Page 26 of Puck My Stepbrother
“They might’ve been bisexual,” he said, “which means the time they spent with girls wasn’t some ridiculous charade. What I mean is, they could’ve liked girls as much as they always seemed to, but liked guys a whole lot, too. Does that make sense?”
“A little.”
“Or maybe they didn’t like any other guys, just each other.”
“I hear you, but…how do you know all this stuff?”
“Psychology and sociology classes. They touch on stuff like this sometimes. Human sexuality, I mean. It’s not always black and white.”
I realized right then the category in which I belonged. I loved women and had chased after them constantly since arriving at Larkin University. But I’d noticed guys beyond Quinn, Kayden Preston, and Erik De Ruiter. My mind again drifted to checking them out in the shower and hoping they’d steal glances at me, too. At the time, I’d had no reason to believe they would, so I hadn’t lifted my hopes.
I’d enjoyed hookups, mostly with campus guys. Mine had started as one-nighters and extended to three or four, but who’s counting? I’d savored their bodies, reveling in the heat and excitement, but hadn’t expected those feelings to reach beyond the physical.
Living with Quinn had made all the difference. With him, I felt something more powerful, life-changing even. I wanted to take a big step, but how could I tell Ryan Detenbeck?
I wouldn’t. Plain and simple. Instead, I’d go where my heart led me.
“So,” I said, “you’re saying what Preston and De Ruiter were doing was basically normal?”
“If you want to put it that way. Seriously, bro. I don’t think there’s such a thing as ‘normal,’ at least if you take the classes I have.”
My teammate made sense to me now. My feelings for Quinn had started in elementary school, not long after I’d known how it felt to like anyonein that way. Then, I honest to God thought those feelings would go away. They’d meant nothing. Only they didn’t disappear—they carried over into high school, where they really picked up steam.
I’d wanted to believe I’d only found Quinn sort of cute, that I didn’tlikehim and totally didn’t…you know. After high school, my thoughts kept returning to Quinn, how badly I wanted him, and how I’d correct the past if an opportunity appeared. Though I chased after and mostly slept with women, my every masturbatory fantasy revolved around Quinn Standish.
Living in such close proximity to him drove me even crazier. I couldn’t even think about Quinn sleeping in the next bedroom without wanting to jump into bed with him. And I couldn’t hear him showering down the hall without doing the same…but you already know that.
“There’s got to be a reason you’re bringing this up now,” Detenbeck said as we stepped back onto the ice and skated to the far end of the rink.
Again, I avoided a direct answer.
“Maybe I was just curious about Preston and De Ruiter. I don’t take psychology classes like you, you know.”
My teammate half-smiled, like the classes he took had nothing to do with it.
“And hey,” I said, “it never hurts to learn something new.”
Detenbeck stood in the net and I skated around him, sweeping up a puck with my stick and firing it at him. He stopped the first couple of shots, but I landed the third.
“Can’t keep up with me, can you?” I asked.
“What are you talking about? You missed the first two shots!”
“Yeah, but I did it with authority after you accused me of living in la-la land.”
Detenbeck rolled his eyes like I couldn’t have sounded more ridiculous. That suited me fine. I only wanted to change the subject. If I’d told him the full truth, I couldn’t walk it back. Preston and De Ruiter had proven that with their victory kiss, even though everything had worked out for them.
I could do what they did. I totally could. All I needed was to become the master of my own destiny with Quinn Standish.
11
QUINN
“So, I found a DJ,” I said. “He’s not one of the people I researched before. I just stumbled across him, but he has really good online reviews and is a little cheaper than the other ones.”
“Awesome,” Levi said. “Good work.”
“And you’ve got the venue figured out?”
