Page 186 of The Locker Room

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That brought a laugh, and Chris smiled. Xander liked the crinkles

at the corners of his eyes, and he especially liked the way they were

getting deeper and more thoughtful. Oh, God. His whole body tingled

with the need to be touched.

“Well, I"ll remember that the next time I visit. Maybe they"ll leave

the house in one big drove!”

“If it"s you and me and the bed? I don"t think I"ll notice!” Xander

told him truthfully, and Chris rolled his eyes. He called every morning,

in time to wake Xander up from his dreams, and Xander was grateful.

But comforting a frightened man from far away was far different from

touching one close up. Some of those early-morning comforts had turned

into making love, and… geez. Even just passing each other in the

hallway, or a touch on the arm as one of them was standing at the

counter. He wasn"t just missing his friend, or his lover, he was missing

hisother half,and as much as he tried to tell himself to man up and get

over it, he didn"t feel like much of a man without Chris.

Chris"s smile faded, and his eyes became intent. “How"s the foot? I

watched you play last night, and you were going balls out, but the minute

the buzzer rang....”

Xander grimaced. “Yeah, well, it didn"t seem to hurt until then.”

He"d gone down like a ton of bricks. The doc had rushed out with a

crutch, and Xander had used it for the rest of the night. And the next

night too. He could practice fine, but once he was off the court, um,

ouch. Just fucking ouch.

But while he"d been on the court….

Oh, he"d forgotten how the world looked perfect, clear and simple

there. Even the crowd disappeared when it was his heartbeat and the

The Locker Room 161

basketball and the clearest, simplest way to get that thing where it

needed to go.

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