Page 208 of Ashley & the A-Listers

“Don’t get a big head about it. Just because you learned how to talk things through, you think you’re sooo mature.”

“I’m extremely mature. I read books,” Dylan pointed out. She heard the amusement in his voice.

“Oh, is that the requirement?” she teased.

“One of them.”

Ashley sighed, tapping her fingers against Dylan’s chest. “I guess now all we need to do is figure out how to get the two of them to talk.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

They would.Shewould. She was the alpha, after all, and she was tired of failing.

It was time to bring this packtogether,instead of wedging them apart.

48. AMENDS

RIVER

He couldn’t get off set fast enough, like most days. Which of course meant three different people needed to talk to him, and he had to review a scene they’d shot that day. It was later than usual when he finally tossed his messenger bag over his shoulder and beat feet for the exit.

The metal bar clacked loudly against the door as he pushed it open, and he almost tripped as he saw who was waiting for him.

“There you are,” Ashley said softly.

“H-hey,” River greeted, glancing around for Cameron or Dylan.

“Just me,” she said, holding her hands up in a sign of awkward, playful surrender. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“What’s up?” he asked, gripping his bag to hold himself steady.

“Sorry to kind of ambush you,” she said, and brushed a hand through her hair. “Cam and Dylan went ahead already. I wanted to talk to you.”

If Cam and Dylan had gone ahead, why hadn’t Ashley gone with them? Weren’t they happy, all playing pack together?

He pushed the annoyance away. “Okay,” he said, hands beginning to sweat. “What’s up?”

It was getting chillier as filming went on, and she was dressed in an oversized sweater and jeans to combat the breeze. She looked cozy, comfortable, and… guilty. “I wanted to… apologize,” she said, brushing hair from her eyes.

River blinked. “What?”

“It wasn’t fair that I bonded Cameron without thinking. Not to either of you,” she said. “I really just… wormed my way in between the two of you, and didn’t realize how much distance I was creating.” She winced, shaking her head, and River was struck silent, surprised. “And I didn’t come here to give you something else to dwell over—I just wanted you to know… I understand. I’m sorry I hurt you, that I was too hung up on making my perfect pack without considering the consequences, or the people that might be hurt by my rash decisions. That wasn’t very pack alpha of me.”

Her half smile was sad, and together, in that moment, they commiserated over the situation they’d tangled themselves up in.

“I think Cam’s an easy person to love,” River said. “He pulls you into his orbit and when you’re there… it’s bliss.”

Blissful enough to ignore years of the same signs. “If you want to know the truth, I think we had an expiration date. I wasn’t happy, being a kept secret. And eventually I would’ve realized that, with or without your intervention.”

“I don’t believe that,” Ashley said, shaking her head, her frown even more severe. “I think thesecrethad an expiration date. Not you and Cameron. You love Cameron, and he loves you.”

River had done a pretty decent job at focusing strictly on work, and only wallowing in the evenings when he was in thehotel alone. Faced with it now, his hurt welled anew, and he gulped. “He sure had a funny way of showing it.”

“I’m not saying Cameron is blameless,” Ashley said. “And I'm not here to speak on his behalf; he has his own revelations to ponder. I came here to let you know you’re not alone, that I understand your frustration, and to apologize for my hand in it.”

River swallowed sharply. “Thank you. It… really hurt. That he chose you so easily. That you bonded him so suddenly. I think that’s on me more than it is on any of you.” She shouldn’t have to live her life tiptoeing around his insecurities.

“Iknew,” Ashley said, frustration with herself seeping into her tone. “I knew how you felt, and I still—” She cut herself off.

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