Page 37 of Third Wheel

No.

No. Don’t even go there.

Zach

When his mom called for the third time that afternoon, Zach sighed and picked up the phone.

“Hey, Mom, I’m at work.”

“I know, sweetie. I just have a quick question.” His mom’s cheerful voice made him both smile and sigh. Just a quick question, which could definitely be a text message, but his mom hated texting. She hadn’t left a voicemail either on the previous calls because she knew he didn’t check them at work. She’d usually leave one on the weekend if he didn’t pick up, but it was always just asking him to call her back when he got the chance.

Somehow, he’d never managed to get her to understand that he saw when she called, and he would call her back as soon as he could, regardless of whether or not she left a voicemail.

“Okay, what’s up?” He turned slightly away from his open door. Personal phone calls weren’t prohibited, but they were frowned on. He hoped it really was a quick question.

“Well, I’m out shopping, and I found a pair of swim trunks I think you’d like… you did say you needed some new ones for the summer, right?”

Bending forward, Zach closed his eyes and gently banged his head on his desk. Of course, his mom would think this warranted a phone call.

“Sure, Mom, thanks.” Quickest way to get off the phone before anyone at work realized that he was taking a personal call rather than talking to a client was just to agree.

“Okay, I’ll get them.” She sounded so happy when she got to do things like this. He took a deep breath. “What time will you be home tonight? I can swing over and bring them by.”

“How about I pick them up on my way home from work? That way, I can say hi to Dad, too.” Plus, then he wouldn’t have to explain to his mom why he and Kincaid were sharing a room and there was a girl in the guest bedroom.

Not that she’d be going into their bedrooms, but she’d be curious about Amy’s presence, and he couldn’t exactly warn Kincaid and Amy to lie to his mom for him without making Kincaid feel like shit. Zach would tell his parents—he would—but this definitely wasn’t the time.

Thankfully, his mom always called or texted before ‘dropping by.’ When he and Kincaid had first moved in together, his parents had seen the whole house. They just hadn’t realized he and Kincaid would be sharing a bedroom, and Kincaid had been very understanding about letting them have that belief… then.

He didn’t think Kincaid would out him if his parents showed up and wanted to know where Amy was staying if she was staying with them, but he also didn’t want to put Kincaid in a position where he had to lie. And he knew that it would hurt Kincaid to have his parents show up and obviously still not know what was going on between them.

Kincaid hadn’t given him a deadline for telling them, but he knew he was going to need to soon.

“That’s fine, honey. I might get you some shoes, too. I saw some on sale.”

“Thank you, Mom. I really appreciate it, but I’m at work, and I have to go.”

“Oh, okay, sweetie. I’ll see you when you stop by then!”

“I’ll see you then.” Zach hung up the phone, then looked out of his office door. The hallway was empty. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his head.

He would tell his parents.

Soon.

Just… not today.

14

Kincaid

Sharing dinner duty with Amy made things a little easier for both of them. This way, neither of them felt like they were uselessly sitting back and not contributing. Plus, she was fun to cook with. He really needed Zach to see her cooking techniques because he would flip out.

“What are you doing?” He asked, watching her stack zucchini slices on top of each other on the cutting board.

“Dicing the zucchini.” She took one of the little stacks and made all the slices line up and then started slicing it one way… and then the other while Kincaid watched in utter bafflement. Yup, he really needed Zach to see this.

While Kincaid was cooking, he usually kicked Zach out of the kitchen because Zach had very strict ideas about how things were ‘supposed to be done’ in the kitchen. Amy’s way of dicing would not pass muster.

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