Page 10 of Third Wheel

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Zach was awake, though his voice was still thick with sleep. Amy cringed because now she had to facetwoof them. He pushed himself up beside her in the bed, stretching and yawning. “We knew it might happen. You said you were nauseous the whole way over here. We had a bucket and everything… you just… missed a little.”

Tears sparked in her eyes, and she gritted her teeth against the little sob that wanted to escape. She didn’t want them to feel like they had to comfort her on top of everything else.

“I should go.”

“You should take this.” Something cold nudged her shoulder, making her jerk, and she looked up to see that Kincaid was holding out the orange juice and two little white pills. The stern look on his face made her tongue tied, even though she wanted to argue with him. “You’re not going anywhere until you’ve had something to drink and eat. You need to rehydrate. Then you’re going to take a shower and brush your teeth. Sam is bringing over some clothes for you, then we’re meeting everyone at your… at… the house to grab your things.”

“I… oh.” Amy was about to at least try to argue when some of her memories from yesterday started to trickle back in at his words. She’d insisted that she wanted to be out of Jeremy’s housetoday.She didn’t want to wait. At least she hadn’t then. Now, faced with the fact that she was probably going to be living with the two men whose bedroom she was currently in, she wasn’t so sure.

To give herself some time to think and try to remember more, she took the orange juice and the pills from Kincaid, who smiled approvingly at her. That smile sent warmth flooding through her body in a way that made her blush, and she quickly popped the pills into her mouth and raised the glass of OJ to her lips to try to hide it. Behind her, Zach yawned again before reaching out to rub her shoulder. She felt the bed shift as he got up.

“Morgan and Asad volunteered to get boxes on their way over because there’s a place by them that always has a bunch that people can pick up. Carolyn has to work, but Marissa said she would come help. Your mom and dad are going to meet us there with food for everyone who is coming to help.” Kincaid rattled off the list of things that were happening like he was ticking little boxes in his head of how they were going to take care of everything. “On our way over, we’ll stop by the U-Haul to get the truck I rented. We’ve also invited everyone who is helping over for dinner tonight.”

Tears welled up again, for an entirely different reason this time.

When was the last time anyone had taken care of her like this? Made it so that she didn’t have to think about a single thing? Jeremy always expected her to plan everything. To arrange everything. Every single guy she’d ever dated had expected that of her. Even the ones who asked her out first never just planned the first date. She always told herself they were being respectful, making sure she had input when they didn’t really know her that well, but getting to know her better had never resulted in them doing more planning. The most Jeremy had ever planned was the proposal, and he’d gone for a classic—the ring in a glass of champagne during dinner at a fancy restaurant. Not exactly tailored to her.

Kincaid had taken care of organizing everything, renting the truck,andhad a thank you planned for the helpers. And there were so many helpers coming to assist. It made her feel warm and fuzzy all over, despite everything. Amy knew she sucked at asking for help—she’d rather just do things on her own—so to know that everyone was just jumping in… it made her feel guilty and relieved and so loved, all at the same time.

Yesterday, while she’d been getting drunk, she’d been dreading having to figure out how she was going to get all her stuff out of Jeremy’s house and to Zach and Kincaid’s. Part of her had also been wondering if it would be smarter to go live with one of her girlfriends… but honestly, she wanted Zach. Not like,wantwanted, but she felt safest thinking of being near him.

Plus, Zach would be preoccupied with Kincaid. They’d just gotten back together. Hopefully, she’d be able to just exist in the background while they focused on each other. If she went to Morgan or Sam’s, both of whom were in settled relationships, they’d end up focusing on her. And if she went to her parents while they went on their trip, not only would she not be able to go to work, but she would be entirely alone with nothing but her own thoughts.

Which sounded horrible.

If her parents canceled their trip so she wasn’t alone, she’d feel even worse than she already did.

Zach and Kincaid’s place was the best solution now that she was able to think through it again soberly.

“I’m going to take a shower, then I’ll be ready to go,” Zach said. Amy glanced at him. Unlike Kincaid, he was wearing nothing but boxers. He sniffed the air and shot an accusing look at Kincaid, who was rounding the side of the bed now that he was satisfied Amy was eating. “Where’s my coffee in bed?”

Kincaid just chuckled as he walked over to smack Zach’s ass.

“If I brought you coffee in bed, you’d never get out of it,” he said, turning from spanking Zach toward the door in one smooth motion. “Yours is waiting for you in the kitchen when you’re out of the shower.”

Zach grinned at him and headed to the door that Amy now knew led to the bathroom. She’d have to find another one to use soon because she needed to pee, but… coffee first. And time to gather herself.

She felt guilty for sitting in their bed, which she’d invaded, eating breakfast while they weren’t even there. On the other hand, it would probably be more awkward if they were unless they were eating, too, and it sounded like Kincaid didn’t make that an option for Zach.

Food helped settle her stomach, strangely enough, and the coffee was doing its job waking her up. Her head was starting to hurt less. So, physically, she was on her way up, and emotionally… emotionally she was in a million different places.

Hurt. Disappointed. Shamed.

Humiliated.

She hated knowing that everyone she cared about knew what a failure she was. Not just at failing to get married, but failing at picking out a good man to marry.

Yeah, Jeremy was the jerk who’d decided to elope with her bridesmaid on what was supposed to be their wedding day, but she was the dumbass who’d thought marrying him was a good idea in the first place. She was the one who’d missed all the signs leading up to the wedding that things weren’t as they were supposed to be. She was the one who’d ignored all the red flags he’d waved in her direction.

She knew there would be some people who were wondering what was so wrong with her, what she had done that Jeremy felt like it was okay to leave her that way.

She was pretty sure he’d be telling everyone that she’d cheated soon enough. But she hadn’t. She never would have.

So, why did she still feel so guilty?

Quietly eating, listening to Zach in the shower, she knew her conscience wasn’t entirely clear.

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