In GQ’s upcoming funny, sympathetic story on Levi Johnston, we learn a lot more about the young father we’ve come to know as Sex on Skates. For one, he is capable of sentences and even words that consist of more than a couple of syllables, something you’d likely not know from watching his appearances on television shows like Larry King Live and Tyra. For another, he estimates that he has “as much fishing, camping, and hunting experience of anybody [his] age in the country, if not more.” In fact, he estimates, he’s “never done anything but hunt and fish and camp.” Of course, that’s not true — he also dated Bristol Palin; fathered a child with her; joined her mother, Sarah, onstage at the Republican National Convention; and played a moderate-size role in a Republican melodrama that was acted out in headlines and news clips across the country.

In person, Levi is quiet, with occasional bursts of bravado and humor, according to the story, a copy of which we obtained. He pals around mostly with an enormous black private eye named Tank, who is sort of the Johnston family body man, because a lot of his friends have been selling him out to the tabloids. He may or may not be seeking work, but things are getting better between him and Bristol, who has taken to dropping off their son, Tripp, herself to see him. After dueling television appearances earlier this month (Bristol was talking about teen pregnancy for Candie’s, Levi was basically saying the opposite of whatever she said), GQ writer John Jeremiah Sullivan watched them exchange flirty text messages. That led to a warmth between them, and now they’re in regular contact — though we imagine that relations with Todd and Sarah Palin, the former of whom on several occasions offered to buy Bristol a car if she’d dump Levi, are still strained. Getting back together, though, is “not even in” Levi’s mind. For now he’s just focusing on hunting bears and, in his lawyer’s words, taking “the chance to tell his story.” What posing shirtless has to do with that, we’re not sure. But we’re extremely glad they’re related.

He Shall Be Levi [GQ]