Page 33 of Third Wheel

“Wait, she’s never seen them before, and now, you’re watching them without me?” The mock aggravation in Kincaid’s voice made Zach chuckle.

“Shouldn’t have decided to stay the night in Pittsburgh,” Zach teased. “Though, if you hadn’t, we probably wouldn’t be watching a movie, and I wouldn’t have known that Amy had never seen them. So, you’ll just have to join in a little late. We’ve got the whole series to get through.”

“Wait, she’s never seenanyof them?”

“She says she watched some ofIronman,but she was sick and fell asleep.”

Kincaid made a strangled noise, echoing Zach’s sentiment.

“So Ironman 2 and Thor tonight?” he asked.

“Yeah, if we have time. I thought about throwing The Incredible Hulk in there, but…”

“But we always skip that one.”

“Pretty much. We can go back and watch it later if she’s really interested. She really liked the first movie, though, so that’s a good sign. She says she’s more of a Batman girl.”

“Well, who doesn’t love Batman?” Kincaid laughed, making Zach laugh because they both knew he was a pretty big Batman fan. They had their own little DC vs Marvel rivalry going on between them, though they both agreed that overall the Marvel movie as a series was better. But Batman had a longevity and popularity that even Ironman couldn’t match.

Yet.

“How was your day? Is Cassidy settled in?” Zach asked.

“She’s good. She’s going to be living with one of the Black Fox guys and his roommate, so she’s secure. They’ve got a really goodsecurity system, and she won’t be left alone at night, ever.” There was something in Kincaid’s voice though, like he wasn’t saying something. Zach knew his boyfriend too well to miss it.

“But…” He let the word trail off, encouraging Kincaid to keep going.

“But the team leader, David, is being kind of a hardass about her. He doesn’t understand why she didn’t file a report with the police. He’s got a very black-and-white way of looking at the world.”

“Hmm, I wonder what that’s like.” Zach rolled his eyes. If anyone knew what having a black-and-white way of looking at the world was like it was Kincaid. Granted, he had learned how to be a little more flexible since Zach had first met him, but he still had a very strict sense of what was right and wrong and a lot of impatience with grey areas.

“Don’t you roll your eyes at me.”

“How do you know I was rolling my eyes at you?”

“Because I know you.”

“Yeah, well, I know you, too,” Zach teased. “I think your problem here is that you and David disagree on what the right thing to do was. If he agreed with you, you’d be all over his support.”

“He’s wrong on this one, and I tore him a new one about it. Then the new receptionist applauded.”

“Applauded?” Zach laughed, leaning back against the counter, crossing one arm over his chest while the other still held the phone to his ear. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some movement and looked over to see Amy walking past the doorway as she headed back to the couch.

“Standing ovation. And then she ripped him up, too.” Kincaid chuckled. “It was pretty great. I liked her.”

“Of course you did. She agreed with you.”

“That’s not why.” Kincaid paused for a moment. “It might be part of it.” Zach laughed again. “Okay, well, I’m going to let you go so you can continue Amy’s movie education. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

“Good night.”

“Night.”

They hung up, and Zach took another deep breath before walking out of the kitchen.

“I’m just going to run to the bathroom, and I’ll be right back if you want to get the movie cued up,” he said as casually as he could. Right now, the best tactic was to pretend like nothing had happened.

Because nothinghadhappened, and nothing wasgoingto happen.

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