Misfit(93)

Contacting her left him more vulnerable than when he called Cash. Stretch feared rejection. He wasn’t Cash and he didn’t feel like half the man he’d once been. The one who found confidence and value as a member of the club.

Wondering if Fee would be there also led Stretch to accept Cash’s invitation, as well as general curiosity. What could Cash possibly want with both Stretch and Fee? Another night of sex on his terms?

Enjoying the evening breeze, Stretch took the long route, to prepare himself for whatever lay ahead.

He found Cash in a chair with a beer and Fee on the sofa, drinking wine.

She startled at the sight of him. “You have a key?”

“Not anymore.” Within days, he’d walked in and interrupted Cash engaging in sex with another man and two women. He’d tossed the key back at him, and left. Not long after, he and Hanson had gotten cornered. “Einstein keeps his door unlocked when he’s expecting someone.” Sometimes when he wasn’t, he kept his door unlocked. Cash was frivolous with everything, including his life. It frustrated Stretch to no end.

He didn’t want long-term with a man so cavalier. Yet, the thought of Cash with anyone else, cut deeply. That’s why Fee’s insertion into their relationship had felt like such a betrayal.

Stretch limped to the other end of the sofa, stopping long enough to swipe one of Cash’s beers.

“What are we doing here?” he asked, ignoring Cash’s dark look at having his alignment of beers screwed up. Empty versus full. Cash was anal about that.

Stretch twisted the top of his stolen beer, opening it with the tail of his shirt. As Cash stalked to the kitchen and returned with another unopened bottle, Stretch drank deeply, sighing at the cold goodness.

“I thought we could have dinner and talk,” Cash explained.

“Why?”

Fee’s suspicious look drew a chuckle from Stretch.

Cash lifted a brow and scratched at the damp, torn beer label. “Do I need a reason?”

“My guess is you’re ready to fuck us again. Is there some other reason?”

“Why don’t we eat?” Fee suggested at Stretch’s sarcasm. “We’ll be more reasonable on full stomachs.”

His pose casual, Cash got his cell phone out. “I’ll order something for us. I don’t feel like cooking.”

“Do you have anything to cook?” Fee stole the words out of Stretch’s mouth.

Cash wasn’t very domesticated. Fee and Stretch shared a grin. It felt good to have backup with Cash.

“I’m only here to party, so no,” Cash answered.

“Order in,” she agreed. “In a few days I want you two to come to my apartment. We can prepare a meal together.”

“It’s a date.” Cash looked at Stretch. “What about you?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“What should we eat? Sandwiches? Pizza? Chow Mein?”

“Pizza,” Stretch and Fee chorused, once again grinning at each other, searching for their footing around one another, without involving sex.

“I make a delicious barbeque chicken pizza,” Fee said, after Cash placed their order. “Spicy, too. Roxy taught me and Kendall how to do it. She makes her dough from scratch, though. I don’t know how to and neither does Kendall.”

Cash snorted. “Kendall, huh? So you’ve forgiven her and you two are besties now?”

“I don’t know how to feel about her.”

Stretch clenched his jaw, aware of what the fuck he felt toward Kendall. Dislike. Maybe, repulsion. “Being under Kendall’s thumb isn’t fun.”

Fee sipped her wine. “Kendall was cool. I…well…I still like her. She’s misguided and takes getting used to.”

“No shit,” Stretch grumbled.

“Another reason I asked you two over tonight,” Cash admitted. “I’ve had several days to cool off and I wanted to apologize for blowing up as I did.”

Several things hit Stretch. One, Cash hadn’t contacted Fee either. Two, Cash hadn’t invited Stretch over without Fee, although Stretch hadn’t done anything. And, three, Cash was apologizing.

“Fuck, is the world ending?”

Fee smiled at Stretch’s sarcasm and Cash’s glare.

“I have no idea why you thought it was a good idea to confide our business to Kendall,” he continued without responding to Stretch, “but I’m sure you were unaware of what she does.”

“Actually, Christopher warned me not to trust her. I didn’t listen. The more time I spent in Kendall’s company, the more she seemed like a misfit. Misunderstood. Misled. Misguided. Misjudged. I’ve been in her shoes. Once she reached out to me, I accepted her offer of friendship and ignored both her rumored misdeeds and her alleged misconduct.”