Page 165 of Ashley & the A-Listers

RIVER

Cam sighed, his pill bottle of suppressants rattling as he pulled them out of the bathroom cabinet.

“Back to business, I guess,” Cam said, and opened the bottle to take one.

Relief filled River, which was unfortunate, and guilt flooded in right after. Cam’s heat was usually an oasis, practically a vacation for the two of them.

But this time had been… different.

Ashley had included him, yes—he flushed with heat just thinking about the way he’d fucked them both into the nest. But something had changed; something wasn’t settling right.

River wrapped his arms around Cam, his skin still warm from the shower. He pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “I enjoyed rolling around the nest with you for a few days. Thanks for having me there.”

Cam frowned in his reflection and spun to face him. “What? Don’tthankme. I want you there. It’s entirely selfish.”

River shrugged, a rattling at the bars of the cage his ribs made. “I’m glad. Love you,” he murmured, and Cam tilted his head up for a kiss. River was helpless but to deliver.

“I love you, too,” Cam murmured, lips grazing. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” River said. “Just in my head a bit. I don’t wanna go back to normal life.”

“You and me both,” Cameron agreed, and tugged him out of the bathroom and to the nest, which still smelled like honeyed vanilla and ginger and pussy. His own scent barely left a mark, but it was there, even if slight.

River busied himself at the closet, pausing with the doors open. “Aren’t you worried about smelling like the heat? Maybe we should wear clothes that are in the other room.”

Cameron’s lips tugged up. “You heard them last time. They don’t care.”

River scoffed. “They didn’t care aboutmyscent. Ashley’s different.”

Bitterness leaked into his tone, and he swallowed it down. It didn’t matter.

He pulled a shirt out of the closet, one that matched Cameron’s eyes. When he turned to offer it, Cameron was inches away, and curled his arms around him like a friendly octopus.

“What’s going on in there?” Cam asked, and poked a finger into his forehead. River’s eyes crossed as he followed the digit.

“You’re practically fresh out of heat, I don’t want to bother?—“

“Your first mistake was thinking you’reevera bother,” Cam said, frown in place, which was exactly what River was trying to avoid. He smoothed a finger over the bunched brow.

Conversations are hard.Hadn’t he said that to Dylan before?

“Tell me,” Cam demanded.

“I think I’m just feeling a bit territorial,” River said. “About you. With Ashley.”

That frown returned. “I thought you liked her?”

His scent was oozing stress already, and River rushed to reassure him. “I do, I do! I think she’s perfect for you. Us,” he corrected, cheeks flushing as he remembered some of the thingsshe’d said to him during the heat. “I guess I just wish…” River huffed. “I know I’m a beta. I just wish my scent mark meant as much as hers does.”I wish I meant as much as she does.

Cam framed his face. His palms were warm against River’s face. “It matters tome. Iknow your marks are there.Ican smell you, andIknow what that means, even if no one else does.”

“What if I want other people to know?” River asked. “Iloveyou. And I want the world to know it. I wanna shout it from the rooftops.”

Fear struck River suddenly. What if Cam just didn’t love him the same way? What if hedidn’twant the world to know, for reasons that ran deeper than management? Than image?

Abort.

River would rather live a lie than learn that Cam was just like everyone else he had ever been with. Stringing him along until someone better came around.

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