Page 32 of Ashley & the A-Listers

“It’s quite the read so far. Lots of politics and stolen moments,” Dylan admitted. “And I’d quite like to keep reading, so if you don’t mind…”

“As long as you don’t get any ideas,” River said. The last thing he wanted was for this alpha to secretly pine over River’s boyfriend, secret or not.

Dylan arched a brow at him and River met his eyes bravely. “Believe me. The last person I’m interested in is Cameron.”

The nose wrinkle was a step too far, but River believed him, and mimed zipping his lips shut.

So he turned his attention to the pair on the mats, and tried to keep most of his gaze on Cameron… who hit the mats with athumpas Ashley swept his feet out from beneath him. She wasnotgoing easy on the omega, that was for sure, and it made River smile. Damn, Ashley was downright gorgeous, competent, and a badass.

“Comeon,” Cameron whined at one point, and Ashley just grinned, feral in her intensity.

“Again,” she told him as she ran him through another drill and corrected his placement. She tapped his lower back and abs, directing him totighten up,and River snorted as Cameron groaned.

“Please, god, deliver me from my suffering,” Cameron muttered.

“You got this!” River called out, encouraging.

Ashley shot him a grin, and Cameron offered a wobbly thumbs-up.

“You know, if you guys are going to remain a secret, you’ve gotta be more lowkey,” Dylan grumbled.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, he ran to you like a long-lost love when you walked in the gym. It was a good thing no one was paying any attention, because the other celebs here would’ve clocked it.”

“They’d mind their own business,” River said, waving a hand. Internally, he realized Dylan was right. “But I’m aware. I just missed him.”

“Save it for the apartment.”

A snappy response was on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it. Despite how much Cam complained about Dylan, he was only there to look out for Cameron. Dylan didn’t deserve his ire.

Dylan knew, of course, that River and Cameron were a secret item. Something about needing to know everything about the client he’d be guarding so there were no surprises.

River tried to ignore the bit of giddiness that reared its head every time he remembered someoneknew.Another person he didn’t have to lie to about the best part of his life.

That privilege only extended to a few people, like Cameron’s management, recently Dylan, and probably soon, Ashley.

Speaking of…

River was watching closely, and among finding peeks of the moves he’d written come to life, he noticed something else.

Every few minutes, Ashley’s gaze shot in their direction—no.

In Dylan’s direction.

And each time, the bodyguard was buried in his book.

River leaned over. “She keeps looking at you, y’know.”

For the first time, River watched the alpha go on alert. He tensed, stilling in an unnatural way, and River knew he suddenly wasn’t seeing a damned word on that page. “No, she’s not.”

“Hmm. But she is, though, is the thing.”

River watched it happen once more. “There it is,” he said.

Dylan lowered the book for a moment, cheeks flushing, and River smirked. “Cameron mentioned some…tensionbetween the two of you.”

“There’s no such thing,” he answered far too quickly.

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