuck chair, she’d let him stay there.

“It’s so not sexy when there are five people telling you to shift your elbow or tilt your head differently, or when you’re pausing every three minutes to rerun the same movements. Then there’s the lights and all the cameras and the reshoots from different angles and?—“

“I know, I know! I just can’t help it when we’re like—this,” she said, and motioned to their predicament.

“Wow,” Cameron mused. “You must be really attracted to me.”

“Oh my god,” Ashley groused, wanting to melt through the mattress and straight to hell.

“Nothing to be ashamed about. I know I’m pretty hot?—“

Ashley cut off Cameron’s words by cupping him around the back of the neck and pulling him down to her.

He tasted like mint, fresh and bright, and she wondered how many candy mints he’d eaten on set already.

Ashley reached between them and tore away that stupid deflated ball, tossing it off the small bed. Cam sank into her, right between her thighs, and this time when he ground into her, she could feel him.

She wasn’t the only one affected.

A muffled growl slipped out, and Ashley flipped them with a palm pressed to Cam’s shoulder, pushing him down to the mattress before she climbed atop the omega.

If Dylan wanted to watch, she’d give him a show.