Page 177 of Ashley & the A-Listers

They went on a few public dates, posing when they saw the paparazzi, Cameron whispering in her ear about where to look. She took over after that, scenting him appropriately, keeping him tucked into her side.

She got to play… alpha. Which wasn’t a play at all. It was real life.

“Thank you for doing this,” Cameron said as they took a perfectly planned walk through the park one weekend. Distantly, Ashley heard the snap of a camera or two, and she was learning to tune them out.

“Where else would I be?” she asked, gaze drifting from Cameron to River, who was on the other side of him. Holding hands. In public.

One night over dinner, at another tasteful but overly decorated restaurant, he laid a hand over her thigh, clad in the velvet of a new dress. “I’m going to give you the whole fucking world,” Cameron said softly.

Cameron melted into her when she purred, his sweet perfume blooming anew. River’s sly smile was captivating as he stared at them, and Dylan was… amused by the whole situation. Or at least he was good at pretending to be.

She hardly clocked him checking the exits and crowds every few minutes, no matter where they were. He was a good alpha. To her, to Cameron, to River.

So life was good. Better than good. It was everything she wanted, realized.

But… it couldn’t stay that way. Cosmically.

It didn’t take the paparazzi long to find the gym, and about three weeks into their new public relationship, she had to avoid a crowd of cameras to scan her card as she arrived.

Their flashes were bright even through the reflective film on the glass, and her heart sank.

Nic was waiting behind the desk, and for once, the smile he offered her wasn’t genuine. It was worried.

“Hey,” she greeted, a ball of nerves knotting her stomach.

“Hey, kid,” Nic said. “How’s pack life?”

“…Busier than I thought it would be,” she admitted.

Nic chuckled. “Well, you’re dating an A-lister. Don’t know what you expected.”

Ashley didn’t either, honestly. She’d taken Cameron’s agent’s advice and kept her distance from social media, but Kenzie and Jordan were keyboard warriors ready to defend her from everyanonymous post complaining about how Ashley must fuck all her celebrity clients.

She winced just thinking about it. Ugh.

She loved her career and had gotten here fair and square. Fuckers.

Ashley shook her head, laughing in disbelief. “Yeah, yeah.” She glanced over her shoulder at the windows, the crowd who couldn’t see in. Directing her attention to the rest of the gym, she noted a few high-profile clients eying the doors warily.

They’d left her alone for the most part. Until now. Ashley gulped. “They’re a problem, aren’t they? The paparazzi?”

“We should talk about this in the office,” Nic said softly.

Ashley’s stomach dropped, but she nodded, following Nic behind the standing desk and to his office.

“This is bad, isn’t it?” she asked.

Nic sighed, sitting beside her in front of the desk rather than circling it to sit in the leather chair on the other side.

It was bad.

“I’m going to leave the decision in your hands. You’ve been… a rock, Ashley. This gym wouldn’t be here without you. Literally. After the fires, I don’t know if I could’ve gotten this place up and running. However, we both know the paparazzi are a problem for the clients.”

Ashley nodded, her throat already tight at the thought of the solution.

“I’ve been around the block a few times. I know the paparazzi won’t be here forever. The news will lose steam and eventually they’ll fuck off,” Nic said.

But what about until then? Ashley tried to imagine Lyric showing up for training with that mess outside. She wouldn’t make it in the building.

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