Page 218 of Ashley & the A-Listers

The pack house they moved into was… bigger than it had been in the pictures. A room for each of them and two offices, a dreamy nest, a finished basement that could easily be turned into a gym, and a dining room and kitchen that would fit all of them, even Kenzie and Jordan when they came to visit.

“Please be cool,” Ashley begged them, once her pack had moved inenoughto warrant a visit.

“I’m so cool,” Kenzie lied.

“The coolest,” Jordan followed.

Except when Kenzie came face-to-face with Cameron, she promptly dropped Jordan’s hand, who looked so absolutely offended it made Ashley laugh, and she fanned her face, swallowing a squeal. “Oh my god, hi,” she greeted, with so much enthusiasm Jordan snorted jealously.

“Shut up, it’s not everyday I meet acelebrity,” Kenzie hissed.

Ashley had a feeling the newly-established couple would be discussing that later.

“Oh, it’syou,” Kenzie drawled when meeting Dylan for the first time. “Kidding!” she beamed, and Dylan visibly relaxed.

Ashley shook her head at the antics.

Eventually they broke in the nest, Cameron’s heat hitting harder than Ashley recalled the first time. River’s cologne was ingrained in everyfiberof that nest by the time it was over.

In blissful exhaustion, Ashley lay flat on her back, Cameron half on top of her. River was behind him, and they were sharing a knowing smile, trying not to laugh as Cameron snored softly.

They should be sleeping, recovering, but Ashley wasn’t quite ready to fall asleep yet. She wiggled her fingers, tapping them across River’s right arm, which was curled around Cam’s waist.

“Do all these flowers have a story with them, like the one you told me about?” She’d gotten the tattoo tour before, of course, when he’d told her the names of the flowers. She’d Googledthem, learning their meanings, but had never been brave enough to ask about the stories.

“Most of them, yeah. Or just general meaning to me.”

“What about the river?” she asked suspiciously, tapping the fountain pen, which drew the shape of an actual river on his arm.

“I think we all know why I have that one,” he said, proud of his little joke.

Ashley rolled her eyes—affectionately.

“Amaryllis is pride,” he said, tapping one flower near the top of his shoulder. “For obvious reasons.”

Ashley smiled, moved her finger toward a purplish flower. “Hollyhock,” she guessed, and he nodded.

“Means ambition. I got it when I graduated college, because I was getting discouraged. I wanted to remind myself what I was there for.”

Her finger drifted over a clapboard and some text that readthe end. in capital courier letters, over the ferns—which meant many different things to many cultures, including magic and fascination, even secret bonds of love.

“This last one is a gardenia. I got it about a year into my and Cam’s relationship,” he murmured. “Means secret love, surprise.”

Ashley hummed a soft, understanding noise, wishing he was close enough to kiss. Instead she squeezed his arm and nudged her foot into him.

“I think I want to get a new one,” River said.

“Oh yeah? Right here?” she asked, circling her finger around a blank space at the crook on the inside of his elbow. “Do you know what you want?”

“I know exactly what I want,” he said.

“What flower?” she asked, oblivious, stroking the skin.

“Ashley,” he said, and she turned her head at the sound of his voice, the knowing tone of it.

His gaze was green and bright and half-lidded andpointed.

It took Ashley a moment, her brain working slowly as River’s eyes bounced from omega to alpha and back again.

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