Page 15 of Puck My Stepbrother

“What about them?”

“Have you ever had one?”

He paused, and I prepared to rest my hand on his leg. Then I’d cup a hand over his crotch to feel the hard cock throbbing underneath. I’d knead his meat through his jeans just to drive him crazy. And then I’d plant kisses on the back of his neck, then the side, working my way to his mouth. Tasting those lips for the first time would be incredible. I meant to relish every?—

“I’ve dated some guys,” he said, “but nothing I would call serious.”

I heard a tremor in his voice. Then my eyes met his and refused to let go. My stepbrother seemed to be weakening.

“And then there’s this guy Jeff…”

Oh shit. Jeff? Learning Quinn was gay had helped improve this situation, but I hadn’t expected him to have a boyfriend. That definitelydidn’thelp.

“Who’s Jeff?” I asked.

“He’s the guy I’ve been kind of seeing. Like I said, nothing serious, but…”

Quinn clammed up like he didn’t want to tell me anything else. Not that it was deeply personal or anything—more like he didn’t want to tellmeabout it. But I wouldn’t let up. I kept my eyes locked on his until he fell under my spell again.

“You want it to become something more?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

I’d readied myself to reach for his leg, but now I pulled back. This wasn’t the best time.

“So how did you meet this Jeff?” I asked. “Grindr or some other dating app?”

He shook his head. “School. We’ve been in a lot of the same classes together since we were freshmen. I always sort of liked him and thought he was cute and smart. Turned out the feeling was mutual enough for us to start hanging out more.”

“So, you haven’t…?”

“Haven’t what?”

He closed his notebook and placed his pen on top, like he was done with this conversation.

“Well,” I said, “you know what I mean.”

“I don’t know why you care about that.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you’re…a hockey player, that’s why.”

“I’m a hockey player, so I’m not supposed to care about what?”

“Two guys going at it, Levi. You’re not supposed to want to hear about stuff like that.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait. Just because I’m a hockey player, I can’t handle hearing about two guys having sex?”

He paused, knowing he’d pulled a stereotype on me. I wouldn’t make him feel bad about it, but I’d totally use it to my advantage.

“Besides,” I said, “we’re going to be brothers, so we should share stuff with each other. Which means crowing about getting laid to each other, too.”

“Including sex with guys?”

“Sure, why not?”

“I don’t know why I should tell you anything. You know what? I don’t care. I’m just going to say it. You can do what you want with it.”