Page 11 of Puck My Stepbrother
Oh my God, I can’t tell you how mortified I felt at that moment. No, I didn’t clap a hand over my mouth, because I couldn’t give my shock away. But my chest tightened and my entire body tensed. I wanted to shout at him and demand he tell me what the hell he was doing. Only I couldn’t do that. Because he was Levi Dunn.
Instead, I stood in the doorway, watching him and getting a feel for exactly what he was doing in here. And, of course, I was waiting for him to notice that I was there. Honest to God, he acted like he had every right in the world to enter my bedroom whenever he wanted.
Finally, he turned, and only the mildest look of surprise appeared on his face. He didn’t jump, gasp, or do anything you’dnormally associate with someone caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
The colossal asshole smiled at me and said, “Hey, look who’s home.”
And get this: he said it like he’d done absolutely nothing wrong. I wasn’t joking about him being cavalier about all the bad shit he did. This was more proof.
But I couldn’t let this go. I had to say something and not back down.
“What are you doing in my room?” I asked.
“Oh, don’t worry, Quim. It’s nothing. I just wanted to borrow something.”
“Like what?”
He smiled hugely. My future stepbrother had no answer for that. Of course he didn’t. He was full of shit, that’s why. The only thing I couldn’t figure out was what in my room could’ve interested him to begin with.
He shuffled up to me, but didn’t stop outside my personal space like most people would. Normal people, I mean. Not Levi Dunn. He stepped right into it, invading my space like he’d done at the breakfast table.
Like so many other things, that was oh-so Levi Dunn.
My problem wasn’t that someone had entered my bedroom without permission. It was that Levi Dunn had done it. All at once, elementary school memories flooded back. I remembered the time he’d stolen papers from inside my desk and run around the classroom, tossing them away one by one like flower petals at a wedding.
And then I remembered a time in the seventh grade when he’d swiped food from the top shelf of my locker while I was standing there with the door open. He’d tucked the sandwich under his coat and tried to run away. I’d caught him and demanded it back, but he’d insisted that he didn’t have anything.You know, like I hadn’t clearly seen him swipe it. Eventually I got the sandwich back, but only after complaining to the teacher.
And now I’d found him in my bedroom doing God knows what. And who knew how much stuff he’d snooped through before I arrived. To say nothing was sacred anymore would’ve been an understatement.
But I couldn’t deny feeling tense in a different way now. He was standing so close to me, like his body could brush against mine at any moment. But he didn’t do it. Not yet. I wanted it to happen so badly. I longed to feel him in the worst way…but I alsodidn’twant that to happen. This was Levi Dunn, the worst bully on earth. He was older now, but he probably hadn’t changed all that much. He’d made my youth miserable. As an adult, I couldn’t let him drive me crazy.
“That’s quite a library you’ve got there.” He said it the way someone would say,My, you’ve got a mighty big dick there, partner.
“That’s not all of it,” I said.
“Seriously?”
“Uh-huh. I’ve still got boxes of books at the old house that need to be moved over here before the new people move in over there. I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do with them all.”
“That many, huh?”
“I’m terrible at getting rid of books I don’t need. The only area where I’m worse is that I can’t say no to bringing a new book home.”
“I’ll say. I might as well call your bedroomthe library.”
He spoke like he genuinely considered that the funniest thing ever. When it comes to the Levi Dunns of the world, that’s bad news.
“And speaking of which,” I said, “you still haven’t told me why you’re in my room to begin with.”
“I told you, didn’t I?”
“To borrow something, right?”
“Right.”
“And I asked you what you needed to borrow so badly that you couldn’t wait until I came home so you could ask my permission. But you didn’t answer.”
He stuttered a little at first, and I knew that any answer coming out of his mouth would be a total crock of shit. Matter of fact, I would’ve known it was a crock of shit even if he hadn’t stuttered. This was Levi Dunn we’re talking about. He wasn’t exactly a smooth talker. He was the kind of guy who had always done—and taken—whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it. Excuses would only be tacked on as a means to shut me up. He didn’t care what he did or who he offended.
