Page 66 of Ashley & the A-Listers

“Uhh… I didn’t get that far,” Cam said. “We’ll talk about it and let you know. Can I text you?”

“Of course,” she said.

“Great!” Cam said, a bit too loudly, and lowered his voice. “Great,” he said again, and nodded.

River snorted and covered the lower half of his face with a hand, and Ashley tried to ignore it, but humor bubbled up inside her.

“See you tonight, then,” Cam said, and practically skipped to the front door.

Ashley watched them go, and offered them a wave as they left the gym, shaking her head as the door closed.

“What was that?” a voice asked behind her, right as Ashley turned to tidy up their corner of the gym.

She jolted and placed a hand over her heart. “Jesus, Nic. Give a girl a warning,” she muttered.

The beta didn’t look the least bit sorry. “Did you just get invited to dinner?”

Rolling her eyes, Ashley moved past Nic and began collecting the towels and training equipment they’d used.

“Are they taking you out for your birthday?” he asked.

Ashley shrugged. “Didn’t tell them it was my birthday. They just want to celebrate a whole month of training. No big deal.”

“You, Ashley, never accept dinner invites from clients.”

Ashley averted her gaze. “There’s no rules against it…right?” she asked, just in case something had changed and she’d missed the memo.

Nic was quick to shake his head, even waving a hand. “Of course not. You can do what you want on your own time. I’m just nosy, give me a break,” he whined.

“Great,” she said, and nodded once in a dismissal.

Stubborn Nic of course did not pick up on it, or chose to ignore it outright. Wouldn’t surprise her.

“You and Cam seem to be getting on nicely,” he hedged.

Ashley came to a stop, arms full of equipment. “Nic. Remember those boundaries we talked about?”

He downright pouted at her. This grown-ass man, her boss,poutedat her.

“I just haven’t ever seen you really put yourself out there. I’m excited for you, that’s all!”

“This is not like that,” she told him. “We’re not courting or anything,” —her heart raced at the thought— “this is just a casual dinner where we celebrate Cam’s accomplishments. In case you missed it, he’s kind of been kicking ass.”

“Yeah, yeah, Iknow,” Nic said. “And that’s all thanks to you!”

“Which is probably why he’ll buy dinner,” Ashley guessed, even though a small part of her wanted to buy dinner instead.

Her hindbrain was all,Provide for omega!

And Ashley was all,Be a reasonable person!

“All I want to say is keep your mind open. I mean, I got all packed up when I least expected it. Maybe the same could happen for you.”

Ashley sighed and nodded, if only to appease him. “I’m not keeping my hopes up, but I will keep my mind open,” she parroted, and Nic seemed happy with her answer.

He patted her on the shoulder. “I’ve always wondered what kind of pack you’d end up with. I hope I get to see it happen in real time. Love you, kid.”

Rolling her eyes, Ashley refrained from reminding Nic that she wasn’t that much younger than him. “Yeah, yeah. Now let me get back to work.”

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