Page 20 of Third Wheel

Except she was as mad at herself for grieving as she was at Jeremy for being such a jerk. She was even more mad at herself for trusting Noelle so much. For trusting both of them.

The madder she got, the harder she scrubbed at the spot on the stove that she was trying to get out. It was Friday afternoon, both the guys were at work, and she was determined to make their house spotless before they got home. She’d spent the morning listening to theMartinis and Murderpodcast while she cleaned, but for the afternoon, she’d switched over to theTortured Poets Department.

Everything but the last two songs fit her mood perfectly.

She’d turned the volume all the way up, so when it suddenly cut off completely, she jumped and screamed in surprise, whirling around. Kincaid stood there, one eyebrow raised, hand hovering over the speaker she’d connected her phone to.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said a little sheepishly. Even hunching his shoulders a little, he couldn’t exactly make himself look small.

Today, he’d gone to work in a suit, and he must have taken the jacket off when he’d come home because now he only had on the light blue button-down shirt he’d been wearing beneath it. The sleeves were rolled up, showing off his forearms, which she tried very hard not to look at because it reminded her of Sunday night, even though Zach had been the one to actually spank her. Her scalp tingled, as though she could still feel his fingers in her hair.

Get over yourself, Amy. Stop lusting after men you can’t have.

Probably shouldn’t be lusting at all.

But with heartbreak came the urge for a rebound, and there was definitely a part of her that wanted to lose herself and her mind in a night of really hot, amazing sex. Just, obviously, she couldn’t do that with Kincaid. Or Zach. Or both of them.Oh my God, stop thinking about it.

“It’s okay.” She made herself smile at him, even though her heart was still racing, and her head was full of impure thoughts about two men who were just being nice to her and trying to help her out. God, she was pathetic. “I just didn’t realize you were going to be home so soon.”

“Finished up my meeting early.” He leaned against the counter, his gaze scanning over the kitchen. “Wow. It looks amazing in here. Thank you for cleaning.”

She snorted, waving her hand in deprecation.

“I figure it’s the least I can do, considering how you and Zach have opened your home to me and taken care of me all week.”

Kincaid tilted his head to the side, his gaze sharpening as he focused in on her. “You think we’ve been taking care of you all week?”

She stared at him for a moment, wet sponge squishy against her palm, before she answered.

“Um… yes.” Duh.

“You do realize you’ve made dinner every night this week, right?” The eyebrow he raised now was twice as effective as the one he’d greeted her with. “You also made lunches for us every morning.”

“Oh, well… I mean, you’re both working. I’ve just been here.”

“You also tried to take out the trash on Wednesday. And you did gather up everything in the house before Zach or I realized what you were doing and actually took it out.”

“Well… I’m just trying to be a good housemate.”

“How many of the rooms did you clean today?”

Okay, now she was starting to feel a little pissy about how he was questioning her. Couldn’t he just accept the gesture? Why did he need to poke and prod at what she was doing?

“Are you saying it’s a bad thing to help out around the house? That it’s bad that I want to do something for you and Zach since you’re letting me stay here?”

“No.” He said it so definitively, she couldn’t even argue.

Amy shifted her gaze away from his, feeling uncomfortable with exactly how deep it pierced.

“I’m saying you shouldn’t feel like you have to earn staying here. You’re paying rent, we already talked about that, remember? Which means we should be sharing in the chores around the house. I just don’t want you to think that you have to do this next week, too, after you go back to work. If you’re working off excess energy around the house this week, I get it, but you are part of this household even if you hadn’t lifted a single finger.”

Now, she was definitely uncomfortable. And pissed, though she wasn’t sure why she was mad. Her skin was hot, and her stomach was churning the way it did before a fight. The excess energy he’d mentioned was buzzing underneath her skin and making her want to lash out, but that wasn’t any way to thank someone who had opened their house to her. Yes, she was paying rent, but she was also well aware that she was an intruder into his and Zach’s life.

“You could just say thank you,” she muttered, then dared to peek at him to see how he reacted.

The dark, piercing gaze that met hers was full of contemplation, and he was silent for a long enough moment that she wanted to squirm, then melt into a puddle of shame. If she was a puddle, she’d be able to slide away, unnoticed, instead of having to stand here with someone who saw her far too clearly.

“Thank you for cleaning up the house, Amy,” he said very formally after a long moment.

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