Page 3 of Third Wheel

Amy felt her skirts move as her bridesmaids surrounded her like a phalanx, blocking her view from the phone. Blocking their view of her. It wasn’t quite a group hug; it couldn’t be because of this stupid, stupid ballgown skirt, but it was a protective barrier.

“You are both terrible people,” Marissa said coldly. “Noelle, you can fuck all the way off and never come back. Jeremy, you never deserved Amy in the first place, you shriveled little dickhead. Do not contact her again.”

“What’s going on?”

Oh God, Amy recognized that voice. But what was he doing here? She hadn’t even heard him come in.

This day just kept getting worse.

Kincaid

Something was wrong.

Kincaid looked over at his boyfriend, Zach, who was nervously adjusting his tie. Again. He tried to quiet the uncertainty that rose up inside him.

They were here for Amy Newhart’s wedding, and Kincaid wasn’t sure how his boyfriend felt about it. Zach and Amy scened together, platonically, at the BDSM clubs they all belonged to, but he wasn’t sure how Zach felt about her getting married. He also wasn’t sure he could ask.

Their relationship was still on shaky ground after a breakup. They’d just gotten back together recently. He still wasn’t sure where he could push and where he needed to back off, but Amy was one of the subjects he didn’t feel like he could push.

He couldn’t watch Zach keep anxiously fidgeting without checking in with him, either. That wasn’t who Kincaid was.

He reached over, putting a hand on Zach’s thigh so he could lean a little closer, keeping his voice low since they were surrounded by wedding guests. Though they were hardly the only ones talking. Everyone had noticed that the wedding hadn’t started on time.

“Are you okay?”

Rather than answering right away, Zach dropped his hand away from his tie and turned his head to give Kincaid a nervous smile. Kincaid smiled back as best he could, but he knew he wasn’t entirely hiding his concern.

It wasn’t just concern over Zach’s anxiousness but some trepidation about what it meant for them. Amy was important to Zach, Kincaid knew that… but how important? Did he sometimes wish Amy was single? Or was Kincaid projecting just because he knew he was the first man Zach had been with?

“I’m fine. I think I might have tied my tie too tight.” Zach slid his hand under Kincaid’s to hold it. The touch helped soothe some of the emotions that were buzzing under Kincaid’s skin.

Zach was here with him. In public. Showing affection. And he’d told his sister about their relationship, even if he hadn’t worked up to telling his parents yet.Baby steps.As long as Kincaid could see some progress, he could live with that. He knew it was hard for Zach, but he was trying.

In front of them, Rick—another member of the BDSM clubs they went to—leaned over to his wife, not bothering to keep his voice down.

“What time is it? Isn’t this supposed to have started already?”

Beside Kincaid, Zach glanced down at his watch, and Kincaid looked over as well, joining Zach in his frown. The wedding should have started five minutes ago. Zach twisted around and froze, and Kincaid looked up as well.

Sam, one of Amy’s bridesmaids, was striding down the aisle with purpose—not walking slowly like she was starting the ceremony—and her gaze was locked on Zach. Shit. Something was wrong. He could see that the moment he saw Sam’s expression.

She came to a halt in a sweep of chiffon, the stray curls from her coiffure swaying at the sudden stop.

“Amy needs you,” she told Zach. “Now.” She looked up to meet Kincaid’s gaze. “You’d better come, too.”

The audience all burst into murmured noise as both of them leapt to their feet. Zach didn’t even look back as he darted down the aisle ahead of Kincaid, too intent on getting to Amy. Hurt darted through Kincaid, but he did his best to push it aside. Sam was not an alarmist. If she had come to get them, there was a damn good reason. Amy needed her Dom. This wasn’t about him.

The moment they burst into the room Sam led them to—she could move damn fast, even in three-inch heels—any hesitation Kincaid felt washed away the moment he caught sight of Amy. They’d never been close; Zach had always kept them fairly separate, and Kincaid hadn’t protested because, as far as he was concerned, Amy wasn’t really part of their relationship.

Zach had certain needs as a sadist that Kincaid couldn’t fulfill. He was fine with Zach playing with others platonically. Even when Zach had stopped scening with anyone else other than Amy, he hadn’t made an effort to step in because their dynamics were all well established by then.

But it would take a harder, crueler person than him to be unaffected by the sight of her surrounded by her bridesmaids,her mom beside her with her arms around her, all of them huddled on the skirt of her dress where she knelt in the middle of the room, with the most anguished expression he’d ever seen on a woman’s face.

Standing in front of Amy and the crowd was Marissa, a sub with a bad reputation at Stronghold, who was nonetheless one of Amy’s bridesmaids. She wore the same sage green gown as the others, and for a moment, Kincaid thought she must be the one causing the problem before he realized she was speaking to someone on a video call on the phone she was holding in front of her.

“You are both terrible people. Noelle, you can fuck all the way off and never come back. Jeremy, you never deserved Amy in the first place, you shriveled little dickhead. Do not contact her again.”

Jeremy. Amy’s fiancé. Noelle… another problem sub at the clubs. Also, one of Amy’s bridesmaids. What the hell is going on?

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