Page 217 of The Locker Room
(Sigh.) “Look, Xan, I"m not… I"m not going to make any
assumptions here about you two, so just tell me if I"m stepping over the
line here. But… my wife. If I didn"t get to see her almost every night, I"d
be drinking too. If she wasn"t here when I got back from a road trip, or if
she didn"t get to come with me sometimes—man, I would fucking lose it.
You guys… you were… you know—”
“Married. Say it. Yeah. For real. We were married for almost
twelve years, and yeah. That"s exactly what this is, Cliff, and he"s not
doing well, and we"re going to figure it out at the break, but right now, I
just want to know he"s okay!”
To his credit, Cliff remained exactly the same after that
conversation—the same good friend they"d had in college, the same guy
who helped Xander keep an eye on Chris as he struggled to hold it
together. Xander was grateful for him. Xander and Chris had stood up
with Cliff for his wedding, and now it felt like Cliff was standing up with
them for their marriage, and that meant something.
Between Xander on the phone and Cliff in real life, they managed
to hide the alcohol, keep Chris out of the bars as much as possible, and
generally help him hold it together for the last hectic, visit-less, six
weeks of the season.
So Xander watched Chris play the last game of the season with a
heart twisted with different wants. He wanted to see Chris play well,
God,did he want to see Chris play well. He remembered that first
magical game when they were kids, and the way the beautiful boy
188 Amy Lane
seemed to move with the ball, seemed to fly with it, seemed to make it
magic. Even though Chris didn"t look as golden when they weren"t on
the court together, Xander could still see the vestiges of that magic
boy—he hoped he always would.
But God, did he want Chris home. Win this game, Denver went
