Misfit(94)

Stretch, too, felt like a misfit, brought on by his physical deformities, scarred face, and the stress of his past. Outlaw needed him to be on his Ps and Qs, but he was afraid he’d never feel secure or have peace again. He’d felt for Kendall at one time, but she’d insulted him once too much, so he’d left her alone. He wished Fee would’ve heeded Outlaw’s warning, instead of learning about Kendall the hard way. “Fee,” he started, searching for a way to ease her guilt when nothing appeased his own for all that had happened, “don’t beat up on yourself too much. We all have Kendall stories.”

“Yeah, babe, and we’re all in the same boat with this one,” Cash said. “Kendall has us over a barrel. If one of us falls, she’ll take us all down.”

“Besides,” Stretch added, “if she wouldn’t have burned you with this, she would’ve done something else.”

“She told me it must be hard living in Zoann’s shadow.” Fee released a sigh and emptied her glass of wine. “She really didn’t have to point out I’m not as pretty as my sister.”

Stretch searched Fee’s face for signs that Kendall’s stupid, thoughtless statements had hurt her in any way. Bemusement glinted in her brown eyes. Other than that, she seemed unaffected, and as beautiful as always. High cheekbones accentuated her delicate facial bones and button nose. He couldn’t imagine what Kendall meant. Fee was very pretty. “She needs to take a class on diplomacy.” Amongst other things.

“I still like her,” Fee admitted, looking between him and Cash. “Don’t stare at me like my nose has suddenly become a third boob. I gave her the ammunition she needed to use me to her advantage. While I hate her tactics, we’d all come out swinging if backed into a corner.”

“Backed into a corner?” Cash echoed. “Are you fucking kidding me? She deserves to be right where she is. Away from Brooks fucking Redding.”

“I know, but I feel so sorry for her,” Fee repeated. “She’s really sweet when she wants to be.”

“Key phrase,” Stretch grumbled. “When she wants to be.” Hardly ever, he added to himself.

“I stay far away from her, so I’m not caught in her crosshairs,” Cash said. “She’s caused a lot of shit. She loves to get into mischief.”

“She’s just bored,” Fee defended. “She has nothing to do anymore.”

“Her own fault,” Cash snapped. “She almost got Val and Outlaw killed.”

Stretch snorted. “What about her own damn self? She was kidnapped too, for having such a hard fucking head.”

“Come on, guys. She isn’t here to defend herself. Lighten up.”

Cash drank more beer. “Fuck her. She’s blackmailing all of us.”

Fee’s lower lip trembled. “I just wanted a friend again. To move forward with my life. I’ve just been stuck, not knowing which way to turn. All my old friends…I look at them and…my life has a clear line drawn.”

“Before and after,” Stretch inserted, surprised at how much he understood her. Maybe, everyone who suffered trauma divided their lives in such a manner.

She nodded. “Yes.”

Their gazes met and collided, before her eyes widened, as if she realized the importance of his understanding. She wasn’t alone anymore. She had someone to identify with. Someone who wouldn’t judge her as she sought to restructure her life.

It startled Stretch to realize he had the same in her. The revelation soothed something inside him, and he no longer felt so isolated.

“Has something happened to you, Cash, where suddenly your world is based on before that time and after?”

“Don’t we all have such instances?” he responded. “I have several befores and afters. Yesterday is gone, so what good does it do to dwell upon it?”

“It doesn’t,” she whispered. “Kendall has gone through a lot and that affected her. How she views life. That’s why I don’t fully buy into how everyone sees her.”

Cash’s look softened. “We’re just telling you like it is.”

“That Kendall’s a bitch,” Stretch added.

“Underneath it all, she’s just a girl,” Fee countered without censure.

“Fee, darlin’, be careful,” Cash insisted, that hint of a Texas drawl firing up Stretch’s blood. “You haven’t seen the worst of her, as bad as the shit she’s doing is.”

“Cash is right.” Stretch forced himself back to the conversation, unsure how Fee would respond if he started sending signals to Cash. Despite their tenuous steps, he didn’t know if he wanted Fee with them. It had been days since he and Cash had made love and his body flushed at the thought of Cash’s hands on him.