Page 1 of Third Wheel

1

Amy

“What do you mean you don’t know where Jeremy is?” Amy stared at Jeremy’s best man, the man who was supposed to be standing beside him when she walked down the aisle, which she was supposed to be doing in less than ten minutes.

She was fully dressed.

Wedding gown. Makeup that had taken an hour to do. Hair that had taken nearly two. Veil. The only thing she didn’t have on were her shoes, which were her something blue.

Wes cringed, avoiding her gaze and staring at a point on her bare shoulder. She didn’t normally wear strapless dresses, but she’d made an exception for her wedding gown, stuffing herself into a strapless ballgown because Jeremy had once commented that those were the only dresses that truly looked ‘bridal.’ He’d had a lot of opinions about the wedding while they were planning it, which she’d thought was sweet. He’d shown more interest than many grooms she’d heard about.

Now…

Now, she was feeling trapped in a gown she couldn’t move very quickly in, and it was far too tight around her. It didn’tmatter that she wore corsets on a weekly basis; the one she was now wearing under her dress felt as if it was tightening with every breath she took, cutting off her air. Her head buzzed as Wes cleared his throat.

“Well, uh… he didn’t show up this morning…”

“Why not? He was with you last night, and you’re here.” Her voice was going shrill.

Reaching up to adjust the tie at his throat, Wes’ gaze skittered behind her at her bridesmaids. Her mom. Amy could feel all of them staring from behind her. Silent. Waiting. Like she was waiting for Wes’ answer.

“He, uh, wasn’t actually with me last night.” Wes was starting to sweat, his round, pale face slowly turning red as he continued to tug at his tie. His dark blond hair looked damp, though that might have been the gel he’d used to style it. “He promised he’d be here today, though, so I kept covering for him, but…”

But it was almost time for the ceremony to start.

Jeremy hadn’t been with Wes last night. So, where had he been?

Amy felt lightheaded. She really couldn’t breathe. Putting her hand on her stomach, she felt the lace and the boning beneath her palm and tried to focus on that sensation instead of the buzzing in her ears. Someone came up behind her, putting their hand tentatively on her shoulder.

“Maybe something happened to him,” she said. “Maybe he was in a car accident. We should… we should call the hospitals. Or the police. Something.”

“Baby, if he’d had an accident, we’d know. His parents are out there, remember? I told you, I saw them,” her mom said gently, moving her hand to rub the center of Amy’s back under the veil she’d borrowed from her.Something old.Something borrowed.

Jeremy wasn’t coming. Deep down she knew that, could feel the truth of it in her core, yet she wasn’t ready to admit it yet.

Behind her, she could hear her bridesmaids muttering to each other. Marissa, her maid of honor. Morgan. Carolyn. Sam. Her group of girls. Her besties. Well… almost all of them.

Her brain nudged at her.

Noelle was missing, too.

Not that it was that surprising. Amy hadn’t heard from her all week. She’d been relieved. Relieved when Noelle hadn’t answered her texts. Relieved when Noelle hadn’t answered the one call she’d made.

Relieved when Noelle hadn’t shown up today.

No. It’s not possible. He wouldn’t… she wouldn’t…

Wes kept staring at her, sweating. Her mother was murmuring soothing platitudes—it will be okay.But it wouldn’t. She already knew it wouldn’t be. The wedding wasn’t happening. It couldn’t happen when the groom wasn’t here.

And my bridesmaid is missing.

She was putting all the pieces together, but she didn’twantto.

This couldn’t be happening.

This wasn’t real.

This was another bad dream. Another stress wedding nightmare, like the ones she’d been having over the past month. Not that she’d ever had one remotely like this. And none of them had lasted this long. Or been this detailed.

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