Page 60 of Third Wheel

She started to type out ‘we are not burning my dress’ when she paused. Why not? Kincaid had already ripped the back of it open. It wasn’t like she wanted to wear it ever again.

When—if—she ever got married, she would be getting a completely different dress. One that had a zipper instead of a million tiny buttons. And that was a big ‘if’ as far as she was concerned. Right now, she couldn’t imagine ever wanting to plan another wedding.

Ever.

Amy: Yeah, let’s burn it.

Marissa: Yay!

Carolyn: Yay!

Morgan: Yay!

Sam: Yay! But seriously… s’mores?

Snorting laughter, Amy leaned back against the couch.

“What’s so funny now?” Zach asked. Sauntering around the side of the couch, he leaned against the armrest rather than sitting on the couch with her. She didn’t mind that he didn’t sit down with her; he had the look of someone who was just stopping for a moment before heading back to take a shower. And put on some clothes. Amy took a brief moment to admire his upper torso before answering him.

“The girls and I are going to burn my wedding dress, and Sam wants to make s’mores.” She grinned as he laughed in response, shaking his head.

“Is it made out of natural materials?” he asked. “If there’s too much polyester and plastic, I wouldn’t want to eat something cooked over it.”

That was a good point.

“I have no idea,” she admitted.

“You should probably check on that,” Kincaid called from the kitchen. Amy twisted her head around to see him appear in the doorway behind her, wiping his hands dry on a dish towel. “You might not want to stand too close breathing in the fumes while it’s burning either.”

“Good point.” She texted that point to the chat.

When she looked up again, Kincaid was moving to sit in one of the armchairs to the right of her, having left the towel in the kitchen. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs as he looked at her, hands hanging between his knees.

“I think we should talk a little this morning,” he said. “We did things in a bit of a rush last night… not that I have any regrets.” A little glint of pleasure lit up his dark eyes as relief shot through Amy. “But there are some things we didn’t get a chance to talk about. Like, last night, when we got home, Zach and I got you undressed, then put you in a nightgown and joined you in your bed, which is what it seemed like you wanted at the time… but we never explicitly talked about it.”

Amy relaxed even more. For one awful moment, she’d thought he was going to say that they could never repeat last night again, and while she would have understood it, she would have been very sad.

But Kincaid just wanted to talk about the aftermath, which there would be no point in doing unless they were going to do it again… so this was a good sign.

Kincaid

As nervous as he’d been to bring up the night before, Kincaid had always believed in taking the bull by the horns, which was why he wanted to get right into it this morning. From the way both Amy and Zach relaxed as he brought up the subject, he knew it had been the right decision. Talking things out now would keep them from getting awkward in the future.

“I’m really grateful you put me in my nightgown instead of leaving me in my corset,” she said, smiling. “And also that youstayed with me. I woke up feeling pretty good this morning, but I think if I’d been alone, I might not have felt as good.”

“I was worried about sub drop. We both were.” Kincaid glanced at Zach, who was still perched on the couch arm, hands on the leg that he had crossed over his knee.

“I appreciate that. And it’s definitely a valid concern.” She sighed, wrinkling her nose. “You don’t have to do it every time, though. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t sleep in your own bed.”

He and Zach exchanged another look. They probably should have anticipated that response.

“We slept where we wanted to,” he replied evenly. “Zach and I talked about it, and, with your agreement, we’d like to establish a rule that on nights we scene together, we all sleep in the same bed, so we don’t have to worry about you sub dropping when we’re not there.”

Amy started to open her mouth, as if to protest, then stopped. This time, the look that he and Zach exchanged was amused. Kincaid had deliberately chosen to lay it out like she’d be doingthemthe favor. Instead of needing to be watched over, she was preventing them from worrying.

Since it was true, it was an easy perspective switch.

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.” She nodded. “I would like that, too.”

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