Page 27 of Ashley & the A-Listers

He knew he sounded a bit whiny even inside his own head, but he’d allow it for the moment. Tomorrow he’d be back to normal and kicking Ashley’s ass on the mat.

He snorted.

Yeah, right.

Ashley had been practically throwing him around the room.

Turns out kickboxing was a lot harder than it seemed.

But he’d get it together. He was already leagues ahead of where he’d started, and it had only been a week. Despite Dylan’s gloomy mood and the tension that filled a room whenever he and Ashley shared one, he’d been learning a lot from the alpha.

She kicked ass.

Sometimes he just wished it wasn’t his own.

Maybe she should kick Dylan’s ass. They could work out their issues on the mat.

That’s… not a bad idea,Cameron decided, eyes popping open.

They were going to be working together formonths,and Cameron couldn’t handle the tension between them for that long. They needed to work out whatever the hell was between them, and they needed to do it fast.

What better way than knocking Dylan down a peg or two, and giving Ashley a chance to make him regret whatever he’d done to her?

Cameron eventually fell asleep, visions of Ashley pummeling Dylan into the gym floor dancing through his head.

6. SHOWING OFF

ASHLEY

Ashley winced as she stepped outside, beelining for her car beneath the bright morning sun.

Sunglasses. Coffee.

The two necessities.

Traffic was busy, stretching her short commute far too long, but shestillhad enough time to stop at a local coffee shop.

“Thank god,” she muttered, pulling into a parking space.

It was crowded, go figure. But she wouldn’t let a handful of other caffeine fiends get in her way.

The bell on the door dinged and she waved at one of the familiar baristas, Clarissa, who always made her coffeesoperfectly, before getting in line.

The analog clock on the back wall confirmed she had a few minutes to spare, and the line was thankfullymoving!Small mercies.

Her gaze trailed back down, setting on the person in front of her, whose sandy blond hair was messy and shoulders were wide. Silently, she appreciated his shape, and wondered if his back rippled with movement beneath his sweater like she imagined.

It would be so easy to reach for his shoulder, offer a dazzling compliment, and squeeze her hand to feel the muscles beneath.

But that wassuperalpha behavior and Ashley was… working on it.

She was a good girl and stayed in line as it moved a bit too slowly for her liking.

He smelled nice, his scent trying to break through the burn of hot espresso. She could only get a whiff—a weak suggestion of papers and ink, and maybe even a hint of smoke.

Ashley shook her head and averted her attention to the little display of breakfast foods.

A little extra protein couldn’t hurt anybody this morning, could it?

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