Page 71 of Third Wheel

And everything in the world was right again.

Zach

Being out without Amy felt weird. Even though he was having a great time, and so was Kincaid. His sister’s new boyfriend was pretty great. His name was Thaddeus, but he went by Tad. Like Zach, he worked in finance, and like Zach he preferred to talk about anything else when away from the job.

Though if the two of them got alone, they’d probably have an interesting discussion about work.

He and Krista had met while LARPing—Live Action Role Play—one of Krista’s passions. Zach had been dragged to quite a few Renaissance Fairs with her when they were younger.

Eventually, Zach wanted Krista to meet Amy, but obviously, tonight wasn’t the right time. Tonight was about meeting Krista’s new boyfriend, not introducing his sister to the girl he and Kincaid were scening with on the side. He wasn’t even sure his sister would understand what was going on between them.

“And then she took off her helmet and said, ‘I am no man’ and stabbed me through the heart,” Tad said, grinning. His eyes were for Krista and Krista only as he finished up the story of how they’d met on the battlefield at Pennsic. She beamed back at him. They were really cute together, Tad with his long, dark blond hair that he had tied back in a ponytail and his dark eyes, next to Krista with her black curls and bright blue eyes. They might have opposite colored hair and eyes, but they were clearly kindred spirits.

“So, you don’t need the warning that she’s a handful,” he joked. “Sounds like you already found out for yourself.”

Krista sniffed derisively. “I may be a handful, but so is this ass.”

She leaned to the side so she could pat the ass in question, making Zach groan and cover his eyes while Kincaid cracked up. When Zach opened his eyes again, Tad was staring at Krista in a besotted manner, as if she was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen.

Yeah, he liked the guy.

“I think that’s the best ‘how did you meet’ story I’ve ever heard,” Kincaid said, lifting his beer. “Cheers to that.”

“Cheers!” Everyone lifted their own drink and clinked them together, laughing. Once again, Zach wished Amy had been here. She would have died laughing at Krista’s declaration about her ass. He’d have to tell her later.

As if his sister knew where his mind was, she asked about Amy as she was putting her drink back on the table.

“So, how is the friend that moved in with you?” She glanced over at Tad. “I think I told you about her. Her asshole of a fiancé eloped with one of her bridesmaids on her wedding day.”

“Oh, yeah, that dickweed.” Tad shook his head. “Who the fuck even does that?”

“Dickweeds,” Zach and Krista chorused in unison, which made everyone laugh again.

“Hashtag: Siblings,” she said with a smirk. “Seriously though, how is she?”

“She’s burning her wedding dress tonight with her friends,” Kincaid answered while Zach was still trying to come up with a response that didn’t involve how complicated things had gotten with her. He was pretty sure his sister wasn’t asking if they were fucking her. Why would she think that? But that was the first place his mind had gone. Thank goodness Kincaid was more on top of things.

“Oh, good for her.” Krista lit up. “She sounds like my kind of girl. I need to meet her at some point.”

“You two should come over for dinner sometime next week,” Kincaid offered. “I’m sure she’d love to meet you. She’s one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met.”

Something about that idea made Zach want to bristle, but it wasn’t like he could reverse the invitation now that it was out there. Especially when Krista’s eyes lit up.

“I would love to. And I promise not to be too nosy.”

“Ha,” Zach answered, trying to cover up his unease. Why didn’t he want Krista to meet Amy? What made him feel so anxious about that? He didn’t know, but his stomach was starting to churn uncomfortably, the way it did when his mom bothered him about whether or not he’d met any nice girls recently. “You, not nosy? In what universe?”

Krista kicked him under the table.

“Ow!”

“Brutal,” Tad said, shaking his head. “Just like my sister.”

Thankfully, the conversation turned to how awful sisters were, though Tad somehow managed to walk the line of telling the horror stories of being a younger brother while maintaining that Krista had probably been an angel of a sister and that Zach had deserved everything he’d gotten. Which made Zach like him even more.

About an hour later, coming out of the bathroom, his own awful sister cornered him. She was waiting as soon as he stepped out of the door. He raised his eyebrows at her.

“Tad’s great,” he said, heading her off at the pass, though he wasn’t sure why she felt the need to bother him about his opinionright now.She must really like the guy if she was this impatient to get his opinion.

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