Page 2 of Third Wheel

The annoying sound she’d assigned to Jeremy on her phone for this week rang out, filling the room. She’d wanted to make sure she didn’t miss any important calls from him this week.

“My phone!” She spun in the direction of the table where she’d left it and lunged forward, one of her feet catching in the hem of her dress. Something ripped, but she didn’t stop. Shedidn’t care. She needed to know. Needed to find out what was going on.

Because this wasn’t a dream.

Morgan was already at the table, picking up the phone. She hesitated a moment before holding it out in front of her toward Amy, her green eyes filled with worry.

Shame flushed through Amy.

Her bridesmaids knew. Everyone in that stupid little room where she’d been getting ready knew.

But she couldn’t believe it.

Not really.

Not yet.

It was a video call.

She hit the accept button.

The screen blurred for a second, then cleared. Amy found herself staring at her missing groom and missing bridesmaid. Jeremy’s handsome face smirked back at her while Noelle was beaming, neither of them appearing in any way upset, the way she was. Amy blinked, not quite believing her eyes.

Jeremy was wearing a bowtie, and his hair was styled the way he’d said he was going to do for their wedding day. Noelle was wearing full makeup, her hair pulled back from her face, and she had something white atop her head.

“Hey, Amy, how’s it going?” Jeremy’s smirk was mean. Amy wasn’t sure she’d ever realized how mean his smirk was.

“Where are you?” Her voice didn’t sound like her own; it came out in a high squeak.

“We’re in Vegas.” Noelle’s eyes were bright as she held up her hand. There was a bright diamond ring on her ring finger.

A ring Amy recognized. Suddenly, her legs couldn’t hold her up anymore, and she found herself crashing to the floor, surrounded by lace and tulle, as she stared at the phone in her hand.

“We just got married.”

“I… I don’t understand.” Somewhere behind Amy, a door opened and closed. Someone had left the room, but she couldn’t make herself turn to see who it was. It felt like she was about to break apart into a million pieces. A scream rose up in her chest, but it was trapped there, unable to get out.

“How dare you?!” That was Amy’s mom, who knelt down on Amy’s skirt, wrapping a supportive arm around her shoulder. “What the hell is wrong with you, Jeremy?”

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way, Mrs. Newhart, but your daughter has been cheating on me for our entire relationship.” Jeremy might have started with an apology, but he didn’t sound or look sorry. “She lied to me.”

“I did not! You said you understood! You agreed!” Now, the tears were starting to come at the unjustness of his accusation. She would never—never—have done anything without Jeremy’s consent.

“Your daughter is a filthy pervert,” he continued, as if Amy hadn’t spoken. “She told me she needed to be whipped and hurt, and I wasn’t willing to hurt her that way. I tried to be understanding. I told her she could fulfill her needs at a club that she goes to, but she was cheating on me there.”

“I was not!”

“I’ve seen the pictures,” Jeremy sneered, his expression turning ugly for the first time. “Noelle was honest with me when you weren’t. She showed me what you were really doing.”

“I’m sorry, Amy. I just couldn’t keep perpetuating your lies. Not when I saw how it was hurting Jeremy. Not when we were falling in love. Please don’t hate us. You can’t blame us for having feelings.”

Everything was going grey at the edges of Amy’s vision. She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t defend herself. Couldn’t scream. Fight, flight, or freeze, and she froze. Hard. She wanted to throw herphone away from her, as far away from her as she could, yet she couldn’t loosen her grip, clinging to it like she would tumble off a cliff if she did.

“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t cheated on me. Noelle was there for me, Noelle?—”

Someone plucked the phone out of her hand.

Marissa.

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