Page 72 of Puck My Stepbrother

He lifted an eyebrow at me.

“Something’s wrong,” he said. “I know there is. I think you should tell me about it.”

Now it was my turn to avoid giving a direct answer. If I let on about my real feelings, far too much truth would spill out.

“It’s Levi, isn’t it?” he asked.

I froze. He had me on the ropes, and I couldn’t deny him.

“I could hear you two downstairs last night,” he said.

“You could?”

“Don’t worry, I couldn’t make out what you were talking about, but I could hear your tone all right. It didn’t sound happy. Not really.”

“It’s complicated.”

That seemed to me like the understatement of the year. Levi had told me he loved me. He’d insisted that I loved him back every bit as much. Worse, I couldn’t deny feelingsomethingfor the Neanderthal, but I hated to call it love. Besides, it seemed unhealthy enough without giving it a name.

But that wasn’t a topic for Dad. In fact, I didn’t want to think about it at all.

“Are you two getting along?” he asked.

“We’re getting along, but…like I told you, it’s complicated.”

“You’re worried about something. It’s heavy on your mind; I think that’s pretty obvious. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

“I know I can, but…”

I’d always talked to Dad when I really needed to, but those conversations had limits. I certainly couldn’t tell him the full truth about my relationship with Levi. I didn’t care to lie to him either, but I didn’t see what choice I had.

“What if I told you there really were some differences between Levi and me?” I asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t be too surprised. I know you two have a history.”

“It’s more than just a history.”

“Okay, I know you were concerned about the way he was behaving when we all moved in here. Has that taken care of itself?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Okay, then. Have things gotten any better at all?”

I shrugged and said, “No, it’s gotten worse.”

“You’re kidding.”

“It’s more that we’re dealing with a different set of problems now.”

He lifted an eyebrow again. He must’ve been wondering what else could’ve gone wrong between us.

“Jeff’s going to be coming to the wedding as my date,” I said.

“Yes, you mentioned that.”

“And he’s going to be sitting at the head table with me.”

Dad nodded. “I’m not sure what that has to do with Levi.”