Page 33 of Ashley & the A-Listers

“That so?” River questioned. “Doesn’t seem like it. Itseemslike she keeps glancing over here, wondering if you’re watching.”

“And I’m not. Because she doesn’t want me to watch.” As if reminded, he picked the book back up.

“Them’s not the vibes I’m getting,” River murmured.

“Well, you just got here. You don’t know the vibes,” Dylan hissed, lifting his book higher. His scent went a little dry, burning with irritation, and River wrinkled his nose.

“How’s the book, buddy?” River asked.

“It’s fine,” Dylan growled,almosta bark in his voice, but River smirked.

He reached over, grabbed the bottom of the book, and flipped it right side up.

“There ya go. Enjoy.”

His growl was low and rumbly, more annoyance than anything threatening.

River sat back in his chair and grinned when Ashley risked a peek once more. “What’s going on there?” he asked quietly.

“Nothing.”

“Liar,” River sang. “Did you kill her pet fish? Total her car? Oh! I know. I bet it’s a secret love affair.”

“That’s more your style, not mine,” Dylan drawled.

“Ouch,” River replied, and tried to let it roll off his shoulders.

Dylan placed his bookmark and shut his book. “It seems I’m going to get no reading done while you’re here. When are you going back?”

“Hmm, I don’t know,” River mused. “Seems more fun here.”

Dylan rolled his eyes again and it brought River great joy to poke at this intense alpha.

“Just watch,” River suggested. “Give it a minute.”

Dylan was a tense brick fucking wall next to him as they waited, and River noticed Dylan’s dark eyes flash as he watched Ashley kick Cameron’s ass.

She was a main character, like Axel. Could even be an asset to him. The two of them would team up, take down some big, corrupt organization with ease.

The script was writing itself.

Dylan was… an obstacle. Someone from her past that she needed to confront to move on, to give her motivation before the final battle.

He wondered how close to the truth that was, before remembering these were real people with feelings, and not characters on a page.

A spectacle of a character, at least in Ashley’s case.

And so was Cameron, don’t get River wrong. He’d stand in his man’s corner all fucking day, but this tension between the two alphas was particularly intriguing.

So River was watching when Ashley’s gaze flitted to them, noticing Dylan’s attention. She flushed, if not in color then in demeanor, and turned back to Cameron lightning-fast.

“See?” River said.

“I don’t see anything,” Dylan said, but he sounded slightly less convinced than he had moments ago.

“She wants you to watch. How curious,” River hummed.

“I doubt that,” he argued. “She practically hates me.”

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