Page 9 of Puck My Stepbrother (Pucked and Possessed #2)

QUINN

I told Jeff to meet me at Spot Coffee on Elmwood Avenue instead of Sweetness this time.

Spot was just around the corner from my house, instead of way down the street like Sweetness, but I figured (hoped to God) Levi wouldn’t find me there.

Honest to God, I truly felt like my stepbrother-to-be would magically appear anywhere I went.

When Jeff breezed through the door, my racing heart slowed and I felt quasi-safe.

You know that expression about being a sight for sore eyes?

Well, I felt exactly that way about my boyfriend-to-be.

And I needed to think of him that way. Despite it all, I felt jittery, and I’d achieved almost zero sleep the night before.

I wasn’t a wreck, but I was still far from the shape I wanted to be in for this.

I watched Jeff at the counter as he ordered his coffee, and I struggled to forget what’d happened last night. Jeff’s smile beamed when he sat across from me. That would keep Levi’s image from my mind, at least for now.

“You weren’t in class today,” he said. “Everything all right?”

“Yeah, well, I had to…”

Had to what? I’d always been a shitty liar, and the pressure to cook up a clever story under these circumstances challenged me.

But this was Jeff, not Levi, which made a world of difference.

I didn’t have to think of something brilliant to keep him at bay.

In fact, I didn’t need to say anything if I didn’t want to.

“I just didn’t sleep well.” I decided telling a shred of the truth was the best course of action. “Lots of tossing and turning.”

“That’s cool. I’ve got notes if you want them.”

“Awesome. Can you email them to me?”

“For sure.”

Small talk with Jeff didn’t usually feel like a chore, but at that moment I could barely think of anything to say to him.

I saw Levi’s face whenever I looked at him.

I couldn’t deny the things that’d happened last night—or how far those things would’ve gone had I not bolted out of there.

As it was, I realized it’d gotten out of hand.

But I wasn’t going crazy. Levi did want me, just like I’d thought. Nothing could’ve cleared that up more than him literally jumping in the shower with me.

In a weird way, I felt guilty. Here I was having coffee with Jeff, the greatest guy I’d ever been around, less than twenty-four hours after fondling Levi Dunn’s cock in the shower.

But it hadn’t been a normal shower. I’d planned for none of that.

Levi had blindsided me. And then I realized it didn’t matter.

We’d both wanted each another. We’d still been naked together, and I’d wielded the hard-on of the century despite the hell it played on my nerves.

At least I’d cut him off before anything more serious could happen.

“You know,” Jeff said, “I’m really enjoying hanging out with you a lot.”

“Same here.”

“And I know we’ve done some fun things together. The Albright-Knox was really cool and everything, but I was thinking we could do something else, something kind of low-key. Dinner out together would be awesome.”

I heard everything he said, but I didn’t answer because I’d drifted off again.

I’d returned to the shower with Levi. His cock had seemed impossibly large, at least to me.

I’d never seen a dickhead so huge, that’s for sure.

When I’d gripped it, my fingers had failed to curl around its entire girth.

His balls hung low, and I regretted not cupping them in my hand while I’d had the chance.

I’d wanted to taste his dick, too. Had that little tryst continued, I would’ve crouched down, grabbed that massive member, and brought it to my lips so I could bask in the sweet taste.

“Quinn?” Jeff asked.

I snapped to attention. Slipping in and out of a fog had grown all too commonplace for me.

“I’m sorry,” I said, “could you repeat that?”

“I was just saying dinner out somewhere would be nice.”

“Yeah, yeah, right. I’d really like that. Where were you thinking?”

“You know, it’s almost impossible to get a bad meal in the city of Buffalo, but I was thinking of someplace warm and intimate.”

“I’m hearing ya.”

“How about Trattoria Aroma? It’s on Bryant Street, just off of Richmond?”

“So it’s not far from here, huh?”

“That’s right. It’s Italian food like you’ve never had before, and it’s a little more upscale.”

“What about The Italian Village on Grant Street?”

Jeff only smiled, as if to say any place sounded good as long as I was there. I felt the same about him. Wherever we went, we’d have a good time together. It couldn’t have sounded more perfect.

“I’m so totally there,” I said.

“You mean that?”

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

Because you can hardly pay attention when he’s speaking to you , my inner voice nagged. Sure, Jeff’s a great-looking guy, but he’s nowhere near Levi Dunn’s league. He’s not a mountain of muscle either. And do you think Jeff has a gigantic cock like Levi? Forget about it.

