Page 22 of Third Wheel

Huh.

Sam might have a point. It had felt a bit like a dance with Kincaid, and although Zach had been firm in insisting he do the dishes, she was butting heads with Kincaid more than Zach over the day-to-day stuff.

“Just make sure to let him do some things for you,” Sam continued. “He needs it.”

Crap.

Now, she felt guilty.

At least she was letting him make dinner tonight. She’d have to do more of that, even though it felt wrong to sit back and let someone else handle everything. Well, obviously, she didn’t feel that way in the bedroom, but in everything else, it felt like she was supposed to be doing something.

Crap.

Was this how she’d been making Kincaid feel by doing everything? Like he was itchy and useless because she’d taken over doing everything around the house?

Turning to face the wall, phone still to her ear, Amy gently banged her head against the flat surface. She couldn’t do it too loudly because she didn’t want Kincaid or Sam to hear her.

She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed that about Kincaid and hadn’t been thinking about how she might make him feel. No wonder he’d been slow to thank her. No wonder he’d been pointing out everything that she’d been doing. She just hopedhe didn’t think she was deliberately trying to take his place or something.

Maybe they could figure out a chore chart.

“Right. I will definitely make sure I let him do some things for me.”

“You’ve been doing everything, haven’t you?” Sam’s amusement was unabated.

“Not the dishes.”

“Uh-huh.” Then Sam’s voice shifted, and Amy kind of wished she’d stayed amused. “Is everything else okay? How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.” Standard answer. And true. She was as fine as she could be.

“Are you sure? Even with Jeremy and Noelle coming home tomorrow?” Sam’s voice had softened; she was apologetic, but she was still asking. Still prodding at the wound.

“I don’t see how that’s going to affect me.” At least she was going to do her best to make sure itdidn’taffect her. That nothing either of those people ever did ever affected her again.

“Well, good. But if you need me, all you have to do is call. That goes for all your friends. Or… do you want to hang out tomorrow?”

“Aren’t you going to the club tomorrow?”

“I don’t have to.”

As if she was going to keep her friend from doing something she enjoyed just to babysit her. She wasn’t that pathetic.

“No, go. If I need you, I’ll come there.” Even as she said the words, her nose wrinkled in reaction. She wasn’t quite ready to return to Stronghold or Marquis yet, and she knew it.

But there was no way she was going to burden Sam with her issues. Jeremy and Noelle coming home was a non-issue, anyway. It wasn’t like she was going to see them. They were no longer part of her life.

Period.

9

Zach

“So…. when are you going to tell Mom and Dad about you and Kincaid?” Krista asked, the question echoing around his car as he pulled to a stop at the red light.

“Don’t make me regret calling you for my drive home,” he joked, even as his chest tightened. His sister meant well, but she was the only one in his family who knew he and Kincaid were a couple for a reason. Eventually, he was going to have to tell his parents or lose Kincaid; he knew that, yet he kept pushing that day off.

“I don’t think they’re going to react as badly as you think they will.” She’d been supportive when he told her he had a boyfriend and delighted to meet Kincaid, but she was also far more progressive than either of his parents.

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