Page 189 of The Locker Room

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was busy.

But that wasn"t quite what happened. What happened was, he

hobbled down the stairs and Lucia had emerged from some magical

place that she"d been cleaning, with food, and Mandy had gotten back

from her day job, (teaching preschool in Fair Oaks) with a movie, and

Penny showed up with a pie, and suddenly Xander was grouped with a

bunch of people, some of whom he didn"t know very well at all, but they

were eating dinner at his counter, and it just seemed rude to leave. He

The Locker Room 163

heaved his ass up on the counter stool and dug into the broiled chicken

and baked potatoes, more than grateful for the chatter around him.

“So, did you see him play?” Mandy asked, and Audrey said,

“Who"s him?”

Mandy rolled her eyes. “There"s only one him around this house,

haven"t you learned that by now?”

Xander grimaced. He"d told Audrey that she could stay, but he

hadn"t told her about him and Chris, and he didn"t think it was necessary

that anyone else do that, either.

Audrey looked at Xander with wide eyes. “Who"s the other „him"?”

she asked, looking embarrassed. “Who else lives here? I didn"t even

think to ask.”

Xander shrugged. “Chris Edwards—you know, from the team.”

Audrey frowned. “But wasn"t he just transferred to Denver?”

“This is still his home!” Xander snapped, and then he winced when

he saw those big, dark eyes grow guarded and hurt. “Sorry, Audrey. We

just sort of miss him. You know Penny"s his sister, right?”

Audrey blushed, her eyes growing wide and shiny. “I didn"t,” she

muttered. “Boy, do I feel dense. I thought she was your girlfriend.”

Penny laughed, and to her credit, there wasn"t a trace of bitterness

in it.

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