Guilt seeped back in. By letting Levi pull the stunt he had last night, I’d cheated on Jeff. Okay, technically what I’d done didn’t constitute infidelity. Jeff and I were dating casually, not exclusively. In fact, the topic had yet to even come up.

“No reason,” Jeff said. “It’ll be great.”

“Awesome. You want to decide on a date and time, then?”

“How about this Friday night?”

“I can do that. Hey, do they have a dress code?”

“I don’t think so, but feel free to dress up if you want to.”

I smiled. Questions about whether I could even afford to eat at a place like Trattoria Aroma crossed my mind, but I didn’t care. My relationship with Jeff was finally moving to the next step, which meant the stage I wanted to reach was getting closer.

Think about it—a date like this would bring us one step closer to becoming an official couple…and it would allow me to give myself to Jeff. That would provide the ammunition to tell Levi to buzz off.

For what that was worth.

Even if we didn’t become an exclusive couple, it would bring us a step closer to sex.

But how would we make that work? We couldn’t fuck at my place.

Levi would be home, squashing any chance of privacy.

Jeff would have to host me, but I wouldn’t get ahead of myself.

Besides, I’d need to banish the memory of Levi’s powerful hands on my shoulders before I could sleep with Jeff.

“Quinn?” Jeff asked. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t think so. I think I’m gonna hurl, actually.”

“Gee, I hope the thought of a dinner date with me didn’t make you sick.”

Laughter spilled out of my mouth. Jeff’s wit marked the major difference between him and Levi, which I treasured to no end. I almost let my guard down—almost. Thank God I’d stayed alert, otherwise I would’ve jumped out of my seat when Levi marched through the door.

Shit!

I watched my stepbrother-to-be at the counter as he yapped with the barista. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Levi responded to something with that booming laugh of his. He hadn’t turned to me yet, thank God, but I knew I wasn’t out of the woods.

“Something wrong?” Jeff asked.

“It’s my stepbrother. Do me a favor and just act natural.”

Jeff ducked a little, and I followed instinctively.

“No, no,” I said, “don’t duck, just?—”

We sat up and straightened ourselves out.

But it was too late.

Levi turned from the counter, saw us sitting there, and strolled over to our table. He dragged out a chair, turned it backward, and sat. No invitation from us, but since when did that matter?

He was Levi Dunn.

“How the heck are ya, Quinn?” He slapped my shoulder hard. I did everything in my power to forget how that same hand had wrapped around my cock and stroked it expertly last night.

“I’m doing fine.”

“What brings you here?”

As if he hadn’t noticed—and as if he hadn’t come here to interrupt it. Accidents didn’t exist in Levi Dunn’s world.

“We’re just out for coffee,” I said.

And then Levi turned to Jeff as if noticing his existence for the very first time. I squinted and gritted my teeth to brace for the ride.

“Levi Dunn.” He extended a hand to Jeff. “I’m going to be Quinn’s stepbrother real soon.”

When Levi’s hand closed over Jeff’s, my date’s eyes widened like my childhood bully had squeezed ferociously and he could do nothing about it. Jeff shook his hand to relieve the pain when Levi released it, which only confirmed my suspicions.

And we showered together last night, Levi could’ve added. I helped him with those hard-to-reach spots. Hey, did you know that Quinn had never been touched like that before? Oh yeah, I wouldn’t have believed it either, but it’s true .

Of course, he hadn’t said that…yet.

“I just stopped by after practice to grab a coffee,” he said, “and saw you guys here, so I wanted to say hi.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The tentative notes in Jeff’s voice suggested he found nothing at all nice about meeting Levi, but had committed himself to politeness.

“So, what’s the topic du jour?” Levi asked.

Did I really want to fill him in? Of course not. If I did, he’d appear at Trattoria Aroma this Friday night. It would be the world’s greatest co-winky-dink that wasn’t.

“Oh, nothing much,” I said. “Just stuff from English class. Shakespeare, Chaucer, things like that. It wouldn’t interest you.”

“Try me.”

Oh my God, my stepbrother was testing me in the worst fucking way.

Before I could answer, Jeff drained the last of his coffee in a single gulp and stood up. Then he gathered his books and tucked them under his arm.

“Well, it’s been nice meeting you.” Jeff dodged Levi’s hand when he offered it for the second time. “I’ve really got to get going. I’ll text you, Quinn, okay?”

He blew me a kiss before leaving. I returned it without monitoring Levi’s reaction.

“Looks like I’ve got you all to myself now,” Levi said.

“Great.”

I slumped over the table, not giving a shit what my stepbrother-to-be thought of my reaction.

Why did this guy have to ruin literally everything?