She nodded. “In the way that only she has.”
She stepped closer to him, her gentle look reminding him of her willingness to side with Fee—them—and get Outlaw to accept their relationship. Stretch finally understood why Outlaw didn’t want to lose her and had almost went insane when she’d been injured. Faced with the prospect of losing Fee, he felt out-of-sorts and afraid, too.
“Be careful, Stretch,” she whispered. “When you love someone, it’s hard to hide your feelings, especially in times like this. I don’t want anything to happen to you or Cash.”
He appreciated her a lot. Unlike Kendall who tried to force herself on everyone, Meggie earned her status. Outlaw had ordered they respect her. She made them like her. Just as Kendall made everyone dislike her. “I understand, Meggie.”
Johnnie glared between Cash and Stretch. “You’re going to have to make a choice. The club or your affair.”
“They don’t,” Meggie flared. “They have to be less circumspect but they shouldn’t be made to choose.”
“Stay out of this, Megan,” Johnnie declared, his scrutiny of her bordering inappropriate. “This is club business.”
Not really. She was keeping the secret of Fee being with Stretch and Cash. That made it her business. However, Stretch couldn’t point that out.
Meggie threw Johnnie the evil eye.
“Christopher can’t fucking kill every member who has a problem with gay men, Megan,” he snapped. “That would be most of the fucking club.”
Yes, they were bikers, and bikers were real men.
“What the fuck made you join this club?” Val asked. “You fucking with your life if you can’t keep this shit under wraps, brother. You got to be more careful. Fucking at Cash’s house? That’s dumb shit.”
“It’s Cash’s house,” Meggie argued, folding her arms at Johnnie’s narrowed eyes. “They should be able to do as they please.”
She faced off with Johnnie for a moment, before he capitulated.
“Right, Megan,” he agreed. “Except when brothers know where Cash lives.”
Everyone turned to Cash. It was his fault that the brothers knew his house as an orgy pit. “Slipper and I were doing a job for Outlaw one day and I forgot something at the house,” he explained. “After that, I invited him over once or twice to party with me.”
“What’s done is done.” Johnnie looked at Stretch. “I too am curious to know how you joined this club.”
“Yeah, brother,” Mort inserted. “Outlaw never gave us that full story.”
“I was at the Night Flyers’ clubhouse one night when Outlaw came in looking for Boy.” He shifted his weight and glanced at Meggie, glad he wouldn’t have to hold anything back since Outlaw was so forthcoming with her. She was in his corner. She deserved to hear everything, too. “I saw his cut and had already heard about the Dwellers. I started talking to him and he told me I was welcomed to come to the club anytime. When I went there, I met KP. Everybody,” he added, wondering if she got the connotation.
She did. Her eyes widened. “You knew my dad?”
“I did. They accepted me, and for the first time since I was eighteen, I had a place where I was welcomed.”
After being kicked out of his parents’ house, Stretch lived on the streets for a while before he’d gotten involved with a biker from the Night Flyers MC, who’d taken Stretch in. Their relationship soon eroded under the pressure of the club lifestyle. The night Stretch met Outlaw he’d been at the MC, searching for Davis, who hadn’t been home in weeks. His last ray of hope had been used up by the time he walked into the Dwellers’ clubhouse. If things hadn’t worked out that night, he’d intended to end it all. He had a high school diploma but his job choices were very limited. Working as a clerk at a quikmart didn’t pay the cost of rent, food, and other necessities.
The one time he’d admitted to being attracted to both men and women had lost him his family and a roof over his head, so he didn’t trust many people.
Somehow, he’d found Outlaw, who’d been his saving grace, without even knowing it.
“Christopher recognized a good man when he saw one.” Meggie glanced at her watch. “I guess enough time has gone by to make Slipper and his sons think this was a very important meeting. Just remember to appear neutral.”
As Meggie headed for the door, Stretch laid a hand on her arm, stopping her. She’d accepted him without question, from the moment they’d met. He wanted to repay her, apologize for his role in what had happened to her father.