Page 54 of Ashley & the A-Listers

She was pissed. Finally. An emotion.

He could kiss her.

He knew that wasn’t the right move.

“You have a right to be mad,” he said.

She huffed, groaning loudly, and it turned guttural a split second before she came at him.

She went for his middle section, and Dylan dodged wildly, already off balance, and he’d known he’d end up losing this battle before it’d even begun.

She aimed for his face and he blocked it at the last possible second. Then she repeated a move he’d seen a hundred times that day alone, sweeping his leg out and slamming into his shoulder at the same time.

He went down with anoof,and… stayed there, staring up at her. Her teeth were grit and she was glaring down at him, daring him to get back up.

But he didn’t want to keep fighting her. Dylan tilted his chin up, baring his throat to her, another alpha.

Her gasp was loud, before silence roared between them.

A moment later he felt the mat decompress as Ashley collapsed next to him.

The room was quiet except for their breaths.

The fight was over.

And Dylan had never stopped loving her.

13. ABSENCE

ASHLEY

Boxes and boxes and more boxes filled her vision. On the coffee table, on the floor, even in the chairs.

Photos.

Hundreds of photos of Ashley, her mom.

There were no photos of her dad, for good reason.

Ashley sat on the floor between the coffee table and couch, spreading photos out on the surface until they blurred.

She blinked the tears away, but more welled and fell.

It’d been like that for a few days now.

Which she supposed was normal when one lost their mom.

With a hole in her chest, she wanted nothing more than to pick up the phone and cry to her, to be held.

Any second, Ashley expected her to walk through the door, ask her about this ridiculous mess, and gather her up in a hug.

It carved her heart out every time she told herself that wasn’t possible anymore.

Ashley let out a pitiful sob and buried her face in her hands.

Her cheeks were hot to the touch from all the crying, but she couldn’t stop, didn’t know if she ever would.

How did people walk around with this much grief in their heart? Ashley couldn’t fathom going back to work, acting normal again.

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