Page 37 of Puck My Stepbrother

“Excuse me,” he said, “but since when did you become an expert on my relationship with Jeff?”

“I don’t have to be an expert on Jeff. I’m an expert on Quinn Standish, and that’s all that really matters.”

He rolled his eyes like he thought that continuing an argument with me would be pointless. He was one hundred percent right, because I had the answer to every response he could possibly throw at me.

“You believe what you want, but I love Jeff and I know we have a serious future together. Period.”

“Are you going to tell him you love him?”

Quinn paused and then stood tall, puffing his chest out like he didn’t have the answer to that.Nice try.

“Jeff’s the only guy for me,” he said. “And I’m not looking back.”

And then he stomped down the hall to his room before I could say anything else. He slammed the door as if to add an exclamation point. But I wouldn’t give up. Hockey had taught me that you don’t stop until you’re truly beat.

And we were a long way from the end of this game.

15

QUINN

Ibarely saw Levi over the next week. Thank God for small mercies. I didn’t feel like I’d escaped his grasp completely, but I savored the little slice of freedom.

Things had begun heating up with Jeff. Like, enough that I hoped we’d soon become an official couple. Which meant we might finally have sex. Part of me didn’t mind if the physical part took a while, since I wanted to build our relationship on something more substantial. I wanted to be with Jeff, and only Jeff. No one else mattered.

But then it happened: Levi spotted me on the couch while I was watching TV…and the rest of the house was quiet as fuck. There was no one around to rescue me. He sat down on the far end of the couch, and I cringed. I knew he hadn’t come into the living room for nothing. Sure, I hadn’t seen him for a week, but I knew my stepbrother-to-be would pick right up where he’d left off.

He picked up the remote and turned the volume down. I considered just getting up and walking out of the room, but I understood I was dead meat the moment he strolled into the room.

And then he smiled. You know that shit-eating look of pompous bullies everywhere? It set me even further on edge.

“How’s it going, Quinn?” he asked.

“Fine.”

Even a one-syllable answer barely escaped my mouth. My throat felt desert dry. My muscles tensed. Something was going to happen, I just knew it. Everything Levi did had a purpose, and it didn’t take a genius to understand his mission.

“How’s school?” he asked.

“It’s fine. How’s hockey?”

“It’s going okay. We hit a bit of a slump, but I think we’re settling right back into a groove.”

“You guys won a national title last year, didn’t you?”

“That’s right, and we’re looking to win our second championship in a row. I’ve got a way bigger role on the team this year, and I’m fucking hungry, bro.”

“That must keep you pretty busy.”

He wore this sly look that seemed to say that itdidkeep him busy, but he’d always have time and energy to focus on me, his favorite ginger nerd. And why wouldn’t he? He was Levi Dunn, Mister Everything, the sex god who’d exercised total control over me.

I’d brought up hockey to steer the conversation away from topics that would lure me into a trap. But so far, Levi showed no sign of weakening.

Big fucking surprise.

“It’s a grind, sure, but it’ll be totally worth it,” he said, “because someday soon, I’m going to be drafted to the NHL.”

“Seriously?”