Page 79 of Third Wheel

“I didn’t realize you were into gardening,” Amy commented as Zach pulled on some gloves and grabbed some clippers from the garage. She was wearing an extra pair of his gloves, which were rough against her skin and brought back memories of being a kid, helping her parents in their garden, something she’d enjoyed.

Jeremy hadn’t been ‘into plants,’ as he said. He’d had the barest lawn and only a few bushes that were as low maintenance as possible.

When Amy had seen Zach and Kincaid’s lawn, she’d honestly assumed that they hired someone to take care of it, but apparently, Zach did most of the maintenance.

“I find it soothing.” He grinned. “And I can take time to think, which is nice.”

Kincaid came out through the door between the house and the garage, dressed in nothing but running shorts. Which, of course, made Amy think about the times she’d now seen himnaked. And then, when he’d been inside her. Her cheeks heated with a blush.

Thankfully, neither man seemed to notice.

“I’ll be back, then I’ll help,” Kincaid promised, giving Zach a quick kiss.

“Damn right you will,” Zach replied in a threatening tone, though his expression made it clear he was joking around. Kincaid winked at Amy, then took off, jogging out to the sidewalk and down the street out of view. She had to push away the pouty feeling of not getting her own kiss from him.

Get a grip. You’re not his girlfriend.

At some point, she really was going to need to get serious about getting out of this house. Her feelings were getting too confused, even for being on the rebound. She was getting attached. But who could blame her? Two gorgeous guys doting on her, feeding her, giving her multiple orgasms… No wonder she needed to get out of here, yet kept procrastinating on actually looking for another place to live.

“Okay, let me show you where to weed, and when you’re done with that, you can start watering,” Zach said, propping the clippers up against his shoulder. Suppressing a smile, Amy nodded and followed him out to the yard. She did like his bossy side, and she thought it was funny that he was turning out to be even bossier in the garden than in the club.

Though, as fond as her memories of gardening were, she quickly found she didn’t love being left alone with her own thoughts and nothing else to do. Zach was clipping bushes far enough away from where she was weeding that she would have to yell at him to be heard, which she didn’t want to do. Plus, he looked so peaceful whenever she glanced over at him, she didn’t want to disturb that. She should have brought her phone out so she could turn on some music or a podcast or something.

But if she went inside, he might think she was slacking.

Sigh.

It probably wasn’t a bad thing to have some time to herself to think. Except all she could think about were Kincaid and Zach and how perfect they were and how happy she was and how she wished things could go on like this forever. Well, like this, but with her actually a part of their relationship. Would that even be possible?

Would they even be interested?

Yeah, they were doting on her now because she needed their help, and they were good guys.

They were attracted to her. That much was clear.

But there was a very big difference between being attracted and wanting to be in a relationship.

One thing was very clear, though—she didn’t want to stay here for months and months as their club plaything but a third wheel in the home. That’s what she was really avoiding thinking about. The fact that she needed to figure her shit out and get out because, one way or another, this idyllic little bubble was going to end. It would be a lot better to end it on her own terms before she got her heart broken all over again.

Maybe once she had an out, she could ask them if they’d be interested in taking things outside of the club. She couldn’t do that before she knew she had an escape route because if they weren’t interested—or, worse, horrified at the idea—there was no way she could keep living with them. Not even for another night. Nope.

Pulling the last of the weeds out of the section of the garden she’d been working on, Amy glanced over to where Zach was still busily, happily trimming the bushes. He glistened with sweat, but he looked so happy. She wondered if Kincaid didn’t like gardening and if he was taking an extra-long run, but she bet he would be back soon.

In the meantime… she needed to water the flowers.

It wasn’t until she had the hose in hand that it occurred to her… poor Zach looked so hot trimming the bushes. He probably would appreciate a cool down.

Grinning, she let the water flow from the hose as she moved toward him, getting her thumb into position on the lip of the metal around the tube. As she came closer, Zach looked up, moving his forearms to wipe some of the sweat from his forehead as he did so.

“Hey, finished already?”

“Yeah, with the first part of the garden, I was going to water it when I realized you look a little hot.”

His gaze sharpened with suspicion.

“No, I’m— Ah!” His words cut off as she lifted the hose and put her thumb over the nozzle, turning it from a steady flow to a spray that she could direct—straight at him. “Amy!”

He dropped the clippers and came at her while she shrieked and backed up, still sending the spray at him, soaking him completely. Now, he was holding his arms up in front of him to keep the water out of his eyes while Amy cackled. Suddenly, he went from taking one slow, solid step forward to surging at her. She shrieked, stumbling backward, and he caught her around her middle, lifting her up and over his shoulder.

---