Page 41 of Ashley & the A-Listers

“I know,” Cameron groaned, and laid himself down on River’s chest, head over his heart, nuzzled there.

He heard the steady thump of his heartbeat and took comfort in it.

“I was reacting instead of thinking,” Cameron admitted. “I was just so excited. Didn’t expect you to just… show up!” he sighed happily.

Cam supposed he hadn’t expected to react so strongly, either.

“I missed you, too,” River said, and hugged him.

“Keeping it a secret sucks,” Cameron muttered.

“I know, I know. I don’t like it either. And if you ever want to…”

Cameron pushed up into his palms to meet River’s gaze. Those green eyes were so pretty, and—as they always were when broaching this subject—intense. So easy to get lost in, to make Cam want to walk right out to the balcony and shout about how much he loved River, consequences be damned.

Dozens of camera flashes interrupted his fantasy, the bite of his management’s rules sharp on the back of his neck.

Here, in this nest that felt more like home every moment that River’s scent sank into the fabrics, there was no room for any of that—only soft blankets beneath his knees and the pillows that River could easily push him down into until he was surrounded by the scent of late-night writing and smoke.

It was safe here, in secrecy.

“Iwantto,” Cameron swore. “But management keeps insisting, and?—“

River cut him off with a kiss, a chaste, easy one, and the intensity faded. “I know, sorry. I know why we can’t. It just sucks, like you said.”

“Maybe Ashley will keep putting us in that private room, and you can come to training with me.”

“Yeah? You told her pretty easily,” River said, hesitation in his voice.

Cam’s cheeks flushed. “I think I jumped the gun a little. But she’s good people. I can tell.”

He didn’t regret telling her. He’d just been so ecstatic to see River, he’d let himself slip, and the way she’d rolled so casually with it made him want to confide in her. But that wasn’t very fair to River.

“I’m sorry,” Cameron said again, drawing a pattern into River’s chest with his finger. “It’s not fair that I got to tell someone so willy-nilly and you don’t get to.”

River smiled softly up at him, but he couldn’t quite disguise the disappointment in time. “Babe, it’s okay,” River said, sliding his hands up Cam’s thighs. “It wasn’t willy-nilly. I know she signed an NDA,” River drawled.

“And that,” Cameron agreed, nodding his head.

“You don’t like your other trainers like this,” River mused.

Cam shrugged. “Karate is really intense. I feel out of my depth there, but boxing feels… more fun.”

“How is crossfit?”

“Oh my god,” Cam groaned, and felt every muscle protest just at the thought. “I’m discovering muscles I didn’t know I had.”

“My poor, poor, overworked omega,” River teased.

Cameron whined and buried his head in River’s neck, inhaling deep. He smelled like the office at River’s house, an all-nighter. Ink and paper and smoke and coffee.

Just traces of it, in that beta way, not overwhelming like an alpha’s scent could be.

Though there wasn’t much that was overwhelming while Cameron was on suppressants. His own scent was dulled, hissense of smell barely existent—even his sex drive suffered, for christ’s sake.

Or at least, it normally did, when he didn’t have anyone to tempt him.

But River was here, beneath him, looking very sexy with that half-lidded expression he knew drove Cam insane.

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