Page 145 of Ashley & the A-Listers

Cameron was on suppressantsallthe time. He took them twice a day, morning and night. It supposedly made it easier to go about life, to focus on his career. He wasn’t distracted by alphas on set, or concerned with scent marking, or hyperaware of the people around him.

Cam’s hindbrain was trapped behind a chemical wall about ninety percent of the time. He was unfamiliar with it, so unused to the demands it made of him, that he was often surprised by its arrival.

After River left him with all his new gifts, he felt giddy and excited, and set to work.

Many of the blankets and pillows still smelled like the plastic or paper bags, so he disposed of the wrapping and then went about organizing.

He folded and arranged and tidied and stacked before taking it all down and trying again because it didn’t feel right.

Then he spied the last bag, the one by the door, with the blanket Ashley had gotten him.

It was a huge, impossibly soft, heavy blanket. And it must have sat in her car for a while, because itsmelledlike her.

Did that mean she’d had it for a while? How long had she hung onto it before deciding to give it to him?

Citrus and ginger, a zing that brought him to life as much as it… relieved him.

He reorganized the nest with the colorful blanket at the center. With the other pillows and the blankets River had gotten him, the explosion of color in the room almost made up for the severity of the white throughout the rest of the apartment.

He sank into the center of the nest, finally tidy and perfect. Surrounded by River’s and Ashley’s scents, though both lighter than he wanted.

The lighting was low, nothing but a strand of dimmable light hidden by the moulding near the ceiling.

He sighed as he sank into all the pillows, muscles relaxing, stress fading.

A while later he heard the door open, followed by a soft chuckle. “You look comfy,” River said, leaning against the doorway. The light was brighter out there, the white paint downright offensive after melting into this comfy haven.

“Get in here,” Cameron said, and pushed a blanket over to make a River-sized hole next to him.

River shut the door behind him and padded down into the nest. He was freshly showered, smelling like the body wash Cam had stocked in the bathroom on the other side of the apartment.

Beneath it, he smelled like River, and Cam wanted to bask in the scent of him, the ink and paper and smoke.

“I don’t really think my suppressants have worn off,” Cam muttered.

He felt the pressure. He had to be done with his heat in a week, and the schedule wasn’t forgiving.

“Really?” River asked, lips twitching as he laid down.

Cam immediately rolled into him, burying his face in River’s neck, inhaling, wanting every bit of his scent.

“You sure about that?” River asked, and Cam paused.

He sat up, pursing his lips. “Oh.”

“You’ve been nesting for two hours,” River pointed out, reaching up to push Cam’s hair back.

“Well. It wasn’t perfect,” Cameron said, nuzzling into the hand near his face.

“It is now?” River asked.

“Yeah, you’re here,” Cameron whispered.

He wasn’tnothorny, but he wasn’t in the throes of heat yet. He pressed a kiss to River’s palm and then laid back down beside the beta.

His scent was comforting, and Cam pressed his nose into River, hunting the strongest bit of it, wanting to wrap it around him like another blanket.

“Tomorrow morning,” Cameron guessed. His skin wasn’t even itchy yet.

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