Burned by Unknown

sick, and he had to cover your shift. Last week, I found pictures of this woman in his duffel bag. I’m assuming the woman in the pictures is Melanie. And, this morning I spoke to him and he claims he is helping his brother-in-law remodel his basement.”
    Nick had to keep the surprise from his face; Anthony had used him as an excuse. How could he reassure her that Anthony wasn’t cheating, when the odds were he was? With Lincoln stockpiling evidence and his name thrown in the pile of proof she had gathered, he was now in the middle of this triangle of deceit.
    Nick stuttered. “A-are you sure he said he was covering for me and not one of the other guys?”
    “Anthony specifically said you. Do you know anything about Kevin remodeling his basement?”
    “I don’t, but you can call Gwen and ask her about the basement. That should be easy enough to clear up.” He knew Anthony was doing something with a house but not Kevin’s house. It wasn’t his place to reveal that information though.
    “I can’t do that. Gwen and Melanie are best friends. She wants Melanie back in his life and me out. She doesn’t like me.”
    “Gwen is a sweetheart. I can’t see her being mean to anyone.”
    “She isn’t outright rude to me; she does it through undertones. I know her preference is to have Anthony with Melanie instead of me. And Anthony is aware of that; he just chooses to ignore that along with everything else I say to him.”
    Nick listened to her talk, but when her eyes filled with tears, he had to get up from the table. A crying woman was something he could not deal with, which was the reason he strayed away from relationships.
    Why did she come to him for help instead of Jon anyway? Everybody went to Jon with their problems. He would be able to drill into Anthony’s head what he was doing to Lincoln.
    But, for some reason Lincoln had come to him to provide the answers she sought. Nick was not a snitch. He was the lover of the group, not an instigator or a peacekeeper. His charisma brought life to the party, and his arrogance kept folks from testing him.
    He had no inhibitions when it came to him being himself. But dealing with devastated women with broken hearts was out of his realm. He didn’t want to tell her his thoughts about Anthony cheating.  Hell yeah he was cheating; a blind man would pick up those clues. But, he also thought keeping the information from her would make him as guilty as Anthony.
    She had worn him down, played on his sympathy and pushed on his emotional buttons.  “Okay, what do you want me to do?” He asked knowing he would regret it later.
    “I want you to find out if this woman is back in his life. If she is the reason, he is abandoning our relationship.”
    He turned the chair backward and sat down. “Here’s the deal, Lincoln.  Melanie is back in town. I know for a fact Ant has seen her. I asked him what was up, and he swears they are only friends and nothing else. He claims he doesn’t have any romantic feelings for her.”
    She stood up abruptly. “You knew he was seeing her and didn’t say anything! I should have known you would stick together. Anthony is probably being hailed around the firehouse as some kind of hero. He has all the guys fascinated how he has his cake and is eating it, too. I’m a fool to believe I could trust a friend of his to be honest with me.”
    “Whoa, whoa!” He griped getting up from the chair. “You came to me!  It is not my responsibility to keep tabs on Anthony or report to you what he is doing. It ain’t my business!”
    Lincoln wiped the tears from her face. “You are so right; it’s not your business! I am at fault for putting you on the spot, and it won’t happen again.” She stomped to the door and left the apartment.
    Nick knocked the chair to the floor in anger. “What the hell just happened? I get backlash from a woman I’m not even sleeping with! What kind of shit is that?”

Chapter Six
    Lincoln banged on the front door of