Page 6 of Third Wheel

There was no way in hell she was going to be in Jeremy’s house when he came back with Noelle, no matter what rights she had. Absolutely the fuck not. She was going to take her stuff and get out.

“You can come live with us,” Zach offered. “We have a guest bedroom. And a pretty much empty basement.”

She hesitated because living with Zach sounded the most appealing. In some ways, she was closer to him than she was to any of her other friends. If she hadn’t been trying to respect Jeremy, she would have asked Zach to be her Man of Honor, butJeremy had been completely weirded out by the idea, and she’d given in. Plus, she knew she was going to cry again. A lot. Zach was the only person she’d ever felt like she could really let go and cry for.

But she also knew things had been rocky between Zach and Kincaid for a while, and they were just getting good again. She didn’t want to come in, dumping all her issues on them when Zach was finally happy.

Twisting her head, she looked up past Zach at Kincaid, who was standing just behind him. At this angle, it was really hard to read his expression. Heck, it was difficult at the best of times. Kincaid could be very closed off. When he looked down and met her gaze, his face was completely blank at first, then his eyes softened as he looked at her.

“We do. You’d be welcome to stay as long as you need,” he said, reiterating Zach’s offer.

“I don’t think I can decide right now,” she whispered, letting her head drop back down. Her throat, nose, and eyes hurt from her heavy sobs. Her chest ached with the shame of being an abandoned bride. All she wanted to do was melt into the floor and not have to deal with any of this.

“You don’t have to, baby,” her mom said, reaching out to pat Amy’s hand. “You stay here for now. I’m going to go talk to the guests, then I’ll come back and… oh, here are your friends with the vodka.”

Vodka sounded good.

3

Zach

“I’m sorry,” Zach murmured, leaning against Kincaid as they watched Amy do her second shot with her bridesmaids. He wondered how much Amy’d eaten today. Not much, he was guessing, because while the other women were getting tipsy, she was already well on her way to sloppy drunk just from the first shot. “I shouldn’t have invited her to come live with us without asking you first.”

“You shouldn’t have.” Kincaid’s tone was deceptively mild. “And I’ll take that out on your ass later. But I would have said yes, anyway, so it comes out in the wash.”

Except it didn’t, because he still should have asked, even though he’d known what Kincaid would say. But he’d been holding Amy, feeling her shaking, feeling her confusion, and he’d wanted—needed—to make it better. Deep down, he knew he was the best choice, too.

If she went to Morgan and Asad’s, or anywhere else, she would feel like she had to pretend she was okay, the way she was doing now. She would act as normal as she could, all while she was slowly dying inside, unable to tap into her emotions,unable to focus on herself while others were around her. That was exactly why she’d come into the scene in the first place—to be forced to focus on herself.

It was what she needed, even if she wouldn’t want to face it. And Zach could give it to her. Kincaid would help. He might not have ever been part of their dynamic before, but obviously, that would need to change a bit. Kincaid was a caretaker. A protector.

If Jeremy came after her for any reason, Zach would protect her, but Kincaid would crush the man for daring. Once she was under Kincaid’s protective wing, he would consider her wellbeing one of his priorities. That was another reason Zach wanted her with them.

He was a sadist. A top. But Kincaid was aDomin a way he’d never managed to be. He knew some people felt it was the same, but he never did. How could he call himself a Dom when Kincaid was dominant to him? When he submitted to Kincaid? Sure, he was a switch, but even when he was topping someone, he didn’t feel like he could give them what Kincaid gave him.

Amy would need that, too. She wasn’t just a masochist; she was a submissive. She would have needs Zach wasn’t sure he could fulfill.

Between him and Kincaid, they’d be able to help her in a way no one else could. So, he couldn’t regret offering the invitation or even the way he’d done it. He knew he’d been pushing Kincaid into a situation where he was going to say yes, regardless of how he felt, but at the same time, he was sorry because he knew he’d been wrong to do so. He’d also been right.

And he didn’t mind at all if Kincaid was going to take it out on his ass.

Zach straightened up as the door opened, and Mrs. Newhart came back in, along with an older man holding her hand, whom he assumed was Amy’s dad. He wondered how much Mrs. Newhart had told him. The relief that had poured through himwhen he realized she read kinky romance had been strong, but that didn’t mean that both parents would be as understanding. He also wasn’t sure her mom would understand how truly platonic he and Amy had been.

After Rae had started writing kinky romance, everyone in the club had gotten on board with reading her books, and he’d read a few more beyond that. None of them really featured platonic kink, even though it was highly prevalent in the club. He didn’t want Amy’s mom to think they’d been cheating. They hadn’t been. Yes, he cared deeply about her, and yes, he found her very attractive, but he would never do that to Kincaid.

Yeah, I just hide our relationship outside of the club and hurt him that way instead.

Ruthlessly, he pushed that thought away. He was working on that.

He watched as Amy straightened up, putting a smile on her face for her parents as they talked to her. Maybe trying to convince her to come stay with them instead? Probably not; it really wouldn’t make sense. He sidled closer to try to overhear what they were talking about, ignoring Kincaid’s amused look. Yeah, so he was nosy. So what?

“Jeremy’s family has left, but most of the guests are staying, and we’re having a party. Do you want to come out? You don’t have to. You can do whatever you want.” Mrs. Newhart was firm in making that last part clear.

“I…” Amy’s smile slipped a little, some of her pain coming back into her expression. “If I don’t have to…”

“You don’t have to,” her dad said immediately, reaching out to take her hand in his and patting it. “We’ll take care of everything. You should do what you feel like right now. Whatever you feel like.”

Amy glanced over at her group of friends, who were now watching her with sympathetic expressions. He could see her hide her wince.

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