Page 42 of Third Wheel

“I know but… I’ve always been the kind of person who says something. Does something.” Iris took a deep breath with a little huff. “I don’t know why, but she’s always the exception. She just gets me so twisted up…”

“We probably wouldn’t have listened anyway,” Amy admitted. “Even if I’d believed you, I would have also agreed that she deserved another chance. And Carolyn and Marissa would have probably made friends with her just to be contrary.” Because they could be like that. They weren’t always easy people to love, but she’d always been willing to forgive them their faults.

In some ways, they were very similar to Noelle, which was probably why they’d been drawn to her in the first place, but they wouldneverhave crossed the lines she did.

“Yeah, but you would have at least had some warning.” Iris reached up, running her fingers through her hair, shaking the silky black strands away from her face.

“Trust me, she was very convincing about how you’d wronged her.” Amy smiled apologetically. “I didn’t believe everything she said, but even taking it with a grain of salt, I was gonna be sympathetic. If anything, I’m sorry I didn’t come to ask you your side of the story. I was trying to be a loyal friend, but…” She sighed. Well, now she knew better.

“Trust me, I don’t blame you for that,” Iris reassured her. “I know how it is.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Amy saw Domi and Rae quietly talking with Morgan, who was smiling happily, so whatever they were saying couldn’t be bad.

Look at that. Somehow, now that Noelle was gone, she was bringing people together.

Go figure.

16

Amy

Their larger group had gotten smaller again. Though Rae was sticking by Avery since she didn’t have her Dom here tonight, Domi and Iris had been collected by Mitch and Law for scenes, one after the other. Then Q had come and stolen Sam away. Interestingly, Morgan and Rae were deep in conversation about being in business for themselves and making social media content—Morgan had an ASMR channel, and Rae had become an author—and seemed to be getting along incredibly well.

Avery appeared to find the discussion fascinating. And it was, but Amy was also distracted.

The main floor of Stronghold wasn’t for scening. They were sitting in the Lounge area, which was where the submissives gathered—there was no rule; it had just happened that way. The main floor also had the bar on one side and a stage for demonstrations on the other, with a dance floor in front of the stage. The stage was empty tonight. The dance floor was not, but it also wasn’t where anyone scened.

That was reserved for upstairs in the private rooms or downstairs in the Dungeon. There were three private roomsdown in the Dungeon, too, though the majority of the space was taken up by spanking benches, St. Andrews Crosses, and various other equipment for public scenes. There was also the aftercare corner.

So, she wasn’t being distracted by any scenes happening around her, but she was very distracted by the happy, beaming submissives who were being picked for a scene and the sultry, satisfied submissives who returned to the Lounge, mussed up and satiated. It had been a long, long time since she’d felt the way they looked.

In the past, it had been easier to ignore the envy tingling in her stomach because it wasn’t like she could do anything about it. She had her scenes at Stronghold and her sex at home. The two were separate.

But they didn’t have to be.

Don’t I deserve a wild night?

It doesn’t even have to be a rebound.

I’m not looking for a date.

I just want to look like… them.

When Sam returned, her blonde hair rumpled, her corset looser than it had been before, and her face glowing from post-orgasmic bliss, the envy that was swirling around Amy’s belly felt like it was going to come up and swallow her whole.

“What?” Sam asked when she realized Amy was looking at her.

“I want to look like you.”

“What?” Now Sam was looking at her weird.

“I mean, I want to look like you do right now… happy, satisfied, glowing from having a great scene and great sex.” The yearning was so powerful, it actually hurt the inside of her chest. “I need to find a Dom to scene with me. If I can.”

“Well, if you’re going to get a Dom to scene with you, you’re going to have to call off your attack dogs,” Sam said, making Amy wrinkle her forehead in confusion.

“What attack dogs?”

Reaching up to run her fingers through her mussed hair, Sam paused and tilted her head at Amy. One blonde eyebrow went up.

---