Page 30 of Third Wheel

“Oh, come on, Jennifer, what if you or one of your friends dated him or someone like him after?” David’s tone had turned almost whining as he pleaded with the younger woman to see his side. “I know you all research your dates like you’re the FBI. You’d turn up the fact that he’d been taken to court, and you’d be forewarned.”

“We’d find it, but a lot of these guys are good at explaining things away. Oh, it was a vindictive ex. Oh, she was lying because she didn’t truly understand kink. Oh, it was a false accusation. And people believe that shit.” Jennifer put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at him. “Not only that, but because I’m a woman, I have friends who have tried to get restraining orders. I’ve had friends who have been dismissed by the police for ‘lack of evidence’ or because it was his word against theirs.

“Have you ever had to stand by a woman’s side while the cops rip apart her ‘story’ while she’s still shaking from the trauma? No? Okay, then. You’re so obsessed with what the ‘right’ thing to do is, sometimes you forget that what’s right for one person might not be whatyoudeem is right for society. And that’s why you’re wrong.”

“I’m not a bad person.” David’s immediate response was one that Kincaid sympathized with because, damn, hadn’t he been there before? When he’d been the cop who hadn’t been able to help. When he’d found out that his own partner was an abuser, and he hadn’t seen it.

“I didn’t say you’re a bad person, but you are an uncompromising and often judgmental one who needs to work on their empathy. Especially when it comes to situations that you, as a white, straight man, will never understand because you will never have that lived experience.” She raised her eyebrow at him.

David threw his hands in the air in defeat.

“You’re right. No, I know. I see it sometimes, but I am always on the outside.” He sighed. “I’ll try to be nicer to Cassidy.”

“Glad to hear it,” Kincaid said. “She deserves a break.”

Now, he was very glad that he’d decided to spend the night in Pittsburgh tonight to make sure she was fully settled in. Yeah, he’d given up an evening with Zach, but this way, he’d also be here to make sure David understood what his assignment was and the fact that Kincaid was going to kick his ass if he did anything to hurt Cassidy.

12

Amy

Being alone in the house with Zach was odd. She’d always known that Kincaid had a big presence, but at Stronghold and Marquis, there were always other people around. Lots of other people. Who also had big presences. Lots of Doms who exuded confidence and strength.

Not that Zach didn’t, but he didn’t to the same extent Kincaid did. There were some Doms who just had a little extra ‘oomph,’ and Kincaid was one of them.

The house felt kind of empty without him.

“So, what do you want to do tonight?” Zach asked as she wandered into the living room. He was seated on the couch, scrolling on his phone, though he did glance up to smile at her before looking back down at the screen.

“Oh, you don’t have to hang out with me if you still want to go to the club…” Her voice trailed off.

“I thought you were supposed to be keeping me from feeling abandoned.” He looked up again to wink at her, and her stomach did a funny little flip. “We could go to the club if you wanted to, though.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready yet.” Especially not if it was just the two of them. If they walked in, both of them, without Kincaid, would everyone assume theywerecheating? Not something she felt up to dealing with right now. Plus, she was going to have to face all the inevitable questions from everyone, and to be perfectly honest, she would feel better if Kincaid was there for that, too.

He and Zach weren’t perfect shields, but as long as Kincaid was there, it would be clear to everyone that she and Zach weren’t cheating and that anything they did together—or had done together—was sanctioned by him. Plus, he and Kincaid were two of the Doms all the subbies thirsted over, so they were distractions in their own right. No one was going to pay attention to her if she was hanging out with both of them. They would be too busy lusting over the two hot Doms.

Yeah, if and when she went back to the club, it would be when they could both go. Preferably on a slow night. Like a Thursday. Not the busiest night of the week.

“How about a movie night?” Zach suggested.

“Sure, as long as it’s not a romance or something that will make me cry.” Amy plopped down on the couch next to him. “Maybe something superhero.”

“Um, superhero movies have both romances and scenes that will make you cry.” Zach put his phone down on his lap, turning off the screen and focusing on her entirely.

“It’s not the same as watching a romance where that’s the whole point of the plot. Or something likeThe Notebook, where, again, the whole point of the plot is to make you cry.” The last thing she wanted to do right now was watch someone else get their happily ever after. Even if it was a bittersweet one likeThe Notebook. Eventually, she’d get to that part of the breakup process, but not today.

“I feel like the point of theInfinity Warmovies was to make people cry,” Zach muttered.

“I’ve never seen them.” She knew what he was talking about, obviously, but she hadn’t taken the time to watch them. When he stared at her in complete speechless shock, she shrugged her shoulders. “I was always more of a Batman girl. I’ve seen all of those movies.”

“Wait, you haven’t seenanyof the Marvel movies?” He reached up to his collar, like the button-down he was wearing was too tight around his throat, even though the top buttoned wasn’t buttoned. He was even starting to turn a little red.

Amy shrugged, enjoying his reaction to her casual indifference.

“I saw part ofIronmanonce, but I was sick, so I fell asleep halfway through.”

The sound he made was indescribable, somewhere between a bird squawk and a moose bellow, and he was tugging at the neckline of his shirt again. Amy pressed her lips together to keep from laughing because she could tell he wasn’t pretending to freak out. He was actually freaking out a little.

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