Page 133 of Ashley & the A-Listers

“He’s anomega!?” Kenzie screeched as Jordan grabbed her shoulder, and Ashley paused, mouth open.

Fuck. She’d left that out, hadn’t she?

“Okay, fine, yes. He’s an omega! Not my only omega client, I’ll remind you. But an omega that I definitely have…” She thought of the last time Cam had gotten her down to the mat, the way they’d panted together, and then the scent mark when he’d helped her up. “...Chemistry with.”

“Okay, so what’s giving you pause?”

“You can’t judge me,” Ashley told them.

“Babe, this is a safe space! Tell me all your sins,” Kenzie cried.

“I’m afraid of what my other clients will think,” she admitted. The people she had to face everyday as a trainer. What did it say about her as a trainer if she ended up dating one? “Do I fuck all my clients to get them?” She could hear the gossip now, see the comments online, see… fuck, headlines. Cam wasfamous.”Dating or bonding or packing up with this omega would change my whole life. He has a bodyguard to help with paparazzi, for god’s sake. Is indulging myself in this omega worth risking everything on?” She didn’t want to be known as the trainer who fucked her clients.

Kenzie and Jordan sobered as Ashley spoke, and when she finally glanced up, she found them deep in thought. They shared a look before Kenzie spoke.

“Well. How does it feel to be with this omega?”

Ashley paused, turning her attention inward. Cameron was… exciting. Attractive.Spoiled,she thought with a soft smile. He was playful and fun and talented and competent.

“Okay, well, we already know from that look on your face,” Jordan said, pointing at her.

Ashley covered her mouth and felt the curl of a grin there, felt it in her chest, too—a flutter of something she hadn’t felt until… until she saw Dylan again.

“Is that worth more to you than what some judgmental idiots have to say?”

She wanted to say yes. But this was her career, her life. That gym had supported her foryears,seen her through some dark times. It’s how she’d met her very best friends, the same ones comforting her now.

How did she know this wouldn’t be a passing fling? That Cam wouldn’t move on to filming and forget all about her? She just couldn’t trust it yet.

Hell, Cameron kept his boyfriend of two years a secret, still.

Would he want to keep her a secret, too? For the sake of his career?

Ashley paused, locking onto the parallel.

It had never occurred to her to keep Cameron a secret. She supposed that would solve her problem, if no oneknewshe was dating a client. But the thought sat wrongly at the front of her mind and she shook it away.

When she committed, she committed.

Clearly,she drawled internally, and her bond mark tingled as if to emphasize her point.

“You don’t have to make any decisions right now.” Jordan said, the voice of reason. “You still have weeks to make up your mind, get to know this omega more.”

“So, sorry. Who are you again?” Kenzie teased. “Mated. Bonded. With a pack on the way?”

“No one said anything about a pack,” she whined.

Except Nic. Dylan. The tiny little voice in the back of Ashley’s head that she kept ignoring.

“Your client is an omega. You’re an alpha. Dylan’s an alpha. Sounds like pack material to me.”

River is his beta,Ashley added in her head. Even if they were a secret, they were meant for each other. She kept her mouth shut and shrugged.

“I can’t promise anything, and I’m not—I mean, I onlyjustsolidified things with Dylan. Like you said, there are still conversations to have.”

Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket.Joining us for dinner tonight, or having dinner with your friends?From Dylan.

Dinner with friends. Enjoy your night, see you guys in the morning?

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