Page 19 of Third Wheel

Not a jealous twinge, just a…

He didn’t know.

All he knew was that he’d never expected to be standing in his home in the morning, drinking coffee, with the two most important people in his life standing there together. They’d always been kept so separate. It felt both strange and familiar at the same time, like déjà vu, even though he knew it had never happened before.

There wasn’t a good way to explain it.

Amy took a deep breath, avoiding both his and Kincaid’s gazes as she moved around Kincaid to take her empty coffee mug to the sink, rinsing it out and putting it in the dishwasher as she spoke.

“Right. So, thank you for breakfast. I need to go take a shower and… figure out what I’m going to do with my day.” She skittered out of the kitchen before either of them could respond, not that Zach was sure what he was going to say.

Lifting his gaze to Kincaid’s, he looked at his partner helplessly. Kincaid’s mouth twisted in unhappiness, but he shrugged one shoulder.

“We might need to give her some space,” he said softly, obviously wanting to make sure that Amy wouldn’t be able tooverhear him. “She was pushed pretty far yesterday. It might be good for her to have some time alone to think.”

Right. Zach nodded.

Watching him, Kincaid tilted his head to the side, then stepped forward, opening his arms to wrap them around Zach. He hugged the other man back, resting his chin on Kincaid’s shoulder and letting out some of the tension he’d been holding. Since they’d gotten back together fairly recently, he appreciated moments like this far more than he had before their breakup.

He closed his eyes, leaning on his boyfriend and wishing he knew what to do for Amy.

He also believed they’d figure it out.

Together.

8

Amy

The week of her honeymoon felt entirely surreal and not just because she wasn’t on her honeymoon. Her life had fallen apart, yet she didn’t feel as bad as she probably should. That was largely due to Zach and Kincaid.

They had to go to work every day—though Kincaid’s hours were more flexible than Zach’s, and he was also working at home part-time—which meant she had the house to herself most of the time during the day. Even when Kincaid was working from home, he spent most of his time in his office on the phone or the computer, leaving her to her own devices.

She didn’t love that part.

But she also didn’t feel totally alone.

Zach texted her multiple times throughout the day. Whenever Kincaid was home, he was constantly checking to see if she needed anything—hiding away in her room didn’t keep him from doing so. If anything, it seemed to make him more concerned and more interested in what she was doing, so she still couldn’t wallow alone in there.

Every evening, one of her friends surprised her by stopping by for dinner, except for Marissa who had had to leave town for work again. But she called on the evening no one was coming over. Amy was surprised, though Kincaid and Zach weren’t.

It was Sam who quietly confirmed that Kincaid was behind the scheduling.

To keep from going crazy while she was alone, Amy spent her days being as busy as possible. There was a lot to do, and as long as she didn’t think about why she was doing it—like mailing back unopened gifts and answering emails from concerned friends and family members—she was just fine. If she thought about it as though she was her own secretary doing admin work, it became downright easy.

I’m not Amy, devastated by having to explain to yet another concerned cousin that I’m doing just fine… I’m writing this email on behalf of Amy.

I’m not Amy, so I don’t need to cry over going to the post office with an armful of boxes for four days in a row… I’m mailing these gifts back on behalf of Amy.

Though, she did deliberately go to a different post office each day. The drive as she went farther afield helped clear her head, and that way, she didn’t feel like the workers were wondering what the hell she was doing there for four days in a row, mailing multiple boxes. She didn’t need the judgment of strangers; she was already judging herself hard enough.

Her parents checked in every other day, too, despite being on their trip. At least those calls were brief.

The catharsis she’d felt after the scene Zach and Kincaid had given her was slowly wearing off over the week, but at the same time, she didn’t feel like she could ask them for more. They’d already done too much.Weredoing too much. Giving her a room to stay in, helping her move her stuff, having her friends come over…

They didn’t need a needy, clingy houseguest hanging on them all the time just because she was dumb enough to get engaged to a total asshole.

I think I might be working my way toward the anger portion of grieving.

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